Below The Beltway

Julius Rosenberg was guilty of treason after all:
In 1951, Morton Sobell was tried and convicted with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges. He served more than 18 years in Alcatraz and other federal prisons, traveled to Cuba and Vietnam after his release in 1969 and became an advocate for progressive causes.
Through it all, he [...]

As the McCain and Obama campaigns debate the relative experience of their candidates, a question that comes to mind is how much experience matters in selecting a President.
For example, consider this resume:

Six years in state legislature, representing a small rural district
Two years in United States House of Representatives, representing a small rural district
Failed candidate for [...]

H/T: Andrew Sullivan

While we wait for John McCain and Barack Obama to announce their Vice-Presidential running mates, Matthew Yglesias argues that maybe we should think of getting rid of the Office of Vice-President:
When you think about it, it’s exceedingly odd. The Vice President has no formal role in the conduct of government to speak of. And yet, [...]

Take the Civic Literacy Report test.
Here’s how I did:
You answered 57 out of 60 correctly — 95.00 %
Average score for this quiz during July: 71.7%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 71.7%
Missed three questions I should have gotten right if I thought more about them.

A re-post from last year, but still worth reading today:

Two Hundred Thirty Two Years Ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote the following:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate [...]

Pardon the subtitles (or maybe not), but this is by far the best rendition of any patriotic song ever:

There just aren’t enough Republicans willing to say stuff like this anymore:
“There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs.There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, [...]

A victory for personal freedom, 41 years ago today:
On this date in 1967, the US Supreme Court decided the case of Loving v. Virginia, striking down Virginia’s anti-misegenation statute. Mildred Loving passed away on May 2 of this year, promting a flurry of moving obituaries. As John Ridley noted on NPR’s morning edition, Barak Obama [...]

It was 232 years ago today, June 7, 1776, that the Second Continental Congress began debating a resolution submitted by Virginia’s own Richard Henry Lee:
Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, [...]