The Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision last week on the rights of an individual in a Federalist system. At issue was an individual's right to challenge judgments based on unconstitutionality. The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Third Circuit Court's ruling, which would seem to imply that an individual, "does not have standing to raise a Tenth Amendment issue."   Read the rest of this entry »

Here are a few things you might have missed from around the blogosphere. There are a lot of good people out there, writing good stuff. Every once in a while it behooves us to point a few of them out.   Read the rest of this entry »

After a brief hiatus, the Friday crossword is back. This one is easy, and like most others of late, based on an article taken from the Niles Weekly Register.   Read the rest of this entry »

Not so random thoughts on God and country.   Read the rest of this entry »

Federalist No. 20 is the last in a series of 6 essays on the “Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union.” In this essay, Hamilton and Madison collaborate (you can tell by the writing) to show the struggles of a contemporary confederacy, that of the Netherlands. According to Hamilton and Madison, despite its singularity, the United Netherlands were prone to the same problems which plagued the other confederacies covered in the preceding 5 essays.   Read the rest of this entry »

On a recent trip to Washington, I had happened upon Mr. Pitch signing copies of his books in the lobby of the American History Museum. It was a stroke of very good luck for me, as I discovered his books are excellent, and he is an extremely erudite and generous guy. Mr. Pitch very kindly agreed to answer some questions about his book (reviewed here), his research, and even shared some of his insights into the book writing process.   Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks back, it was my good fortune to visit Montpelier. It may have been my favorite of the presidential homes I visited (the others being Mount Vernon, Ash Lawn, and Monticello). At all of these places I especially enjoyed visiting with the guides and other folks who are clearly passionate about what they do. At Montpelier, Jim Walker generously agreed to share some of his knowledge of James Madison, the father of the Constitution.   Read the rest of this entry »

While on a recent visit to Washington D.C. on business I took a few extra days to do some sight-seeing and happened by the American History Museum. As fortune would have it, the author of this book was seated at a small table near the exit with a stack of his books. Naturally unable to resist, I bought a copy of each. Now, having finished reading The Burning of Washington, I can unequivocally say that it was good fortune indeed. At the time I wondered at the mild irony of the author's English accent, given the title of his book!   Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in the week WWTFT guest contributor Edward Witek introduced us to Dr. Benjamin Church Jr. His speech was so stirring that it was chosen as the source for this week’s puzzle words. Enjoy!

If you have a problem with

…   Read the rest of this entry »

The words for this week's crossword are taken from an article pulled from the Niles Register of July 25, 1812. War had just been declared with Great Britain. The hawks in Congress had finally prevailed over a Federalist filibuster, and Mr. Madison had his war. It was now time for all patriotic Americans to whip themselves into an anti-British fervor. Toward that end, the Niles register reprinted this account of the hellish conditions under which the British kept American prisoners during the War for American Independence, 2 decades earlier.   Read the rest of this entry »