Author Archives: Bennett Minton

Advice to a (small ‘d’) democrat

Posted on October 4, 2020

A friend asks for facts about Joe Biden, without mentioning Donald Trump, to help her decide. Not comprehensive, but this is what I wrote her after spending 15 minutes on the question (and a few more refining for this post): … Continue reading →

Posted in election campaign, Joe Biden, presidential election 2020, Uncategorized, Voting Rights Act | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The lies our textbooks told us

Posted on August 12, 2020

A link to The Washington Post version of my post on the Virginia government’s effort to rewrite history. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/slavery-history-virginia-textbook/2020/07/31/d8571eda-d1f0-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html. Published in the Sunday opinion section on August 2, it drew more than 1900 comments. My sampling suggests people were inspired … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War, slavery, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Exhuming history, exposing lies

Posted on July 4, 2020

As I watched Richmond city workers, surrounded by cheering protestors, remove a hundred-year-old towering bronze of Stonewall Jackson on horseback from its base on Monument Avenue, tears streamed down my face. On the 157th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War, slavery, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On becoming a nearly-senior citizen

Posted on June 21, 2020

Today I turn 62. A birthday is a moment for reflection, especially when on this one the government asks, “Would you like a smaller pension now, or a bigger pension later?” And I mull: How much longer is Social Security … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Snapshots of a myth

Posted on June 20, 2020

Defenders of statues of Confederate generals and soldiers contend these monuments should not be removed, ever, because they are “history.” Monuments have nothing to do with history. They are snapshots of a narrative. My favorite monument-narrative is the Lincoln Memorial. … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The twilight of LGBT discrimination

Posted on June 15, 2020

The June 15 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (Georgia) has a sweeping logic that, if applied to other areas of law, will mean the end of legal discrimination against people who identify as LGBTQ. Justice Neil Gorsuch, … Continue reading →

Posted in civil rights, LGBT rights, Supreme Court, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Will Florida end this battle against voting?

Posted on May 26, 2020

The saga of the restoration of the voting rights of Florida ex-felons continues, but it may be nearing an end. The crux of Federal District Judge Robert Hinkle’s May 24 opinion in Jones v. DeSantis, about the legislature’s attempts to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, voter suppression, Voting | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘That government is best which is most indifferent’

Posted on May 5, 2020

In their book, Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, Ann Case and Angus Deaton study the rising premature death rate from suicide, drug overdose and alcohol liver disease. Four findings: The rate has steadily fallen over 30 years … Continue reading →

Posted in Obamacare, Supreme Court, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

An opportunity to enrich the opportunistic

Posted on April 1, 2020

Published March 30, 2020, in Tax Notes Federal, weekly magazine of Tax Analysts Inc., where I was a reporter and editor in the early 1990s. This is a story about billionaires, how Congress makes laws, how city development officials work … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The revolution will not be televised

Posted on March 12, 2020

I hear the frustration of Bernie supporters. I too am frustrated at the cultural and institutional conservatism that has created a country where the accident of birth determines economic fate. In 240 years we’ve had a few shifts of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, Uncategorized, Virginia legislature | Tagged , , ,