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Why We Lost: Not Enough Votes
First things first: I was wrong. Nate Silver was right. The Democrats did, indeed, have a turnout miracle. Final exit polling shows the Democrats with a D+6 advantage on election night, essentially...
View ArticleWhy Republicans Will Always Lose, by Douglas Adams
Reading the much-talked-about GOP “autopsy” today, trying to put together some impromptu thoughts about it for a Senate District meeting tonight, I find myself reminded of a passage from Douglas Adams’...
View ArticleAn Old-New Republican Platform
I was digging around the dusty corners of the Documents folder on my computer today when I found, in a rarely-visited folder, a document from 2009 called “A New Party Platform.” I opened it up and was...
View ArticleJust War Theory Tested in Syria
The Just War Theory is a framework for analyzing the exceptional cases where war — that is, the deliberate use of potentially deadly force on a mass scale against a legitimate, sovereign authority —...
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No, Republicans Have Not Blocked 82 Obama Nominees
Pictured: “Fuzzy Math” SPOILER ALERT: At the end of this article, we will reveal that Republicans have in fact blocked only 8 Obama nominees. The golden rule of infographics: the vaguer the source...
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The Average American Wants BOTH Gay Marriage AND Extreme Abortion Restrictions
One of my occasional themes here at De Civ has been the fact that one of the most common, most influential tropes in American politics is completely wrong. Most commentators think that abortion and...
View ArticleNet Neutrality: A Sorta-Technical Overview
This is the text of a talk I recently gave at the monthly meeting of Twin Cities Catholic I.T. Professionals, Inc.. It is aimed at computer professionals who want to get a deeper understanding of net...
View Article5 Hacks for Identifying Legit (or not) News Sources
A friend asks, “How do I know what news sources are legit? Like, ThinkProgress, for example? Do they suck? I know many sites, but I have no idea which ones are regarded as actually having good...
View ArticleThe President Should Be Impeached For Suspending the Employer Mandate
I wrote a version of this post on reddit about nearly two years ago. I finally got sick of digging out the link, so I am finally getting it up on De Civ. BACKGROUND On July 2, 2013, Assistant...
View ArticleThe Cynic’s Guide to 2016: Unflattering Assessments of Presidential Candidates
Every time I see a presidential candidate, there’s a little voice in my head that asks, “Sure, that’s what they’re saying. But what are they really thinking?” This is a cynical voice, and it’s often...
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The Longest Confirmation Battle in History
Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin is chiefly remembered for the drama he caused by dying. President John Tyler had a very bad relationship with Congress. Tyler had been elected Vice-President in...
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“Stop. Trump. Tonight.” A Caucus Speech
1,513 people showed up to our district meeting for Republican precinct caucuses. (That’s five times the previous record, set in 2008.) I think this might be literally every single person who has ever...
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Conventional Chaos, Part 2: Delegated Disloyalty
I have a lot of friends who are asking a lot of questions about brokered conventions these days. In this series, Conventional Chaos, I’ll be explaining how a Republican party convention works… and why...
View ArticleIn Which I Am Right: Shadow Primary plus Kasich
In my recent piece on convention delegates, I speculated that, in the scrum to win the loyalty of as many delegates as possible, Ted Cruz would have the edge. Cruz has a strong organization, has been...
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Conventional Chaos, Part 3: The Republican Rulebook
I have a lot of friends who are asking a lot of questions about brokered conventions these days. In this series, Conventional Chaos, I’ll be explaining how a Republican party convention works… and why...
View ArticleDe Civitate’s Delegate Loyalty Tracker
UPDATE 10 MAY 2016: In light of Trump’s presumptive nomination, Saturday’s delegate results (which were basically “Everything’s Coming Up Trump”), and the fact that it has become even harder to track...
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TRUMP!: What Now? …A New Party (3 of 3)
If other men choose to go upon all fours, I choose to stand erect, as God designed every man to stand. If, practically falsifying its heaven-attested principles, this nation denounces me for refusing...
View ArticleNew Party: Mailbag
I did essentially nothing but blog for three days after Trump won — I skipped meals, ignored some committees I’m on, didn’t sleep — so I am taking a couple days off of blogging/thinking to catch up…...
View ArticleNew Party: Next Steps
I’ve been asked what we need to do next to get the New Party up and running for 2018. It’s been almost two weeks since I first proposed a new party, so I figure I ought to say something, even if it...
View ArticleNew Party: Elevator Pitch
On May 5th, I wrote a lengthy piece proposing that we give up on the Republican Party and start a new one. Several people wrote to ask me to post a shorter version of that post. Here it is! The...
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