Social & Political Hub
Welcome to my collection of political analysis, historical studies, and cultural commentary. Rather than reacting to the daily partisan news cycle, I try to focus on institutions, incentives, historical context, and the deeper questions behind familiar arguments. Below you will find writing on presidential power and political history, media and party tribalism, public policy and health, and long-form essays on culture, family, and identity.
American Presidents: Formation, Power, and Legacy
A continuing series about American presidents. In Part 1 we look at the experiences, ambitions, failures, and political growth that shaped each president before they took office. In Part 2 we explore how those beliefs influenced their time in power, what they achieved, where they fell short, and the legacy they left behind.
- George Washington: A Two-Part Presidential Study
- Part 1: The Formation of a President — How George Washington’s early experiences shaped the beliefs and assumptions he later brought to the presidency.
- Part 2: Presidency and Legacy — An assessment of Washington’s presidency, including both its achievements and its failures.
- John Adams coming SOON
- Ronald Reagan: A Two-Part Political Study
- Part 1: The Formation of President — How Reagan’s experiences shaped the political beliefs that later informed his presidency.
- Part 2: Presidency and Legacy — My analysis of Reagan’s presidency: the good, the bad, and the legacy that remains contested.
Trump, Truth, and Political Loyalty
- Testing Constraints — How constitutional constraint can shift from a check before executive action into a remedy invoked only after the action has already occurred.
- Presidential Conflicts of Interest — Why failures of oversight matter more than any single allegation of presidential corruption.
- How to Become President — A step-by-step argument for how someone might ideally prepare for the responsibilities of the presidency.
- Trump Venezuela Intervention — An examination of the dangers of describing occupation or intervention as “law enforcement.”
- My Opinion on the Iraq War — The essay that started this blog: my postwar reckoning with the Iraq War and the reasons it stayed with me.
Trump, Truth, and Political Loyalty
- Is Donald Trump a Fascist? — A look at the historical meaning of fascism and whether the label fits Donald Trump.
- Why I Can’t Support Donald Trump — The roots of my opposition to Trump and how I have learned to deal with Trump supporters.
- Donald Trump’s Relationship with the Truth — Why it is difficult to trust a political leader who lies repeatedly.
- Extremely Strong and Powerful in His Denial — My reaction to Trump accepting Vladimir Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
- The Dangers of Blind Loyalty to Political Parties — Why voting for a party rather than evaluating the individual candidate can be dangerous.
- Conservatives and Liberals: Where Do You Fit? — My responses to a Pew Research Center political-typology questionnaire and what the exercise reveals about ideological labels.
Media, Society, and Public Debate
- How Reddit Profits from Public Shaming — The mechanism behind public shaming on Reddit and why I believe it is toxic.
- The Golden Age of TV? — Why I question the idea that contemporary television represents the medium’s highest point.
- Does Education Make Us Politically Dumber? — An examination of whether education can make political thinking more rather than less rigid.
- Black Lives Matter: A White Guy’s Perspective — My personal reflections on the Black Lives Matter movement.
- Gun Ownership and Gun Control in America — My thoughts on gun ownership, gun control, and the tensions between them.
COVID-19 and Public Health
- Making Sense of COVID-19
- Part 1: Emergency Measures, School Closures, and Policy Shifts — A discussion of emergency measures, school closures, and changing pandemic policies.
- Part 2: Trust, Guidance, and International Comparisons — Why trust in COVID guidance collapsed, and whether other countries handled the pandemic more effectively.
- Regarding the Coronavirus— My thoughts on COVID-19 as the pandemic was unfolding.
- The Most Important Findings About Exercise — A discussion of findings from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- The Most Important Findings About Nutrition — A discussion of the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Marriage, Family, and Culture
- What Is Marriage? — An eight-part series presenting and defending the conjugal view of marriage.
- Part 1: What Is Marriage? — Introducing the debate and the conjugal view of marriage.
- Part 2: Comprehensive Union — What “comprehensive union” means and why it matters to marriage.
- Part 3: Marriage, Public Value, and the State — The public value of marriage and its relationship with the state.
- Part 4: Marriage Isn’t Malleable — Why I argue marriage cannot be changed indefinitely without changing its nature.
- Part 5: What’s the Harm? — The harms I believe follow from changing the definition of marriage.
- Part 6: Moral and Religious Freedom — Why I argue that changing the definition of marriage threatens moral and religious freedom.
- Part 7: Justice and Equality — A discussion of justice and equality as they relate to marriage.
- Part 8: A Cruel Bargain — Why I argue the conjugal view does not harm same-sex couples in a way the law can redress.
- Female Self-Image in American Society — A discussion of the harmful messages American women receive about their bodies.
- What It Means to Be a Man — The values I believe matter most in mature manhood.