A life in words

  • The Voice of the People

    Had I gotten my address updated and my absentee ballot arrived in the mail, I would have either voted for John McCain, or abstained on account of my concerns over Palin’s qualifications. But most of America was more responsible than I was, and they voted. And they voted decisively. John McCain’s concession speech was magnanimous…

  • Why My Blog’s Seemed Boring Lately

    Hello dear, devoted(?) fans! I owe you an explanation. Those of you who have just been visiting my site directly may have thought that nothing interesting has happened since sometime in August. Well, I’ve actually posted a lot since then, but there was a problem with my site configuration so that you couldn’t see those…

  • Choice, Compulsion, Popular Opinion, and the Public Interest

    Choice Relative to our own capability to act, believe, intend, or feel in various ways, choice is the process by which we actually do act, believe, intend, and feel. While some in the cognitive sciences feel that our choices may be entirely a product of chemical processes and circumstance, most people believe at some level…

There is nothing I dread so much, as a division of the Republic into two great Parties, each arranged under its leader and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This in my humble apprehension is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.John Adams, Letter to Jonathan Jackson, 2 Oct 1780