Virtue-signaling “pro bono” litigation is today’s “radical chic”; the ruling class can escape the ensuing chaos in their exclusive enclaves. This article originally appeared in the May/June 2022 issue of The American Conservative, as “Lawyers Cause Homelessness” (here). Than…
Year: 2022
The Founders’ Constitution and Its Discontents
Adrian Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism represents his version of the left’s “living Constitution.” Few people will embrace his self-serving theory, which is tailor made to accommodate both his beloved administrative state and integralist moral philosophy—a peculiar combination.…
Scoundrel: How William F. Buckley Learned That Evil Is Real
Even the most sagacious among us can be snookered by manipulative con men. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on April 27, 2022 (here). Thanks to Instapundit (here), Power Line, Real Clear Policy (here), the Leighton Smith Podcast (here), and Real Clear Books (here)! I’m ho…
Review: BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution
This essay originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of Chronicles (here). In 2020, following the death of George Floyd—a drug-addled career criminal-cum-martyr—in Minneapolis, many cities were besieged by destructive riots, under the banner of “Black Lives Matter.” Just as disconcerting …
The Lawyers’ War on Law
This essay originally appeared in the pre-digital magazine The American Enterprise (published by the American Enterprise Institute) in March 2001. Written over 21 years ago in the wake of the 2000 election dispute in Florida, which was resolved in Bush v. Gore, I think my take has held up pretty …
Trouble in Paradise? (Part 13): Four More Years?
Blount County’s establishment expects voters to re-elect the incumbent local officials simply because the incumbents do the establishment’s bidding. But aren’t they supposed to represent YOU? During the 1980 presidential campaign, outsider candidate Ronald Reagan stunned his unprepare…
Who Created the “Diversity” Monster?: How Republican Supreme Court Justices Gave Us Affirmative Action
The U.S. Supreme Court started down the slippery slope of racial preferences in 1978, with baleful consequences. This essay first appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of Chronicles magazine (here). Thanks to Real Clear Policy and Real Clear Books (here)! Scholars increasingly treat the issue of…
Ivy League Justice: The Credentialed Court
On paper, the Justices serving on the U.S. Supreme Court have never been more qualified. Does this make the Court better? Some argue that precisely the opposite is true. Are elite “credentials” overrated? This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty, on March 8, 2022 (here). Thanks to How A…
Redneck Poet: Working Man’s Robert Frost?
Merle Haggard, a country music icon, was emblematic of a tumultuous era in America. He deserves to be remembered. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty, on March 4, 2022 (here). Thanks to Power Line, Real Clear Books (here), Scott Johnson’s Sunday Morning Coming Down (here, he…
Unmasking the Nanny State
Preserving the rule of law sometimes requires judicial intervention to prevent government overreaching. This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on February 23, 2022 (here). Thanks to Power Line, Instapundit (here), the SE Texas Record (here), Real Clear Policy (here), Cafe Hayek (here), an…