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“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”—Thomas Jefferson When he wrote these words to William Stephens Smith in November of 1787, Thomas Jefferson was criticizing the signers of the Constitution. Jefferson had just read the Constitution for the first time, and he felt that Article 1 gave too much power to the Chief Executive. And the reason it did so, Jefferson believed, was that Washington, Madison, Hamilton, and all the rest had been u

Despite police fears that legal marijuana businesses attract crime, including under-the-table drug dealing, weapons violations, and robberies, a new study says the opposite might be the case. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas analyzed major crimes from 1990 to 2006 in the United States, paying particular attention to early medical marijuana states: Alaska (1998), California (1996), Colorado (2000), Hawaii (2000), Maine (1999), Montana (2004), Nevada (2000), Oregon (1998), Rhode

I broke my own rule this week and compared somebody to Hitler. It was only a little argumentum ad nazium. I suggested that Russian’s recent move to seize the largely Russian-speaking Crimean region of Ukraine had a lot of historical parallels to Hitler’s 1938 invasion of to annex the largely German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Apparently, Hillary Clinton has been thinking the same thing, and has taken the predictable fire that such comparison’s inevitably bring. There was onl

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow

For the increasing number of unaffiliated voters, choosing between a Republican and Democratic candidate may feel like a competition between the lesser of two evils. As political parties drift further away from the electorate, candidates no longer represent their constituents, which may be why 40 percent of Americans do not vote. There are still people, however, who consider themselves civically engaged, who routinely participate in the democratic process and want to be involved in the politica

While the entire military voting system is broken, there are some states whose military absentee voting records are particularly shocking, and it seems that the Department of Defense and state voting officials are simply passing the buck -- pointing the finger at each other as the problem. In the end, it adds up to the disenfranchisement of military voters. According to a report from the Military Voter Protection Project (MVPP), the picture during the 2012 election was not pretty, and unless s

Now that same sex marriages can be legally performed in 17 states (plus the District of Columbia), the other states are starting to feel the pressure that comes when you are on the wrong side of the zeitgeist. For two of these states—Utah and Oklahoma—the pressure has come in the form of the federal court system, which has invalidated provisions in their constitutions outlawing same-sex unions and forbidden recognition of such unions performed in other states. This means, of course, that it is

On November 21, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – Nev.) followed through on a threat he had issued more than once this year to use procedural maneuvers to end filibuster on presidential appointees. In doing so, Harry Reid may have shut down what little remains of the legislative process. Shortly after the 52-48 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee met to consider the nominations of ten judges, an assistant attorney general, two U.S. marshals, and four pieces of legislation. All eight Repub

Legislators from California, Texas, and Illinois gathered last week to participate in the Independent Voter Project Business and Leadership Conference in Hawaii. Also in attendance were representatives from key business sectors including energy, high tech, bio tech, and manufacturing. The stated goal of the annual conference is to create a space for open dialogue and candid policy discussion. Its location, alone, always stirs objections from Common Cause and the media. But, this year, the confe

Last week, both Illinois and Hawaii passed same-sex marriage making them the 15th and 16th states to do so. Overall, 2013 has been quite a year for the LGBT community. These last two states just seem to put the icing on the proverbial cake. It all comes on the heals of the 2012 election where voters in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) approved same-sex marriage and rejected a ban on it in the state of Minnesota. So, what has transpired during the year? Rhode Island, Delaware, Mi