Browsing All posts tagged under »Politics«

Freedom of Religion and the Establishment Clause. What Do They Say?

May 26, 2019

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Freedom of Religion and the Establishment Clause. What do they say? The First Amendment to the Constitution reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to […]

Democratic Socialism

September 16, 2018

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Now that have once again turned to socialism for answers to how we should organize ourselves as a people, it may be useful to examine the history of socialism, no matter how cursorily. Let’s start with what the new wave of socialists in this country like to call their profession: democratic socialism. Why do that? […]

Breaking the Rules

June 17, 2018

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We all would like to be good “law-abiding” citizens, not breaking the rules or doing anything illegal. And, for the most part, we know the rules. Just read the Ten Commandments for starters. But there is a part of me that doesn’t mind breaking the rules. Law-abiding though I may be in the main, I […]

Taming the Alligators, Draining the Swamp, Redux

June 17, 2018

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One of President Trump’s campaign goals was to make America great again. Another goal was to tame or throw the alligators out of Washington, by which most of us take that to mean reduce and bring the gigantic federal government down to scale. The “Deep State” is controlling us. According to my instant source of […]

Capitalists and Socialists

April 15, 2018

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Putting all other categories aside for the moment—like sexists, misogynists, identity politics, me tooers, supremacists (of all colors), and a dozen or so others hurled around these days in the media—it seems that fundamentally this country has crossed the old taboo boundary between capitalism and socialism. Since the nation was created we are and have […]

Watching the Vietnam War, Redux

November 29, 2017

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I can remember watching Walter Cronkite on the nightly CBS news reporting on the Vietnam War, probably from 1968, the summer it seems that the world was crashing around our shoulders. The Tet Offensive launched by the North Vietnamese and their allies the Vietcong in the South was underway and all South Viet Nam appeared […]

On Walls

February 11, 2017

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You know, as an historian, one can get cynical about the human condition. A short sampling of modern “wall” phrase making might include the following: Ronald Reagan:    “Tear down this wall!” Donald Trump:    “Build the wall!” Robert Frost:        “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” And we could add the more memorable line in […]

Hypocrisy, Not Just Another Word

February 11, 2017

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I am constantly astonished, even at my age, at the “holier than thou” attitudes of many Americans when it comes to something like the alleged Russian hacking and manipulation of the American elections. We stand back in a saintly state of innocence and not only cast the first stone, but also most of the rest […]

Hypocrisy, Not Just Another Word

January 8, 2017

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I am constantly astonished, even at my age, at the “holier than thou” attitudes of many Americans when it comes to something like the alleged Russian hacking and manipulation of the American elections. We stand back in a saintly state of innocence and not only cast the first stone, but also most of the rest […]

Reversing the Fall of the Empire

November 5, 2016

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Here’s a snippet of truth I’d like us all to consider. Our American nation is going south similarly to what brought down the Roman Empire in the ancient world. It is reversible, but to do so we have to exercise both wisdom and discipline. There are a lot of signposts to read. Today let’s just […]