← All essaysA selected reading path · 12 essaysCivics & Rule of Law.
Courts, constitutional limits, voting, and the rights that make a republic work.
Selected essays, arranged as a reading path. Original publication dates remain visible.
Search within this collection ↗Politics & Power01

A lot of people (across the political spectrum) say they want constitutional amendments, for elections, money in politics, term limits, rights, you name it. That instinct isn’t “wrong.” But it’s important to understand what an amendment…
January 25, 20263 min read
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Oh, look who’s decided to join us: welcome, class!
June 4, 20252 min read
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Trump’s April 24 reposts accused political rivals of treason. The Constitution sets a far narrower standard than a social-media allegation.
April 25, 20263 min read
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We can all agree on something basic: people who commit serious crimes should be removed from our communities, citizen or non‑citizen. Public safety matters. Border enforcement matters.
February 3, 20263 min read
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Judge Jerry W. Blackwell didn’t hold a hearing about immigration policy. He held a show-cause hearing about government compliance, because the court had “so many issues with noncompliance” that it called everyone in.
February 5, 20261 min read
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Donald Trump was up after midnight again, doing what insecure strongmen do when institutions fail to applaud on cue: trying to bully them in public. At 12:57 a.m. on April 6, he wrote that it was “too bad” the Supreme Court could not…
April 6, 20265 min read
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I’m going to say something that shouldn’t be controversial in a functioning constitutional republic:
January 22, 20266 min read
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In an interview Monday, Donald Trump urged Republicans to “take over the voting” in “15 places” and said they should “nationalize the voting,” claiming some states are “so crooked.”
February 2, 20262 min read
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Trump is screaming that Virginia was “rigged.” Fine. Let’s talk about the version of “rigged” that actually exists in American politics and has existed for more than two centuries: gerrymandering. Virginia voters narrowly approved a…
April 22, 20264 min read
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“Vote early, vote by mail or vote in-person on Election Day, November 3rd.”
October 6, 20264 min read
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The Founders did not protect the press because they expected reporters to be polite, or because they assumed every editor would be fair. They protected it because power lies, and because power, left alone, always tries to turn scrutiny…
January 31, 20263 min read
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President Donald Trump recently revived an old political story with a new level of bluntness: that civil-rights-era protections have left white Americans “very badly treated,” a form of “reverse discrimination” that kept some from getting…
January 13, 20265 min read
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