Often when politicians take actions to undermine democracy, they loudly proclaim that their actions are necessary to “save democracy.” It reminds me of the Vietnam-era line about destroying a village in order to save it. For example, near the end…
The president of the United States, equal parts senescent and feckless, garners record-shattering low approval ratings seemingly each week. This week, a new Quinnipiac University survey found that a paltry 31 percent of Americans approve of the way Joe Biden…
In just over 7 months, the Democrats will face their constituents in the midterm elections — and the voters are in a surly mood. Most polls suggest this dissatisfaction is about the state of the economy combined with a sense…
Before the advent of Islam, Somalia was a land of demons and giants. There were no mosques back then, no minarets, no Sufi shrines, just scattered limestone cairns, called taallos, and mysterious caves filled with otherworldly depictions of giraffes and…
King Charles ignored constitutional limits on his power and thereby ignited a civil war that cost him his life and put England under a military dictatorship for more than a decade. The profound constitutionalist John Selden reflected on this shortly…
Dylan Matthews, writing in Vox, poses an excellent question: “Can randomly selected citizens govern better than elected officials?” Who knows? Maybe it’s worth a try. Whether you call it sortition or lottocracy, it’s a very old idea, dating back to…
Our Creampuff-in-Chief has done it again. After the disgusting humiliation of Kabul in August, failing to gain concessions from the Iranians on their nuclear program, stirring the fires of inflation, and hopelessly mucking up the war on COVID, Joe Biden…
Joe Biden is holding a virtual “summit for democracy” this week. It is the fulfillment of one of his campaign promises. He has long considered himself a great expert on the subject of democracy, even as he increasingly embraced the…
I spend a great deal of time on the road, which I like to take advantage of by listening to some well-chosen podcasts as well as music, news, and political commentary. One person whom I listen to frequently is the…
