Eric Hoffer’s oft-misquoted gem: What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult, or a corporation. …points to a dynamic propelled by greed. The greedy – i.e., they who seek wealth but shun effort – will strive to exploit any opening that might yield them what …
Category: Constitutionalism
Feb 02 2025
Units And Standards Reprised
Not too long ago, in addressing one of my favorite shibboleths, “national security,” I wrote the following: [The Biden Administration] argued that obeying the First Amendment “imposed unprecedented limits on the ability of the President’s closest aides to use the bully pulpit to address matters of public concern, on the FBI’s ability to …
Jan 19 2025
Equality As A Bludgeon-Word
“Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3: This amendment shall take effect two …
Jan 09 2025
A Contentious Proposal
“In times of economic uncertainty, never ever fuck with another man’s livelihood.” — Joe Pantoliano as “Guido,” in Risky Business It seems that a Constitutional amendment that would put term limits on federal legislators has been proposed by Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Ralph Norman. While I heartily approve of this proposed amendment …
Dec 16 2024
When Smart People Say Foolish Things, Constitutional Edition
Sometimes, as I’ve written before, smart people say foolish things. I’ve done it. So have you, Gentle Reader, so don’t put on any airs. It can be painful or merely funny, according to the context and what’s said. Sometimes, it’s not just the speaker who winces. Take this, from an American Thinker essay: …
Nov 13 2024
The Unholy Grail
According to the Wall Street Journal: WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump picked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech company founder Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, to lead an effort to cut spending, eliminate regulations and restructure federal agencies. Trump said in a statement Tuesday night that Ramaswamy and Musk—the wealthiest person in …
Nov 05 2024
A Day Without News
Do you know what day of the year – well, of the years, actually – is most frustrating to a public-affairs commentator? Election Day. *** The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the …
Oct 27 2024
“Water Through The Locks”
Time was, the sentiment of the American people was firmly against allowing government – at any level – to engage in “public works.” That’s not the same as “public property,” of course. Public works, while they may result in the acquisition or creation of public property, are nominally intended for the improvement of some …
Oct 16 2024
Localism And The Establishment
Among the things the late Clarence Carson deplored in his masterwork The American Tradition was the erosion of our traditional localism as the federal government has expanded into ever more areas of American life. Garet Garrett expressed a consistent view in The People’s Pottage. He quotes a governor of Kansas to this effect: …
Oct 10 2024
When You Can’t Win Fair And Square
…demand a rule change: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the Electoral College “needs to go,” while acknowledging “that’s not the world we live in,” during a campaign fundraiser in California on Tuesday, according to a pool report. “I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go. We need, we …
Sep 18 2024
A Good Start
Vivek Ramaswamy appears to have his head on straight: I definitely like this guy. But how about denying Congress the power to legislate on anything not mentioned explicitly in Article I, Section 8 and not forbidden by the rest of the Constitution? The regulatory agencies didn’t grow like cancers all by themselves. Unless …
Sep 16 2024
Why Is This Better?
I missed this: WASHINGTON — Working to salvage an aid package to Ukraine, Republican senators pitched an idea to former President Donald Trump that they thought he’d like: Instead of a grant, the U.S. would give the country a loan that would be backed in some fashion by Ukrainian rare earth minerals worth …
Sep 02 2024
“Unburdened By What Has Been”
It’s hard not to be impressed by the Left’s ability to cohere around a single, simple message. It speaks to the efficacy of its internal communications and its ability to impose discipline on its public voices. It doesn’t matter at all whether the message is true; what matters is that it’s concise, punchy, and …
Aug 04 2024
The Falling Of The Scales
This one isn’t for the regular Gentle Readers of Liberty’s Torch. It’s for the new visitors, the drop-ins who were recently guided here by a link or arrived by surprise, and are wondering what’s beneath our sarcastic-but-serious “schtick.” One such visitor just wrote to me thus: “I like what I’ve read so far, but …
Jul 02 2024
Have The Rules Changed Or Haven’t They?
Back when certain Y-chromosome bearers decided it was time to take the thirteen colonies-become-states and make them into a nation – a decision some think they regretted afterward – they had certain rules in mind about governments and how they were supposed to be formed. The most important of those rules was no violence. …
Feb 28 2024
What Is Caesar’s And What Is Mine?
Pro-freedom journalist John Stossel has a plaintive piece up today about that special feature of this time of year. After all, it’s the season when a young man’s fancy turns to what his wife, fiancée, or Significant Other never stops thinking about: what’s in his wallet – and I don’t mean his Capital One …
Jan 26 2024
The Case That May Upend The Regulatory Applecart
About forty years ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the most odious organizations in the enviro-Nazi coalition, received a huge gift from the Supreme Court. However, the case that granted that gift awarded an even bigger gift to the regulatory bureaucracies. That gift has since become known as Chevron deference: the requirement …
Oct 22 2023
Shoot Down This Trial Balloon Fast
This headline, House chaos forces Senate to take the wheel on spending , suggests further defacto trampling of our constitution. All spending bills are to start in the House of Representatives. Calling the failure to keep the Continuing Resolution afloat a crisis is just one more assault on our freedom. Forces the Senate to violate …
Oct 04 2023
Adding on to Mr. Porretto’s post below
Joe Mannix at Ace of Spades is pleasantly surprised. So it is not surprising that McCarthy failed to uphold his agreement. The only surprising thing is that he was punished for it. Whatever comes next – and it probably won’t be some meaningful improvement – this action stands as one of the extremely rare examples …
Sep 11 2023
Sovereign Immunity
[The following piece first appeared at Liberty’s Torch V1.0 on June 14, 2016. And before you ask: No, I haven’t been to the kzinti homeworld since then. – FWP] Some years ago, a friend of mine who sought to pursue an action against his township for mistakenly demolishing his house was told, in …
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