Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 600 )

• Why This Socialist Likes Stegall

  

  On Friday, Caleb Stegall--lawyer, farmer, family man, rabble-rouser, and long-time Front Porcher--was appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court by Governor Sam... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Four Wieseltier Favorites

  

  Lots of commentary last night and this morning about the shake-up (or stake-through-the-heart, if you prefer) at The New Republic. Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Bobby Keys, RIP

  

  Bobby Keys, a tremendous rock, blues, and funk saxophonist, and a lucky Texas boy who just happened to be in the right place at the right time 50 years ago,... Read more

  Posted on 02 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Thanksgiving Morning Live Music: "Thanks A Lot"

  I realized early this morning, while extracting the giblets from our now thawed turkey, that it had been ten years since I last shared these sentiments on... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Obama, Immigration, and Why I Am Not (Much Of) a Constitutionalist

  

  So, if you haven't seen the SNL video which this image comes from, go watch it here right now. I'll wait.It's a simplistic and unfair--what did you expect?... Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Recognizing the Religion of Total Security, and Its Costs

  

  There are relatively few developments in the world's present socio-economic and cultural moment that gives me much hope--but one of them is the increased... Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "Lawyers, Guns & Money"

  Because I'm being made to think hard this evening by David Watkins, a friend and longtime Lawyers, Guns & Money blogger, here's Jackson Browne singing the Warre... Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Mid-Sized Meditations #6: Anarchism, Global Citites, and a Confucian Cosmopolita...

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]So, as I mentioned, I recently attended a conference in Nanjing, China, hosted by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and... Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2014 SOCIETY

• There's Actually a Name for Those People, Secretary Kobach

  

  As the hysteria over President Obama's upcoming and, sadly, rather run-of-the-mill abuse of presidential power over immigration policies builds to a fever pitch... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Rank Your Favorite Presidential Tyrants!

  

  With only hours to go until President Obama presents his executive order that will--unless he pulls a fast one on his Republican opponents--remove the threat... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Some Populist Perspective, Ten Years (and Two Weeks) in the Making

  

  [Cross-posted to Political Context]This image on the left--which shows how the Democratic candidate for governor, Paul Davis, was systematically slaughtered... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Flight Films

  

  Right about now exactly a week ago, as best as I can calculate it, I was halfway between Seattle and Minneapolis, after having left Nanjing, China, early... Read more

  Posted on 17 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Mormons and the American Liberal Order

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Seeking the Promises Land: Mormons and American Politics is a superb work of social science. Read more

  Posted on 17 November 2014 SOCIETY

• My Five Favorite Stephen King Stories

  

  Stephen King is visiting Wichita, KS, today, and thanks to my wife's employment at Watermark Books, we're going to have front row seats. Read more

  Posted on 14 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "Pretending to Care"

  Todd Rundgren's A Cappella is one of the greatest pop albums I've ever listened to; there's not a track on it that I don't love, and this track is perhaps my... Read more

  Posted on 09 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Kansas: Election-Day Predictions

  

  Got back from voting about 40 minutes ago. At 6am there was a long line already. Of course there's always a bunch of early risers like me taking care of their... Read more

  Posted on 04 November 2014 SOCIETY

• Mid-Sized Meditations #5: Conservatism, Localism, and the Mittelpolitan Problem

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic] This morning, I completed a series of lectures and discussions with a local civic group here in Wichita. Read more

  Posted on 30 October 2014 SOCIETY

• On Being a Liberal Mormon: Two Defenses and an Attack

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]One week before election day here in the United States, let’s consider, both politically and philosophically, a couple of... Read more

  Posted on 28 October 2014 SOCIETY

• Kansas: 10-Day Predictions

  

  Taping an episode of This Week in Kansas last Thursday, our host Tim Brown asked us assembled commentators: what do we predict for November 4, only a week and... Read more

  Posted on 25 October 2014 SOCIETY

• The Cone of Shame Just Took On an Entirely New Meaning

  

  (Via Accordion Guy, taken from this collection of rejected New Yorker Read more

  Posted on 21 October 2014 SOCIETY