The reactions to the US pullout from Afghanistan have been remarkable. No nation handles defeat particularly well, and after 20 years of futile combat and endless lies by four different administrations, the US was not at all prepared for the realities we faced. As so often happens in human affairs…

For over 200 years the Federalist papers have been an important tool for legal scholars studying the Constitution and the thinking of the authors at the time of its writing. These “papers” were essentially “op-eds” published in various venues, used by the writers of the Constitution to sell the value…

Minimum Wages are Fuel that Drives the Economy With momentum building to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00, the ritualized debate about the wisdom of that move has begun once again. The posturing and framing come instantly to those who’ve been through the process in the past…

On Sunday, October 25, 2020 the White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, announced the administration was throwing in the towel on our national efforts to control Covid19. The stated reason? “Because it’s a contagious virus.” Oh, and because we can’t expect people to wear masks in a free society…

One of the topics we’ll start hearing a lot more about in the months ahead is the need to “rein in spending on entitlements.” You’ll hear many arguments about the percent of the budget taken up by entitlements, blended with a GOP chorus on the existential threat of the budget…

For many people the battle against COVID19 has been transformed from a public health crisis into a political freedom crisis. It’s a well understood pattern for certain factions. Once the battle cry of “Freedom!” has been sounded rational discourse ceases, the tribe rallies, guns are drawn and anyone not in…

In 2019 we as a nation took a trillion dollars out to the parking lot and set it on fire. We will be doing the same if not more in 2020. We could have used that to pay down student debt, begin converting to a fully renewable energy supply or…

China will dominate the 21st century to the same degree the US dominated the 20th century. That may seem unclear or debatable to the casual observer, but for those of us deep in the process it’s a near certainty. That global leadership transition is both a huge opportunity and challenge…

Immediately after the first 2020 Presidential Debate, most of the country talked about what a horrorshow that became. Trump, of course, was swaggering around talking about how much fun it was to urinate all over the very notion of democratic engagement. Any and all attempts by Biden and the moderator…