The Empire of Contention
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 5th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
The Empire of Contention
Robert Samuelson, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — I am reading historian Gordon Wood’s splendid “Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815.” It is an ideal companion for this July 4th weekend because it reminds us of the great continuities in our politics and national condition. Dynamic social and economic change, concern for the middle class, poisonous politics, bad policies, flawed leaders — they were all there two centuries ago, just as now. There’s a lesson here, though perhaps not the one you suspect. Dynamic change? In 1800, the 5.3 million Americans (nearly a fifth were slaves) had increased by more…
It’s Not Surprising More Americans Believe Freedom Is Overrated
David Harsanyi, RealClearPolitics
A new Gallup poll finds that fewer Americans are satisfied with the freedom in their lives compared with seven years ago — dropping 12 percentage points, from 91 percent in 2006 to 79 percent in 2013. During that same time, the percentage of Americans dissatisfied with the freedoms available in their lives more than doubled, from 9 percent to 21 percent. The United States now sits in 36th place among the world in our admiration of the idea of freedom. It’s fair to mention that the definition of “freedom” has become increasingly pliable. (It is, for example, regularly argued that one person’s…
The Method & Madness of Those Pesky Fundraising Emails
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics
The subject lines on the emails read like they could have been sent by exes, stalkers — or cultists awaiting the Apocalypse. “Throw in the towel,” says one. “Kiss all hope good bye,” reads another. A third simply says, “Doomed.” At the other end of the emotional spectrum, another evokes the enthusiasm and encouragement a fifth-grade teacher might offer an earnest student: “Awesome.” These are not blasts from the past or rants from predictors of Armageddon, however. They are political fundraising pitches. To the list of “death and…
