Donald B. Hawthorne
Carroll Andrew Morse has a terrific, focused posting entitled First They Came for the Radio Talk Show Hosts… that gets to the heart of the latest fallout from campaign finance reform here in Rhode Island. Once again, we have an example of how legislation has unintended consequences that, in this case, affect our freedom of…
Hugh Hewitt writes: The Terri Schiavo tragedy has been seized on by long-time critics of the “religious right” to launch attack after attack on the legitimacy of political action on the basis of religious belief. This attack has ignored the inconvenient participation in the debate–on the side of resuming water and nutrition for Terri Schiavo–of…
Warren Beatty has suggested that Governor Schwarzenegger raise taxes on the rich: Schwarzenegger should raise taxes on the California rich and “terminate” his fund-raising and dinners with “the brokers of Wall Street” and the “lobbyists of K Street,” Beatty said… Beatty said Schwarzenegger should lead the rich toward helping California. “It’s called the haves giving…
A previous posting highlighted how the coarsening of our public debate in America has resulted from the use of extreme language that only seeks to intimidate, not to persuade. Subsequently, there was the usual talk after the election about how the conservative winners should “moderate” their views, a code word suggesting that capitulating on key…
After pulling together the two previous postings of The Naked Public Square Revisited, Parts I & II, I returned home this weekend to find the December 27 issue of National Review with its cover article entitled “Secularism & Its Discontents.” In the article, Ramesh Ponnuru offers some further insights into the debate about the public…
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…
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…
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…
Talking about a pro-tax ballot initiative defeated in Oregon during 2002, a Wall Street Journal editorial stated: When the budget issue is framed in terms of higher taxes, voters don’t understand why government should be exempt from the same spending discipline the rest of us live by. “I am a normal person and when I…
With the election over, we once again turn our attention to the future. That includes preparing for a new group of government officials to take office. Therefore it seems timely to reflect on the principles of the American Founding, as we hope these principles will guide both our lawmakers and us. It is a common…
