History

A day late, but happy 70th anniversary for the GI Bill:

The "leave no man behind" defense of that swap:

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Wednesday urged Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s critics not to “judge” him until all the facts are in and sharply defended the extensive and risky search efforts that claimed the lives of some of his fellow soldiers.

In this very interesting poll, a majority of Americans say a child born outside the U.S. to one American citizen is not a "natural born" citizen. That percentage is likely to change, though:

Freedom of the press and freedom of religion get most of the First Amendment attention. But let's not forget there's a right to freedom of assembly in there, too, just waiting to be stepped on:

Question asked:

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:

Happy 450th birthday to William Shakespeare, if indeed this is the day, if indeed he is the guy:

So, the Pulitzer Prize was awared for the reporting based on Edward Snowden's document dump. I don't feel quite as strongly about it as Rep. King:

But today’s announcement of the 2014 Pulitzer Prizes stoked an old debate about whether a former NSA contractor who leaked details about the surveillance programs — among other leaks — is a traitor or a whistleblower. Today, he was the muse of award winners.

Thank God John Paul Stevens is off the bench -- he's downright dangerous. Here's his op-ed in the Washington Post urging that the Second Amendment be "fixed":

Here we go again:

My sister-in-law Michelle in Texas sent out this note upon the death of World War II's Kissing Sailor: