Category Archives: Politics
The Dilemma Trump Presents for the GOP
The dominance of Donald Trump in the GOP primaries presents a dilemma for Republicans: should the GOP be more afraid of a national convention like the one that nominated Barry Goldwater in 1964, or like the one in which the Democrats nominated Hubert … Continue reading
Should the Ethics of Presidential Candidates Matter?
The classical view on the relationship between ethics and rulership can be traced back to Plato (424-348 BCE), whose Republic argues that a state will never be well governed unless its rulers are virtuous. Plato’s student Aristotle challenged his master … Continue reading
Learning from Japan’s Defeat
I want to extract a lesson from history today. I’m going to use an example taken from the strategy of the Japanese military in World War II to make my point, but I assume all my readers are savvy enough … Continue reading
Obama: Marriage-Wrecking Marxist
I’m surprised that anyone is surprised that Obama came out in favor of gay marriage. When Joe Biden expressed his support of gay marriage, my assumption that Obama was about to announce his own support. I also don’t buy the … Continue reading
Gingrich
I recently heard a great political zinger: Newt Gingrich “is a stupid man’s idea of what a smart man sounds like” (Paul Krugman on This Week with Christiane Amanpour). Sounds accurate to me. Then again, I’ll be laughing out of … Continue reading
Democracy
Someone once said, “In a true democracy, people get the government they deserve.” I think of this line when people complain about our elected representatives. We would probably have better government with electoral reform. Getting rid of Super PACs would … Continue reading