‘Letting Trump Be Trump’: Hubris and Leadership
Guest post contributed by Glenn LeBoeuf British army intelligence began, in 1941, to explore the feasibility of assassinating Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany’s navy and Luftwaffe were bombing British cities and sinking many of the essential supplies coming to England. To carry out such a plan, first they needed a detailed psychological study of Hitler’s childhood, WWI traumas and parental influences,….Read more
Thomas Jefferson’s Fix for an Ignorant Citizenry
Thomas Jefferson’s epitaph in Virginia leaves out one salient fact and includes another lesser known achievement: Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia Jefferson was immensely proud of his role in founding the university, which was his secular….Read more
How High and How Thick the Wall of Separation?
Guest post by RJ Gaynor, guest blogger Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American….Read more
What Good Is the Liberal Arts for a Career?
It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing. –Steve Jobs, introducing the iPad The art major is the person who walks the dog of the computer science major, or at least so goes the new wisdom. Computer engineers….Read more
What Would Alexander Hamilton Do About Debt? Side With Creditors
Imagine yourself a Massachusetts minuteman during the American Revolution. The state government promised you fair payment for your military service when you enlisted. You starved, bled and froze through several cold winters for your new country. But on payday, you didn’t get paid in currency. All you got was a war bond, just an IOU from the state. Out of patriotism, you….Read more
Your Task Has Changed: Real Teaching in the Digital Age
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. –John Quincy Adams I know what you teachers are thinking. The sand is escaping the hourglass of summer. Pretty soon, you will start teaching in the classroom. This is cause for great jubilation and also great anxiety. Huge….Read more
What Would Alexander Hamilton Do? Go Big on Government
If they break this union, they will break my heart. –Alexander Hamilton on his deathbed, quoted by Ron Chernow in Alexander Hamilton Hamilton was wary of government dissent and concerned about too much immigration. The man the New York Times calls “the country’s new favorite founder” who is an unlikely Broadway sensation, sounds like a modern conservative. But….Read more
Who Are Those Convention Delegates, Anyway?
It’s convention month and I had the pleasure of chatting this week with a person who a large newspaper once called the “grande dame” of Democratic politics in New Jersey. She happens to be a Democrat; but rest assured that is not why we spoke to her. She has been to 11 party nominating conventions and if anyone knows how….Read more
What Would Alexander Hamilton Do? Build a Wall?
The safety of a republic depends essentially… on a uniformity of principles and habits; and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education, and family…The United States have already felt the evils of incorporating a large number of foreigners into their national mass; it has served very much to divide….Read more
What Would Alexander Hamilton Do? Minimize Political Dissent
Some 200+ years later, founding father Alexander Hamilton is a hot ticket. An eponymous Broadway musical and a PBS series celebrate and illuminate Alexander Hamilton’s life and legacy. Hamilton’s views are still being debated today, so I’ve decided to look at five of his core convictions in light of today’s issues. He’s a seminal American political philosopher and co-author of the Federalist Papers,….Read more