Mr. or Mrs. “tired of liberal self-delusion” raises an interesting objection to my argument that the liberal state can remain metaphysically neutral while teaching only evolution and ignoring creationism/ID. He or she says, “If the state flipped a coin in these matters what you ‘think’ here might have merit.” So, does neutrality require the state … Read more
So there’s been some electorally-focused grandstanding by GOP governors over the stimulus package. Unsurprisingly, most of them are not turning down billions of dollars being thrown at their administrations. That is probably an impeachable offense right there, if ever I saw one. It doesn’t do a governor much good to win credibility for the Republican … Read more
George Will really doesn’t like Russ Feingold. Will’s latest column attacks Feingold’s proposed constitutional amendment, which would require elections to fill vacant Senate seats, and which the HPR will be analyzing in its upcoming issue. Will starts off by smearing Feingold’s proposal as “vandalism against the Constitution,” and says that Feingold is trying to “tamper” … Read more
Will and Alex have begun an interesting discussion on realist and constructivist views of “anarchy” in the international system, but I think the realist position on the ICC and other treaties could use greater elaboration. A typical realist view would be not just that some states form “persecution narratives” to oppose the United States, but … Read more
Let me leap to the defense of Damon Linker once again, partly out of appreciation for his link to our humble blog. Linker, following Rawls, thinks that we can separate issues of “mere life” from those of “the good life.” That is, the liberal state can and should address issues of common security and welfare, … Read more
Alex’s recent blog post about UBS reminded me of a story I read in today’s New York Times about an Israeli spy living in Lebanon. Despite the fact that he was recruited in 1983 by the Israeli government and had been actively spying since then, according to the article, the red flag that raised suspicions … Read more
So UBS, the Swiss bank, has admitted to participating in massive, massive fraud, and using its US banking division as basically a tax-evasion service for wealthy Americans. Their entire US individual-banking service was run for that purpose, as it turns out. The current political environment is starting to look a lot like the Great Depression, … Read more
The big auto companies are back for more money. Color me shocked. Really, just stunned in surprise. It seems as though the only rationale for giving them more money at this point is a jobs welfare program. That is not necessarily a bad move; the fallout from the disentegration of Detroit could easily undo all … Read more
Will Wilkinson rightly diagnoses the Republican Party’s brain drain: smart people don’t want to hang around with “flag-waving moral reactionaries” no matter how much they all might agree on the godlike efficiency of the market. But he still does believe in the market, so he can’t, or hasn’t, given himself up to the Democrats just … Read more
Mark Hemingway is upset because the NY Times suggests that more GOP governors favor the stimulus than actually do. Fine, fair enough. Perhaps the Times suggests that all or most GOP governors support the stimulus, when really only five (Rell, Gibbons, Schwarzenegger, Crist, Douglas) do so explicitly. But this is curious: Hemingway says that the … Read more