by jpitney | Nov 8, 2025 | Civility, Congress, Violence
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced his retirement in an op-ed at the Bangor Daily News: I have never loved politics. But I find purpose and meaning in service, and the Marine in me has been able to slog along through the many aspects of politics I dislike by focusing...
by jpitney | Nov 7, 2025 | Congress, Presidency, Separation of Powers
Don Wolfesnberger: The current shutdown only exacerbates the imbalance of powers between the branches as the Office of Management and Budget implements its “unitary executive” plans to shift increasing powers and functions from Congress to the president. Not only will...
by jpitney | Nov 6, 2025 | Congress, Dreier, House of Representatives
John Gizzi at Newsmax: So what would have happened had Tower been confirmed or Bush found another nominee to replace him? “That’s a really good question,” former Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., said. “Dick told me that he made a conscious...
by jpitney | Nov 5, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives, Journalism, Journalists
Bloomberg’s Steve Dennis: Capitol news desert: ~Half the states have nobody in the press corps watching their state delegations and asking tough questions in the hallway. It would take ~$10M/year to hire 50 top reporters, one for each state, plus editors, etc.,...
by jpitney | Nov 4, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives, Leadership
Former Vice President Dick Cheney died last night. In 2004, Bill Connelly and Jack Pitney reflected on their experiences with him as Congressional Fellows in his House Republican leadership office. Some of the literature tries to reduce legislative leadership to...
by jpitney | Nov 3, 2025 | California Politics
Grace Toohey and Terry Castleman at LAT: Firefighters urged broader Altadena evacuations before midnight, but three hours passed before officials issued west Altadena mandatory evacuation orders as the Eaton fire advanced. Eighteen of nineteen Eaton fire deaths...
by jpitney | Nov 2, 2025 | Civic Education, civic virtue, Education
Spencer Cox and Ian Marcus Corbin at WP: A pilot program at Utah State University places questions of meaning, purpose and civic responsibility at the heart of general education. All enrolled students will engage with the works of Plato, John Stuart Mill, Lao Tzu and...
by jpitney | Nov 2, 2025 | Conservative', Debate
Wisdom from Prof. Robert P. George: A few days ago, I posted a brief statement of what I, as a conservative, seek to conserve. The first item on the list was what I regard as the foundational principle of all sound morality: the profound, inherent, and equal dignity...
by jpitney | Nov 1, 2025 | California Politics, Local Government, Los Angeles
Paul Pringle and Alene Tchekmedyian at LAT: Firefighters mopping up a small brush fire that authorities say reignited as the Palisades fire five days later were ordered to leave the original burn scene even though they complained the ground was still smoldering and...
by jpitney | Oct 31, 2025 | Congress, Senate, Separation of Powers
Don Wolfensberger writes that there are four key things to consider in determining how much the Senate has deviated from its originally planned track. First, the Senate is not, as it might claim, the world’s greatest deliberative body. Deliberation has gone the way of...
