President Trump has pledged to use military force if governors and mayors are unable to pacify cities across the country. As more stores, government buildings, and monuments are burned or razed, troop deployments to Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Los Angeles, or New York are still possible. President Trump has the legal power to use the armed […]
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President Trump & the Limits of Legal Power
03 Jun 2020
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On Adam Smith and Grace
31 May 2020
As our stock of reasons for rescinding the 2020 experience continues to mount, I wanted to wax historical for a moment, just as the rest of us are continuing to wax hysterical. The whole Floyd saga has set me thinking over the past few days, adding not a few moments of reflection and challenge. Here, […]
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American Cities Break and Burn: We Need a Creed
30 May 2020
I live in a village with three stop lights, one of which blinks when school is out of session. I am a white college professor on a mostly white campus within a white religious tradition. The smoke, shattered glass, and pepper spray now etched into too many urban landscapes are alien, but so is having […]
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President Obama flouted executive authority and too often politicized the law. These attitudes spilled into the transition of power, it seems, as federal agents targeted Michael Flynn, the incoming National Security Advisor of the Trump Administration. Obama and Flynn had a complicated past, and Flynn paid a heavy price. Retired Gen. Flynn, a Democrat, served […]
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In continuing the discussion of the false dichotomy, I still see the inevitable question from media types (both regular and social) asking basically why doesn’t Mr. Trump edict to the red state yahoos that are not taking this seriously. After all, science must be the arbiter of this decision. I think its important to remind […]
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Is anybody else frustrated at the false dichotomy that is continually talked about of whether we reopen again and when? When the reality is that we must reopen and the question is how? Even in a shut down, which does have remarkably lower economic activity, we still eat, we still consume resources, and those resources […]
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Bailout vs Bankruptcy
26 Apr 2020
The debt buildup continues to melt up, with another $483B in “stimulus” heading somewhere, after the previous $2T. And there will be more–count on it. And that doesn’t include the Fed’s monetary “whatever it takes” policy of buying bonds and other assets, to include state and local government debt. Fed assets are up over $2.5T […]
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Neighbor Love Matters More Than Your Rights
17 Apr 2020
Americans of all stripes and sides assert their rights. Religious Americans are no different. In some ways, this is glorious. We should be jealous of our rights. After all, we believe they are OUR rights. The Declaration claims government exists to secure those rights–not “grant” them or “recognize” them, but to secure them. Advocating for […]
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Let’s not Waste the Coronavirus Crisis
16 Apr 2020
You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. Rahm Emanuel Progressives boldly suggested that the 2008 financial crisis should not go to waste. As Rahm Emanuel argued, it was possible to use it as a […]
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The President and the Pandemic
15 Apr 2020
I have the ultimate authority. President Donald Trump, April 13, 2020 Mt. Trump was built with a shovel. It started with “rapists and thieves,” which was quickly followed by “I like people who weren’t captured.” The dirt pile became a hill and grew into an overwhelming peak. “I got a beautiful letter.” “Mexico is gonna […]