James Ceaser

With all the esoteric references in recent posts to the Man of Steel, dual paternity, and what not, I decided yesterday that I would take myself, my wife—but unfortunately not my dog—to the movie theater. It has been a very long time indeed since I have entered these environs, perhaps . . . . Continue Reading »

Tomorrow is the fourth of July, and it is in the tradition of America to offer some words about the Declaration of Independence by way of commemoration. Formerly, that obligation was often met by public readings of the Declaration followed by formal pronouncements of what were called Fourth Of July . . . . Continue Reading »

Watching television late last night, I learned to my surprise that Anthony Weiner had pulled into a slight lead in the polls in the race for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City. One might have thought that after his episodes of serial sexting, followed by a week of outright denials . . . . Continue Reading »

Those with a mild concern for self-government in America might be feeling a little bit despondent this week. It seems that the people really don’t govern that much. Yes, elections matter, as the saying goes. But rule by an election is a different thing altogether from self-government. Self . . . . Continue Reading »

Peter asked for an homage to MItt Romney. I think I supplied one in the current Claremont Review of Books. Here is the link: http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.2018/article_detail.asp . . . . Continue Reading »

There are two kinds of insomniacs: the productive and the unproductive. The productive work all night, putting their fretful hours to good use. Some people ask: “How does he or she manage to accomplish all that in a twenty four hour day?” But they are being much too hard on themselves. . . . . Continue Reading »

From the weekly standard this week: For the small school of political analysis that draws its inspiration from the great French 17th-century philosopher René Descartes, the cardinal methodological rule is to begin from what one can know “so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground . . . . Continue Reading »

With all the important issues at stake in the presidential and vice presidential debates, it takes a small and pettifogging disposition to be concerned with a matter of fairness. But since John Rawls talks so much about procedural justice, and since no enlightened professor today would dare label . . . . Continue Reading »

Are we all racists now? Ever since Barack Obama made his appearance in national politics, some of the good souls who have supported him have drawn red lines to remind any possible critics where their opposition veers into racism. Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, The New Yorker, E. J. Dionne, Michael . . . . Continue Reading »

here is an article i did for the standard on the debate. and i have added a question at the end. The highly anticipated debate in Denver was the rarest of all things in American politics: an unspinnable event. Almost all who watched the contest concluded that there was one president on the stage, . . . . Continue Reading »