Category Archives: Policy
Declaring That a State of War Exists: 6 April 1917
On this date, 6 April 1917, in response to a request by President Wilson on 2 April, the United States Congress approved America’s entry into the Great War, which came to be known as World War I. Joint Resolution Passed by … Continue reading
Political Order and Political Decay in the Time of Trump
Political Order and Political Decay is the second part of Francis Fukuyama’s epic tome of political economy begun in 2011 with The Origins of Political Order. The 2014 follow-up fills out the 2011 tome’s theory of politics as biology with consideration of … Continue reading
Pancho Villa Crossed the Border…and got US into the Great War
Pancho Villa crossed the border in the year of ought sixteen The people of Columbus still hear him riding through their dreams He killed seventeen civilians you could hear the women scream Blackjack Pershing on a dancing horse was waiting … Continue reading
On the Brink of War — America’s Christmas 1916
Christmas 1916 found America walking a tightrope of neutrality as the World endured the third year of the Great War. While the Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in June 1914 precipitated the global conflict, the roots … Continue reading
The Election of 1916: “America First” to First World War
100 years ago, in November of 1916, America was also recovering from a controversial Presidential election. Progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson, PhD, had taken the U.S. presidency in 1912, when the Republican Party had split between incumbent President William Howard Taft … Continue reading
Getting Ahead of the Aging Curve
Preparing for Demographic Change in Rural America Reprinted from the Small Town & Rural Planning newsletter, Fall 2016. The other night, Planning Commission was looking at demographics in our rural county of about 12,000, with a touch of skepticism. Archuleta … Continue reading
Evan McMullin for President of the United States
I am supporting Evan McMullin for President of the United States. Who? Evan McMullin is the #NeverTrump alternative for Conservatives of conscience. Evan stepped up in August, to provide a positive choice in the 2016 Presidential election. He was born … Continue reading
The Lesser Evil
The “Bad Emperor” Problem “An authoritarian system can move much more quickly and decisively than a democratic one, but its success is ultimately dependent on having a continuing supply of good leaders—good not just in a technocratic sense but in … Continue reading
Disagreeing, Without Being Disagreeable
Can we disagree, without being disagreeable? US House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) thinks so. Ryan flies the flag of Jack Kemp’s optimistic conservatism. I wasn’t such a fan of Kemp back in the day (I don’t usually trust Quarterbacks). “Ideas, … Continue reading
#NeverTrump
I have been more-or-less politically active since I was young, but have mostly avoided politics in favor of policy (and the pursuit of Americana) on this blog. I do follow conservative politics, and am professionally committed to good governance, but … Continue reading
STrib
The Economist