We have been warned both by Nate Silver and by the Washington Post that there is a possibility of an electoral tie with each side getting 269 electoral votes. How did we end up with that possibility? How did we end […]
Politics
Does Mitt Romney Have Status Guilt?
I have here a transcript of the controversial Mitt Romney ‘47%’ speech to his donors in Boca Raton last May. It strikes me as a bit manipulative that Mother Jones waited three months to release it. Apart from a few […]
Tea Party Advocates Big Government?
Because the quote I want to use is from a comment on Lisa Hymas’ post at Grist.org that is way down toward the bottom, and because I mainly want to respond to that comment, I will quote it here in […]
Politician Speak with Forked Tongue: Or, The Electorate and The Donorate
Peter Beinart in the Daily Beast speaks of the desirability of having the press crash fundraisers. In today’s American political world, people seeking elected offices have two audiences, the electorate and the donorate; and in many ways, the donorate [or, […]
Immigration Policy: Offending Everyone II: Whither Evangelicals?
If immigration is a ‘social issue,’ it is one that cuts very differently from the traditional social issues of abortion, euthanasia, and gender. And an anti-immigrant stance alienates a whole different set of people than conservatism on moral issues does. […]
RIP Thomas Fuentes, 1948-2012
Thomas Alexander Fuentes, long time Director of Communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, and also Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, died in May 2012. People had actually expected him to die the previous fall, but […]
Why Land Use is One of the First Liberties
[Note: This post is taken from a short address I made to legislators in Sacramento on April 16, 2012.] I was first politicized by this issue perhaps 33 years ago, when an attempt was made to run the Orange County […]
Sign the Petition and Save the Fire Rings!!
The latest local government outrage is the attempt of the Newport Beach City Council to tear out the fire rings at Big Corona and other places. Fortunately, they have to seek the approval of the Coastal Commission to do this. […]
SAUCE FOR THE CHRISTIAN GOOSE, SAUCE FOR THE MUSLIM GANDER?
Recently it was revealed in a column by Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish liberal Muslim, that Newt Gingrich is a fan of none other than Mustafa Kemal Atatuerk. Say what? Kemal Atatuerk was one of the most radical secularists of the […]
PRIVACY, PROPERTY, AND THE POWER OF IMPOSING CONDITIONS
In this link we read that organizations are demanding disclosure of Facebook passwords as a condition of employment, or of being allowed to play on a college athletic team. Conservatives, especially of the more libertarian variety, have often displayed a […]