CATEGORY: THE SUPREME COURT (10 min)
Clarence Thomas is the longest-standing member of the Supreme Court. But he may also be the least understood.
In the Claremont Review of Books, Ken Masugi sets about illuminating the man—whom he sees as America’s foremost natural law theorist and defender of the Constitution.
Masugi, one of Thomas’s former clerks, examines two recent biographies: The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, by democratic socialist Corey Robin, and Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution, by former City Journal editor Myron Magnet.
Masugi paints a nuanced picture of a great thinker working to restore a lost nation to its foundational roots.
Read on to better appreciate this giant of conservative thought . . . and see which president looms largest over Thomas’s conception of our nation’s founding.
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The Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture at Washington College have partnered to present Freedom in American Political Life.
This political science course transfers 4 credits to colleges and universities nationwide. The course runs May 31 through June 24, 2022—so you’re getting more than a semester’s worth of credit in under a month!
Applications close May 15, so apply today!
You will also hear from a number of guest speakers, including:
- Wilfred M. McClay, award-winning historian and author of Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story
- Arthur Milikh, executive director of the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life
- Cara Rogers, assistant professor of history at Ashland University
- Thomas G. West, professor of politics at Hillsdale College and author of this course’s core text, The Political Theory of the American Founding
Enrollment is limited to ensure a personalized, highly interactive, and in-depth seminar. Partial scholarships are available for qualified candidates.
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CATEGORY: THE HUMAN PERSON (7 min)
Last week, we shared an optimistic take on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover.
But, writing in First Things, John Waters suggests that conservatives have good reason to be wary of the deal and of the man.
For starters: If you’re looking for freedom of speech . . . Twitter isn't your platform. Instead, it is purely “an instrument of mob-speak . . . a global electronic megaphone” for attacking public discourse.
“Where Twitter is concerned, once the mob has been blooded and loosed, ‘free’ speech can only mean turning up the volume,” Waters writes.
Twitter has already repressed opinions and sowed intellectual discord. Elon Musk can’t put that trouble back in Pandora’s box.
But, Waters argues, that’s not actually the worst of it. Conservatives should harbor much graver concerns about Musk with regards to another of different his interests.
There may be doom and disruption coming down the pipes which makes Twitter look like a field of tulips, Waters suggests.
And it’s far from clear whether Musk is riding in on a white horse to save us . . .
. . . or a different kind of beast entirely.
See if you share Waters’ concerns, right here.
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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
Stanford Trains Faculty to “Recognize and Address” Microaggressions via the Stanford Review
I Used to Be Pro-Abortion: Here is What Changed via the Gordon Review
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CATEGORY: JURISPRUDENCE (1 hour 40 minutes)
If you’re like us, your social media has been flooded with opinions about the Supreme Court.
It seems like everyone is a self-appointed constitutional scholar.
But just what are the leading constitutional theories? You hear a lot about “originalism” these days, but what exactly is it? Who are its leading exponents? And what do its critics say?
You’ll get answers to these and many other questions in this debate between Dr. Joseph Devaney, arguing in favor of originalism, and Dr. Howard Schweber, who made the case for interpretivism.
If you want context for the questions the Supreme Court is currently wrestling with, this video is your best resource.
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Thought of the Day:
“Customary Law’s introduced by long usage do obtain the force of Law’s . . . by long usage they carry a presumtion of their origination and profection.”
—Matthew Hale, Of the Law of Nature
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Who We Are, What We Do
Too many college students feel isolated or attacked for questioning the ever-narrowing range of debate on campus.
We introduce you to the American tradition of liberty and to a vibrant community of students and scholars so that you get the collegiate experience you hunger for.
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