Source: Law & Liberty
by John O McGinnis

“Every new regime not born from revolutionary violence must win the support of an elite to survive. Mere theories of sound social arrangements do not suffice. A powerful cohort must be invested in the regime’s success, ready to uphold its ideals. Lacking allies to enforce its vision, a regime’s framework may ironically undermine the principles it is designed to uphold. An entrenched opposing elite can turn the discretion inherent in all political settlements against the objectives of their proponents.” (04/18/24)

https://lawliberty.org/summoning-up-the-state/

Source: The American Prospect
by Michael Meltsner

“Sometimes a potentially seismic shift in the law is masked by opaque and technical legalese. So it was last week, when a federal court of appeals in Washington struggled to decide whether a nongovernmental organization that seeks to improve democratic elections was sufficiently injured—making it eligible for so-called standing to sue—to have its day in court to enforce a never-used provision of the Constitution. The 435 seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states according to their population as determined by the decennial census. If the NGO is successful, some of those apportioned seats could be taken away from states that prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote. But though this possibility has been outlined in the Constitution for 156 years, most everything about this case, which attempts to actually utilize it, is uncertain.” (04/18/24)

https://prospect.org/justice/2024-04-18-reviving-unenforced-amendment-voting-rights/

Source: Cato Institute
bvy Ryan Bourne & Sophia Bagley

“Over the past year, the Biden administration has furthered its efforts to curb ‘junk fees.’ As we’ve noted, the definition of junk fees is a somewhat moveable feast and could more aptly be described as any fee the administration thinks customers might dislike or find annoying. Nonetheless, regulations against them continue pouring down from government agencies. Some states have followed suit, introducing legislation to ban ‘junk fees,’ with California passing a bill in October 2023. Among those fees that Biden isn’t keen on are telecom companies’ early termination fees, as well as overdraft fees and credit card late payment fees in financial services. … It may come as a surprise then that governments themselves employ similar fees and charges in their own operations.” (04/18/24)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-government-hypocrisy-junk-fees

Source: Quillette
by Allan Stratton

“In Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 classic Apocalypse Now, a US patrol boat heads upriver during the Vietnam War to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a rogue commander whose followers worship him as a god. In writer-director Alex Garland’s new film Civil War, four journalists take a road trip from New York to Washington DC to interview a rogue president before the collapse of his illegitimate regime. The White House is no less the heart of darkness than Kurtz’s lawless outpost in the Cambodian jungle. Civil War is Garland’s third collaboration with A24, an indie production and distribution outfit primarily known for producing ‘elevated horror’ and small, popular award-winners. With its $50 million budget, Civil War is the company’s first swing at a blockbuster. It arrives three years after the January 6 insurrection as America prepares for what promises to be another bitterly contested presidential election.” (04/18/24)

https://quillette.com/2024/04/18/american-carnage-alex-garland-civil-war-review/