| The week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal begins by highlighting the start of Black History Month. Dr. Alveda King argues that, following the teachings of her uncle, Martin Luther King Jr., all Americans must “put aside our differences – from faith to politics, and yes, even to skin color” and “come together to uplift our brothers and sisters, giving everyone an equal opportunity to achieve the American Dream.” She continues: “To legislate based on true equality means that we must treat all people the same, conferring equal moral value and human dignity on every regardless of ethnicity.” Americans must not turn “skin color into a lightning rod of division,” she notes, and must instead see all people as part of “one human race.” Allen C. Guelzo tackles the thorny question of the division between the national and state governments by looking back at the unique system of federalism created under the Constitution. He argues that the biggest threat to “civil liberties” today “comes from a feckless Congress that has surrendered national authority to what amounts to an invisible fourth branch of government: the bureaucracy.” But the states have often been no bulwark to stopping the expansion of government, often creating “oppressive administrative burdens themselves.” The constitutional solution is to “maximize liberty, even at the expense of efficiency,” he argues, “but also to deploy power to restrain the Athenian-style mob – even while limiting that deployment to necessities and ‘exigencies’ of government.” Finally, Thomas Krannawitter contrasts the jurisprudence of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with President Biden’s promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. “In 1991, then-Senator Biden had an opportunity to assist Clarence Thomas take a seat on the Supreme Court bench,” Krannawitter notes. “Yet, Biden did everything within his power to stop it.” Rather than focusing on skin color, he writes that “Thomas has argued persuasively” that the “colorblind Constitution . . . trumps blatantly unconstitutional, tribal policies of race-based preferences, discrimination, and affirmative action.” He concludes by contending that “only the equal protection of the laws for the equal natural rights of each and every United States citizen aligns with the good and true principles of the American Founding.” Essential Reading Allen C. Guelzo, National Affairs Today, when we find ourselves confronted with some new abuse of reason or power in Washington, it's easy to fall into the familiar... In the News Jeremy S. Adams, American Mind Sarah Isgur, The Dispatch Heather Mac Donald, City Journal Tim Hoefer, New York Post Thomas Krannawitter, Vino & Veritas Society Ken Blackwell, Christian Post Hogan Gidley, RealClearPolitics Alex Gangitano, The Hill Katie Reed, Wyoming News Lawrence Siskind, International Churchill Society Renzo Downey, Florida Politics Mike Masterson, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette Alveda King, Fox News Frederick M. Hess, RealClearPolicy Jonathan Franklin, NPR Josh Chafetz, Jay Cost, & Jeffrey Rosen, We The People Earlier this month, President Biden voiced support for getting rid of the filibuster, looking to ease the path of voting rights... Diana Schaub & Bill Kristol, Conversations Diana Schaub gives an interpretation of one of Abraham Lincoln's most important speeches: the Second Inaugural Address... Nick Buccola, Alex Priou, Greg McBrayer, & David Bahr, The New Thinkery This week, Nick Buccola joins the group to discuss the life and philosophy of Frederick Douglass. The group analyze several key... Robert P. George, Ryan Anderson, Alexandra DeSanctis, & Antonin Scalia, Madison's Notes On September 23, 2021, the James Madison Program and the Ethics and Public Policy Center hosted a discussion of Robert P. George... Ian Rowe, Woodson Center Having experienced the profound racial disparities in the rural South firsthand, writer and education reformer Booker T. Washington... Braver Angels Is capitalism the only economic system humans have yet discovered that creates enough wealth for the well-being of an entire... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories It's Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, the day of the week when I pass along an elucidating quotation. Today's insight comes, ... It's Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, the day of the week when I pass along a quotation meant to be inspirational ... On this date in 1848, a carpenter named James Wilson Marshall discovered gold nuggets in the tailrace of a mill ... |
