SCOTUS employs the dodge of “political question” when it decides not to decide an issue presented to it. Of late, the murky mask has been called into play on several occasions involving voting rights. But SCOTUS will decide on voting… Read More ›
National
The Siege of Castle SCOTUS
In his two terms as President [1953-1961], Dwight Eisenhower appointed five justices to SCOTUS, notable among them Earl Warren, former Governor of California, and William Brennan. All were chosen, as historians note, more for political considerations than judicial philosophy or… Read More ›
Socialism Is All Around Us
At a rally in Iowa on October 9, 2018, President Trump officially denounced his political opposition as seeking to “impose socialism,” among other unpardonable offenses, against the Republican order. Who is behind this scheme? They are candidates for elected office… Read More ›
MEET A VIRGINIAN: Pocahontas
Pocahontas. The name resonates to–what? Mystery? History? John Rolfe? Disney? Elizabeth Warren? Born in Werowocomoco, Virginia, about 1596 as Matoaka and also known as Amonute, Pocohontas was a Native American known for her association with the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia…. Read More ›
OTHER VOICES: Repeal the Second Amendment
Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country.… These demonstration demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to… Read More ›
Morality as Voting Qualification
It must be admitted that the right wing often crafts arguments that are persuasive, however contrary to common sense or democratic values. In the quiet of Falls Church, an organization called the Center for Equal Opportunity [CEO] generates propaganda for… Read More ›
Noblesse Oblige May Hamper Resolution of Employee Dispute
It is not a stretch to assert that a hallmark of a society’s progress in “promot[ing] the general welfare” can be seen in its efforts to afford dignity to citizens with physical and mental disabilities. On July 26, 1990, the… Read More ›
Constitutional Anachronism Frustrates Popular Voting
In the first presidential election, in 1788–89, the Virginian, George Washington, received all 69 electoral votes and 43,782 popular votes from white male property owners over the age of 21. The census of 1790 reported that the total population of… Read More ›
Gobsmacked!
Kablang! Strobe Flash! SWAT assault? No, it’s a New York Times OpEd piece entitled “The Myth of Watergate Bipartisanship.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/opinion/watergate-republican-party.html] Occasionally, one comes across a revelation that produces the sensation of being gobsmacked, literally astounded, in Brit speak. Often, the experience… Read More ›
Blackwhite Bellyfeel Duckspeak Causes Unpersons
Published in 1949, George Orwell’s 1984 depicted a world in perpetual war with authoritarian regimes seeking to normalize populations through thought control, especially via language called Newspeak. Occasionally, even in 2018, one may experience the syntax of Newspeak, which was… Read More ›