Richard Henry Dana, Sr. was acutely conscious that he was a man out-of-step with the antebellum ethos, an American High Tory in an era of rising democracy. Yet Dana was not some grouchy obsolete curmudgeon, and his withering critiques of America often hit their mark, exposing the weaknesses of liberty, democracy, and equality and [...]
Today, we are divided over ideology, morality, culture, race and history. We are divided over whether America is the great nation we were raised to revere and love or a nation born in great sins and crimes. On the last days of the 2020 campaign, President Donald Trump was holding four and five rallies a [...]
The modern Electoral College may not be exactly what the Founders intended, but it fits the spirit of their decentralized federal system. During the debates over the ratification of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton remarked in Federalist 68 that the method of presidential selection was “almost the only part of the system, of any consequence, [...]
At the heart of Stuart Stevens’ “It Was All A Lie” are, ironically, lies about Donald Trump. Though he relentlessly attacks the president’s character, the author actually exposes his own heart by way of offering a mea culpa for his long-time association with and advocacy for a political party that he now deems to [...]
Larry Elder’s film “Uncle Tom” is a must-see for anybody who thinks all black people think alike or that American black history is simply a history of victimhood. They’re black, they’re proud, and they’re all-American—just like the film they’re in. While it is unlikely that blacks will vote as a majority for Donald Trump [...]
Even if we cannot fully grasp the shape of the near-future international order, either because it has yet to crystalize fully or because we lack the historical distance to see it clearly, we can know some things about it: While Russia and China have settled into their roles, the U.S. remains an actor in [...]
It’s time for Orestes Brownson to re-enter our contemporary political discourse, and on the campaign trail to remind us, first, that all just authority is from God, who instituted natural law, and also, that moral authority is not relative. I. The Brownson Revival In 1993 Peter J. Stanlis revisited Orestes Brownson’s political thought by [...]
The electoral college has at least indirectly done its work by helping to assure that a successful presidential candidate would have broad support throughout the country, as opposed to simply being the overwhelming choice of only a section/slice of the country. The 2016 election of Donald Trump put many things in motion. The 2020 [...]
Piety and patriotism go together. In the profundity of our vocation, we've chosen as our national symbol an eagle, flying upwards and onwards to the source of all our rights and liberties, unto God! "The Glory of Being an American" originally aired on Bishop Sheen's popular television show, "Life Is Worth Living." Please enjoy this [...]
The idea of bipartisan comity, or some new era of national unity should Joe Biden win the coming election, is self-delusion. New divides in our society, manifest in 2020, are piled upon old divisions dating back decades. Now, not only are we fractured over ideology, religion, race, culture and morality, but also our country's history [...]
In “The Reactionary Imperative,” Mel Bradford calls for a return to the roots of American order. Sadly, a return to a revised form of the Articles of Confederation is all but impossible. Hope, however, lies in a revivification of the principles of the Old Republicans of Thomas Jefferson’s day. Mel Bradford published a collection [...]
Today, Theodore Roosevelt prompts us to ask the same question he raised over a century ago in his speech “The Man with the Muck-Rake”: How do we devote our attention to society’s problems without allowing them to devour us? Our survival in the Information Age hinges upon on our ability to address this problem. [...]
The World Turned Upside Down" is an English ballad. It was first published on a broadside in the middle of the 1640s as a protest against the policies of Parliament relating to the celebration of Christmas. Parliament believed the holiday should be a solemn occasion, and outlawed traditional English Christmas celebrations. There are several versions [...]
On October 17, 1777, with his troops surrounded and vastly outmanned, British General John Burgoyne surrendered. The final battle of Saratoga was a major defeat for the British and word of British surrender further rallied troops in the Continental Army and the Militias. Although the end of the war and full British surrender was [...]