In light of the current debate on Capitol Hill, the quotation of the day comes from the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in D.C. v. Heller: Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional […]
A Lesson in Constitutional Interpretation Read More »
“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” “A Republic, if you can keep it.” — Benjamin Franklin, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention in 1787 I do not want to say much about the election today, but I do want to share a few thoughts. I will begin by referring the reader to
Post-Mortem, Episode II Read More »
Never assume that a logical connection exists between some instance of what is and some ideal of what could be. Some things cannot be redeemed, but are best destroyed or simply left alone. Indeed, many of history’s saddest chapters began with efforts to turn a present but dying evil into a lively engine for good.
Musings on History Read More »
That’s what the so-called “financial crisis” of 2008 has cost the federal government directly… so far.* Wonder how that stacks up to other crises? CNBC has a slideshow showing the costs (inflation-adjusted) of some of the biggest government projects ever. There are many events not listed in that slide show, of course. Two of the
$4,284,500,000,000 Read More »
So, America has elected its next President, its next Vice President, 35 Senators, 435 members of the House of Representatives, and thousands of state and local officers. We did it, again, without violence or bloodshed, with a minimum of intimidation, with a minimum of fraud, and, in general, with great dignity. There can be no