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For most of American history, the idea of asylum carried a certain moral clarity. It was not a loophole, a trick, or a bureaucratic maneuver. It was a statement of principle: that people fleeing persecution deserve a chance to be heard. Not guaranteed entry. Not guaranteed approval. But guaranteed the Read more

American election law has always lived in a tension between stability and accountability. Courts want to avoid disrupting elections at the last minute, but they also insist that unlawful rules must be subject to challenge. In theory, these principles can coexist. In practice, they increasingly collide — and sometimes in Read more

There is something profoundly strange about the way we consume politics in America. Donald Trump provides an endless supply of spectacle. Every day brings another controversy, another insult, another outrageous statement, another story about the people surrounding him. The latest fascination concerns the extraordinary access reportedly given to Natalie Harp, Read more

What are Inspector Generals and why do we have them? In 1978, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, Congress passed the Inspector General Act, establishing independent Inspector Generals, to uncover waste, fraud or abuse across scores of federal departments and agencies. The law was passed by all but 6 votes Read more

Maybe it’s the narcotic effect of wall to wall news coverage of the pandemic, but something obvious escaped my attention until this morning. I hadn’t quite figured out why Donald Trump has mulishly refused to provide a full press national strategy for production and distribution of vital materials and resources. Read more

The only thing more disheartening than the sell-out by supposedly moderate a.k.a. sensible Republicans in the tax overhaul legislation posing as tax reform, is the complete failure of the Democrats to mount an effective resistance to its passage. Even a few weeks ago it seemed inconceivable that the Republicans could Read more

On December 6th, the House of Representatives passed a bill, entitled The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act  of 2017.  The bill was largely supported along party lines, meaning all but 14 Republicans voted in favor of the bill along with 6 Democrats. The Concealed Carry bill, if passed into law, would Read more

Today, DJT ended the post-post cold war with Russia and agreed to ignore what 17  intelligence agencies have concluded based on  irrefutable evidence; i.e., that Russia did indeed manipulate the 2016 election. By agreeing with  the former head of the KGB to characterize the intrusion into our electoral process as fake news, to stand-down Read more