Is America's Jeffersonian decentralist tradition alive, comatose, or irretrievably dead? With Politics on a Human Scale, the Dordt College political scientist Jeff Taylor offers a well-informed, near-encyclopedic examination of when and how America's once-dominant political tradition receded.
And, alas, answered:
Want a glimpse of our future under Obamacare? Just take a look at the medical system the government already operates:
CNN) -- At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list.
How about a little bipartisan unethical-politician bashing? First up, Harry Reid. The man has been a public servant all his life. So how did he get so rich?
Camille Paglia sure knows how to start a good argument. Here she is on our past-its-prime drinking age:
Happy 450th birthday to William Shakespeare, if indeed this is the day, if indeed he is the guy:
The Cato Insitute is a libertarian think tank that frequently infuritates conserrvatives and liberals in equal doses. Now it is using a conservative constitutional approach (stressing the actual text and original intent of the Constitution) to argue for a liberal cause -- gay marriage. It has to do with the 14th Amendment and the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case that tossed bans on interracial marriage:
It appears that big city newspaper columnists can be idiots on subjects other than politics as well. Here's the Washington Post's Catherine Rampell on why dumb Americans just don't get it that home ownership is a lousy investment:
Two Supreme Court decisions of note, one that seems reasonable and one that is worrisome.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Michigan's ban on using race as a factor in college admissions despite one justice's impassioned dissent that accused the court of wanting to wish away racial inequality.
Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted:
The sometimes maligned “Helmholtz” sculpture is repaired and ready to return to Fort Wayne.
This makes Michelle Obama seem more like a regular person and less like an eat-your-vegetables-now scold:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama said "splurging is the key to life" if you regularly eat right and stay active. Her biggest guilty pleasure: French fries.
Happy Earth Day! You remember those stories about Earth Day celebrations that left mounds of trash behind for somebody else to pick up? And the stories about global warmist Al Gore's mansion that uses roughly the same amount of electricity Fort Wayne does? This is in that same delightful vein:
I think opinion polling has reached a level of absurdity close to self-parody:
WASHINGTON (AP) — While scientists believe the universe began with a Big Bang, most Americans put a big question mark on the concept, an Associated Press-GfK poll found.
With Tim Russert as the host, NBC's "Meet the Press" was a strong No. 1 among the Sunday talk shows. Under David Gregory, it's a dismal third and still sliding, and the network hotshots are in a panic:
Well, that's one way to do it:
Who says print journalism is dead? Whoever the naysayers are, they forgot to tell the owners of Corriere della Sera, Italy’s leading national newspaper, which will deliver 20m free copies of the daily on a single day in May.
From The Onion -- FBI uncovers al-Qaeda plot to just sit back and enjoy collapse of United States"
WASHINGTON—Putting the nation on alert against what it has described as a “highly credible terrorist threat,” the FBI announced today that it has uncovered a plot by members of al-Qaeda to sit back and enjoy themselves while the United States collapses of its own accord.
I was busy with election-preparation stuff yesterday so I didn't have the chance to blog about this. It doesn't seem any less stupid one day later:
Mike Pence's name keeps getting tossed around as a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender. Hee's a generally positive report at Bloomberg:
Well, good luck with that, pal:
Michael R. Bloomberg, making his first major political investment since leaving office, plans to spend $50 million this year building a nationwide grass-roots network to motivate voters who feel strongly about curbing gun violence, an organization he hopes can eventually outmuscle the National Rifle Association.
A consensus seems to have been reached about the Cliven Bundy case: 1) He has no legal leg to stnd on in his creative interpretation of government authority leading him to believe he doesn't have to pay no stinkin' grazing fees. But, 2) The federal government so overreached in its reaction (tasering a woman from behind, for God's sake) that it had no choice but to stand down in the face of public disgust.
