Originally posted on Keeping (up with) the Republic:
So the idea that a president must accomplish big things in his first 100 days is partly a reference to how much FDR got done and partly an awareness that if a president doesn’t act in a hurry, his popularity is likely to go down (it is…

Originally posted on Keeping (up with) the Republic:
The reminder “be careful what you wish for” certainly applies to winning control of all the branches of power in a presidential system — it looks thrilling and promising on the surface but it is a trap for the unwary or unready. Right now, the United States…

Originally posted on Keeping (up with) the Republic:
I got an email from one of the high school teachers I work with the other day entitled “Bomb.”  It was about the frenzied excitement with which some of his students greeted the news that we dropped the “MOAB” on Afghanistan. The teacher was worried that, for…