National Politics
For anyone interested, I’ve posted some thoughts on the President’s Innaugural Address at The Ocean State Blogger.
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…
I received the December 2004 issue of The Proposition, a publication of the Claremont Institute. As a graduate of Harvey Mudd College, one of the Claremont Colleges, who also satisfied the requirements for a political science major at Claremont McKenna College, I found one of the quotes in the issue to be an interesting perspective…
The Linc Chafee quotation in Marc’s post illustrates why Chafee’s so infuriating. Not only does he stand apart from his party, but he does so for reasons that are either deceptive or, if principled, just plain foolish. (Personally, I think it’s the latter.) By population, Rhode Island is 0.37% of the national total. By electoral…
Senator Lincoln Chafee has decided to join California Sen. Diane Feinstein in calling for the abolishment of the Electoral College. “Under the current system, the only states that get any candidate visits are the battleground states,” said Chafee. “As a Rhode Islander . . . I’d like to see the presidential candidates make an investment…
Each of two recent articles on the troubles in the Netherlands contained interesting quotes on the long-term impact of multiculturism. There is a warning for America in these words as they highlight the ongoing confusion over the meaning of “tolerance.” A quote in the first article said: …tolerance became a pretext for not addressing problems……
This posting relates to a previous posting on the American Founding and also relates to Liberal Fundamentalism and The Naked Public Square Revisited, Parts I, II, and III. Thanks to Power Line for referring to a 1926 speech by Calvin Coolidge on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. If you ever have any…
Andrew Ferguson of the Weekly Standard takes a fascinating look at the previously behind-the-scenes activities of a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. in an article entitled “A Lobbyist’s Progress: Jack Abramoff and the end of the Republican Revolution.” Here is how the story begins: In honor of the tenth anniversary of the fabled Republican Revolution–for precisely…
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…
I heartily recommend reading Andrew’s
