Opinion
The Declaration of Independence was just the beginning
The events that ensued from July 1776 into the early 1780s when the victory was won are worth continuing to remember and celebrate.
Opinion
America was never meant to be perfect
Creating a constitutional republic from millions of complicated people was never going to produce a perfect nation. It was always going to produce a living one.
Opinion
REACH Act would put teeth in UNC System’s civics requirements
After most of NC’s public colleges and universities were failing to require an adequate course on American democracy, legislators reintroduced the REACH Act.
Opinion
Roots of American freedom run deep
Last month I joined dozens of other writers, scholars, activists, and leaders across the country in declaring ourselves “Freedom Conservatives.” What do FreeCons stand for? You can read our statement of common principles at FreedomConservatism.org. Of course, virtually all Americans value freedom. But they don’t necessarily define the term in the same way. Nor do...
Opinion
Don’t that just beat all?
I’ve been writing a newspaper column since 1986. During that time, I’ve had occasion to criticize the policies of six North Carolina governors: Jim Martin, Jim Hunt, Mike Easley, Beverly Perdue, Pat McCrory, and Roy Cooper. None has seen fit to have me flogged. An ancestor of mine, William Pendley, wasn’t so lucky. Some years...
Opinion
A conservative’s job is to remember
Political conservatism, say its critics, is less a rational movement to shape the future than an irrational impulse to flee the present. Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. famously called it “the politics of nostalgia.” In reality, the temptation to romanticize the past is evident across the ideological spectrum. Politicians, activists, and intellectuals often wax nostalgic about...
Opinion
The Liberal and Classical Republican Traditions
Students of American constitutional history should learn lessons from the great thinkers in both camps.
Opinion
McCollough’s ‘Greater Journey’ Another Great Read
David McCullough’s books are not a quick or an easy read, and The Greater Journey is no exception. The cast of characters and historical information are extensive and detailed. However, like his other books, his approach is so engaging that you do not want to put the book down. It leaves the reader wanting to know more and read more of the works by writers like Oliver Wendell Holmes, Victor Hugo, and James Fenimore Copper. I found myself longing to go to Paris and see the Louvre.
Opinion
Our Blogging Founding Fathers
The Founding Fathers were bloggers. Well, okay, let me rephrase that. Many of the Founders were the 18th-century equivalent of a certain category of modern-day bloggers.
Opinion
No. 846: America is “Grateful to Almighty God”
Despite what liberals want to hear, America is a "nation under God," as shown in constitutitions from state to state.
