Category: politics
-
Tea Party and Town Hall
The real effectiveness of the tea parties is not likely to be known for some time. Two days later various factions are still trying to sort out what actually happened and what it all means. I am encouraged by the prospects that it will turn out to be more than a short-lived release of frustration…
-
Federalist Nos. 71 – 72
In three sentences Federalist No. 71 conveys the primary reason to prefer a republic over a democracy: It is a just observation, that the people commonly INTEND the PUBLIC GOOD. This often applies to their very errors. But their good sense would despise the adulator who should pretend that they always REASON RIGHT about the…
-
Political Action vs Reaction
It’s tax day and I doubt anybody who reads this has not heard in advance about the many "Tea Party" events that have been planned around the country for today. Ive been hearing about them from various sources for months and I have been conflicted in my feelings related to such activities. From a constitutional…
-
Federalist No. 68
Due to the number of people in recent years who have called for the abolition of the electoral college I was very interested in what Hamilton would say on the subject in Federalist No. 68. Imagine my surprise then when that paper opened with this: THE mode of appointment of the Chief Magistrate of the…
-
Federalist No. 66
Federalist No. 66 has me seeking opinions on a few questions. Specifically it got me asking which of the four elements of our federal government (the Executive, the Judicial, the Senate, and the House) is the most powerful? Which Should be the most powerful? The founders clearly had some idea about which they thought should…
-
Federalist Nos. 64 – 65
In discussing the powers of the senate related to the making of treaties John Jay outlines a truth that undercuts one of the major arguments against term limits. In Federalist No. 64 he states: providing for the frequent elections of senators in such a way as to obviate the inconvenience of periodically transferring those great…
-
What Should We Do About It?
Recently someone shared The Obama Deception with me (and others) asking for feedback. Normally I would not take two hours to watch such a video because these efforts rarely shed any real light on their subjects. Mostly, they just generate heat through friction. I decided that in the interest of giving an honest response and…
-
Internal Dissent/Debate
I can’t decide whether it was beyond the scope of what Cameron wanted to write or whether he thinks that the discussion and dissent among the Democratic base really are less prevalent among Republicans. Regardless of which of those options is more accurate, as I read his post I was struck with how I see…
-
New Government Website
In keeping with his propensity to launch new .gov websites (e.g. change.gov, recovery.gov, sigtarp.gov) President Obama has launched a new website where he can share some ideas that he knows won’t pass any Congress (Democrat or Republican) no matter how sound those ideas might be. It’s called AprilFools.gov. He includes ideas that are possible but…
-
Newspaper Survival Tactics
Some people who read what I have written about news media might think that I would like to see the demise of newspapers – they would be wrong. I do think that news organizations generally need to make some adjustments to better serve their purpose (am am assuming a purpose of informing their audience). As…