In the reading of the Constitution on the House floor, the text surrounding the "three-fifths" clause was omitted. I was disappointed to learn this.

( Miscalculating three-fifths and Mark Twain: )

It is odd to use a writer in the New York Times to support a point about Abraham Lincoln, but there it is ( Read more... )

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) made surprising comments yesterday:“If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right,” he continued: “When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, ‘Slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.’”
He went on to use civil rights and ( Read more... )

(It has been a busy week!)

The Cause
The secession of Southern states, as they said, was about slavery. They talked about the rights of states with regard to slavery, and perhaps you can call this a "states rights" issue -- but I have large problems with it being called "states rights INSTEAD of slavery ( Read more... )

In my looking around at the issue of slavery, and how it got started, I stumbled upon this discussion of whether people of Portuguese (or Brazilian) ancestry are Hispanic.

The answer, for most, is a vehement "No!" and a rejection of this American term.

But the discussion is lively.

===|==============/ Level Head

Here's the post I promised
( Read more... )

It's an interview with Morgan Freeman.

I like this fellow, and have great respect for him. We have tremendous political differences -- and areas of agreement. Tucked into this interview are both sort of points, but here's one that relates to the slavery issues we've been discussing:(The interviewer:) For this reason he cites Glory, the heroic ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

The previous discussion on the US Constitution's guaranteed right to keep and bear arms (known often as RKBA) has gone off in an interesting new direction -- the Civil War. This part of the conversation is mostly between
( Read more... )