The events of Charlottesville have me thinking about my role as an historian and teacher. This was reinforced by these comments by James Alex Fields Jr.’s high school history teacher. I don’t think any one teacher can be responsible for the ideas of a single student.…
An old division is rearing it’s head again in the Democratic Party. It’s gone public in the disruption of Bernie Sanders’s speeches by #blacklivesmatter protesters, first at Netroots Nation in July and then again in Seattle on Saturday (see here).…
In honor the 4th of July weekend, I’m sharing this post I wrote last year at this time:
I recently had the opportunity to sing “American the Beautiful.” The lines that most hit me are in the third verse:
…Oh, beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
After a holidays break (and we hope you all had nice holidays), we’re getting ready to relaunch The Town Square at the end of this month. We’ll be adding some authors and moving to a more traditional format. Each author will publish regularly (usually every other week) on topics of their choice, so you can expect a regular flow of original content.…
Jason:
I find myself in complete agreement with Jason. The push for voter ID laws in states across the country has shown a belief that the system is overrun with fraud. The numbers of actual vote fraud do not warrant this type of strict regulation of freedom.…
My argument against additional qualifications for citizens to vote boils down to these two core beliefs: (1) Democracy is the only legitimate basis for governing authority and therefore (2) all those governed should have a say in their government – most basically, a vote,
Jacob has suggested that the outcomes – what people decide to vote for – should take priority over issues of suffrage.…
This week we will be staying on the topic of voter ID laws and offering our rebuttals to both Jason and Jacob’s responses. It seems clear that we all view this topic differently and it should make for an interesting continuation of the topic.…
The right of each citizen to vote is the basis of democracy. It is the foundational right by which all others are ultimately preserved. As such, it must be accorded the highest priority; all other concerns must be secondary. This includes attempts to “increase voter confidence” and other claims in favor of recent voter ID laws.…
Rights are one of my favorite conversations. But let’s try something different today – rather than start at the end (minority discrimination, etc.) let’s start at the beginning.
All Americans have the Right to bear arms. That’s the same “R” word as we are discussing in regards to voting, correct?…
With Election Day rapidly approaching, I think it is time we tackle one of the crucial issues of the day: Voter ID laws.
Are they civil rights violation or a common sense protection for voting integrity? A partisan power grab? A racist power grab?…
“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
“We the people of the United States … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
“…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”…
Header image by Tom Plewe © 2015
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