January 2012
135 posts
December 2011
88 posts
Running Chicken: A Political Theorist's... →
I am excited by this question, and by any answers that might follow. Bonus points if anyone can find “judicial review” (the right of the Court to overturn laws as unconstitutional) as one of the powers described in the Constitution, and if anyone can find significant textual evidence, in either their notes from the Constitutional convention or their private documents, that the people...
“I’m going to be the nominee. It’s very hard not to look at the...”
– Newt Gingrich
—or, you know, not.
whyarethegoodurlsalreadytaken asked: I just followed your blog a week or so ago, and I'm really enjoying reading it! Very informative and persuasive. Anyways, I'm a high school senior who is interested in studying Poli Sci once I get into college. Do you have any sort of general advice about the major?
aestheticallycorrect-deactivate asked: Good evening, sir. Today I would like to ask you an important question. Do you think Ron Paul can pull through, and become the candidate for the Republicans?
lonsharim asked: Are there any decent Republic candidates out there for the 2012 Presidential elections? A year back everyone was saying that Obama might end up serving a single term citing war, recession and organic tea party protesters as his negatives but given the quality of GOP candidates on display, I think his chances have considerably brightened. Your thoughts?
seltaire asked: I had a friend who literally said that: "It's okay for Ron Paul is racist, as long as it does not affect his policies. It is better to have a racist President who does not have racist policies than a "non-racist" President who have policies that kill brown people." What do you think about that statement? Thanks!
“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely...”
– Douglas Adams
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support rather...”
– Andrew Lang
—not specifically about any candidate, but apt for pretty much all of them.
“A corporation which derives its power from the State should pay the State a just...”
– Gov. Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY), 1899
“Counting that primary, and primaries — but not caucuses — during his 2008 quest...”
– George Will, The Washington Post
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The Physics of Santa Claus
From Starts With a Bang, a great astronomy blog: the physics of Santa Claus. You have no idea how magical Santa Claus actually has to be.
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Coding Race
Let me offer some thoughts about an important issue in American political life that is informed by the Ron Paul flap, but that many Paulites might not be thinking about as they defend him: the concept of code. (Note that this discussion is about Ron Paul, not libertarianism as such.)
Code means using words that sound neutral but in fact have explicit racial or other discriminatory content. In the...
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Gingrich, Perry and the Problem of Organization
Not that Politicalprof — and lots of other political scientists as well — has ever made this point before, but in presidential elections, organization matters.
See, for all the endless discussion of issues, and personalities, and shifting coalitions that might support or oppose candidates across the length and breadth of a campaign, the plain fact is that the American presidential...
A Random Thought (borrowed from George Will)
Newt Gingrich was last elected to office in 1996. That same year, Braveheart won the academy award for Best Picture … and 45 million people used the internet IN THE ENTIRE YEAR.
I’m just sayin’.
h/t: George Will.
thought-provoking-url asked: Paul has taken responsibility in a 'the buck stops here' manner. He denies writing them but he takes responsibility since they came out under his name.
seltaire asked: I was poking around comment sections for this story across various websites (I don't even know why I read comments sometimes. Perhaps I am a masochist?) and the excuse offered was Ron Paul was a busy practicing doctor who couldn't possibly manage everything, as he was writing books, running, etc.
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The Paul Defense and the Presidency
So Ron Paul is now claiming that he did not read or know about the racist diatribes that went out under his name for many years in various newsletters he ran.
And people think he ought to be President? Someone who couldn’t manage to read a few newsletters a week or a month that actually had his NAME on them? Who for years profited as a result of those newsletters? THIS is the kind of person...
typenine asked: I am incredibly fond your essays and analyses on today's politics. From what I've read, you remind me closely of George Lakoff, the author of "Don't Think of an Elephant". Especially in your recent post about property where you correctly re-frame "pro-liberty" and "anti-liberty" to both parties being anti-liberty with differing beliefs in the carrying...
The Case Against Santa →
kohenari:
Over at 3 Quarks Daily, Scott Aikin and Robert Talisse recently had some fun with the whole idea behind Santa Claus and his gift-giving:
The trouble with Santa’s surveillance is that it affects our motives. When we know that we are being watched by an omniscient judge looking to mete out rewards and punishments, we find ourselves with strong reasons to act for the sake of getting the...
jgreendc asked: Regarding your reply to my post on the Enlightenment, when you mention "Founders," should I take it that you are referencing my invocation of Smith, Locke, and Paine? Initially the comment threw me for quite a loop. I don't want to proceed with a false assumption. ---- Also, I am unsure how to respond to the first part of your discussion on property rights. My wanting to defend...
“You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like...”
– Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago.
Apparently Rick Santorum wasn’t available.
Genetics & Politics: Arguing the Enlightenment →
To Huskerred: A Reply
I would note that I said “some significant percentage of Republicans” in my original post—I would not claim and do not believe that all Republicans are anti-Enlightenment. However, I fully stand by my claim that, on balance, anti-Enlightenment forces are much stronger in the Republican Party than in the Democratic Party.
As for your comments about...
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The Republicans' Enlightenment Problem
Arguably the defining characteristic of so-called “Western” civilization (and don’t flame me for that one; I know the complications embedded in concept, so bear with me) is the Enlightenment: that period of history where reason and science and the notion of natural rights came to play significant—if imperfect—roles in how society operated. Disease, for example, went...
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Irony, Access and the Decline of Good Political...
One of the remarkable things about watching media members interview politicians these days is just how bad the questions are. The journalist inevitably starts with a softball set up question that allows the candidate to offer some version of their stump speech for an answer. The journalist either follows up with a second softball on the same topic, or moves on. Notably, the more outrageous the...
“The community of donors giving more than $10,000 (in 2010 dollars) has more than...”
– The Sunlight Foundation, per Charles Blow, New York Times
seltaire asked: This is a strange and silly question but I've been a student of political science for three years but I feel like I hardly know anything about local affairs ... yet it seems so hard to find any news about my residence! I pick up the local papers and all I see are distractions, distractions. I want to be informed, but it seems very difficult. What can I possibly do?
probably-typical asked: I'm a political science major at a small university in Wisconsin, and figured that since you're in IL you've probably heard about the political culture with everything going on in Madison right now. What do you think of it all; the recall elections, ending Planned Parenthood's state contract, Scott Walker, and his anti-public workers union agenda?
“We’re not going to repeal or weaken the law, acquiescing to liberal elites’ and...”
– Mike Hubbard, Speaker of the House (Alabama), rejecting any thought of reforming Alabama’s harsh laws on immigration status.
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Republican Presidential Dictatorship
So it turns out that most of the Republican presidential candidates this year utterly loathe the notion of Constitutional democracy. They—and apparently their supporters—prefer presidential dictatorship.
Think about it. The heart of the theory of the Constitution is the system of checks and balances. Congress interferes with the President; Presidents interfere with the Congress;...
On the Loss of the World's Greatest Golfer, Kim...
Among the other comments that will be made about the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, here’s one:
Apparently, the first time — the FIRST time — he played golf, he shot 11 holes in one, and totaled the score of 36 below par … or, 36 on a typical par 72, 18 hole regulation golf course.
So at least he’ll have that going for him in the after life.
“People like me are what stand between us and Auschwitz.”
– Newt Gingrich, 1994
ego much, Newt?
Capitalism Run Amok
It is possible to buy a commemorative coin—a $100 value, the manufacturer claims, although it is on offer now for a mere $19.95—honoring Seal Team 6, the victims of 9/11 and Presidents Bush and Obama. It even comes with a special acrylic display case so you can hang it on your Christmas tree if you want.
It boggles. Boggles. Boggles.
vaneeshaarnice asked: What do you think of the current lineup of females advancing in politics? The media seemed to hype up Hillary Clinton until they latched on to Sarah Palin (who seemed more incompetent and entertaining) and now they are entertaining Michelle Bachmann even though after they set her ahead in her campaign they quickly void any credibility that she is given. Do you think that the media is ameliorating...
“When it comes to his own retirement account, however, the country’s...”
– From the Daily Kos
accol asked: I suggest that spark-wave start listening to NPR at least at every top of the hour. In my opinion, NPR is the best place to get news that unbiased with photographs and hyped soundbites. If spark-wave wants to graduate to the next level, Diane Rehm's shows on Friday mornings are one of the best places to get the national and international news for the preceding week.
spark-wave asked: I'm not really educated about the politics of this country (or any country) at all, and I want to change that so I can be ready to vote. Where should I start?
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In Which I Remember What Christopher Hitchens...
The question I asked Christopher Hitchens that had him blow me off at dinner only to try to humiliate me in front of a large audience was why he was so upset at Iraq, when the planning, money and highjackers of 9/11 were mostly Saudi. In response, he attacked me as a liberal hypocrite unwilling to carry forward the logic of my belief and support the destruction of the Saudi regime. Apparently by...
andrewmw asked: Just out of curiousity, do you as a professor read your ratings on RateMyProfessors? I always wonder if my professors read what is wrote about them.
“The trouble with Santa’s surveillance is that it affects our motives. When we...”
– Not to mention “Elf on a Shelf.”
I feel like this The Case Against Santa piece is Internet bait for Ari Kohen. (via ilyagerner)
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My Night With Christopher Hitchens
So one of the cool things that happens when you do what I do is that you get to meet and interact with some remarkable people. I have hung out in a bar with Cornel West; I have sat on a couch at the President of my university’s house and had a lovely and kind conversation with Noam Chomsky. (Both West and Chomsky were open, friendly people—as well as being staggeringly brilliant.)
And...
A Quick Debate Comment
So, on the day the US technically gets out of Iraq, with an exhausted military worn out from high rates of tours of duty, high long term costs for dealing with injured service people and their families, and no real “victory,” I’ll say this for these Republican candidates:
They really want to blow something up.
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Mr. Sulu's Rules for Living
For my students as they move on with their lives. (Adapted from George Takei’s Facebook page):
1. Show up 2. On time 3. Work hard 4. Be kind
and, for comic relief:
5. Floss. I do wish many of my students understood just how far the first three of these rules will get you. Number four is a bonus, and at the least should always be practiced DOWN: be nice to office staff, building service...
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other...”
– Mark Twain