Thursdays' great civics debate ranged across political science, social theory, history, and constitutionalism. My opponent, Josh Dunn is a true scholar and a nice guy. But I quibble with Josh being declared the winner, as I pulled more undecideds to my view. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpbQ...

Son of a pharma researcher and an engineer who went to private prep school and then Harvard and Yale wants to close public colleges to pay for a tax cut. Did I get that right? www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...

One day away from my big debate with Josh Dunn. If you haven't considered the case against civics education, you might want to tune in. Thurs. 6 pm PT. This debate will also be livestreamed and archived on YouTube. Here is the link to the livestream: www.youtube.com/live/4l0r2sX...

Article I, Section 8, Clause 11: [The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; . . .

“The university has always been a politicized environment," said Timothy Messer-Kruse…a vocal critic of schools of civic thought. "But what this movement is doing is using the law to advance a political ideology, which is contrary to core conservative and American values…” tinyurl.com/dv26z3hx

Beyond the gleeful assault on church-state separation, the open racism and misogyny, is the disturbing celebration of those who were traitors to their oath and the Constitution, which is what "Paleo Confederate" is. This is normalizing treason to the republic. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The other Ohio State nutty professor, exposed: Yale Law-educated Christopher Green tried to claim that I “assaulted him” after he blocked my attempt to board a public elevator. These are Ohio State’s apparent thought leaders.

If you are an educator considering adopting a legally compliant but uncompromising textbook for your civics course, dm me and I will send you a review copy. Also, for all course adoptions I'm making myself available via zoom for class Q&A.

When the mask comes off the "civil discourse" rhetoric. www.wosu.org/politics-gov...

A sure sign of spring is renewed attacks on CRT, DEI, and now in Kansas, "racial, ethnic or gender studies." In addition to the old white panic, this bill cracks down on "anti-racism" "social justice" and "cultural competence." What's next requiring cruelty? www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/...

NH GOP just dropped the most bonkers K-12 thought control bill yet. It is a greatest hits of all the worst ideas. The worst part is that at bills first hearing a GOP rep suggested amending it to apply to higher Ed too! Here is a sampler of its Orwellian ideas: 1/ gc.nh.gov/bill_status/...

The NR says civics is needed because "progressives who dominate our faculties" teach that the Constitution was "written by racists to protect their power." So the founders weren't racist and tossing the Articles of Conf. had nothing to do with class power? www.nationalreview.com/corner/its-t...

The Right failed in the marketplace of ideas—so now they are trying to discredit it: “universities also have a special role to play in the transmission of our intellectual inheritance…especially elements of that inheritance that grate against contemporary sensibilities.” cfau.aei.org/five-reasons...

They say to understand politics follow the money. This excellent article does that for the expanding 'civic institute' scam. Tracing the money trail leads back to a shadowy network of right-wing billionaires like the Koch family. prismreports.org/2026/01/27/c...

Why is the prevailing response to ICE occupation in U.S. cities for Congress to "abolish ICE" when there is a much simpler solution: Congress can declare amnesty and permanent residency to all persons currently living in the U.S. We created the idea of "illegal" aliens. We can also undefine it.

Anyone in the LA area on Mar. 19 is welcome to come out and hear civic education debated.

The civic center on my campus asked if I would bring my undergraduates to talk on Federalist #10. All the speakers are five state legislators. Hmmm.... wonder why. Oh, did the new legislative session just begin?

Don't condemn Americans for voting Trump into office. The line is that people are stupid and democracy doesn't work. But the USA wasn't meant to be a democracy but to balance elite interests (Senate, unelected Supremes, an electoral college). The problem isn't democracy because we don't have one.

Iowa GOP is about to ban the "study of subgroups of Americans" from required Intro to US History courses. This would, I assume include all ethnic studies, women's history, etc. So we have moved from anti-CRT to anti-anyone but white men in just 2 years. www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/...

So the NH lawmaker in charge of Ed policy and sponsor of last years law banning CRT because systemic racism is a myth is caught planning to racially segregate schools in a lawmaker group chat (with no push back). granitepostnews.com/2026/01/14/l...

🧵 The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union—the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.

“ the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, and we are writhing in this kind of irrationality, particularly in the international realm. And it will continue for another decade or two, until the power, American power, finally slips away.” www.democracynow.org/2026/1/13/al...

I had my 70 undergrads fill out a survey that among many things asked them to rate their politics and how many social media followers they had. Conservatism correlated strongly with higher numbers of followers. Not surprising but a reminder of the climate we live in.

Senate Bill 1 is reshaping Ohio public universities; 5 major changes by Laura Hancock www.cleveland.com/open/2026/01...

Quoted in Aisha Baiocchi's excellent article on the GOP rage for civics centers that I've long called affirmative action for conservatives. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Announcing the first textbook to meet the requirements of Ohio's SB 1. UNPATRIOTIC CIVICS examines the mandated 'founding documents' without sentimental myths. a.co/d/1DouSQT @stopsb1oh.bsky.social @honesty4ohioed.bsky.social @osuaaup.bsky.social @ohaaup.bsky.social

Dear Bluesky friends, I'm refreshing all my online info in preparation for my book launch in a couple weeks and I would very much like one of you who knows how to edit Wikipedia to add some missing books to the publications list on my Wiki page. I've placed the list on the next page. Thanks! 1/3

This is what you get when you have a constitutional structure designed to facilitate minority rule and a political party that has learned how to exploit this essence fully.

2025 is in the books: 2 1/2 marathons (1 age group win) 4500 bike miles 1000 run miles 100 swims 2 70.3 triathlons 1 book 1 article 1 Chronicle Review essay 2 book reviews 1 conference paper 2 all-campus awards 1 PhD student graduated But I’d trade it all not to have had to write 2 obits.

Weird... I began updating my syllabi for the Spring term and checked the university calendars and MLK Day is just a blank. Probably just a glitch in the software...

Being a boomer who watched Sanford & Son and listened to the Grateful Dead, when the WaPo advertises its new product I think of something else...

Weird to be the output of an AI hallucination. No, I did not write an article on hobo soup for the National Geographic, though I would have relished the assignment! spice.alibaba.com/spice-basics...

According to an EdWeek poll, only 14% of teachers who voted for Trump think "Combating discrimination against students" is something the Federal government should do. The only thing we agree on across the partisan divide is we all hate curricular mandates. epe.brightspotcdn.com/bd/a5/a6645f...

The White House twisted the 13th Am. into an achievement of the Founders: "On this day 160 years ago, the United States of America ratified the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, immortalizing a self-evident principle that stirred the hearts of patriots..." www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...

"Is there in science and letters, a reward for the labor they require? Scholars...renounce their pleasures, neglect their exercises, and destroy their health: For what? Is curiosity so strong? Is the pleasure that accompanies the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge so exquisite?" - John Adams

“…Daniel “Des” Sanchez is accused of transporting a box that contained “Antifa materials”… zines and pamphlets. Some contain controversial ideas — one was titled “Insurrectionary Anarchy.” Should I be concerned my writing has been published in anarchist magazines? theintercept.com/2025/11/23/p...

“We don’t deserve the trust of the nation if we’re unclear about the divisiveness of swastikas,” the official said. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Journalist Steven Melendez writes a terrific article in the Chicago's Newcity Magazine about the historic corruption in the Weights and Measures bureaucracy. Glad to see my old work on the "Honest Weight" progressive movement revived. www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...

When the billionaire class talks about “patriotic capitalism” and saying things like democracy was a mistake and “a select group of elites are exactly the right people to move the country forward” they are not a political faction, they are an aristocracy. tinyurl.com/3nvvsr4h

Ohio's GOP just voted to twist my gerrymandered district into a hyper-gerrymandered one. Ohio will go from a two to one GOP advantage to four to one in a state that is 55 /45. The Patriots complained of Parliament's "rotten Burroughs" which were less extreme. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/10/31/o...

Well Musk's new Grokipedia is trash, but I must admit that its entry on the Haymarket Affair is quite good. (I may be biased as it references my work extensively...) grokipedia.com/page/Haymark...

Can I just point out that Erika Kirk’s fundraising letter that repeatedly refers to “the evildoers that took Charlie’s life” and “they tried to silence [him]” is conspiracy mongering and reckless?

Robert Gould Shaw, Glory, and the Problem of AI 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

What could go wrong? "...layoffs at health agencies were allowed to stand, including those of workers with top-secret clearance responsible for monitoring and protecting the United States from biological, chemical and nuclear threats, The Post reported." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Dept of Ed legal definition of patriotic education is creepy. "Citizens must understand why our free-market economy is a highly evolved system of cooperation fostered by our constitutional republic, and how it functions to secure the blessings of liberty for all Americans." tinyurl.com/bdddfj7u

"Civics Institutes" are just affirmative action for conservatives. Want proof? www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...