In a parallel universe, the United States of America is somewhere still governed under the Articles of Confederation. Here’s what happened in this other United States: To the dismay of Federalists (called “nationalists” or conservatives at the time) the proposed constitution of 1787, which would have replaced the Articles of 1781, was defeated in four crucial state conventions and never became the framework of the American union.The hard political battle pitted radicals (called anti-Federalists) against conservatives and the radicals won, barely. The “United States, assembled in Congress”, remained the political subordinate of the states. Continue Reading »
Mary Ann Glendon wrote nearly a quarter century ago that “a new form of rights talk has come into being” in contemporary America, in which rights are “presented as absolute, individual, and independent of any necessary relation to our responsibilities. Continue Reading »
Few among us concerned for the defense of religious freedom can doubt that these have become dark times indeed. Most recently, arguments have been brought before the Supreme Court—there has been a veritable cascade of briefs—against the government on Obamacare. Many of these have one way . . . . Continue Reading »
Gay marriage, pro or con? That’s one of the basic political debates these days. And yet, the debate as it occurs 99% percent of the time is not about the actual issue before us. Over at NRO, a call by two former RNC operatives Liz Mair and Marco Nunez, for the Republican Party to abandon its . . . . Continue Reading »
At the end of the day, there are three, and only three, types of Democrat Leaders when it comes to the Constitution. There are first, Open Opponents of the Constitution, second, “So-to-Speak” Supporters of the Constitution, and third, Forthright Supporters of the Constitution. By . . . . Continue Reading »
The tension between American democracy, capitalism, and culture is acute—more acute, perhaps, than at any time in our history. Even the best human fruits of this nation’s founding principles are in peril. I mean the principles of natural rights and the internal constitution of checks and . . . . Continue Reading »
Please, please, please, will someone at the next Obama press conference (surely there will be at least one of these before March Madness commences) ask him the following question? Imagine that after careful study a government official — say, the president or one of the party leaders in . . . . Continue Reading »
Via The Arabist , I found this primer on the new Egyptian constitution, by one Zaid Al-Ali at Open Democracy . Very thorough, and plausibly seeking to lay out the good news and the bad, from a broadly liberal perspective. The summation: Altogether, in comparison with Egypt’s constitutional . . . . Continue Reading »
Person One: The U.S. Constitution , the text as a poster board visible but all torn and battered up, and some kind of Obama-branded SHREDDER as a prop. Person Two: The U.S. Economy —here all that’s needed is lots of fake bruises, bleeding, chains, crumpled bills, slow-sickly movements, . . . . Continue Reading »
Scholars we pomocons like, such as Charles Kesler and Jeremy Rabkin, review Obama’s overall pattern of consulting the Constitution when considering action. And the overall pattern is by now clear: He doesn’t. H/T Instapundit. P.S. Anyone read much of the new Kesler book yet? . . . . Continue Reading »
