We concocted the term “lex obscura” (law in a darkened enclosure) to describe the distance a word or term may have traveled or matured from creation to contemporary usage. In the fallout from hundreds of pieces of legislation introduced across… Read More ›
CIVIL RIGHTS
Two May Not Be Better than One
A simple Google search inquiring “why do US state legislatures have two chambers” returns no sources providing convincing, rational reasons. Rather, reviewing a number of the results, one hears the words from grammar and high school civics course resonating that… Read More ›
Women Change Power in Political Climate
By Frank Blechman It is in the nature of any sizable change that it is hard to see it while it is ongoing. Some people foresee something and think they know the future for sure; others deny change, even as… Read More ›
Tone Deaf in a Cone of Silence
Despite a national civil war and a violent attack upon the 2020 presidential election results, neither major American political party nor their leaderships has undertaken steps toward creating channels for an improved and effective process of dialogue between elected officials… Read More ›
Carefully Taught
The music and lyrics from South Pacific (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1949 stage classic and later a hit film) occasionally resonate in the current discourse concerning racial and ethnic relations. One tune, You Have to Be Carefully Taught, is preceded by… Read More ›
Tangled Up in Blue
Book Review by Frank Blechman Rosa Brooks’ new book, Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City, does not have all the answers about how to improve policing or police. Maybe, it doesn’t have any. It is, however, an honest,… Read More ›
Statehood for DC: Not a Good Idea
Since the Democrats captured a one-VP-vote majority in the United States Senate, a variant strain of Potomac fever has emerged infecting many DMV residents, pundits, and commentators. The fever has been incubated and accelerated, in part, as HR 1 as… Read More ›
Around the Novahood
LOCAL BRAGS OF JAN 6 CAPITOL ATTACK A Winchester man who admitted that he and his cousin were inside the Capitol on Jan. 6th stated that they got a handshake from a Capitol officer, who told them, “It’s your house… Read More ›