Blue v. Red

The BLM flag flown in Barrington, RI

A convenient concept taking progressive politicians by storm.

By Justin Katz | May 4, 2021 |

When I emailed the Barrington Town Council to voice my objection to their promotion of the Black Lives Matter flag in a divisive way and expressed that a flag policy has to be content-neutral, member Jacob Brier wrote back to asserted that it was “government speech.”  It was therefore completely constitutional.  Many others who received…

Battle of Altenesch

An Antecedent of Our Modern Witch Hunts

By Justin Katz | April 27, 2021 |

The extermination of the Stedinger in 1234 provides an historical analogy by which we “deplorables” can understand our predicament… hopefully producing a different outcome.

Map of states gaining Congress seats

Increased population isn’t just the weather.

By Justin Katz | April 27, 2021 |

The other part of the pattern of domestic migration within the United States to which I alluded yesterday is shown in the featured image of this post, captured via Mary Chastain on Legal Insurrection. When debating the relevance of people voting with their feet and moving elsewhere, it is common for Rhode Island progressives and insiders…

Map of states losing Congress seats due to Census

Nail-biting Census results every 10 years should spur action and change.

By Justin Katz | April 26, 2021 |

According to Rhode Island’s Secretary of State, Rhode Island’s campaign-like pursuit of people to fill out the U.S. Census paid off, and Rhode Island will remain doubly represented in the U.S. Congress for another decade.  If my large family’s being caught at home during COVID was decisive in this result, I apologize to the rest…

A man in black pulls strings on fingers

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Everybody’s Focused on the Other

By Justin Katz | April 26, 2021 |

The weekly conversation about politics between John DePetro and Justin Katz focused on the ways everybody is looking for excuses not to address our real problems.

The NCAA logo as a pride flag

Providence College Should Quit the NCAA

By Justin Katz | April 22, 2021 |

The culture wars can’t be a one-way fight, and the longer the forces of tolerance and truth restrain themselves, the more certain their defeat will be.

Police, protesters, and smoke on Jan 6

The media has a death grip on its January 6 narrative.

By Justin Katz | April 20, 2021 |

The lede text on a WPRI Facebook post caught my attention (emphasis added): Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while confronting rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, suffered a stroke and died from natural causes, the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office ruled Monday. Was Sicknick injured?  I can’t remember seeing any reports to…

The Soul That Needs Searching for the True Liberals

By Justin Katz | December 26, 2012 |

This week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is an apt one for thinking on a grand scale — of the where-we’ve-been-and-where-we-must-go variety. Essays in that vein fill the tabs on my open browser window, and as is often the case, most of them come from the center-right’s great aggregator and one-line editorialist Glenn Reynolds.…

Blue States to Get Higher Taxes They Voted For

By Marc Comtois | December 6, 2012 |

Joel Kotkin at Forbes: With their enthusiastic backing of President Obama and the Democratic Party on Election Day, the bluest parts of America may have embraced a program utterly at odds with their economic self-interest….Any move to raise taxes on the rich — defined as households making over $250,000 annually — strikes directly at the…

Things We Read Today (22), Tuesday

By Justin Katz | October 2, 2012 |

Economic development options, from all-government to government-dominated; the heartless-to-caring axis in politics; Southern New Englanders’ “independence”; solidarity between Romney and his garbage man; the media coup d’etat. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…