Category: Comment

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What Causes the Canon to Endure

Charles Zug

While I’m somewhat sympathetic to Greg Weiner’s point in “Endurance and the Canon,” I need to emphasize a point he overlooks, namely what causes “the canon” to endure. Some ideas endure on account of their intellectual merit–i.e., because they have intellectual staying power. Ben’s examples of Thucydides and Toni Morrison’s Beloved are examples of this phenomenon; because these works tackle problems inherent to humanity, people are likely to seek them out as resources for understanding these problems as long as they’re in print. But some ideas stay around, not because they have any ideational value whatsoever, but because historically they benefit a certain part of society at the … Continue reading What Causes the Canon to Endure

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The Western Tradition and Human Freedom

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

Martha Bayles wrote this review of what sounds like a very interesting book, Rescuing Socrates by Roosevelt Montas at Columbia University. Montas apparently shows persuasively the ways in which a thinker like Socrates helped liberate him and educate him beyond his background as a Dominican immigrant fresh to New York City. It led him to Columbia and that led him, ultimately, to become a Professor at Columbia teaching in their Great Books Program. It is insufficiently appreciated that the Western Tradition isn’t simply the preserve of old white men dedicated to the preservation of what’s old merely because it’s what’s … Continue reading The Western Tradition and Human Freedom

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The Vaccination Mandate, the Congressional Statutory Framework, and Presidential Action

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

Although I agree with Greg Weiner’s post in his general point about congressional legislation that is too sweeping in its general point, I don’t think the point applies here. After all, the Fifth Circuit found sufficient distance between OSHA and the vaccination mandate that it put a stay on the Mandate, pending further action by the Court. Of course, the Court could end up allowing the mandate to continue. But, as Weiner notes, there is a significant difference between OSHA’S provision for standards relating to toxic chemicals, “substances or agents that are deemed to be toxic or physically harmful or … Continue reading The Vaccination Mandate, the Congressional Statutory Framework, and Presidential Action

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China’s “Stiff Competition”

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

In a recent press briefing from White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, she said: “I can say and would echo what he said, which is, generally speaking, we’ve made clear our concerns about the military capabilities that the PRC continues to pursue. And we have been consistent in our approach with China: We welcome stiff competition, but we not — we do not want that competition to veer into conflict. And that is certainly what we convey privately as well.” Thinking of China as a “stiff competitor” has already attracted a great deal of criticism. I thought it worth commenting … Continue reading China’s “Stiff Competition”

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Claremont Institute Dissembles 

George Thomas

I agree entirely with Greg Weiner’s post on The Claremont Institute. To follow the Clue analogy, the evidence suggests, contrary to the Claremont Institute’s dissembling statement, that Eastman was doing far more than offering legal advice.  Here’s the memo itself. Maybe it could be read as only offering advice to Vice President Pence on his authority under the 12th Amendment.  But here’s Eastman on Jan 6, where he “demands” that Vice President Pence exercise his constitutional “authority” to pause the counting of the state certified EC votes: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4933578/user-clip-rudy-giuliani-professor-john-eastman Continue reading Claremont Institute Dissembles 

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Politics and Moral Neutrality

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

Just recently I came across this essay connecting Max Weber’s essays “Science as a Vocation” and “Politics as a Vocation” to Trump’s impeachment. According to Zaretsky, civil servants both in Weber’s time and in our own have worked with the “imperative of vocation,” even or especially when, in the words of Weber, “an absolutely immeasurable factor” like the Kaiser in Weber’s time or Trump in our own act unpredictably and without thought. They must be, Zaretsky argues, “devoted to their calling” or their vocation even in the midst of the “absolutely immeasurable factor”of a leader like Trump or the Kaiser. … Continue reading Politics and Moral Neutrality

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The Problem with Presidential Narratives and the Need for Humility

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

As the situation in Afghanistan worsens, the President has continued to maintain that our withdrawal has mostly gone as planned. He has claimed that the significant problems aren’t ours; they are traceable to an Afghan government that wasn’t willing to stand up to the Taliban. Even if this account is correct, it still fails to solve Biden’s difficulties. As we watch the Kabul airport first fill with people, then fill with people on the outside, then fall victim to what was a predictable terrorist attack, it’s hard to believe that this was the plan. Why couldn’t the evacuation of American … Continue reading The Problem with Presidential Narratives and the Need for Humility

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Parliamentarian Autocracy and Congressional Mojo

Charles Zug

Back in June, the Senate Parliamentarian told the U.S. Senate that it lacked the power to pass multiple pieces of legislation through the Budget Reconciliation Process in one year. Instead, Senate Democrats wishing to circumvent the filibuster in order to pass Democratic Party priorities would only get one shot to do so this year. The Reconciliation Process, wrote the Parliamentarian in a 4-page opinion, should only be used “in extraordinary circumstances” and not as a routine procedure. Today, Senate Democrats are once again bellyaching about the possibility that the Parliamentarian will rule against them, this time regarding the debt ceiling. … Continue reading Parliamentarian Autocracy and Congressional Mojo

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August 13: Can Foreigners Become Citizens and Govern?

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

On August 13th, they took up a debate about whether to require four years or seven years of citizenship before someone was eligible to serve in the House of Representatives. Ultimately, they settle on seven years and the Constitution still requires seven years of citizenship before being eligible. But their debate on this question is interesting for what it reveals about the founders’ varying conception of citizenship. Elbridge Gerry voices what we might call the “nativist” worry: “Persons having foreign attachments will be sent among us & insinuated into our councils, in order to be made instruments for their purposes.” … Continue reading August 13: Can Foreigners Become Citizens and Govern?

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August 8th: Morris Redeems Himself

Benjamin A. Kleinerman

Having made the controversial argument the day before that the national vote ought to be restricted to freeholders, Morris makes an argument much more friendly to our ears on the next day. Up until this point, the Convention had mostly danced around the controversial question of slavery. The South would only enter the Union if slavery were secure; the North wanted the South to enter the Union and so it was willing to compromise on the question of slavery. On this day, it seems Morris couldn’t hold it in anymore: “He never would concur in upholding domestic slavery. It was … Continue reading August 8th: Morris Redeems Himself