You may know that I am a free-market fundamentalist and a social moderate with conservative sympathies, and a Trump supporter to boot, so you may be surprised to hear that I was genuinely disappointed and demoralized when, first, Joe Biden […]
Republicans
Which the Ideology, and Which the Coalition?
The definitions of ‘Republican’ and ‘Democrat’, and even ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’, seem to dance in circles. Even the nature of the parties shifts over time. One is an ideology, the other a coalition, they say. But even that fact tends […]
The Adams Map: A Different Spectrum, A Challenge That Still Speaks to Us
The little known [in the States] Canadian sociologist Michael Adams has suggested a new classification of American values, in terms of a four-way box. The culture wars of the era after Nixon and before Trump were primarily between the Status […]
Trump’s One Moral Conviction: The Deal
It’s often said that our President, Donald Trump, is a man of no moral convictions – except for those related to his own power and ego. I would quite agree that he seems to have no religion or philosophy. But […]
I Became a “Decline to State”
Nine years ago I became a nominal Democrat, a DINO [Democrat in name only] as I called it. I did so because it seemed to me at the time that the Republican party was being taken over by a group […]
Tim Draper’s Latest ‘Three Californias’ Plan is not Acceptable
Tim Draper, the Silicon Valley tycoon who gave us the ‘Six Californias’ plan a couple of years ago, has come up now with a ‘Three Californias’ plan. It is not acceptable in its current form. The main point of dividing […]
Richard Nixon: A Precedent for Donald Trump?
It occurred to me that a possible precedent for Donald Trump might be none other than Richard Nixon. Now I think that Nixon was a far more intelligent man than Trump, and, for all his sins, a person of superior […]
Now, Even Apartment Dwellers are Getting Choosy about their Neighbors
It has been known for a long time that homeowners have wanted to control who their neighbors are. In the past it was race; now it is for income and for how they might use their property, and often for […]
Why Republicans Are Not Always Reliable Defenders of Economic Liberty
As an activist against ‘redevelopment,’ I often wondered why Republicans, who posture themselves as the party of ‘small government’ or ‘limited government,’ were so hard to convince to repeal redevelopment. Josh Barro, a clever columnist for the New York Times, […]
A Strategic Political Realignment for Evangelicals?
Darryl Hart, of Hillsdale College, in these two links (From Culture to Party Wars? and Abandon the GOP, Join the Democratic Party) proposes that evangelicals, probably soon to be rejected by Republicans, could consider joining the Democratic party to evangelize […]