In Depth

The Naked Public Square Revisited, Part II

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 18, 2004 |

This posting is the second part of a discussion that began with an earlier posting and is related to two previous postings about liberal fundamentalism and the American Founding. Richard John Neuhaus wrote a book entitled The Naked Public Square: Religion & Democracy in America. First published in 1984, it addressed societal trends and the…

The Naked Public Square Revisited, Part II

By | December 18, 2004 |

This posting is the second part of a discussion that began with an earlier posting and is related to two previous postings about liberal fundamentalism and the American Founding. Richard John Neuhaus wrote a book entitled The Naked Public Square: Religion & Democracy in America. First published in 1984, it addressed societal trends and the…

The Naked Public Square Revisited, Part I

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 17, 2004 |

This Christmas holiday season has reignited the public debate about the proper roles for church and state. Why are so many Americans upset about what is going on? Consider the following: Christmas has been sanitized in schools and public squares, in malls and parades… “Those who think that the censoring of Christmas is a blue-state…

Why The Dems Have a Hard Time with Foreign Policy Cred

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 16, 2004 | Comments Off on Why The Dems Have a Hard Time with Foreign Policy Cred

For a classic example of why the Democrats have a hard time gaining foreign policy respectability, see this Matt Ygelsias post over at Tapped (via Jonah Goldberg at NRO). Yglesias’ post is an example of the classic Jimmy Carter-style thinking that has crippled Democratic foreign policy, attacking the United States for pursuing its own interests,…

Re: Getting to Know Them

By Carroll Andrew Morse | December 16, 2004 | Comments Off on Re: Getting to Know Them

I do not disagree with the idea that more information about the state’s legislators would benefit the democratic process, but I am not convinced that biographical data or past voting records are the most important pieces of information that a state-level blog can compile. My biggest complaint about local legacy media legislative reporting is that…

No Longer Looking, No Longer Here

By Justin Katz | December 15, 2004 | Comments Off on No Longer Looking, No Longer Here

Here’s an interesting find from URI economics professor Leonard Lardaro: As our unemployment rate fell from 5.8 percent to 4.5 percent, resident employment, the number of Rhode Islanders who were working, rose by only 423! The decline in our labor force, 7,146, was almost identical to the drop in the number of unemployed, 7,569, which…

Getting to Know Them

By Justin Katz | December 15, 2004 | Comments Off on Getting to Know Them

A caller to Rick Adams’s show (listen here) just suggested to Don that Anchor Rising publish background information — voting records, fund contributors, family employment, union sympathy, and so on — for each of Rhode Island’s legislators. That’s a fantastic idea, and we should certainly give some thought to ways in which to get it…

Reminder: Don Hawthorne on WARL Tonight

By Marc Comtois | December 15, 2004 | Comments Off on Reminder: Don Hawthorne on WARL Tonight

Just a reminder that Don Hawthorne will be appearing on the Rick Adam’s radio show on WARL 1320 AM tonight from 8-9 p.m. If you’re in the Greater Providence area, you should be able to pick it up over the air. If not, they do stream.

Relevancy of the Humanities and Questions Unasked

By Marc Comtois | December 15, 2004 | Comments Off on Relevancy of the Humanities and Questions Unasked

In the course of yet another article about bias in our univerisities, William Pilger (a pseudonym), a conservative tenured professor in a southern university, managed to both display the value of a humanities education and the reluctance (and reason) that students show for engaging in any type of classroom discussion that may touch on current…

Liberal Fundamentalism, Revisited

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 14, 2004 |

Consider these quotes about the recently concluded election: “Election results reflect a decision of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry…Ignorance and blood lust have a long tradition…especially in red states…They know no boundaries or rules. [Bush and Cheney] are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant.” Jane Smiley “I am…