A Constitution free of slavery A great many American historians, it seems to me, have accepted that the many compromises made to create an acceptable constitution were, however distasteful, necessary. Most unfortunate among these, so the narrative goes, were the bargains struck over the issue of slavery. While unproductive to consider even the possibility of nine …
Nullification, Nigerian Princes and other scams Nope, the government simply can’t always do a job better than the diligent citizen when it comes to protection from harm or fraud. Take for example the ubiquitous e-mail scams sent by seemingly generous, Nigerian Princes who need your help claiming millions. The government can’t be expected to stop …
The Roberts Supreme Court Pool sharks are portrayed on film much more often than Chief Justices. Perhaps the game of chance involving billiard balls is more familiar to the general public than legal concepts described in Latin. For my money, I’d cast Jackie Gleason to play Chief Justice John Roberts for the same reasons Robert …
Sputnik moments On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first manned space satellite, Sputnik 1. Though then President Dwight Eisenhower knew well in advance of the impending event, his calculations as to the American public’s response to Sputnik proved greatly underestimated. The sense of vulnerability felt by a majority of Americans prompted a …