Author: The Constitutionalist

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Cleon, Trump, and the Goodness of Demagoguery: An Exchange

The Constitutionalist

There are times that the exchanges in the comments section are sufficiently interesting as to become worthy of their own post. I thought this exchange is one of those. The exchange is between Fred Baumann, who wrote this essay for us previously, and Bernard Dobski about Dobski’s essay. It’s unfortunate that more of our intellectual debates don’t have this character: Baumann: “In view of the fact that Trump, in my view at least, attempted usurpation of power through the Eastman memo and the pressure on the Vice President not to register the legally certified results of a national election, associating … Continue reading Cleon, Trump, and the Goodness of Demagoguery: An Exchange

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A Short Response to Ben Kleinerman on the Republican Party, Jeff Isaac

The Constitutionalist

I appreciate the attention that both Jeff Tulis and Ben Kleinerman have given to my piece! The topic is an important one, and the discussion here is a good one. It is clear that Ben and I have a fundamental difference of opinion on a matter of political judgment: the nature of the current Republican party. We could argue about this for weeks. There is now a substantial body of commentary, by distinguished students of comparative politics, about how the Republican party has become for all intents and purposes an “anti-system party.” I could cite this literature, and explain why … Continue reading A Short Response to Ben Kleinerman on the Republican Party, Jeff Isaac

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Lincoln to Biden: Stand Firm, by Frederick E. Hoxie

The Constitutionalist

As we assess the significance of the January 6 Capitol assault and prepare for Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, many commentators have compared recent events to Reconstruction, the post-Civil War period when political divisions between North and South were resolved through northern acquiescence to white supremacy, disfranchisement and segregation. Continue reading Lincoln to Biden: Stand Firm, by Frederick E. Hoxie

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Jeffrey Abramson’s follow-up to his prior essay on political resignations

The Constitutionalist

On January 13, I published an essay in these pages (Political Resignations: Comparing the Watergate and Trump Eras), contrasting resignations from the Trump administration to the role political resignations played in toppling Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal. Recent revelations show that the comparison to Watergate was even closer than suspected. Richard Nixon triggered the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973, when he ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire the special prosecutor appointed to investigate the Watergate break-in into the offices of the Democratic National Committee.  Richardson resigned instead, backed up by the resignation of the Deputy Attorney General, … Continue reading Jeffrey Abramson’s follow-up to his prior essay on political resignations

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The Constitution, the Common Good, and the Ambition of Adrian Vermeule, by Sotirios Barber, Stephen Macedo, and James Fleming

The Constitutionalist

Public trust in the U.S. government has declined steadily over the last sixty years, from 73% in 1958 to 17% in 2018 (Pew 12/9/20). Continue reading The Constitution, the Common Good, and the Ambition of Adrian Vermeule, by Sotirios Barber, Stephen Macedo, and James Fleming