Political Thought

A woman surrounded by photos

Friday morning philosophy: memory, victimhood, and recovery.

By Justin Katz | November 5, 2021 |

Whether one generally agrees with his ideas or not, Jordan Peterson’s podcast is unique and wonderful in its approach.  He’s a brilliant guy, and he’s genuinely striving to figure stuff out.  To this end, he invites other brilliant people who he thinks can help him answer some question on for a conversation.  Peterson comes to…

A water drop and ripples

Tuesday’s Lesson – Change Starts Locally

By Marc Comtois | November 4, 2021 |

We’ve said this around here, well, forever. Justin even gave it a shot in Tiverton and exposed the depth of depravity of the true political insiders.  But that the road can be tough shouldn’t dissuade conservatives and moderates from seeking elected office and making some local change. As Stephen Kruiser writes: It’s important for more…

Joseph Paolino tweets in support of Superman

“Iconic” landmarks can’t be decorations on a stultified state.

By Justin Katz | November 3, 2021 |

One of my children is learning the standard single-axis political spectrum (no doubt in preparation for the AP test down the road), and the fortunate child enjoyed a free lesson on how inaccurate that is all the way home.  I’ll spare you, dear reader, that experience, simply pointing you to the circular political spectrum I…

A water drop and ripples

School closures hurt kids for nothing.

By Justin Katz | November 3, 2021 |

As noted in this space recently, most of the drop in the standardized test scores in Rhode Island was among students whose schools were mostly virtual during the pandemic.  Now a study out of Japan suggests all that harm was done with no benefit in controlling the disease: There is no evidence that school closures…

Governor Dan McKee and Sgt. Pete Philomena

McKee’s administration has no patience for people whose jobs the governor destroyed.

By Justin Katz | November 2, 2021 |

For weeks, John DePetro and I have been discussing Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s response (or lack thereof) to the protesters upset that they’ve lost their jobs based on a mandate for healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 that he implemented, and they had their closest interaction yet over the weekend. What strikes me, in…

A water drop and ripples

Bonhoeffer’s theory of stupidity may explain our current predicament.

By Justin Katz | November 1, 2021 |

This whiteboard video describing Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s explanation of how stupidity was to blame for the rise of Nazis in Germany seems highly relevant to our current experience.

The state picks a pot dealer by lottery

The state’s selection of marijuana dispensaries was more representative than many appreciate.

By Justin Katz | October 30, 2021 |

Anchor Rising cofounder Andrew Morse retweeted the photo from ABC6’s Doreen Scanlon that I’ve used as the featured image of this post with the following commentary: Literally and figuratively: How big decisions are made by Rhode Island government. This is the sort of observation a conservative makes when seeing a campy lottery-style method for giving…

A water drop and ripples

Officials should factor in their own incompetence before imposing things like vaccine mandates.

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2021 |

Katherine Gregg frames her story about state health facilities’ challenges getting by without unvaccinated employees for the Providence Journal in terms of the government’s incompetence at replacing them: Despite promises made to the state Department of Health to bring in replacements for unvaccinated staff, neither the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital nor the Veterans Home has…

Fingers crossed

An archetype of a “benefit corporation” has emerged.

By Justin Katz | October 27, 2021 |

Sometimes watching public policy is like a society-wide 4D puzzle, with the fourth dimension being (of course) time. I remember in 2013 when I had to explain to folks behind the scenes why legislation to create a new type of corporation — the public benefit corporation — belonged on the RI Center for Freedom &…

Aerial view of the 195 land

The Unsurprising Wasteland of I-195

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2021 |

Everybody makes out when the government pretends to be a giant corporation, except the taxpayers who have to fund the game.