It’s one thing for mass democracy to produce bad results, in the form of elected politicians or enacted policies. It’s another when the democratic process itself breaks down because nobody trusts the vote or the people who count it. But that’s precisely where we are....
The battle over sanctuary cities is not just a matter of pitting some cities against federal policy. The conflict is also pitting cities against state governments. More than 30 states have moved with varying degrees of success to rein in so-called sanctuary cities...
In a surprise White House appearance on March 27, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced his intent to make America’s cities less safe and more vulnerable to crime unless he gets his way. He didn’t say it quite like that, of course. In fact, he asserted the...
Seattle is suing the federal government for threatening to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities. [Link] A longtime State Department employee has been charged with lying to the FBI about gifts she received from China. [Link] States that have legalized medical...
Jeff Sessions announced that he will look to strip funding from sanctuary cities. [Link] The US is boycotting nuclear disarmament talks taking place at the UN. [Link] US soldiers in Mosul have started to wear black uniforms to look more like Iraqi counterterrorism...
Take, if you will, cannabis sativa – better known as marijuana. It’s in the news because the states are continuing to legalize it for medical and recreational use, despite federal prohibition. But Donald Trump’s executive branch is making noise that it will begin...
Trump says he will defer to the Secretary of Defense on torture. General Mattis has stated several times that he does not believe torture works. [Link] A federal judge prevents people from being deported under Trump's executive order on immigration. The ruling will...
Trump signs an executive directive to build a wall along the US/Mexico border. Trump also restarted a program where federal law enforcement works with state and local enforcement to deport illegal immigrants. [Link] Tru Trump signs an executive order to crack down on...
Many conservative-leaning populists extol the county sheriff as the highest law enforcement officer within his jurisdiction. Within that group, many likewise regard what they believe to be unchecked immigration as an existential crisis that must be addressed through...
Conventional wisdom holds that Republicans are "better" on the Constitution than Democrats. In reality, this simply isn't true. Republicans are just as quick to abandon constitutional limits on federal power when it suits their agenda as Dems. I suspect we will see...
While presidents almost always expand the power of their office and of the government, Donald Trump is likely to enact a degree of barefisted authoritarianism the modern United States is totally unprepared for. Even if the corrupt and limp political elites that have...
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