…Calmly observing the changing world

You might be forgiven if you thought that last week’s big news was about what details were in the health care bill, or how it got passed, or who said what afterwards.  You could have thought the biggest news was the fact that the nations with a triple-A credit rating were put on notice.  Or [...]

The threats to a republic are many, and the idealized federal republic may be more mythical than real – but it is at the very least, an excellent goal. The republic seeks to tread carefully in that slimmest of passageways between the tyranny of the majority and the tyranny of a minority. It thus eschews [...]

Six weeks ago, President Obama prominently chastised the court for a recent ruling while the judges bristled in their seats (Alito, visibly), being constrained by decorum during the State of the Union.  Last week, Chief Justice Roberts openly wondered, “Why we are there”, and referred to the State of the Union as a “political pep [...]

Despite the thoroughly German ECB being disinterested in bailing out Greece, and the German people overwhelmingly opposed to the same, the German government itself is vowing to help in smaller ways (like buying up newly issued Greek debt so interest rates on Greek bonds don’t spiral out of control).  Not all German officials feel the [...]