Smart Designers Create Imperfect Rules

Even the smartest designers can’t anticipate all the flaws with the rules they write.

Counterpoint: The 6 January Commission and the Filibuster

I think this underscores the problem with the 60-vote requirement.

The 6 January Commission and the Filibuster

Could this be the straw that broke the camel’s back?

Liz Cheney and the GOP

A quick lesson about American parties.

The Broadband Gap

Huge swaths of the country are underserved.

Conservatives and Critical Race Theory

The latest bogey man is likely not well understood.

The Politicization of Math Class

The least controversial subject in school is suddenly controversial.

The Big Lie Has Become a Litmus Test

Republicans who admit Joe Biden won the election fair and square are being driven from the party.

Carville: Dems Need to Speak Yiddish, Not Hebrew

Bill Clinton’s strategist thinks his party needs a wake-up call.

Social Distancing is (Almost) Useless

Another early COVID myth has been shattered.

DC Statehood and Power Politics

More voice, more votes, more representation.

Unskilled? No Problem!

Are we thinking about job training all wrong?

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Masking Outdoors

Science, politics, and social norms intersect in some really strange ways.

Shown is a portion of a wall that is covered with policemen's patches donated by visitors from all over the world, especially the USA & Europe. Shown is a portion of a wall that is covered with policemen's patches donated by visitors from all over the world, especially the USA & Europe.

Everything That’s Wrong with Policing in America

Rogue cops, racial profiling, tainted cases, and the lack of consequences.

Highway interchange in Bangkok near Bang Na BTS station Highway interchange in Bangkok near Bang Na BTS station

If Everything is Infrastructure, Nothing Is

The semantic debate is obscuring the actual public policy issue.

Major League False Equivalence

There’s no voting in baseball.

What is Infrastructure, Anyway?

We can all agree that it’s important but not what it is.

Equal Injustice for All

There’s a right way and a wrong way to improve the system.

Transphobia, Academic Freedom, and the First Amendment

The 6th Circuit is allowing a professor fired for misgendering a transwoman to sue his state university.

COVID Passports Redux

Competing analogies and externalities.

New York Launches COVID Passport

The Excelsior Pass is the nation’s first. Will it start a trend?

Arguments Over Definitions

The lack of common understandings and shared assumptions makes political conversations challenging.

Anti-Asian Hate in America

A mass shooting in Atlanta draws attention to a problem of which I was only tangentially aware.

Partisanship is Real

Yet another example.

Elite Private Schools, Race, and Fear of the Woke

Also some ironic positions on capitalism.

Are Moderate Democrats the New Republicans?

Reacting to the asymmetrical polarization of the electorate.

Our Unrepresentative Government (Yet Again)

Yet another reminder about pathologies of US democracy.

Fact-Checking in a Fact-Free World

Debunking urban legends and Internet rumors is harder than it used to be.

How Much Student Loan Relief?

Now, we’re just haggling over price.

Reporting and Commentary Should Remain Separate

There’s more than enough opinion journalism.

Still the Party of Trump

The disgraced loser remains as popular as ever with his base.

Stop Blaming the Framers for Everything

America’s institutions are undemocratic but only some of them are a product of the Constitution.

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Culture Clash at the New York Times

America’s Newspaper of Record needs to figure out what it wants to be.

Eighteen Years of Blogging

Some reflections

We Are Not QAnon Nation

Most Americans have never even heard of it.

Republican Leadership Face Tests with Cheney and Greene

Mitch McConnell is testing out his spine again.

The Filibuster Needs to Go

It is not a tool to foster compromise. It is tool of obstruction, plain and simple.

What Republicans Want Isn’t What they Get

Our two-party system distorts the representativeness of our politics.

The Leaderless GOP

The Republican Party is not really a thing.

The GOP Isn’t Dead. It’s Resting.

The GOP, alas, is not going anywhere.

Assessing the Party Fringes

AOC v. MTG: one of these things is not like the other.

Freedom, Security, and Insurrection

The aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riots runs into the First Amendment,

Will the GOP Fracture?

Will there be in-fighting? Yes. A break-up? No.

President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, and is escorted to Air Force One by U.S. Air Force personnel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour) President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, and is escorted to Air Force One by U.S. Air Force personnel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

Trump Wears out his Welcome

So says Pew.

President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, and is escorted to Air Force One by U.S. Air Force personnel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour) President Donald J. Trump disembarks Marine One at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, and is escorted to Air Force One by U.S. Air Force personnel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

The Final Weeks of Trump

First whining about losing, now whining about legislation. (And creating chaos along the way).

Wonder Woman 1984

A very low-spoilers review.

The Great Unbundling

The days of one-stop media shopping are long gone.

[Voter Fraud Graphic] [Voter Fraud Graphic]

The Reality of Electoral Fraud

Wherein I detail evidence of fraud and take the Heritage Foundation’s database of fraud to task.