Ian Underwood

As I’ve said before, the Supreme Court’s primary job is to preserve the illusion that it can do whatever it wants.  Recently, it decided that the best way to do this would be to declare that the participants in an election — 19 out of 50 states — didn’t have standing to challenge irregularities in … Read more

As we approach what might turn out to be the conclusion of the most recent presidential election, it’s worth pausing for a moment to see what lessons we can take away from the experience.  I’ll leave it to others to discuss the security of elections.  I’d like to talk instead about the appropriateness of elections. … Read more

I recently wrote about how ‘per-student cost’ is misused in discussions about school funding.  But it does have a place in decisions about school funding, if used properly. Imagine that you go to a car dealer, and he shows you a car, with the features that he thinks you need, at a price that he … Read more

In many jurisdictions, a routine encounter with the police (for example, a traffic stop, or a peaceful protest) may lead to an officer posing some variant of the question:  ‘For my safety, are you carrying a weapon?’  The idea is that if you are, the officer would relieve you of the weapon for the duration … Read more

If you’ve been ‘open breathing’ during the last several months, you’ve no doubt run into people who have given you a smile, or a thumbs-up, or even spoken encouragement or thanks for doing what they’re afraid to do. In a recent conversation with a friend, we agreed that where any abrogation of basic rights is … Read more

The first thing to say about them is that there aren’t any to speak of. The second thing to say about them is that even if some protesters are armed, Sununu’s hypocrisy on the matter is stunning.  For months, His Excellency has been using the explicit threat of actual violence to ruin the lives and … Read more

‘Money should be attached to students instead of to institutions’ is a new catch phrase that I’ve been hearing and reading a lot lately.  It seems to be replacing ‘money should follow the students’, which apparently failed to get the traction that it was supposed to. The problem with both of these is that they … Read more

I just watched a CNN video in which Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he went to the North Pole to personally vaccinate Santa Claus, ‘measure his levels of immunity’, and clear him to go into people’s homes on Christmas without fear of spreading COVID-19. My first thought was that having blatantly lied on national television, … Read more

In a recent Grok post, this question was posed:  ‘Defund the Police You Say … Okay … Now What?’  The author’s answer is that violent crime should be expected to go up, and that recent events have confirmed this prediction.  But that’s only half the story, and the less interesting half. Like many people, the … Read more

Many people have heard about the guidelines instituted by the New York City Commission on Human Rights, allowing fines of up to $250,000 for addressing someone using ‘the wrong pronouns’. Or they’ve heard about Canadian Bill C-16, which made even the inadvertent use of ‘the wrong pronouns’ a class of hate speech, punishable by law. … Read more

The Supreme Court has one primary job, which is to preserve the illusion that it can do whatever it wants.  Everything else that it wants to do relies on the persistence of that illusion. An important part of preserving that illusion is avoiding the appearance of being political.  That’s why Obamacare wasn’t struck down — … Read more

It’s rumored that as of January 1, any resident of the state will have to apply for permission to express ideas about a list of ‘assault topics’ on social media.   The initial list of topics is still under construction, but is expected to include statements contradicting ‘settled’ positions on any of the following: The results … Read more

Traditionally, a journalist (as opposed to a columnist) was supposed to provide answers to the Five Ws:   Who, What, Where, When, and Why.  Sometime in the last year, though, it appears that another W has been added to the list:  What you’re supposed to think. Journalists have always taken sides.  It’s in the nature of … Read more

That seems like an odd thing to say, I know.  But consider what Article 83 of the state constitution says about licensing: Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of the people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy … Read more