Feb
5
Q&A Time – Another Bad Idea
February 5, 2010 | 10 Comments
President Obama’s appearance and public Q&A time at a Republican conference last week sparked renewed calls for some kind of regular question and answer session a la the British Parliament. It sure sounds like a nifty idea, and if nothing else it could be endlessly entertaining. Alas, it is a very bad idea. The Prime [...]
Jan
28
The development of the State of the Union
January 28, 2010 | Comments Off
He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; That’s from the US Constitution – Article II, Section 3, and the “he” (damned sexist Framers!) refers to the President of the United States. [...]
Jan
5
Freedom
January 5, 2010 | 2 Comments
It must be a slow news week when Brit Hume’s suggestion that Tiger Woods embrace Christ is one of the big stories. There are a lot of angles to the reaction of Hume’ comments. To me it suggests how sensitive certain subjects are in this country, particularly discussion of religion. It is doubly shocking in [...]
Dec
23
The Framers’ Design is Still Alive
December 23, 2009 | 1 Comment
With the Senate poised to ram through a horrendous, arguably unconstitutional piece of legislation that will do irrevocable harm to our country if eventually signed into law, it might seem a bit odd to muse on the success of Framers’ constitutional design. But when you take a step back, you realize that the intent of [...]
Dec
17
Pope Benedict XVI talks about the Natural Law
December 17, 2009 | Comments Off
Catholic Online reports on Pope Benedict’s Wednesday General Audience. The Pope focused on political philosopher John of Salisbury, in particular his writings on the natural law. The Pope’s message was that the natural law needs to inform the natural law. “The question of the relationship between natural law and positive law, as mediated by equity, [...]
Nov
24
Federalist 22 – Hamilton
November 24, 2009 | Comments Off
Alexander Hamilton continues to examine the deficiencies of the American confederacy in Federalist 22. He begins by noting the problems with regulating commerce under the current system. The want of a power to regulate commerce is by all parties allowed to be of the number. The utility of such a power has been anticipated under the [...]
Nov
18
Federalist 21 – Hamilton
November 18, 2009 | Comments Off
Having explored some of the theoretical and historical problems with confederacies in the general sense, Alexander Hamilton now moves the discussion towards the specific defects of the American confederacy. In Federalist 21, he begins to outline what he sees as the current system’s major flaws. His first topic is the lack of sanction behind the [...]
Nov
10
Federalists 18-20 – Madison (and Hamilton?)
November 10, 2009 | Comments Off
Before looking at Federalists 18, 19, and 20, I note that there’s some dispute about the authorship of these three. Madison is universally credited with being at least the co-author of all three essays, and many sources give sole credit to him. The Benjamin Wright edition that I use lists Madison singly as the author, [...]
Nov
9
On Representation
November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment
So, anything happen this weekend? I guess not – it’s not like the US Congress ever conducts business on the weekends. Oh, I guess there was that vote (or pair of votes). I’m sure Harry Reid is just thrilled. Honestly, I don’t think it’s time to get too worked up. There’s no way this version [...]
Nov
5
Federalist 17 – Hamilton
November 5, 2009 | Comments Off
In Federalist 17, Hamilton discusses the balance of power between national and state governments. He begins by laying out the reasons why people should not fear the augmentation of national power. An objection, of a nature different from that which has been stated and answered, in my last address, may perhaps be likewise urged against [...]
Nov
4
Federalist 16 – Hamilton
November 4, 2009 | Comments Off
Alexander Hamilton continues his categorization of the deficiencies of the confederate system in Federalist number 16 . In this essay he explains why a confederate system cannot truly enforce its own laws, and in fact will descend into anarchy. This exceptionable principle may, as truly as emphatically, be styled the parent of anarchy: It has [...]
Oct
27
Federalist 15 – Hamilton
October 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Alexander Hamilton commences his discussion of the deficiencies of confederacy with Federalist 15. Publius has alluded to this throughout the first 14 papers, but now he undertakes a concerted effort to demonstrate the insufficiency of the confederate form of government. This particular essay is even more polemical than is usual for Hamilton. So convinced is [...]
Oct
22
Federalist 14 – Madison
October 22, 2009 | Comments Off
Madison’s second contribution to the Federalist Papers is a second significant addition to the world of political theory. In it, he expands upon a point made in the tenth paper, and that’s the distinction between a republic and a democracy. It’s a distinction that we in the modern era fail to fully appreciate. Madison’s main [...]
Oct
20
Federalist 12 and 13 – Hamilton
October 20, 2009 | Comments Off
Alexander Hamilton continues his discussion of the commercial advantages of a Federal Union in the next two Federalist Papers. The 12th essay is concerned with the advantage that a consolidated Union will provide in terms of revenue collection. In so doing, Hamilton elaborates on a recurrent theme of the essays, namely that a division of [...]
Oct
15
Federalist 11 – Hamilton
October 15, 2009 | 1 Comment
With the 11th Federalist Paper, Hamilton covers a subject near and dear to his heart: commerce. Hamilton posits that another advantage of Union will be that it will better be able to promote commerce. Hamilton envisions America prospering as a commercial rather than agricultural economic power. In fact it can be argued that this is [...]
Oct
14
Federalist 10 – Madison (part two)
October 14, 2009 | Comments Off
Part one here. Madison returns to the discussion of factions by looking at the second grouping: controlling their effects. If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse [...]
Oct
14
Federalist 10 – Madison (part one)
October 14, 2009 | 1 Comment
We finally arrive at James Madison’s first contribution to the collaborative effort to advance the cause of ratification. Madison’s essay is perhaps – along with the 51st essay in the series - the most well-known of the Federalist Papers. This is a rare occasion where the hype is merited, and in fact the essay might [...]
Oct
7
Federalist 8 – Hamilton
October 7, 2009 | Comments Off
Regular Guy Paul helpfully pointed out that I had somehow skipped over Federalist 8. So excuse me for a moment as we backtrack and take a quick look at this number. Once again the theme here is the inevitable warring that would occur between the states if the Constitution was not ratified. Hamilton’s contention is [...]
Oct
6
Jonah on the lack of conservative intellectualism – “meh”
October 6, 2009 | 2 Comments
That about sums up my feelings as well. Jonah Goldberg has one of the definitive posts that tears down the growing meme that conservatives are suffering through a dearth of intellectual leadership. He first details some of the phony liberal reaction, noting how the left didn’t much care for the previous generation of conservative leaders [...]
Oct
6
Federalist 9 – Hamilton
October 6, 2009 | 2 Comments
In the ninth paper, Alexander Hamilton continues the theme that has been running through much of the early series of papers. Once again, Publius* seeks to celebrate the benefits of a single Union over separate confederacies. In this particular case, Hamilton anticipates the subject matter of Madison’s celebrated tenth paper. Before getting started on the [...]