For readers familiar with Kurt Vonnegut’s sci-fi classic—fair warning that I’m not going to tell a semi-autobiographical, nihilistic story about aliens and time travel. I’m just not that creative! But when I read the prospective majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health leaked by Politico earlier this month, the first phrase that came to…
Gun Control, Texas Style
A Second Amendment case recently argued before the Supreme Court has the potential to drastically increase the number of people carrying handguns in the United States. According to the plaintiff, an NRA affiliate called NYSRPA, the New York handgun licensing law in question breaks with historical tradition by requiring permit applicants to demonstrate a heightened…
Abbott’s NYSRPA Brief is #NotTexas
Last month the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what promises to be a landmark Second Amendment case. NYSRPA v. Bruen looks like an opportunity for the court to provide some guidance on what types of state and local firearm regulations are permissible under the Second Amendment. The question of gun-law historicity has taken…
Critical Race Theory: Not a Bad Thing
I was sitting at a dinner table with about eight other guests. The others represented a center-right political outlook peppered with a couple of die-hard Trump supporters here and there. My goal at these events is always to stay out of a fight, but last time I had failed miserably and ruined the evening. And…
Reimagining the Alamo
I recently found out about efforts by the Texas General Land Office and the Alamo Endowment to “reimagine” the historic Alamo in San Antonio.[1] As a longtime Texas resident, I was initially skeptical of this proposed project. The state, generally speaking, does a poor job of preserving its historic sites and does not prioritize state…
Racism and Welfare in America
Today I ran across a great article from The Atlantic about racism and the American welfare system. The author’s point is that the individual states are in control of which of their residents receive welfare benefits (called TANF—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and those with substantial non-white populations tend to be more stingy with them.…
Where Have the Historians Gone?
One of the long-term consequences of Dylann Roof’s brutal attack in Charleston, SC back 2015 has been a reevaluation of the place of Confederate monuments and memorials in the Southern states. In the weeks following Roof’s attack, attention focused on Confederate flags still flying at Southern state capitols. The Southern Poverty Law Center began taking…
Federalism, Canassatego, & Sen. Mike Lee
Earlier today MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosted Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to discuss his new book, Written Out of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government.[1] Released yesterday, the book is Lee’s fourth since he joined the US Senate in 2011. If the title isn’t enough of a hint, then a cursory glance at Lee’s…
The OTHER Baylor University Scandal
Despite some startling revelations about it this past fall, the recent Baylor University sexual assault scandal seems to have dropped from the media radar. And yet I forgot…until I came across an older rape scandal at Baylor.
Rachel Maddow on Reconstruction
I don’t usually watch The Rachel Maddow Show but I happened to catch part of it last night. Maddow spent about 15 minutes reviewing some basic history of Reconstruction culminating in a discussion of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which criminalized conspiracies to intimidate voters in federal elections. The Klan Act is currently the…
Brennan Gardner Rivas, PhD 