Politics
Democrats Rediscover the Rhetoric of ‘Freedom.’ How About Rediscovering the Policies?
As the November 2022 midterms draw near, it seems that Democrats may start to embrace rhetoric championing “freedom” and “liberty” after a long hiatus. After seemingly allowing Republicans to claim the title of the “party of freedom” uncontested, Democrats are starting to readopt the terms that were once derided as right-wing dog whistles in recent […]
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice. Friends, Short Circuit Live is heading to New York City. Please join us on October 26th for a live recording of the Short Circuit podcast focusing on the Second Circuit, featuring Maaren Shah of […]
The Ballad of Rachel Maddow, Eddie Chiles, and J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs
Next week, Alex Wagner takes over the MSNBC slot once held by Rachel Maddow, who now broadcasts only on Monday evenings. (Wagner will handle the other four nights of the week.) Let’s mark the occasion by dusting off the story that Maddow once declared her favorite. It wasn’t a super-serious segment. It’s one of those […]
Stand With Ukraine Flip-Flops
For a high school extracurricular project, my son Sam, with the help of his brother Ben, put together these Stand With Ukraine Flip-Flops, which he’s selling at StandWithUkraineFlipFlops.com. Sam is into zoos (he’s a volunteer Avian Specialist Docent at the L.A. Zoo), so all proceeds will be donated to benefit Ukrainian zoos, which have apparently […]
The Disappearing Differences Between Republicans and Democrats on Federal Family Spending
For a few years, I have sounded the alarm that a growing wave of conservatives are working to make Republicans indistinguishable from Democrats on social spending. Some say that to win elections, Republicans need to pay more attention to families—by which they mean dole out ever more money to families like the Democrats do. Exhibit […]
Former Puerto Rico Governor Latest Official Arrested in DOJ Corruption Crackdown
As reports surfaced of an FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former President Donald Trump, many Americans may have missed reports of an FBI investigation of a different chief executive that went down just a week earlier. Last Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that the FBI had arrested Puerto Rico’s former governor, […]
The Mar-a-Lago Raid Starts Another Cycle in a Partisan Feedback Loop
More reporting on the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club suggests the FBI was after classified documents Trump may have illegally retained. The backstory: Early this year, Trump returned 15 boxes of material he had taken from the White House, after “several months of back and forth between his lawyers and the […]