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Judicial activism became a reflexive insult against federal nominees to the courts more than 20 years ago.  Yet, the thinking that shaped the last generation’s opinions lacked any historical foundation.  The federal courts, and especially the Supreme Court, have been fundamentally political organizations from its earliest days.  When John Marshall befuddled Thomas Jefferson with the…

Faces of Fascism Dr. Walter Greason Norristown, Pennsylvania 12 May 2012   The Congressional Progressive Caucus does more to preserve freedom and democracy than the Tea Party ever will.  The difference between the two organizations being that the Caucus defends the right of the Tea Party to exist and participate in political discussion.  To this…

The Advantage Dr. Walter Greason Norristown, Pennsylvania 31 May 2012   When the English first landed in Jamestown, Virginia, and Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in the early seventeenth century, race was not the social force it would become later in American history.  It took two generations of contact and interaction with enslaved Africans and various ethnic Native…

http://bit.ly/JkDdGr   Rhetoric, Language, and Community Dr. Walter Greason Norristown, Pennsylvania 8 May 2012   Professor Daniel Rodgers, distinguished historians of ideas at Princeton University, recently discussed the importance of language in the late twentieth century at the University of Pennsylvania.  His main argument in his new book, The Age of Fracture, is that Americans…

http://bit.ly/JkDdGr   Rhetoric, Language, and Community Dr. Walter Greason Norristown, Pennsylvania 8 May 2012   Professor Daniel Rodgers, distinguished historians of ideas at Princeton University, recently discussed the importance of language in the late twentieth century at the University of Pennsylvania.  His main argument in his new book, The Age of Fracture, is that Americans…

Editorial/Opinion “Romney and Equality” Walter Greason Norristown, Pennsylvania 16 April 2012   Will Mitt Romney follow in his father’s footsteps?  Two generations ago, George Romney was one of the leading voices of the Republican Party.  His path was the traditional Republicanism that characterized the party from its origins in the mid-nineteenth century.  He  supported manufacturing…

Consider the United States in world history. One of the primary lessons of the first republic established in North America is that unintended consequences abound.  Take, for example, John Wilkes Booth and the conspirators who plotted the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  The Confederacy had lost the military struggle.  Desperation drove its fanatical adherents to stage…

Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul recently presented his view of individual rights under the United States Constitution.  In service to his larger point about limiting the size of government, he said, “I don’t like to use those terms: gay rights, women’s rights, minority rights, religious rights.  There’s only one type of right: your right to…

Editorial/Opinion The Cost of Compliance Walter Greason 29 December 2011   A fictional letter by a supporter of colonial slavery named Willie Lynch has circulated for nearly twenty years. Based on the actual careers of J. Edgar Hoover, Eugene “Bull” Connor, and Frank Rizzo, the following law enforcement strategy outline provides a cautionary note to…

Two weeks ago, the Society for American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH) hosted their fourteenth biennial conference in Baltimore, Maryland.  Some of the best architects, urban planners, and scholars came together to discuss recent and long-term trends in the growth and transformation of metropolitan areas.  For folks unfamiliar with the term, a metropolitan area…