This begins what I hope is a regular series of columns for my local paper, the Maryville Daily Times. This column appeared on December 8, 2022 (here). Some readers may be surprised to see my name in a byline on this page, as opposed to as the signature on a missive directed to the editor. Over th…
Year: 2022
How LGBTQ ‘Anti-Discrimination’ Laws Threaten Our Liberty
What ever happened to the freedom of association? This essay originally appeared in The Spectator World on December 8, 2022 (here). Thanks to the Tennessee Conservative News (here), Real Clear Policy (here), and the Tennessee Star Report (here)! We have all seen the sign, usually in a mom-and-pop…
Citizens or Subjects?: Unpacking Judicial Supremacy
It is ironic that some historians outside the legal academy provide a clearer perspective regarding the state of constitutional law than most law professors. This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on November 2, 2022 (here). Thanks to Power Line and Instapundit (here). Paul D. Moreno has …
Trouble in Paradise? (Part 16): RINOs and the Establishment
Some people wonder why my wife and I started the Blount County Conservative Coalition (BCCC) 18 months ago. Since the saga relates to the nullification of my election to the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee (SEC), the cancellation of Gary Humble, and the expulsion of Heather F…
The Establishment Strikes Back: Purging the MAGA Agenda in Tennessee
Thanks to Tennessee Conservative News (here) and the Ace of Spades blog (here)! The unexpected election of President Donald Trump in 2016—and the electrifying GOP primary campaign leading up to his nomination—revealed the gulf between the longstanding Republican establishment and the conserva…
The Woke Catechism of Legal Academia
To the consternation of the left, which now dominates legal education, originalism is alive and well—ascendant, in fact. In response, liberals whine and double-down in their overheated denunciations of constitutionalism. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on September 19, 2022 …
Trouble in Paradise? (Part 15): Mr. Smith Tried to Go to Nashville
Isn’t the Republican Party supposed to stand for election integrity? Thanks to Real Clear Policy (here), the Tennessee Conservative News (here), and Power Line! Groucho Marx is reputed to have said that he did not want to belong to any club that would have him as a member. I have the opposi…
Trouble in Paradise? (Part 14): My Write-In Candidacy for the GOP State Executive Committee
How does the local Republican Party in a county that voted for President Trump by a 71% to 27% margin fail to field a candidate for the Tennessee GOP State Executive Committee? Thanks, as always, to the Tennessee Conservative News (here), The Pamphleteer podcast (here), and the Tennessee Star Rep…
Revisiting the Last Frontier
Alaska is a magnificent state. Is its untamed, unspoiled splendor an asset or a defect? This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on July 25, 2022 (here). Thanks to Power Line and Instapundit (here)! I visited Alaska for the first time four years ago and was impressed enough to write an…
The Legal Profession Brooks No Dissent
Lawyers pursuing disfavored causes face retaliation by an increasingly woke guild. This essay originally appeared in American Greatness on June 5, 2022 (here). Thanks to Instapundit (here) and The Federalist (here)! Conflicts and disagreements—inherent in human nature—are resolved by ei…