“I’ve been a U.S. citizen for more than a quarter of the 250 years that there has been a United States.
Proud to be an American? Yes. Not because my country, or more specifically our government, has always been spectacular, or even in the right. I’ve taken a few lumps battling against the government. More than ‘proud to be an American,’ which was admittedly an accident of birth, I’m proud of America.” (07/03/26)
“Two distinctly American traits that powered the Revolution: We don’t like being told what to do by our supposed betters, and we really don’t like being told to shut up.” (07/03/26)
“While Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed to maintain a low profile while the Iran war’s violence was at its apex, content to focus on projects closer to his heart in the Americas, he has now re-emerged at the helm of Israel-Lebanon diplomacy. That diplomacy has produced an agreement that is roiling Lebanese society, perceived as a functional surrender to the ongoing Israeli occupation. Many commentators were impressed by Vice President JD Vance’s candid rebukes of Israeli excesses, but Rubio’s Lebanon track demonstrates how the pro-Israel wing of the White House is reasserting itself, peace with Iran be damned. The Lebanon front may receive far less media attention than the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its economic fallout, but it has been no less central to the helter-skelter effort to end Trump and Netanyahu’s war.” (07/03/26)
“If for no other reason, the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence deserves adoration for its invocation of each individual’s rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ The significance of that phrase, which overshadows everything else in Thomas Jefferson’s composition (it clarifies the meaning of ‘all men are created equal’), cannot be exaggerated. Unfortunately, those words are so familiar—which should have been a good thing—that they long ago blended with the landscape. By and large, people have stopped noticing it and lack appreciation for it. Unlike in the 1700s, it has become a cliché.” (07/03/26)
“[Bernie Sanders] proposed a one-time 50 percent tax on the largest AI companies, to be paid in shares held by a government-run sovereign wealth fund. The federal government would get voting shares, board representation, and the power to ‘block decisions’ it decides are bad for citizens. This is the worst idea Bernie Sanders has ever had, in a long and illustrious career of terrible ideas. … President Donald Trump’s economic nationalism has made federal ownership, veto rights, and backdoor nationalization feel terribly normal. His administration converted federal grants into a roughly 10 percent stake in Intel, using already-promised CHIPS Act and Secure Enclave money to make Washington one of the company’s largest shareholders. … The right calls it national security. The left calls it democracy. The results are the same: Washington wants shares, seats, vetoes, and a cut of the upside.” (for publication 08/26)
“The chief justice, writing for the court, achieved a competent version of standard originalism. Heavily relying on historical sources and historically informed amicus briefs, the chief points out—correctly—that the English common law rule that shaped the background of U.S. citizenship law treated all kinds of temporary visitors and even persons subject to expulsion as nonetheless capable of producing British children if those children were born within the territory. (Anthony Michael Kreis has recently written a comprehensive account of the development of this principle that is worth your time.) Roberts also correctly points out that the most natural reading of the word ‘jurisdiction,’ being subject to the laws of the United States, is that the framers of the Amendment meant what they said.” (07/02/26)
“While Elon Musk is being criticized for his role in slashing the budget of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), our foreign aid programs have been killing people for more than 50 years. American food aid has sabotaged foreign farmers since the 1960s, causing waves of bankruptcies and subverting foreign nations’ ability to feed themselves. I have been hammering this program since 1984.” (07/02/26)
“Since 1776, at least 120 peoples have declared independence, echoing Jefferson’s universal claim about natural rights, self-government, and political legitimacy.” (07/02/26)
