Liberalism as an idea has long run up against established interests. Its great strength is that it has been able either to thwart or win them over with the promise of economic dynamism - that the power of freed markets would generate such wealth as to overcome any inconvenience caused
The Quasi-Judicial Immigration system presents a threat to all Americans’ rights In a nation of laws, the names of things and their precise definitions take on increasing importance and require increasing scrutiny. Theorists have long noted how words like ‘treason’ or ‘terrorism’ had a tendency to expand in definition so
Today, nobody would doubt the contribution of the Irish to American history, culture, or economics. But as Douglass was writing, the Irish would have appeared every bit the ‘culturally incompatible’ immigrants Vance is warning Germany about.
Perhaps ironically, given the devotion of this newsletter to Liberalism, I find myself thinking a great deal about tradition and what - at its best - it can offer, in times of crisis perhaps more than ever. And as I write, the most salient tradition is that of Ash Wednesday,
In the wake of an atrocity - or a series of them, as with those that followed the recent Hamas raid into Israel - it is easy to be swept up in a righteous fervor for ‘justice’ that turns out to be nothing more than vengeance. The famous “9/12”
With the beginning of a new administration, it is natural that the focus is on what changes should be expected - and President Trump's raft of executive orders, often directly overturning those of his predecessor, has certainly strengthened that focus. However, a hostility to trade is a longer-term
As President Trump takes office for the second time, all indications are that he will attempt to interpret the US constitution to deny citizenship to children born in the US on the basis of their parents' relationship to the Federal Government. While this is a substantial break with US
The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel - and the brutal retaliation that has followed - prompted a wave of predictions from pundits about what would happen in the region. Most agreed that major changes were coming to Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and likely Lebanon. What almost no
For many businesses, this time of year is a sort of limbo, where weeks are short and interrupted by holidays, with employees traveling, watching over vacationing kids, or nursing the aftereffects of holiday cheer. For the judiciary and the White House, however, this is a busy season indeed - the
Democrats reeling from their narrow electoral loss in 2024 have turned to many explanations, and also point to some worrying trends. The rising Latino share of the nation's voting population has long been a beacon of hope for the future of the party, offering a future where a
Perhaps against better judgement, particularly given the poor performance of incumbents worldwide of late, many liberals went into the 2024 election cautiously optimistic, hoping that a mentally declining Trump and his fanbase of increasingly open racists would finally turn off the American population once and for all. The next day