Canadian Hijinks: Prorogue Madness
Having spent a good deal of my life exploring problems with the U.S. Constitution, I have a generally high tolerance level for governmental and constitutional confusions. The current mess in…
Read MoreThe 44th President, or the 45th?
When Barack Obama takes the oath of office, he will be acclaimed as our 44th president, but that calculation omits a true footnote in history, the one-day presidency of David…
Read MoreAmerica's Attic, Open Again
Doing our bit to keep the country in recession, we passed up the sales on Black Friday to check out the renovated Smithsonian Museum of American History. The museum, which…
Read MoreHistory on the (European) Silver Screen
For the last three weeks, some of the really interesting films coming out of Europe have been playing in Silver Spring, at the amazing AFI Silver, which brings the magic…
Read MoreThe Other Hillary Story
Historians are glowing over the reports that the president-elect is considering the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. By reaching out to his toughest adversary for the Democratic…
Read MoreThe Senate as a Model of Government
I am about to write a sentence I never expected to write. Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist wrote an interesting piece the other day. Former Republican Senate Majority Leader…
Read MoreThe Future of Books
The settlement of two lawsuits last week — between publishers and Google, and between authors and Google — marked a landmark success for copyright holders and a look at part…
Read MoreRemember the First Time
As we set off to elect a new president, I offer a quick reminder of how strange (by today’s standards) was the first presidential election in 1788. — There were…
Read MoreThe Election: Time to Use FDR's Closing Argument?
Sen. Barack Obama has bought the same 30 minutes on four television networks on Wednesday night to make his “closing argument” to the electorate, six days before voting day. I…
Read MoreSeventeen Uighurs at Guantanamo
In the long, tragic story of this country’s mismanagement of the prisoners held at Guantanamo, the story of 17 Uighurs (pronounced “wee-grrs”) stands out. Imprisoned for seven years and counting,…
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