In the conclusion to my Section 3 trilogy, I predicted that the two most likely results in the forthcoming Supreme Court decision on Donald Trump's presidential eligibility would be either A) that he must remain eligible in all states, or B) that states would be permitted to follow their own laws on how one becomes… Continue reading How the Ghost of Horace Greeley Might Deny Trump the Presidency
In considering whether former president Donald Trump should be disqualified from the ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment's Section 3, my last post included the following: Part 1 looked at the text and relevant context of Section 3. Part 2 explained why it should not up for the voters to decide whether Trump violated the Constitution.… Continue reading Should Trump Be Ineligible?: Counterarguments & Rebuttals
(Author's note: Unable to top a Vonnegut reference, I intended to spare the rest of your 2023 from my drivel. But then Colorado's highest court, based on its reading of the Fourteenth Amendment's Section 3, barred Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot. You won't believe this, but I have some thoughts.) When I first… Continue reading Should Trump Be Ineligible? Analyzing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment
I normally don't use this website to stake out positions on political issues. I've noted before that I lack conviction on pretty much all issues because I can't help but subject myself to both sides so much that they both sound reasonable -- or, just as often, unreasonable. That's not to say I'm devoid of… Continue reading A Constitution Day Defense of the Constitution
I recently watched the miniseries 1883, a prequel to Paramount's hit, Yellowstone. The series had what might be my favorite performance of this young decade: the great Sam Elliott as grizzled Civil War veteran and wagon train leader Captain Shea Brennan. He'd been hired by a group of European immigrants -- the subtitles insisted they… Continue reading On Freedom and Traffic Lights
Our political system is broken. To be clear, I don't write that sentence as a Marxist who wants to shred a Constitution written by the landed aristocracy. In truth, most of our broken political system is the result of post-Constitutional practices. The Senate is fine, but the post-Constitution filibuster has made it a dead end.… Continue reading Raise Your Hand If You Want Trump-Biden II (I’ll Wait)
Part I here One of the great things about sports is that it allows countries to compete against each other without resorting to annoying things like killing and maiming. (Well, usually.) The quadrennial World Cup is the highest profile example of the soccer pitch becoming a proxy battlefield to help exercise old demons. Today, the 2022 World… Continue reading Historical Disputes Between Opponents in the 2022 World Cup’s Round of 16 (Part II)
(Author's note: today is PPFA's 500th post! Thanks for reading a few along the way. Among them was a World Cup "Round of 16" post four years ago. Here's another.) One of the great things about sports is that it allows countries to compete against each other without resorting to annoying things like killing and… Continue reading Historical Disputes Between Opponents in the 2022 World Cup’s Round of 16 (Part I)
It took me two posts last week to make a Four Weeks Out prediction for who wins the Senate at next month's midterm elections. One may ask, "Who cares? Why does it matter who controls the Senate?" Well, with control of the Senate comes so much more -- the party of the Senate Majority Leader,… Continue reading Who Will Be the Next Senate Pro Tem? (And Other Fun Senate Pro Tem Questions)
I'm an amateur writer, a mediocre historian, a bothersome pundit, a lousy podcaster, and a tenured, periodically effective high school history teacher who works neither in Florida nor Texas. Does anyone else like this exist? If not, there might not be anyone who's as barely qualified, considerably eager, and hopefully free to tackle the reputationally… Continue reading PPFA Does CRT, Part I: What IS Critical Race Theory?
Presidential Politics for America 