Am. History & Culture
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More on Jacksonians and Whigs
If Jefferson and Jackson saw political life as a dark struggle of "haves" and "have-nots", Lincoln and the Whigs saw the Democrats–Jeffersonian, Jacksonian, and Douglasite alike–as an irrational and power-hungry elite, as the real "haves" trying to play the "have-nots" off against the bourgeois "have-somes" in order to lock American politics into a static system
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Quote of the Day: Henry Adams
Between the slave power and states' rights there was no necessary connection. The slave power, when in control, was a centralizing influence, and all the most considerable encroachments on states' rights were its acts. The acquisition and admission of Louisiana; the Embargo; the War of 1812; the annexation of Texas "by joint resolution" [rather than
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Quote of the Day: Tom Frank
…let us pause to contemplate what appears to be the epic dimwittedness on the other side of the battlefield–the years of folly that have allowed the Democrats to wander blithely into the same old snare again and again. The laissez-faire system has just finished giving us a convincing demonstration of its viciousness, but the party
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The Contemporary Crisis in Whiggery
Let's talk about Whigs. When I use the term, I'm concerned more about a mentality or a kind of values constellation than I am about the specific historical Whig Party in Britain and in America. My goal here is to trace the changing party affiliation of the Whig mentality in America to the present day.
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Mythological Thinking
In a debate for the hearts and minds of the American people, Ron Paul will defeat Peter Orszag every time. Michale Lind Lind has an interesting post today at Salon if you're interested in a very ATF explanation for the mindset of the Teapartyers. We are dealing with a mythological mentality, based on simple and
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The Reasons for my Concern (repost)
[Ed. I'm re-posting this piece from October 2006, which went up a week after the passing of the Military Commissions Act. I think it's worth reading again as a way to provide some historical context concerning the prospect of losing the house and the senate in November, and why that should give us all a
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Quote of the Day: Patrick Deneen
Without the advantage of a crystal ball, I suspect we will be looking at a New World Order within a decade. Writing at the eve of 2020, we will look back on the first score of the 21st century and see more clearly than we do now that "regime change" was afoot – albeit not
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Chis Hayes & “System Failure”
Chris Hayes of the Nation has a very nice piece that sums up our predicament. It's the kind of thing you can give somebody who just doesn't get it because its tone is irenic and its analogies apt. There are several excerptable grafs, but I'll limit myself to a few near the end: … one