How Politics Hijacked Nonprofits
Nonprofits have a long and storied history in the United States. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited this country in the 19th century, he intended to study its prisons. Instead, he wrote one of the most perceptive analyses of American political life. Among his many insights was an observation about what we now sometimes call “the third sector.” In […]
Attack, attack, attack
I can recall a textbook narrative from law school lauding a retired professor who returned to successfully teach a 50-minute class to the next generation of students. Donald Trump is almost certainly older than that gentleman and spoke for nearly two hours last night. Famously improvisational, he looked as though he relished every moment and […]
The house always wins
Twenty years ago, I flew up to New York to visit a friend who had tickets to a matchup between the Giants and the former Washington Redskins. We had a great time watching the game, but, as is often the case, the winner was clear before the clock had really run out. I was fascinated […]
The crime against everybody
Democratic systems are terribly vulnerable to fraud. Interest groups can seek concentrated benefits from the political class while the broader public is rationally uninterested. They are uninterested because any particular payoff to a group amounts to little when spread across the entire body of citizens. As a result, there is a constant cycle of advantage-taking […]
The filibuster is failing us
There is a tremendous amount of romance associated with the filibuster. Many fans of old movies recall scenes such as those in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington where Jimmy Stewart’s character (an unlikely appointee meant to go along) takes the floor and refuses to yield it as he attempts to protect a boy’s camp from rapacious developers. […]
The triumph and tragedy of Dick Cheney
Former Vice President Dick Cheney died on Tuesday. He had one of the most consequential political careers in American history marked by spectacular achievements and enormous setbacks. Cheney’s career really began with his association with Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld was a young Republican go-getter who had served in Congress and quickly made his way into administrative […]
A fickle anti-royalism
The first thing to say about No Kings Day is that it is one of the most privileged protests possible relative to its posture. One would expect brave rebels against a dictatorial figure to face the same kind of danger to life, limb, and property the American founders did. That is manifestly not the case […]
A failure to communicate
While an undergraduate at Yale, William F. Buckley, Jr. found an ideological soulmate and debating partner in the red-headed L. Brent Bozell, Jr. from Nebraska. The two were unbeatable in tournaments with Buckley’s devastating wit and Bozell’s earnest oratory. Bozell would eventually become Buckley’s brother-in-law and his co-author on the book McCarthy and His Enemies. He […]
Let a murder remind you
On Aug. 22, young Iryna Zarutska walked on to a light rail train in Charlotte, N.C., and sat down for what would be her last ride. Like so many of us, she disappeared into a cocoon of her earbuds and her phone. Before she could reach her destination and walk off the train, she was […]
The determination of Dr. Dobson
The great evangelist Billy Graham found himself tarnished by the fall of President Richard Nixon and largely decided to avoid politics after Watergate. It was probably the right decision and led to decades of Graham continuing to be one of the most admired men in America and a leading spiritual light for the nation. His […]