Category: General
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The Gettysburg Address
Everyone should already be familiar with The Gettysburg Address and have a basic understanding of the context in which it was crafted and delivered. I don’t think there is much I could have to add to that understanding, but I submit that the basic message of the address is still applicable today and that with…
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The Emancipation Proclamation
After 17 months of what had been expected to be a short war, Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation and gave a 100 day grace period before it was to be effective. I remember being taught that this was a publicity stunt with no effectiveness because it only applied to states that were in rebellion. I…
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Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
Context is everything so I thought it very appropriate that today was the time for me to review Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address right after reading State Sovereignty and the Senate with its review of the damage to federalism that was a result of the passage of the 17th amendment. The casket of federalism was virtually…
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An Inside View on the Honduran Situation
It’s always nice to have my positions validated by someone with more inside information than I have. I just learned that Tegucigalpa Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga has taken the same position as I have expressed on every point of the situation in Honduras. (You have to read my posts and my comments afterwards to see…
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Constitutional Amendment 12
After five presidential elections in which the second choice for president became the vice president, the nation decided to alter the presidential elections with the Twelfth Amendment. Prior to this amendment it was common for the president and the vice president to stand in opposition to each other as the strongest candidates in the election.…
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George Washington’s Farewell Address
I have always had great respect for George Washington, but in the cannon of political doctrine his Farewell Address should be considered equal to the doctrine of the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament and the prophecy in the book of Revelation in the New Testament. Washington himself boils down the topics of his…
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Economic Contradiction
Paul Krugman and I agree on little politically (I have at times agreed with him when he was arguing that TARP was a bad idea – although we disagreed on the reasons why) and despite the fact that my assumptions about the nature of sound economics differ from his most of the time I recognize…
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Constitutional Amendment 11
The amendments in the Bill of Rights seem to be viewed by many people as part of the original constitution. It looks to me that later amendments can be categorized as either clarifications of the constitution or alterations to it. The Eleventh Amendment would fall under the category of clarification: The Judicial power of the…
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Anti-Slavery Petition of 1790
In my study of our founding documents I found this Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, signed by Benjamin Franklin and published in 1790, to be rather interesting. In the Letter the society asks Congress: that you will be pleased to countenance the Restoration of liberty to {slaves}, that you will…
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Change Done Right
With the news yesterday that New Hampshire passed a law to allow gay marriage I sincerely hope that the proponents of gay marriage may begin to see the right way to bring the change they seek – especially when put in context next to Vermont’s legalization of gay marriage, Maine’s legalization, the setback in the…