Politics & Power

Some Children Must Be Left Behind

Will raising the legal dropout age teach troubled kids anything? Probably not.

And the Jays Have it (Republican Bunning Hazards the Impolitic)

As one of literary bent and so frequently guilty of casting the charge of a Pox On Both Houses at our besotted political parties, I was impressed that at long last, at least one Republican stalwart stood tall and took a beating in the name of fiscal discipline.

Place, Limits, Liberty (In That Order)

Harvey Mansfield and William Galston disagree about liberty; from the perspective that insists place empowers liberty, Galston has it right.

Perils of the Stationary State

When economic growth finally levels off, what kind of world comes after? Shall we be unchained from the mad rush for money of the last century? Or will other but equally chafing chains weigh us down instead?

Think on These Things: Unexpected Sunshine in Washington

Three years ago, I could not imagine Ron Paul winning the CPAC straw poll. Now he has. The doom and gloom evoked by the rich and powerful are realities in a fallen world, but we should not fail to think about the good.

Finger on the Scale

The American economy has been marked by a tremendous concentration of private power over the past 50 years. The only question is not whether this should be reversed, but how it should be done.

Constitutional Kookiness

For years, two-faced Republican demagogues have served up phony-baloney about how much they love little country churches, Norman Rockwell paintings, and old-fashioned American life, even while they were simultaneously encouraging government-subsidized corporations to steamroll Mom & Pop businesses and turn main streets into chain-store strip-malls.

Civic Friendship

Is there a place for friendship in politics? According to ancient theory - one that continued well into modern times - not only should friendship be a main aim of politics, but without that aim, a distinctly modern form of tyranny is the likely result.

Newburgh and “President’s Day”

We have a Constitution and separation of powers and at least the idea of limited government because of the character of George Washington. Don’t think of Monday as “President’s Day.”

Obama Agonistes

The President who promised change could not even change the Chairman, not even one who had failed so badly, and who continues to fail.