Many early Americans were astute enough, unlike so many Americans today, to distinguish between good and bad Muslims. From the 16th to the 18th Centuries the Barbary pirates (also known as the “naval mujahadeen”) raided the southern coasts of Europe. They stole…
An American experiment: 250 years of trying
The American experiment continues. We keep on trying. Yet turmoil, division, distrust, confusion and misinformation batter us daily. Demagogues leverage social cleavage and manipulate nativistic fears. We feel increasingly undone. Our tendency is to somehow believe this is a new…
A constitutional republic, if you can keep it
Too often, when I hear or read political pundits, both conservative and liberal, refer to the United States as a “democracy,” I want to scream, “We are a constitutional republic, not a democracy!” and a few choice other words directed…