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Recent Posts: Transformational Citizenship
Author Archives: Bennett Minton
Traveling the U.S.A.
I am traveling the country for two months, but politics is never far from my mind. See my other site, generally devoted to thoughts about bicycling, but in this case travels without Charlie: Temporary border in the Big Ben … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Virginia’s high court silently joins gerrymandering conversation
Gerrymandering has broken through the din of partisan grenade-throwing to become a top-tier issue of voter concern across the political spectrum. If we cannot fix this party- and incumbent-protection racket, We the People are coming to understand, we will cease … Continue reading
That fantasy about the Second Amendment
I keep seeing these fairy tales about the origins of the Second Amendment — that its purpose was to guard against the tyranny of the government by enshrining an individual’s right to own a gun. The Constitution was ratified in reaction to … Continue reading
Posted in Bill of Rights, James Madison, U.S. Constitution, Uncategorized
Tagged Bill of Rights, gun control, Second Amendment
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Anniversary of a call to citizenship
Fifty-five years ago this week, I woke up in Arlington for the first time, a four-year-old transplanted from Texas. Upon finishing law school in Austin, my dad had answered Kennedy’s call, “Ask what you can do for your country,” and … Continue reading
Posted in Citizenship, Congress, U.S. Constitution, Uncategorized
Tagged John Kennedy
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Denouement of ‘repeal and replace’
As societies become more complex, the government (the instrument of our social compact) is called on to do more to arrange commerce – the exchange of goods and services. Market regulation is a necessary component of development, to ensure some … Continue reading
Posted in Congress, Obamacare, Uncategorized
Tagged Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, taxes
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Of inclusion and prosperity in a global community
Last week I attended commencement exercises at a prestigious university in the nation’s most diverse and creative city. The standard of living between rich and poor is nowhere greater than in New York, and the opportunities for graduates of Columbia … Continue reading
A 100-days report card
Any list of President Trump’s accomplishments will reflect the biases of its creator. Justice/Immigration/Civil Rights Trump signed two executive orders banning immigrants from seven, and then six, countries. The January order was halted by a federal appeals court. The March … Continue reading
Posted in civil rights, climate change, Congress, environment, LGBT rights, Uncategorized, Voting Rights Act
Tagged President Trump
2 Comments
The meaning and the drama of Trump’s budget
Newt Gingrich lives in President Trump’s first pass at a federal budget. The purpose of a budget – government, corporate or household – is to put vision in numbers. First identify the goals, the strategies to execute them and their … Continue reading
Posted in Congress, federal budget, Uncategorized
Tagged Donald Trump, federal budget, Mick Mulvaney, Newt Gingrich
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Degrading our ‘City Upon a Hill’
The phrase “American Exceptionalism” always irritated me, as it was about waving the flag while ignoring a history that, checkered like most countries, began with slavery, our original sin, and continued with Manifest Destiny, the doctrinal foundation for a genocide. … Continue reading
Upon an inauguration, advice from an altar to democracy
If Donald Trump asked me what he should consider in composing his most consequential address yet, I would advise him to go read the two greatest speeches in American history, which are conveniently inscribed on the walls of the Lincoln … Continue reading
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