Steven Spielberg’s epic movie Lincoln is truly a masterpiece. As an historical drama it portrays Lincoln in the final months of his life and the final months of the Civil War. More than anything, it shows Lincoln attempting – against all odds – to pass the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. Continue reading
Lincoln
Irresponsible Government
It is certainly no longer news that our elected representatives rarely read the laws they pass, let alone think through the possible applications and implications of those laws before casting their votes. Continue reading
Bring Back Capital!
A great deal of putative middle-class wealth has evaporated in the current financial crisis. Unless you cashed out and put the money in precious metals or in the mattress before the current financial crisis began, it is gone forever. As for what remains, we are in the process of being further subordinated to huge commercial interests, and are already locked in to a severely declining standard of living. Continue reading
Political Lies and Unction
In his remarks upon signing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010, President Obama said that “the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes.” This was one of the most quoted sound bites in main stream media accounts of the passage of this historic legislation, and rightly so. What better statement from the speech so forcefully and unconditionally conveys Obama’s promise of Hope and Change? Continue reading
Is a liberal curriculum a mistake?
One month ago, I interviewed for a teaching position at a small private school. The school was quite rightly proud of their high standards. Their students learned what was, in many ways, a classical curriculum. In addition to English, all students learned Latin and Greek, as well as one modern language. Continue reading
The State and Piracy
It seems that piracy has, as it did a couple centuries ago, surfaced once again near the top of the official “things to fear” list. Admittedly, I’m a bit late — as I write, it is being replaced by flu. It’s always important, not just to keep the population in a state of fear, but to keep changing the items to be feared. This way, people will not fix their fear on a particular item, and then relax when that item is no longer reported. The goal is to keep us in a constant state of fear and dependence. Continue reading
Pity Poor America: Obama, Romney, and Foreign Policy
A Romney-Obama foreign-policy debate again showed Americans that both political parties mean to maintain the lie that has kept the United States losing the war al-Qaeda and its allies declared on us in 1996. Continue reading
What a Bunch of Idiots
I am never disappointed in the unadulterated stupidity of our “elected” officials.
If you will recall all the way back to November of 2006 the United States held an election. It made all the papers. The People spoke more clearly than ever in voting in a Democratic congress with a clear mandate to end the war in Iraq and get out. Continue reading