Right From the Hip

Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), is a well-known (or notorious) case about money and politics. It was rightly decided. The First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech is more important than restrictions on election spending in the name of preventing the appearance of corruption, or equalizing the influence that differing groups have over elections. The legal reasoning of the majority opinion is stronger and more compelling than the reasoning of the dissent. Citizens United, a corporation devoted […]

In which our Vagabond Overhears a Confession One Saturday morning people are standing in front of the coffee house, speaking of various things, including the partisan nature of current politics, and why their particular causes have not been meeting with success. Sorrow features in these discussions, suggesting that I might offer to such people a handful of my fish and chips, purchased down the street at Foghorn. I could present them as a peace offering, a harbinger of optimism. On […]

In which our Vagabond Seeks a City in Motion. It is early Saturday evening, the doors are open, the coffee house beckons. I enter into a crowd – young and old, in pairs, groups and singles, are standing in line, checking their phones, reviewing the menu board, sitting astride chairs, leaning on counters, stirring their mugs, contemplating their next move, and conversing with animation and verve. After securing a mug of herbal orange blossom tea and plain pound cake (something […]