In March 1919 (Schenck v. US), Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes penned the oft-quoted phrase certifying that “falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic” was speech that Congress could prohibit and prosecute offenders. The defendant Schenck… Read More ›
Issues
How Was the Social Contract Broken?
Editor’s Note: New York Times book review of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again, by Robert D. Putnam with Shaylyn Romney Garrett, review published December 13, 2020. Occasionally, a well… Read More ›
Virginia Voices on the 2020 Election
The defiance, disbelief, and remedy for the 2020 election results voiced across the nation are stunning. From baseless allegations of fraud to hoarse cries for martial law, voices of folks from the Old Dominion match those in other corners. In… Read More ›
On Being Governed
There are other dates in history that live in infamy. Exactly 160 years ago yesterday, on December 20, 1860, South Carolina’s legislature voted to withdraw from the Union known as the United States. That Union had been enshrined in a… Read More ›
Unpacking Supreme Court Gridlock
By Andrew Scalise One might expect that the entire country grieved on the evening of September 18 with news of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but perhaps the only thing sadder than learning of her death… Read More ›
Around the Novahood
A LOVING CHANGE After narrowing down the list of possible new names for Lee Highway, an Arlington task force has settled on its recommendation: Mildred and Richard Loving Avenue. Presently named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the group said… Read More ›
Elections Needed; Votes, Not So Much
Editors’ Note: Reposted from The Washington Post, December 12, 2020. For VoxFairfax reviews of Timothy Snyder’s books, see https://wp.me/p9wDCF-6s, https://wp.me/p9wDCF-17f, and https://wp.me/p9wDCF-1D1. By Timothy Snyder Twenty-first century authoritarians are against counting votes, but they legitimate themselves through elections. They don’t seem… Read More ›
Republican Rapture
Michael Steele, former RNC chair and now an MSNBC political commentator and staunch anti-Trumper, in a recent interview observed that Virginia was a bellwether model of the wave of political changes occurring in southern states such as North Carolina, South… Read More ›