Category Archives: Uncategorized

Penance for a former influence peddler

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Bennett Minton

The national news is depressing, with one party—and its Supreme Court majority—determined to prevent voters it doesn’t like (and doesn’t want) from participating in democracy. So I bang my head against the wall (on Zoom) in Salem, my state capital, … Continue reading →

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Advice to a (small ‘d’) democrat

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Bennett Minton

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 by Bennett Minton

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 →

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Exhuming history, exposing lies

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Bennett Minton

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 by Bennett Minton

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 by Bennett Minton

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 by Bennett Minton

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 →

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Will Florida end this battle against voting?

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Bennett Minton

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 →

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‘That government is best which is most indifferent’

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Bennett Minton

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 by Bennett Minton

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