There are ten recognized Federal holidays in the United States. I love all of them. As a Christian, I particularly look forward to Christmas and Easter, although the latter isn’t recognized as a Federal holiday. Some would say we should include other religious Read more…
Many Americans marvel at what is Congress’s seeming inability to rise above partisan politics to do the work of the people. Whether failing to pass needed legislation to address genuine problems in our government or mustering the will to implement budgets Read more…
As Veterans Day just happened, it occurs to me that a discussion about the draft—otherwise known as conscription—is in order. I think this is particularly so for two reasons. First, do we have a military—specifically an Army—that is reflective of all of Read more…
As I consider the strife we are witnessing in America today, I am left wondering if we can aspire to the ending passage of President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address of 4 March 1865, only a month before he would be Read more…
The 2016 election was, to state it mildly, a shock to people who believed that Hillary Clinton would easily win and that President Donald Trump had no chance. He won, and Clinton advocates cried foul, citing her popular vote count as Read more…
In his first inaugural address in 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” These words were designed as encourage a nation that had been deeply shaken to its roots as a result Read more…
There has been much discussion in recent years around the role of judges and justices, particular those on the Supreme Court of the U.S. We are seeing that discussion play out vividly in America even today, much of it partisan in Read more…
When Associate Justice Antonin Scalia sat on the Supreme Court, he advocated for an originalist interpretation of the Constitution based on the words that actually appear in it. He was not a proponent of judicial activism, but rather of judicial constraint. Read more…
Last Saturday morning, our yellow Labrador, Sonny the Wonder Dog, went on his last retrieve peacefully at home lying beside me. He had been suffering from severe arthritis in his hind legs and a very bad bowel condition. Through it all, Read more…
There are few judicial principles more vital to the freedom and our republican form of government than this: Jus dicere, et non jus dare, that is “to declare the law, not to make it.” The people who founded America debated this Read more…