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JEFFERSONIAN THEORIST PAR EXCELLENCE Progressive historian Charles A. Beard called John Taylor of Caroline "the most systematic thinker" of the Jeffersonian Republican party. Taylor was an American exponent of republican theory as developed by English opposition movements in the 17th and 18th centuries. A successful lawyer and planter – and, yes, of course, a slaveholder, … Continue reading “John Taylor of Caroline (1753-1824), Federalism, and Empire”

Memorial Day in America, a day in which we honor the perished heroes (and heroines) fallen in past wars, has really gone out of fashion. There was a time, before the end of the cold war, that Memorial Day parades were major affairs all across America: I remember in the early sixties going to the … Continue reading “In Memorium–For the Old Republic”

When Ralph Nader entered the presidential sweepstakes as the candidate of the Green Party, I thought: At last, we will hear from the American Left on the vital questions of war and intervention. A well-known and much respected public scold, Nader, I knew, would get major attention, and in spite of my own political views, … Continue reading “Ralph Nader and the Abstention of the Left”

While the value of the Euro is taking a tumble in the financial markets, politically the idea of a federal European Union is on the march: leftists and “moderate” conservatives all over Europe are marching to the tune of “Ode to Joy,” the European anthem adapted from the final movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. A … Continue reading “Quo Vadis Europa?”

The most fascinating (albeit somewhat depressing) aspect of the almost non-ongoing discussion over whether former General Barry McCaffrey ordered a slaughter of retreating Iraqi soldiers two days after the cease-fire in the Persian Gulf undeclared war is the almost complete lack of interest in the matter. The New York Times, to its credit, ran an … Continue reading “McCaffrey Bites Back”

The recent Senate vote on the Byrd-Warner amendment to get us out of Kosovo was an object lesson in the way the two government-subsidized “major” parties operate, in practice, as two wings of the War Party; or, as Pat Buchanan puts it, “two wings of the same vulture.” While most Republicans supported the amendment, and … Continue reading “Dubya’s Kosovo Doubletalk”

ELLIOTT STRIKES BACK A few weeks ago, I was innocently cruising the web, when I stumbled on an essay which denounced American business for failure to warmonger. That was an interesting and serious charge. As I scrolled down, great clumps of unalloyed neo-conservative doctrine came tumbling down, as I recall, to the tune of "Mamas, … Continue reading “Neo-Conservative Canes Wogs – Film At Eleven”

The US Congress, at long last, is rising up in rebellion against our Kosovo policy; and, this time, it isn’t just a few Republican back-benchers. A bipartisan coalition of congressional heavyweights is demanding to know: Is there no end to our commitment in the Balkans? The chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Service Committee, Sen. … Continue reading “Kosovo Turnabout–Mutiny in the Senate”

We’ll see if legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh’s story suggesting that former Gulf War commander and now "drug czar" Gen. Barry McCaffrey either ordered or condoned actions that would be viewed as those of a war criminal if done by a foreigner turns out to "have legs," as we say in the business. Gen. McCaffrey … Continue reading “McCaffrey a War Criminal?”