Managers v. Professionals
Critics of the populism that put Donald Trump in the White House (again) often point to what they assume is a contradiction between the “average Joe” of populist imagination and the decidedly above-average wealth of the people’s chosen tribunes.
The Real Risks of Modern Technology: Obscuring Human Moral Responsibility Thanks to Irrational Beliefs and Uninformed Demands
The understandable decision of Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the death penalty in the murder trial of Luigi Mangione, charged with killing 50-year-old health care executive Brian Thompson by shooting him in the back just because Mangione saw Thompson as exemplary of the supposed callous greed of his industry, was perhaps surprisingly met with the news that donations to Mangione’s defense fund have already exceeded $1 million.
The Last Three Names: The USS Mayaguez Incident
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, consists of two black granite walls bearing the names of service members who died or remained missing as a result of their service in the war.
Triumph Amid Tragedy: The 1975 Fall of Saigon
The most famous photo of the fall of Saigon appears to show a long line of people perched on a ladder atop the US embassy, waiting to be evacuated by a US military helicopter.
Weak Curiosity
If you are dimly aware of a thing called “national politics,” and if you are also dimly aware that a lot of people are getting very red in the face over them, then you might, stifling a yawn, walk over to your bookshelf and pull down a collection of Emerson’s essays.
The British Art Historian Who May Have Helped Prolong World War II
One of the most compelling, but depressing, World War II films is 1977’s “A Bridge Too Far.”
When In America, Do As The Romans Did
The founding of the United States is one of the greatest events in world history.
George Washington, Prudent Revolutionary
In recent years some scholars on the Right have begun to emulate those historians of the Left who reject that American Founding as the best source for America’s core principles on liberty and order.
President Biden's Unsuccessful Attempt to "Amend" the Constitution
On his last Friday in office, President Biden announced that he had “amended” the Constitution by holding that the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, had met the criteria for ratification.
What’s the Rush?
The American founders were acutely aware that human beings desire power. Like Lord Acton, they believed that power tends to have a corrupting effect on those not only who attain it but those who reach for it.
In Defense of America’s Two-Party System
In 2022, a group of historians and political scientists advocated for replacing the U.S. House's single-member district system with proportional representation to promote a multiparty system, but this proposal is criticized for misunderstanding the purpose of representation and for the practical instability it could create, as seen in other countries with multiparty systems.
Upon Which Rock?
T. S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land, published in 1922, four years after the end of World War One, is probably the most influential and controversial poem of the past century.
Zen and the Art of Government
I’ve heard it said that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. I’ve also heard that people these days are pretty stressed out, and I have to wonder if that’s because we’re all being so damned vigilant.
A Brief look at the Backgrounds of American Presidents on Presidents’ Day
A list of Presidents with Congressional, Military or Law experience and a breakdown of who had family ties to the White House, and more.
Grant’s Memoirs: A Review
Given that 2025 marks the 160th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War, it seems appropriate to consider one of America’s statesmen, Ulysses S. Grant and his highly regarded Personal Memoirs, written neck break speed, as he was rapidly dying from tongue and throat cancer.
Whither the Refugees?
Armed conflicts around the world generate large numbers of refugees.
Can’t You Take a Joke?
The most dangerous people in the world are those with no sense of humor.
Jimmy Carter – A Legacy of Resilience and Hope
Longevity is no particular virtue, although healthy habits enhance its prospect.