Nelson's Rum
150 Years Later
The war’s legacy is everywhere: We still debate whether it is appropriate to display the Confederacy’s battle flag, or, closer to home, whether we should commemorate Harvard students who died fighting under it. Race still dominates national discussions, and we still argue about which rights of citizenship apply to which people, the best way to guarantee those rights, and what the federal government may do—all questions that animated America’s bloodiest conflict.
States Gone Wild
In a recent article in Vox, Matthew Yglesias argued provocatively that “American democracy is doomed” because the ever-growing tension between the executive and legislative branches is too extreme for any system to handle ad infinitum. Yglesias claims that problems arise when both the President and Congress can plausibly argue that they are the true repositories of the people’s will.
Why Is “Anti-Colonial” a Dirty Word?
Still, the former mayor’s remarks saw the resurrection of one rhetorical tendency on the right that needs to be put to rest swiftly. While denying that his comments were racist, Giuliani uttered the following non sequitur: “This isn’t racism. This is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism.”
Deciding When To Decide
The reason the fight over gay marriage has entered a confusing, possibly final stage is directly related to the Supreme Court’s unwillingness to wade fully into the debate. In 2013, the Court ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, but avoided addressing the constitutionality of state gay marriage bans. Last year, it had a chance to take a case to decide that very issue, but did not, because no federal circuit courts had upheld the bans. Shortly thereafter, the Sixth Circuit did just that, forcing the Supreme Court to take the case now before it. All of which brings up the question: Why was the Court so cautious in dealing with same-sex marriage?
My Way on the Highway
Denunciations were swift and severe. Massachusetts State Police Colonel Timothy Alben gave a relatively irate press conference, and two state legislators proposed bills to stiffen penalties for blocking highways.
