“I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way.” Robert Frost On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it was moving to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Though the rumors had been swirling for months that this might happen, I was still…
St. George’s Day, the national holiday of England, comes and goes every April 23 with little fanfare in the United States. And apparently not a lot in England, either. That’s a bloomin’ shame, if you ask me. As I posted on Facebook on April 23 a few years back: Happy St. George’s Day! How best…
Bush Derangement Syndrome was a real thing, especially on far-left corners of the internet like Democratic Underground and bartcop. The early to mid-2000’s were replete with liberal heads exploding when trying to explain how Dubya was simultaneously a total incompetent boob and an evil mastermind. Obama Derangement Syndrome was also real, and it had a…
On March 31, Missouri State Representative Travis Fitzwater (R-Holts Summit) proposed an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would reduce the size of our General Assembly. (It’s also not his first time in this particular rodeo.) Plenty of conservatives talk about reducing the size of government; very few actually do it. The genius of Rep….
Say “vaccine passport” again! Say “vaccine passport” again, I dare you, I double dare you mother******, say “vaccine passport” one more goddamn time! –Jules Winnfield (probably) Just when you thought the whole coronavirus thing was almost in the rearview mirror, this week everyone’s gone absolutely berserk over the prospect of “vaccine passports.” The concept: you…
I was raised with conflicting feelings about sports. My brother was a bit of a jock, playing several sports, but especially excelling at wrestling. (Real wrestling, not that rasslin’ business you see on the television.) My sister was involved in cheerleading, which is at least kind of a sport. Depending on who you ask. In…
Everyone hates Congress, yet somehow everyone loves their Congressman. “Open” Congressional and U.S. Senate seats are rare, as re-election rates are somewhere north of 90%. So when an odd opening does occur for these more or less lifetime positions, a mad scramble ensues. One might even compare it to chumming the water. (We’re gonna need…
Welcome back to Professor Morrill’s classroom. This is part two of a two-part series in which I have the audacity to rank all 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, from best to worst. Ranking the Constitutional Amendments – Part I This week, we finish up with the rest of the “meh” and have our grand…
I was so fascinated by the Constitution as a youngster that I attempted to re-write the Junior High Student Council Constitution in a way that would have given me, the esteemed Junior High Student Council President, vast executive powers. Our advisor wisely squashed my naked power grab. When you first learned about the U.S. Constitution…
“I am so sick of February. It’s the shortest month but it sure doesn’t feel that way.” -Toby Flenderson, “The Office” I’ve never much cared for native St. Louisan T.S. Eliot. Come to think of it, I’ve never cared much for any modernist poets or modern “artists.” The only class I ever dropped in college…