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Does The United States Still Have A Constitution?

Columns

Legal scholars have many lenses through which to examine the Constitution. Lawyers need to master about 150 Supreme Court decisions in order to have a sufficient understanding of the government. But most of what lawyers have studied is theory -- how the Constitution is supposed to work, as opposed to how it actually does work. This “supposed to” versus “actually does” conundrum is often called the formal versus the functional. Formally, the United States still has a Constitution. We still have the three branches of government. Congress still has the House of Representatives and ...

The Wall That Heals an important visitor

Editorials

Let American Legion Post 159 adjutant Rick Johnson explain how important it will be to have The Wall That Heals make a stop in Belmont County later this year. The wall is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. Johnson is a Vietnam veteran who served in the Air Force. “When I came home I got eggs thrown at me when we were on the bus transporting us down to the Los Angeles Airport. Tomatoes and eggs were thrown at the bus. We were called baby killers,” he said. “It’s heart wrenching, even for me today to have somebody walk up to me and thank ...

Vogue Magazine Gets Gushing Over Gavin Newsome

Columns

Conservatives have complained about media bias for decades. But there is bias and then there is bias. Lots of major media institutions -- the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and many others -- are filled with everyday examples of slanted stories. But some, like the still-popular fashion magazines, are on a different level altogether. Consider the new issue of Vogue and its profile of California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The article, by Maya Singer with photos by the renowned celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, begins with Newsom’s final State of the State address. ...

There Are Warning Signs For The GOP In ’26

Columns

Republicans are beginning to sound the alarm about the 2026 midterm elections, and not without reason. The concern was crystallized by a Texas state Senate race in a district President Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 but which recently shifted 14 points toward Democrats -- a staggering 31-point swing. That race is not an anomaly. Republicans closely tracking special elections from Texas to Mississippi to Georgia are seeing the same troubling pattern: deep-red districts drifting, sometimes sharply, toward Democrats. These are not battlegrounds. They are places Republicans ...

Impressions From A Maiden Excursion To Turkiye

Columns

The Shale Crescent USA Team is part of a U.S. Commercial Services Roadshow to Turkiye. Lynnda and I along with SCUSA President, Nathan Lord arrived in Istanbul last Sunday. We were in three Turkish cities for Roadshow events meeting with companies interested in investing in the USA. The week started in Istanbul, Turkiye’s largest city. Most Turks guess the actual number of people in Istanbul to be in excess of 20 million people and still growing. Homes and businesses take up almost every available space. Not much green space. There are buildings as far as the eye can see. Not high rise ...

Mr. President, time has come to set Caleb Bailey free

Columns

“How can the life of such a man / Be in the palm of some fool’s hand?” — Bob Dylan, “Hurricane” You’ve probably never heard of Caleb Bailey, but he is a political prisoner who has been locked behind bars for nearly eight years; nine more years remain on his sentence. Anyone who has publicly supported Donald Trump should cringe when hearing the facts of his case. In his state of residence, Maryland, violent rapists, armed robbers and kidnappers have received shorter prison sentences. Yet Caleb has never in his life committed a violent act. Not once. So why is he in ...