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
The riot at the Capitol, on January 6, 2020, caught me, like many, by surprise. At first, the day’s protests seemed like a Felliniesque finale to Trump’s surreal presidency and farcical “Stop the Steal” push. Continue reading American Barbarism
The recent insurrectionary riot at the Capitol has elicited dire warnings that our democracy is in peril. Continue reading Exorcising the Mobocratic Spirit, by Matthew S. Brogdon
Joe Biden’s call for an end to America’s “uncivil wars” rests on an irony. The foremost task he has chosen as president is to unify the nation. Continue reading We Need a Memorably Forgettable President
Retiring Representative Bill Flores (TX-17) recently mailed my family a farewell message, presenting highlights of his work in DC. Both he and my new Representative Pete Sessions were and are very ordinary members of the Republican House Conference. Continue reading From Insincere Voting to Insurrection, by Anthony L. Ives
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
The issues many are raising about the power of Facebook, Twitter, and Big Tech in general are a direct result of the way we understand public and private actors in the United States. Continue reading Is the First Amendment Under Attack?, by Christina Bambrick
Donald Trump was the worst president in the history of the republic. Continue reading An Impeachment Trial Risks Too Much to Make a Legal Point That Will Be Undermined Anyway by Trump’s Acquittal, by Jeffrey C. Isaac
Wednesday January 6 represented a new low in the annals of American democracy. Continue reading Our Augustinian Moment?, by Steven B. Smith
There is a movement afoot, #Disrupt Texts, that would like to “disrupt” or demote Shakespeare in the curriculum in American schools. Continue reading The Universal Utility of Shakespeare’s Teaching on Tyranny, by Carol McNamara
