or What is the Hidden Agenda for Proponents of Growth in Blount County? The unelected “economic development” czars seek to “fix” Blount County by changing its demographic profile. The existing population mix—that means you–isn’t good enough. Residents foolishly “happy with the…
Year: 2021
Holiday Reading Suggestions
This is likely my last post for the year. Merry Christmas! Thanks to Power Line, and Real Clear Books (here)! My editors at Law & Liberty invited some contributors to make suggestions for holiday reading. Enjoy!
Ad Hoc Decision-making Produces Poor Land Use Regulation
But it invites favoritism, promotes cronyism, and rewards insiders. I appeared at the Maryville City Council meeting last night and made these remarks: I’d like to comment on a subdivision project recently approved by the Maryville Planning Commission. The project, to be built on a 22-acre parc…
Do Parents Have Rights?
School boards in the culture war: progressive advocates falsely cry wolf to thwart reform. This essay originally appeared in American Greatness on October 31, 2021 (here). Thanks to Instapundit (here), Tennessee Conservative News (here), the SE Texas Record (here), Legal Insurrection (here), the …
Is History for Sale?
He who pays the piper, calls the tune. The same is apparently true for benefactors of historical sites. Radical leftists such as Robin DiAngelo risibly contend that “American wealth was built on the labor of kidnapped and enslaved Africans and their descendants.” They likewise contend…
Trouble in Paradise? (Part 10)
The Future of Blount County: Further Thoughts on Growth, Land Use, and the Role of Sewer Connections The recent controversy in Blount County regarding proposed subdivisions at Pate Farm and Best Farm focused public attention on the topic of managing the area’s future growth. According to the 20…
California and Texas: The Blue and the Red?
Sibling Rivalry, Competing Archetypes, or False Dichotomy? When comparing California and Texas, the only criterion that matters is how people are voting with their feet. California loses decisively, but some academics insist otherwise. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on Septem…
Kamala Harris and Me
My feature-length 2016 profile of Kamala Harris in City Journal, entitled “The Next Obama,” was written while she was still Attorney General of California, running for the U.S. Senate. That piece has proven to be prescient, although I must give credit to City Journal editor Brian Ande…
Frankenstein’s Monster (BLM) Terrorizes the Village
Boomers (most of whom who never read Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel) remember the 1931 movie version of Frankenstein, famously starring Boris Karloff. Back in the day, when Marvel was a comic book brand rather than a movie franchise, and before special effects replaced plot lines and characters in c…
The ABA’s Long March Continues
State supreme courts seem content to allow a leftist cartel to impose ideological conformity on America’s law schools. This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on August 24, 2021 (here). Thanks to Power Line, Instapundit (here), SE Texas Record (here), Real Clear Policy, and TaxProf B…