founding fathers – News Stories About founding fathers - Page 2

opinion

Dec 9, 2009 5:42 AM CST

Don't Bury Clemency with Clemmons

Mike Huckabee's decision was unfortunate, but just

(Newser) - Mike Huckabee's mercy in granting clemency to cop killer Maurice Clemmons was horribly betrayed, but that's no reason to reject the very notion of clemency, writes Michael Gerson. Strong arguments in favor of the role clemency plays in the justice system were made at the time of the Founding Fathers,...

It's Un-American to
Pledge Allegiance
to the Flag

OPINION

Nov 17, 2009 12:22 PM CST

It's Un-American to Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

We aren't medieval subjects serving feudal lords and kings

(Newser) - Americans everywhere ought to applaud 10-year-old Will Phillips, who told his teacher to "go jump off a bridge" after doing what we all should do: criticizing the Pledge of Allegiance. Phillips argued that because gay marriage isn’t legal, there isn’t “liberty and justice for all”—...

Washington Was Good
With a Buck, Accounts Show

Oct 12, 2009 9:53 AM CDT

Washington Was Good With a Buck, Accounts Show

Long-ignored financial records a 'treasure trove,' historians say

(Newser) - Fitting enough for the guy who ended up on the dollar bill, George Washington seems to have tracked every buck that crossed his path. The first president not only left scores of diaries and letters reflecting his views, but also assiduously documented his financial transactions. The result? A treasure trove...

Obama Skirts Accountability With Policy Czars: Hutchison

Sep 13, 2009 2:42 PM CDT

Obama Skirts Accountability With Policy Czars: Hutchison

Rules are being bent to expand executive power, senator writes

(Newser) - The Obama administration is using its many policy “czars” to skirt the accountability and transparency established by the founding fathers, writes Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Washington Post. The administration has an “unprecedented” 32 czar positions, and “unfortunately,” the senator from Texas writes, “virtually no...

Kennedy Legacy Testament to Power of Compromise

ANALYSIS

Aug 28, 2009 1:49 AM CDT

Kennedy Legacy Testament to Power of Compromise

US political system 'rewards negotiators'

(Newser) - The political agenda outlined in Ted Kennedy’s speech at the 1980 Democratic convention was radical: Kennedy called for a policy of full employment, government intervention to “reindustrialize” American cities, and universal health care. Having lost the Democratic nomination, “his liberalism was unbound," writes David Brooks for...

Founding Fathers
That Time Forgot

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Jul 4, 2009 4:59 PM CDT

Founding Fathers That Time Forgot

And 4 others history has forgotten

(Newser) - Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence, but we only remember a few of the Founding Fathers. Mental Floss shines a light on a few of the lesser-knowns:

George Read: the only statesman to oppose the Declaration of Independence. Admitted to the Philadelphia Bar at age 19, Read thought Americans

...

American Dream
Dies in Our Wallet

GLOSSIES

Mar 8, 2009 7:26 AM CDT

American Dream Dies in Our Wallet

Lust for fame and fortune have hijacked the nation's true promise

(Newser) - To the dreary lexical suite that defines our times—greed, foreclosure, stimulus and debt—we must add humility, David Kamp writes in Vanity Fair. Our gluttonous pursuits and ridicule of middle-class life has landed us in the grip of a recession and twisted the shape of the American Dream, he...

America Is Now Truly the Land of Lincoln: Durbin

OPINION

Jan 20, 2009 8:07 AM CST

America Is Now Truly the Land of Lincoln: Durbin

Obama's election makes the dream of the Founding Fathers more real than ever

(Newser) - Abraham Lincoln's dream of extending the liberty set out by the Founding Fathers to all Americans comes one step closer to reality with Barack Obama's inauguration today, Sen. Dick Durbin writes in the Hill. Obama's election represents a “new summit” in America's long struggle to be "one nation,...

History Often Forgets About This Adams

BOOK REVIEW

Nov 26, 2008 4:22 PM CST

History Often Forgets About This Adams

And it's a shame: Sam, cousin of John, helped shape our revolution

(Newser) - When people think of Samuel Adams these days, the beer, and not the Revolutionary War hero, may come to mind first. But a new book from Ira Stoll—Samuel Adams: A Life—makes the case for bringing the cousin of John Adams out of "the attic of history."...