"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I explain that the United States aren't "one nation," that the Pledge of Allegiance is not an authoritative statement of American founding principles and why it matters. I created a firestorm when I published an article taking Hillary Clinton to task for..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #54: What Is Necessary and Proper?
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" I this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about the Constitution's necessary and proper clause. Hint: it doesn't mean anything and everything. Politicians and legal academics often call the necessary and proper clause the "elastic clause" because it supposedly expands the powers of the federal government. In fact,..
Read moreWords You Should Never Utter – “Federal Bathroom Policy”
“Federal bathroom policy…” Words no American should ever utter. Ever. And yet here we are. Last week, the Obama administration issued bathroom directives to all public schools in the United States. Today, I eagerly await White House direction on how to wipe my butt. I challenge anybody to reconcile presidential bathroom directives with Madison’s words..
Read moreLibertarian Centralizers Endanger Liberty with Governopoly
The libertarian centralizers are at it again, federalizing an issue that should remain a local concern. This time, it revolves around hair washing. Yes, some liberty-minded folks among us want to federalize shampooing hair. The Tennessee state cosmetology board maintains ridiculous occupational licensing rules for people who want to earn a living washing hair in..
Read moreHow Baseball Can Help Us Interpret the Constitution
Did you know that there is a general rule of thumb in baseball that will help you understand whether the federal government can constitutionally exercise a certain power, even in in the most legally complex situations? In a baseball game, a tie always goes to the runner. If the baseman catches the ball at the..
Read moreConstitution 101: A General Government for Limited Purposes
If you delve into the ratification of the Constitution, you will often see the federal government referred to as the “general government.” This terminology tells us a great deal about how the founding generation understood the role of the government it created, and its relationship to the states and the people. Samuel Johnson’s 1755 Dictionary..
Read moreAmerica: Untethered from Its Constitutional Moorings
Americans have untethered their government from its moorings. The colonists fought a war to tie government down. Under British rule, government had become more and more arbitrary. Parliament and the King could issue edicts and pass laws detached from any absolute guiding principles. Americans called it tyranny. In the British system, the constitution evolved. Government..
Read moreRefusal to Cooperate: The Moderate Middle Road Between Revolution and Unlimited Submission
Ammon Bundy and the other ranchers arrested after taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, Oregon,tried to go toe-to-toe with the federal government using raw force and power. They failed. The feds killed one man, and the rest of the ranchers now sit in jail, facing charges under a law passed during the..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #31: Embracing Tyranny
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I explain how America has embraced the very tyranny the founding generation fought to reject. America's founding generation fought a long, bloody war to free itself from British tyranny. Virtually every American knows this, but very few actually understand what it was..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #30: Gridlock Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about the importance of conflict in government. Gridlock isn't always a bad thing! People often complain about "gridlock" in government. But gridlock isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the minds of America's founders, government was meant to be adversarial and..
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