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The Original Construction and Intent

According to Webster,  conservative can be defined as: tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : traditional

I start with that definition because a few political colleagues have (gently) called me out for flipping back and forth between using the terms “conservative” and “right wing” to describe the faction of the right wing led by Republican, pro-corporate, anti-regulation, small government elites. They point to this faction’s participation in fomenting a backlash against civil rights laws and attacks on Roe v. Wade as indications that they’re radicals, not conservative; not “disposed to maintain[ing] existing views.”

I concede that … Read more “The Original Construction and Intent”

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Constitutional Doesn’t Mean “Good”

When the news cycle lit up with stories about the SCOTUS rulings on Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and the Affordable Care Act, I found myself scratching my head. To hear liberal pundits talk about those rulings, you’d think that the Constitution is, objectively speaking, the gold standard, hell, the only standard, of democracy and good in America.

I get it when law makers weigh everything, ultimately, against the Constitution. Their job, after all, is to protect the Constitution and make and enforce laws based on constitutional principles. But news makers’ uncritical commentary on the Constitution is more troubling. It … Read more “Constitutional Doesn’t Mean “Good””