Amendment Fetish: The Repeal Amendment
While proclaiming undying fealty to the Constitution, the Tea Party movement and its allies are touting a hot new amendment to that otherwise perfect document, which goes by the oxymoronic…
Read MoreAmendment Fetish: The Seventeenth Amendment
Adopted in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment changed the way American choose their senators. Until then, each state legislature selected that state’s two senators for six-year terms. After 1913, the voters…
Read MoreThe Amendment Fetish: The Problem of the States
The swelling Tea Party movement embodies a fascinating contradiction. Its leaders profess a near-religious awe for the U.S. Constitution. This has led to stunts like the reading of the Constitution on…
Read MoreOpportunity Knocks, Founders Style
The recession may be over! Openings available in Philadelphia for Founding Father impersonators! (Thanks to fellow blogger at Northwest History, for highlighting this howler): Founding Father Performers, Historic Philadelphia, PA…
Read MoreRejecting The "Gretna Defense"
I usually root for the defense, especially in an impeachment case, since I lost one of those 21 years ago. (I represented Judge Walter L. Nixon, Jr. of Mississippi.) But…
Read MoreAaron Burr Leaves the Senate
The Washington Post ran a piece on Saturday about how current senators ignore the deeply-felt farewell addresses of their departing colleagues. Having just completed my manuscript about Aaron Burr’s Western expedition, which…
Read MoreConan Doyle and the Tax Man
I’m thoroughly enjoying a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, by Dan Stashower: Teller of Tales. Stashower reveals the source of Holmes’ uncanny ability to deduce a person’s biography in the…
Read MoreWashington Independent Review of Books
On Saturday morning, December 4, you can join an effort to help preserve and extend the culture of books and reading. We will hold an organizational meeting at 9:30 a.m.…
Read MoreProfessor Wood Challenges His Colleagues
In his rave review of the new biography of George Washington by Ron Chernow, Gordon Wood, now an emeritus professor at Brown University, gives (polite) vent to his frustration with…
Read More"The Summer of 1787" and the Middle Kingdom
The capitalist tilt in China continues! ANA Beijing has agreed to publish The Summer of 1787 in a Chinese language edition. Though I am optimistic that this development presages a…
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