In the Tradition of Liberty.
In the Tradition of Liberty.
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FUSIONโs archive of commentary.
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Every July 4, we celebrate Americaโs break from the British Crown. But looking closer, we see in the patriotsโ appeal to the king against Parliament, the union of states in a federal commonwealth, and the unitary office of the presidency something strange. What if the United States of America is less a rejection than a reimagination of Great Britainโs imperium? What if the first country to rebel against the British Empire is, in fact, its last living heir? In casting off George III, the Founders recovered something olderโa version of the…
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The Fourth of July is all about the fireworks, and thatโs true of the Star-Spangled Banner as well as of Jaws, a movie about the holiday that is credited with launching the era of the blockbuster when it was released in 1975. Following the example of Jaws, many blockbusters have been released around the Fourth. Itโs a fitting occasion to celebrate America, to reflect on American history and take stock of American life, and to dramatize national conflicts on the largest scale available to us, and to look with hope…
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Last month in the pages of FUSION, I used the constitutional theory of James Madison as a defense of pluralism โ to show that in many respects America is built upon an open acceptance of those who are different from us. Such an outlook on government is called the open republic and can be contrasted with a closed republic that is sustained by cultural homogeneity. Several weeks ago, Nicholas Callaghan offered a thoughtful and kind critique of this argument. Callaghan argues that while much of the Constitution does imply or perhaps even require a…
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American education is in crisis. As Phillip D. Bunn recently pointed out the explosion of student AI use is not simply the latest technological fad, but rather an โunprecedentedโ challenge that has become a โpernicious and pervasive replacement for every step of student learning.โ ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) donโt just threaten an instructorโs ability to hold cheaters accountable. They threaten the studentโs ability to grow intellectually, subverting the whole purpose of education. Bunn focuses on the problem in universities. But itโs even worse in our high schools.…
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King John of England agreed to the provisions of the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215. We recently passed the 800-year anniversary of a perhaps almost as important event, Henry IIIโs 1225 reissuing of the agreement under his own free will. Since it was almost rediscovered by the great lawyer of the constitution Sir Edward Coke in the early 17th century, Magna Carta has been a rallying point for those who would limit the arbitrary power of the sovereign, first in England and then in North America. It was to…
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To hear Trump tell of it, the U.S. Court of International Tradeโs decision striking down the tariffs he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was motivated by personal animus. It was just another case of biased left-wingers afflicted by Trump Derangement Syndrome engaging in judicial activism to stop him. In reality, the decision was anything but that. The judges were sober and even-handed, and the decision should help inform the justices of the Supreme Court when they inevitably hear the case on appeal. First, there…
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Recent court cases have sparked serious debate in the U.S. about the scope of executive power and the rule of law. The US Court of International Trade struck down the tariffs President Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. I wrote about this for The Daily Economy but in typical fashion, within hours of that piece being published, there was already a new development. In response to the Administrationโs appeal, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granting an immediate administrative stay and temporarily reinstated the…
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Jeffery Tyler Syckโs recent essay “The Case for an Open Republic” offers readers some thoughts on Madisonโs understanding of pluralism and how that pertains to our republic today. Syck argues that Madisonโs extended republic supports a theory of pluralism that naturally results in an โopenโ republic. By open, Syck means a diverse republic with no limitations on who can enter. Syck contrasts this with the โclosedโ republic of the Anti-Federalists, who argued that โsmall, closed, intimate societiesโ were the only way to preserve a regime. Syck dismisses this idea as…
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The story of the last decade of Hungarian politics can be told through a series of clashes between Fidesz, the ruling conservative party, and academia. The opening move came in 2018, when the government banned gender studies across public universities. Central European University (CEU), a private, American-style institution, was largely pushed out of Budapest in 2019. In 2020, the government appointed a new board of trustees to the Szรญnhรกz รฉs Filmmลฑvรฉszeti Egyetem (SZFE), the national university of the performing arts, provoking public protests, faculty resignations, and a prolonged campus occupation…
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The words โcommon senseโ are central in todayโs political lexicon. President Trumpโs Inaugural Address called for a โrevolution of common sense.โ Michael Baharaeen, columnist and chief political analyst for the center-left Liberal Patriot, asked, โIs a common sense faction of Democrats rising?โ Rival claims of common sense reminded me that my parents’ go-to maxim was “Use your common sense.” They directed it at me (and my siblings) when I was old enough to raise questions with them about doing something on my own. On the other hand, “That person doesn’t have…