Category Archives: Politics

Modern v. Classical Liberals

Posted on June 16, 2024 by Joe Benning

“Governments are living things and operate as organic wholes.  Moreover, governments have their natural evolution and are one thing in one age, another in another. The makers of the Constitution constructed the federal government upon a theory of checks and balances … Continue reading →

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Flagged

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Joe Benning

A lot of liberals are up-in-arms (figuratively speaking) about Justice Sam Alito (yet again). They cite 2 related reasons as proximate causes for their angst.  (1) Three years ago, Justice Alito’s wife hung an upside down flag in front of … Continue reading →

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Is Donald J. Trump a Conservative?

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Joe Benning

At the moment former President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald J Trump is the defendant in a books-and-records criminal trial in lower Manhattan. Serious people doubt that the books-and-records charges should ever have been brought, much less blown up … Continue reading →

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Are Liberalism and Progressivism Compatible?

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Joe Benning

Robert Frost , the American poet, once observed that “A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel”. Which brings up an interesting question. Can American liberals differentiate their traditional brand of liberalism from … Continue reading →

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Problem Solving 2024 Style

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Joe Benning

If the proverbial Martian were to land on planet earth and peruse the news he would quickly discover that the United States currently has several severe, possibly existential problems with which it has to deal.  According to the news, the … Continue reading →

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Presidential Immunity? No Thanks.

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Joe Benning

Q: Where in the Constitution is any form of immunity specified.    A: Nowhere So how is it that the Supreme Court is embroiled in a case in which apparently serious people argue that former President Trump is immunized against … Continue reading →

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Trump Strikes Again

Posted on April 26, 2024 by Joe Benning

We are back from Bordeaux and guess who is in the news? Bad ideas never die. They just bide their time.  The latest version of this truism is brought to us, naturally enough, by a Presidential contender. This time around … Continue reading →

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Houston–We Have a Problem

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Joe Benning

Presidential campaigns are rarely about what the job of being president actually entails. The campaign itself is mostly a contest between the two major parties and the respective incentives they face. Note that this process is only remotely connected to … Continue reading →

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It isn’t Over Until the Fat Lady Sings

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Joe Benning

After winning New Hampshire’s Republican primary, Donald Trump put on a characteristic display of magnanimity. He referred to Nikki Haley as “Birdbrain”. He proceeded to follow up by announcing on the comically misnamed “Truth Social” that any future contributors to … Continue reading →

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The Rematch

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Joe Benning

With their respective primary victories in New Hampshire last night, ex President Donald J Trump and current President Joe Biden set the stage for a rematch of their desultory 2020 election contest. Consequently the 2024 campaign will pit two of … Continue reading →

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