“Privilege” could be a useful concept, but with the way it’s used in modern discourse it’s just not. At its base, “privilege” is a really simple concept. It just means “stuff that one group has which another group doesn’t”. Simple.…
Background: “Systemic Racism” Is A Distraction
This post follows Background: You Are Responsible For Your Own Actions. They’re part of a series trying to set down some background philosophical stances that come into play when I think about America’s culture war issues. First let’s define a…
Background: You Are Responsible For Your Own Actions
I want to write about a few things like the slavery reparations movement, “critical race theory”, and USDA grants being prioritized for racial minority farmers all of which I think are wrong, but it can get complicated and there are…
Political Party Time: Ezra Klein Is Wrong About A Thing
It’s not really surprising that I’d think that, mind; I see Klein as kind of a squishy centrist’s idea of what a liberal firebrand looks like so I often think he’s wrong about things. This time he’s wrong about something…
No One Thinks You’re Objective: Just Answer The Damn Questions
No one is a completely objective conduit of a judicial philosophy and the law. Not least because judicial philosophies are subjective positions. Declaring a judicial philosophy, “originalism” for example, is declaring a subjective position. And there’s no value to espousing…
Hate: Not Good, Not Fun, But Legal
Having Freedom of Conscience means the State cannot outlaw Hate Crimes, because it cannot make law based on motivations. Otherwise, the State gets into the business of determining what motivations are acceptible. And frankly no State can be trusted with…
You Should Read This: Authoritarian Nightmare
Back in February I posted You Need To Read This: The Authoritarians, where I suggested that book as absolutely necessary to understanding politics in the U.S. today. Today, I think you should read Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers. This…
Sovereign Immunity: Bad Thinking Leads To Bad Law
We’re starting to see a rise in use of the phrase “sovereign immunity” over the past few days, since Attorney General Barr decided to try to use it to make a defamation case against Trump go away. Really; that’s not…
Lowe’s And SARS-Cov-2: Good Policy, Bad Follow-through
So I was just at the local Lowe’s, because staying properly isolated during a pandemic involves a surprising number of trips to the hardware store on account of all the home-based projects that I’m getting done this summer, and I…
Executive Oversight: Gonna Keep Bangin’ That Drum
I’ve been on about this since one of the first posts on this blog (Failed Constitution Check: Executive Oversight): The United States has no effective oversight of the Executive branch. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Witness the ongoing festival of Hatch…