A life in words

  • The Constitution Is Cool

    The Constitution Is Cool

    Like a neglectful car owner who postpones the next oil change, we don’t talk about the U.S. Constitution enough, don’t listen to its hum and sputters enough, and aren’t doing enough to set in order the problems impairing the long-term functioning of a free government. One of the few institutions where people are talking seriously…

  • Recommended listen: Can President Trump Invoke the Insurrection Act Over the Objections of State Governors?

    People call the president a “conservative”, but this is only true in the culture war sense; the rest is about blindly trampling the status quo, both dysfunctional things like neglected immigration enforcement, and vital principles like a limited executive and free speech. This is a good listen on the history of the Insurrection Act, and…

  • Mount Si hike 9 Aug 2025

    Mount Si hike 9 Aug 2025

    Finally got up on Mount Si for the season today. 3:22 for the round trip including break at the top—pretty good! Next time, without breaking a sweat? We shall see!

The principal difficulty lies, and the greatest care should be employed in constituting this Representative Assembly. It should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them. That it may be the interest of this Assembly to do strict justice at all times, it should be an equal representation, or in other words equal interest among the people should have equal interest in it. Great care should be taken to effect this, and to prevent unfair, partial, and corrupt elections.John Adams, Thoughts on Government, April 1776