#Jeffersonian governance

[trendtracker360writer]

States' rights: a concept rooted in the U.S. Constitution that sparks serious debates about the balance of power between state and federal governments. From Jefferson’s early ideas on governance to modern arguments surrounding civil rights and autonomy, the tug-of-war continues today. States have the unique ability to legislate independently, creating a patchwork of laws that often challenge national norms. This ongoing discourse speaks to the heart of American democracy— how much power should be held locally versus federally? Understanding these complexities is vital to grasping the evolution of U.S. governance. Sign Up to the free newsletter here www.investmentrarities.com.

[the-river-rix]

Finally finished s3e15 of bones I feel like shit

[thinkingaboutbetterdays]

partners. ( seeley booth x reader )

gif belongs to me

When he opened his emails that morning he was surprised to find he had a meeting with his boss that afternoon. He was in the middle of working a case and had to cut Bones's recount of the trauma on the body short, driving back to the Bureau at adrenaline-raising speeds to attend the meeting. By the time he got upstairs, he was nearly ten minutes late and he could see the disapproval in his boss's eyes as soon as he walked in the door.

You stood up from your chair in front of the desk, turning to offer him a smile and shaking his hand as your new boss explained to Booth that you would now be partners. Booth took a seat in the chair next to yours as you sat down, smoothing his tie as he listened to your list of accolades and raised his eyebrows as the list continued.

"Agent L/N has a lot of expertise that I believe can help you during this case. And perhaps longer if we can convince her to remain in Washington."

After he was given orders to share his office and catch you up on the case, Booth held the door open for you as you left the office. You turned to him when he closed the door behind him, a bashful expression on your features. "Sorry, he really likes doing that. I've been here for two hours and he's listed my achievements sixteen times." 

"It's fine. I went to a lecture you held on the Boggsley case. It was fantastic work." His praise made you blush for a moment. "Four bombings in eight days."

"Yeah, he was trained in the military." You began to explain the case, that Bogglsey was led astray by his former mentor and driven by their hatred of the government, planted four bombs in FBI buildings across the country. Between jet lag and the lack of sleep, you completely lost track of time and whenever you had a lead you followed it up whether the sun was out or it was pitch black outside. "I was able to predict which building they were going after next by connecting the agents inside who had military training. They felt betrayed. Add a crap ton of paranoia it's hard to chase someone who knows how to cover their tracks."

"He blew up your car, didn't he?" Booth held open the door to his office and you thanked him as you stepped inside. You stood to the side awkwardly as he entered, sitting behind his desk and he gestured for you to sit and began to clear room on his desk.

"He knew I was in town and wanted to stop me from finding the bomb they planted. Agents were scouring every floor of the building and I was going with the local police to talk to an eyewitness at the precinct. My ear hurt like hell for a while." You took a seat in front of his desk, "I want to get one thing straight, Agent Booth." He braced himself for you to take over the case, but you surprised him by doing the exact opposite. "This is your case. I haven't been in Washington for a long time, and I intend to follow your lead. You know this case more than I do and have liaised with the Jeffersonian for years. I am simply here to split the paperwork and give a second opinion should you want to hear it."

Booth couldn't hide his relief. Your boss had made it clear that you were more highly equipped to lead the case, but Booth knew Bones was wary of other FBI agents and the Squints would clam up if they thought you were in any way discrediting their experiments.

"I appreciate that. Coffee?" He sent you a smile that you returned, the tension in your shoulders easing told him that you were afraid he would keep you at his desk after your boss's rather obnoxious introduction of you.

"I'd love some."

You quickly realized that if there was a door, Booth was going to hold it open for you. As you walked away from his office, following him to the coffee machine, he began to dive into their first victim and you listened with rapt attention. When you returned to his office, he continued all the way to victim number three who was currently being examined by Dr. Temperance Brennan whom he referred to as Bones. "After the third, we knew immediately that we were now chasing a serial killer. Something you know a thing or two about."

When Bones informed him that she had completed her examination, Booth drove to the Jeffersonian and you asked about the team he worked with daily, and he amused you as he gave you a glimpse into their personalities, but you could see that he respected them and the work they did. And knew that was likely the reason why he had liaised with them for so long, as everyone before him hadn't given them the credit they deserved.

As you followed him through the Jeffersonian to where Bones was waiting with Hodgins, he asked about your last posting across the country and delved into your families, learning he had a son named Parker. When Bones saw another agent, Booth could see her hackles immediately rising as she asked why there was another agent.

"L/N has experience chasing serial killers."

"So do you." Bones argued.

Sensing the conversation rapidly deteriorating, you spoke up, "I assure you Dr. Brennan that I am here only to act as a sounding board for Agent Booth."

"And to give your opinions," Booth added, taking one hand out of his pockets to gesture briefly before turning to Bones. "Now, can we hear your opinions on the body?"

Bones pressed her lips together but led the way to the body and Booth introduced you to Hodgins. You stood next to Booth as the two revealed their findings. You eyed the clear box in which he had stored several beetles, holding it up as he explained how they helped determine where the woman was buried and for how long.

"That's amazing." You pointed to the box, "Do you mind if I -"

Hodgins handed you the box, and you peered inside at the small beetles. But Bones noticed Booth was looking at you, seeing the intrigue in your eyes and the fascinated smile on your lips. You asked how he was able to determine the time of death and Hodges was happy to explain. You thanked him as you handed him the beetles and moved closer to the skeleton as Bones continued her assessment.

Hodgins stood next to Booth, "Is she really a fed?"

"She's got the badge and everything," Booth said dryly, seeing the way he kept glancing at you.

"She's hot."

Booth put his hand on his head, moving him away before walking over to you, putting his hands in his pockets as he stood next to you. Seeing the interaction, and the way Booth stood close to you, Bones knew Hodgins wasn't the only one finding you attractive. When Angela arrived a short while later, ready to show her reconstruction, you looked back at Booth when Bones asked him to stay for a minute.

"I'll catch up." He told you, knowing like you did that Bones was going to talk about his new partner.

You walked with Angela who you quickly realized was the least defensive of the team and as you walked to her office, the conversation quickly became personal as she fired question after question that, if not for the friendly smile, felt like an interrogation.

You left her office fifteen minutes later, bumping into Booth in the hallway as he headed towards you. You showed him the photograph Angela had given you that showed what the victim would have looked like at the time of her death. You were impressed with the Squints and understood why he had such respect for them.

"They seem like an incredible team." You remarked as you walked to his car.

"You caught them on a good day." He handed you the reports Bones had given him, and you both got into the car.

You smiled as you put on your seatbelt, looking at Booth as he drove off. "I hope my presence on this case isn't causing friction between you and Dr. Brennan."

"Bones?" He shook his head, "She takes a while to warm up to people."

You nodded, not pressing the matter further as you looked over the reports as he drove to the Bureau. You recounted what Angela had told you on the way to his office, and Booth took a seat behind his desk, smoothing his tie as he smiled at you knowingly.

"She interrogated you, didn't she?"

You nodded, making him chuckle. "But I knew from her smile that she meant well."

As you worked quietly you found the silence was not awkward or stifling, it was comfortable. You stayed in his office, making the occasional trips to the coffee machine and Booth was surprised by how quickly you remembered how he took his coffee, but greatly appreciated it when he took the first sip. The building was almost deserted when you left to avoid being locked in overnight.

"Where are you staying?" He asked.

When you told him the name of the motel, he offered to drive you, claiming it was on his way home, and you knew he was lying but knew it was pointless arguing with him.

Booth looked around the motel parking lot, as he parked in a empty space. "My skin itches just from looking at it."

You giggled, "It's like a time capsule for the seventies, but the bed was more comfortable than sleeping on the plane." You looked at the way his eyes assessed his surroundings and knew he was going to wait until you were inside. "Thanks for dropping me off. But I still don't believe it was on the way to your house."

The words were in the tip of his tongue to offer you to stay at his place, but you were already out of the car, saying goodnight. 

Booth sighed as he watched you head inside and you turned to him with a smile on your lips when you saw he was still there as you predicted, waving before heading into the room. He looked around as he drove off, wondering how that motel had anything that was more comfortable than a plane when it looked like there were cockroaches in the rooms.

The next morning at three am, you got a call from Booth, informing you that he was on his way to pick you up on the way to the crime scene. He had gotten a call about a fourth body matching the M.O. of your serial killer. You looked at the abandoned towering apartment complex with a pensive frown, following Booth as he headed towards the doors. He held a door open and you thanked him as you went inside. When you arrived on the twentieth floor, you quickly broke from his side when you saw a local PD Detective leaning against the metal on the elevator shelf, peering down into the darkness with a torch.

"Hey, hey," You moved him aside, "You are tampering with a crime scene. There could be prints on that panel."

"I called you, didn't I?"

"And while I am grateful for your cooperation, I do not appreciate you potentially contaminating the evidence."

The detective scoffed, his shoulder colliding with yours as he walked away and a moment later Booth had put a hand on his chest, pushing him into the wall. "Apologize. Right now." He ordered.

"It's fine." You sighed. Over the years you had your fair share of run-ins with detectives and even male agents who were more lax than you were.

"No, it's not." Booth turned his head to meet your gaze before his expression darkened as he looked back at the detective, "Apologize."

The detective held his hands up, turning to you, "I'm sorry."

You put a hand on Booth's arm, making the tense agent step away to allow the detective to leave. "Booth, I'm fine. I'm used to it. I've had worse."

"You're my partner." He said and you didn't need him to elaborate as you knew what meaning that word had to him. He had your back whether it was with guns drawn or dealing with moronic local detectives.

You smiled softly, "Thank you."

He nodded as you both made your way to the elevator that was pried open and shined your flashlights down the shaft to see the body briefly. "Urgh! That's fresh." You grimaced, coughing into your arm.

"Yeah," He cleared his throat, "We'll need to get Cam out here. She's the coroner."

You nodded in agreement.

Deciding to pass the time productively, you took statements from the group of teenagers who were drinking in the building who had found the body after trying to take the elevator back down only to almost fall to their death. They were still drunk and weren't much help.

"You walked up twenty flights of stairs to drink some booze?" Booth raised an eyebrow and you glanced up from your notepad with a smile.

"Listen, bro, It's all about the view," He said, "We live in a beautiful city and now and then we should appreciate her more for the," Booth bristled when the teenager eyed you, "sexy woman she is."

"Listen, bro," Booth began and you put a hand on his arm to cool him down. He glanced at your hand before his eyes darted up to meet your gaze, his chest deflating as he sighed.

You both turned when his name was called, seeing Cam arriving with Hodgins who introduced you to Zack who you were surprised knew so much about your cases. Booth patted his shoulder, turning him away, "Okay, go find something useful before you freak her out even more than you already have."

You shook your head at your partner, a word so foreign as you hadn't worked with a partner for over a decade, but you were quickly growing fond of working with Booth who was always appreciative of any input you could offer. Any other agent you worked with was a lot more defensive about you joining their investigation but while you could see Booth had his apprehensions after meeting you, he wasn't hostile.

"So, we meet again..." Hodgins grinned.

Booth turned to him, putting his hands on his hips and sending the Entomologist an exasperated look.

"The body?" Cam spoke up.

"Over here, Dr. Saroyan." You smiled in amusement as you led her to the elevator that was pinned open.

As she put on her gloves, she looked up at you to see you were watching Booth talking to the group of teenagers and she asked what it was like working with Booth. You answered by listing the qualities you had noticed about him thus far. Cam looked up in time to see you looking down at your notepad with a smile on your lips.

You looked up when Booth approached you both and he greeted Cam before meeting your gaze. "We found the third victim last night. She'd been buried for two days. But he kills nine days apart. It's too soon to be our killer."

"The cause of death appears to be a match, but I will know more when I get the body back to the Jeffersonian," Cam glanced up to find his focus was not on her like yours was.

"Statistically it's been proven that when serial killers kill more frequently, forgoing their usual patterns, it's a sign of deterioration." You recounted a case you had learned about at the academy and Cam noticed the smile that formed on Booth's lips when you were rambling, allowing you to for far longer than he would anyone else. "Sorry." You smiled bashfully at your notepad, realizing you were going into far more detail than necessary.

"I don't mind."

You met his gaze, surprised as anyone else would have shut you down as soon as you said 'I heard about this case'. But Booth was proving to be full of surprises. You could make the move to Washington if you were assigned as his partner, and you wondered if perhaps it was a momentary truce for this case. He was just doing his job to catch a serial killer, not as interested as he made you believe he was.

You returned to the Bureau to run the reconstruction Angela had given you through the database and found the woman who was reported missing by her father. You were getting ready to go speak to him when your boss walked in, asking how things were going and you maintained a small smile, although Booth couldn't help thinking it was somewhat strained when you were asked if you had thought about the offer to work in Washington.

"We should really get going, sir, if we want to make it there at a reasonable hour."

He followed you when you left his office, as if fleeing the inevitable conversation, and on the ride down in the elevator he wondered when would be a good time to bring it up. You were almost at the father of the victim's house when he cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly in his seat, failing at appearing nonchalant as he asked what your plans were.

"I don't know yet." You looked out the window with a sigh. "I've enjoyed working with you on this case, Booth. But not everyone is as welcoming as you are to my ideas."

He frowned, looking at you to find you gazing with a forlorn expression out the window, and wondered how much you had to put up with when you were assigned to help agents who needed it but didn't want to admit it as it would bruise their egos.

You took a step back when Booth asked questions about your third victim and decided to take a look upstairs in her bedroom. She was a medical student with a bright future before it was taken from her. Even after all these years it never got less tragic.

Booth lifted his gaze to yours when you returned after nearly twenty minutes and you showed her father the journal you had been reading through, asking who she was referring to when she wrote Hippocrates. He said he didn't know and you showed Booth the journal, standing next to the armchair he was sitting on, resting a hand on the back of it.

"Do you mind if we take this?" Booth asked, holding up the journal.

"No, not at all."

You sent the grieving father a smile as you said goodbye, and Booth handed you the journal as you got into the car.

"Hippocrates mean something to you?" He asked as he started the car.

"Hippocrates was a Greek physician." You told him. "She wrote about the time they spent together." You opened the journal and flipped the pages to find a page you had found particularly interesting, quoting word for word, "I know it's wrong to want him like I do. Meeting his wife made it more forbidden. He could lose his job and his family if anyone knew. I don't know what to do. I tried to break up with him but we ended up in a motel. His hold was bruising and I have never been afraid of him before." You looked at Booth who was frowning at the last sentence, feeling an uneasy twist in his gut. "I think he's a doctor at the hospital where she works. A married doctor."

"Maybe she decided to break things off or tell his wife?"

You nodded, "It's worth checking it out."

"Where did she work again?" He asked.

You told him the address and held onto the door when he performed a dangerous maneuver, heading in the opposite direction of the way you had been going. He got a call from Cam who had finished her autopsy and confirmed the serial killer had claimed a fourth victim.

"He could be covering his tracks." You suggested. "Four women, all the same age, and all of them work in hospitals. Two interns, a receptionist, and a nurse."

"I'd like to know where he finds the time." Booth sighed and glanced at you with a smile when you laughed lightly as you walked down the hallway, approaching the reception desk.

You flashed your badges at the receptionists and when they told you the suspect hadn't shown up for work today, you asked for his address. Booth shared a glance with you before you both walked to his car in haste, he blared the siren as he drove with great skill through the traffic as you recounted the facts, becoming more and more certain that the Neurosurgeon was the killer.

"But why kill them all the same way?" 

The car skidded to a stop outside the suburban house and you noticed a swing set in the backyard as you got out of the car, drawing your pistol from the holster on your hip. You glanced at Booth who moved around the car, drawing his gun and you sent him a nod when he met your gaze, showing you were ready. You headed towards the house and heard a disturbance inside as if a lamp had been knocked over. Booth kicked the door open and you went inside, aiming your gun and following the whimpers to the bedroom. You glanced at Booth who nodded and opened the door. He entered with his weapon aimed at the killer who was strangling his wife on the bed, her hands flailing and you noticed the broken ceramic lamp on the ground as you stood next to Booth, aiming your gun.

"Recreation. He could get a sexual thrill from it." You recounted a case you had read about with a focus on the serial killer finding sexual gratification in the killings and Booth grimaced. "It worked once and he enjoyed it. He felt like these women were taking away power from him, and he was taking it back as he strangled the life out of them."

"FBI! Hands in the air!" When the doctor didn't move, you fired a shot into his shoulder and he fell off the bed, holding his arm.

You rushed to help Booth handcuff him, resting your knee on his back as Booth cuffed one hand and you cuffed the other.

"Nice shot."

"Thanks." You stood up, and Booth hauled the neurosurgeon off the ground. Booth hauled him out of the bedroom and you approached the sobbing wife, calling for an ambulance.

It was late when you returned to the Bureau and you were helping Booth with paperwork when the door opened. You inwardly sighed when your, temporary, boss walked in, and Booth knew this was one conversation he didn't want to hear. He made an excuse to leave the room, and you watched him leave, seeing the reassuring smile he sent you before he closed the door.

"Have you come to a decision yet?"

You nodded slowly, "I would like to come to Washington, sir." You began, "But I would like to choose my partner."

He considered this for a moment, "Have someone in mind?"

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, sir. Only if he agrees to it."

"Very well. I will talk to Agent Booth in the morning." Booth hadn't gone far, pretending to read a case file while he watched your conversation through the glass. When his boss opened the door, he slowly made his way over. "I want to see you in my office as soon as you arrive tomorrow morning." 

Booth nodded. You were typing on a laptop when he walked in and Booth wanted to ask what your decision was but was afraid of the disappointment that you weren't staying. That this whole thing was temporary.

You glanced at him when he took a seat at his desk. "Shouldn't you be getting home?" You asked. "I'm surprised your wife hasn't called wondering where you are."

His head shot up, "I'm not married."

"Oh, when you said you had a son I just assumed -"

"Rebecca didn't want to get married. We're separated now. Have been for a while." Booth explained. 

"I'm sorry." You frowned.

Booth shrugged his shoulders and looked at his computer but you could tell the situation had bugged him at one point until he couldn't accept it any longer and broke up with her.

You had known Seeley Booth for two days, but he had quickly grown on you. He was protective, and charming and he followed his gut. And while you followed the facts, Booth was decisive. He knew what needed to be done and didn't hesitate while you would still be wondering what scenario was best.

You stayed until the building was locking up for the night, making the harrowing discovery that you hadn't found all of the doctor's victims. He had been killing for eighteen years and spent a lot of time interrogating him and making a board with all the photographs you had been given by families of the victims and their bodies which Bones had exhumed and would take days to confirm. As you were tidying up for the night, he told you he was driving you to the motel, leaving no room for argument, not that you would. Any time you could spend with him you would.

Your lips twitched with amusement as his eyes assessed his surroundings, growing more horrified by the minute. "Don't worry. I have a gun, and I'm a great shot, as you now know."

Booth glanced at you with a smile, and you hoped that this wasn't goodbye. You wanted to stay in Washington, but only if you could be his partner. And after monitoring your growing attraction to him, you were prepared to set them aside just to be colleagues, just so you didn't have to say goodbye.

So instead you said, "Goodnight. Thank you for dropping me off again."

You get out of the car and turn to him when he says goodnight. "I've really enjoyed working with you, Agent Booth."

"It's been an honor, Agent L/N." He replied with a smile that made you bite the inside of your cheek, hoping you weren't blushing.

You walked to the motel room and looked back after unlocking the door when he called out to you, surprised to see him jogging over to you. When his hands cupped your cheeks and his lips glided against yours with a fiery passion, you leaned against the door to avoid your knees buckling. You recovered quickly, placing a hand on his chest and another on the curve of his neck, drawing him closer.

That night Booth spent the night in your motel room, and in the morning he couldn't decide if his back was sore from the mattress or from the many hours he spent above you, drawing out breathy whispers of his name as he filled you over and over.

Despite trying not to wake you, the screech of the bedframe made you stir as he climbed out of bed. You would have his answer by the end of the day and intended to enjoy the rare downtime to finish the book you were reading. After you caught up on the sleep you had lost last night, but you had no complaints, quite the opposite actually.

"Sorry," He whispered, "It's the damn bed."

You smiled as you propped yourself up with your elbow, combing your fingers through your hair in an attempt to look more presentable. "Sneaking off, Agent Booth?"

"I have to go home and change. I can't wear the same suit two days in a row, can I?" He mirrored your smile as he put a hand on the bed, another on your cheek as he kissed you good morning. He allowed himself to linger, not knowing if this was the only time he had left with you.

"After it spent a night on this floor? I'd advise against it." You giggled, biting your lip as you met his gaze. "You're going to be late."

Booth knew time was ticking away and if he wanted to go home, shower and get ready to meet his boss at the Bureau on time he should've left ten minutes ago. "What are you doing today?"

"I was going to finish reading a psychologist's analysis of killers. But I'm too tired to right now."

Booth chuckled, "Good. You need to pick a different genre." 

You playfully rolled your eyes as he went to get dressed. You put on a plain t-shirt and said goodbye at the door, smiling when he leaned in to kiss you. He wanted to ask if you were staying in Washington but he was afraid of the answer. You leaned against the door when he left, sighing as you rested your head on the door, hoping that this wasn't goodbye.

When Booth arrived at the Bureau he was twenty minutes late and he knew his boss was unimpressed as soon as he walked in. He took a seat and listened as he expressed how pleased he was with his work on the case.

"Well, sir, Agent L/N was the one who found the journal which cracked the case wide open. She made the connection from Hippocrates to the neurosurgeon."

"Yes, she expressed her admiration for you as well. You make a good team." His boss's lips quirked as he leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk, and clasping his hands. "I don't need to tell you how beneficial her knowledge would be to the Bureau." He began, and Booth shook his head. "Yesterday she said she was only interested in the job if she could choose her partner." Booth held his breath. "And she chose you. Now, she did explicitly say that you don't need to feel as if it's an order. It's only if you want her as your partner."

Booth agreed and stood up as his boss explained that he'd call you with the great news before handing him a new case.

That night you were surprised by a knock on the door of the motel and opened the door to find Booth holding a pair of keys.

You confirmed that you would take the job and knew that he had accepted you as his partner. "What are these?" You took the keys, looking at them for a moment before meeting his gaze.

"Keys to your new apartment. If you're going to be staying in D.C. you need somewhere to live." He said. "The rent is reasonable for a one-bedroom apartment and it's on my way home."

"And where is home?" You asked, crossing your arms, dropping them when he told you. "Booth that's forty minutes from here! You went an hour and a half out of the way!" You exclaimed in disbelief, referring to the two nights he dropped you off at the motel claiming it was 'on his way home'.

He turned and began walking to his car, smirking when you stood with your jaw hitting the floor. "Grab your bags, and I'll give you a tour."

The upstairs apartment surprised you as you weren't expecting it to be so nice for the price. The older woman who lived downstairs was renting it out to avoid living in an empty house. When her husband was younger he converted it for their kids so they'd have their own space and you were impressed by the furniture that came with it.

Booth leaned against the doorway while you lay on the bed, sighing when the mattress springs didn't dig into your spine.

"How did you find this?" You asked.

"After my meeting, I went to my desk and looked up apartments in the area. I took some time out on the way back from a crime scene to check it out." He held up the case file he had brought from the car and you sat up, taking the file when he held it out. "Bones is examining the body now. Dental work gave us an identification."

You looked at the dashing agent to find he was already looking at you. "Are you sure you want me as a partner and not just because of last night?"

His lips twitched upwards, "I'll admit that I had a not-so-professional motive for agreeing. But even if I didn't, I would have agreed. You're a great agent and as the last two days have proven we make a great team." He walked towards you, and you smiled as you set the case file aside, as he leaned down to kiss you, hovering over you on the bed.

You undid the buttons on his jacket, slipping your hands underneath, as he deepened the kiss. "Was that the not-so-professional motive you were referring to, Agent Booth?" You teased when he pulled away moments later.

"What did I tell ya? Call me Seeley. Believe me, we've jumped to first name basis."

You buried your head in his chest as you laughed, feeling him chuckle. "Alright. Seeley. What now?"

"We're partners. We're professionals. We're -" 

"Supposed to be working a case."

He paused, "Right." He kissed you before dragging himself from the bed. "Starting now."

You shook your head, giggling when he offered you a hand and got off the bed. "I'll get changed and no you cannot stay." You ushered him out of the room and he turned, pouting which made you laugh as you closed the door. You looked around the bedroom that had everything you needed except a duvet and sheets, a wide smile forming on your lips.

You and Booth remained professional in the field. You were partners in and out of the office, but you never let it interfere with your work, although when there were a few close calls you would find a moment to be alone to reassure yourselves that you were both safe. Booth was protective by nature and while he knew you would eventually have to disclose your relationship to the FBI, he held off for nearly a year, so that he could be the one watching your back in the field, but one day you both had gotten too comfortable in his office while the blinds were closed.  An agent had walked in to give you a file and seen Booth kiss you for your brilliance and you knew you had to report your relationship.

And while you may not have been partners on cases anymore, you still shared your opinions on your separate cases when you were at home, and within a few years you became partners in marriage and in parenthood.

[whencyclopedia]

Alien and Sedition Acts

The Alien and Sedition Acts were four laws passed by President John Adams and the Federalist-controlled Congress in 1798 that restricted immigration and free speech in the United States. Framed by the Federalist Party as a necessary measure to protect national security during the Quasi-War (1798-1800), the acts were deeply controversial and were challenged as being unconstitutional.

The acts were passed in response to heightening tensions between the United States and Revolutionary France in the aftermath of the XYZ Affair. Concerned by the recent influx of French and Irish émigrés, whose loyalties were considered questionable, the Federalist Party enacted three 'alien' acts during the summer of 1798. The first was the Naturalization Act, which increased the amount of time an immigrant must live in the United States before being eligible for citizenship from 5 to 14 years. Next came the Alien Friends Act, which allowed the president to deport any non-citizen he deemed to be a threat to national security. This was supplemented by the Alien Enemies Act, in which non-citizens hailing from a country at war with the United States could arbitrarily be detained or deported; the Enemies Act remains in effect today and has been invoked several times, most notably during the world wars of the 20th century. Finally, the Sedition Act criminalized the printing of material considered to be "false, scandalous, or malicious" about the president or the US government.

The Alien and Sedition Acts caused a major uproar, with members of the Democratic-Republican Party (Jeffersonian Democrats) condemning them as unconstitutional. Although no one ended up being arrested or deported under the Alien Acts, several people were arrested, tried, and convicted under the Sedition Act, accused of printing material critical of the Federalist-controlled government. Vice President Thomas Jefferson, leader of the opposition, denounced this as a clear violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and press. The backlash against the Alien and Sedition Acts helped Jefferson win the presidency during the election of 1800 and forever stained the reputation of the Federalists, who would never again win the presidency or enjoy the heights of power they had achieved in 1798.

Background

By the late 1790s, the United States was experiencing a deep partisan rift. The nationalist Federalist Party championed a strong national government, big banks, and a build-up of the American military. In international affairs, Federalists tended to support Great Britain, which they regarded as a natural ally to the US and condemned the radicalism of the concurrent French Revolution (1789-1799). Their rival Democratic-Republican Party (Jeffersonian Democrats), by contrast, emerged in favor of decentralized government and republicanism and denounced the Federalists as too aristocratic. They supported the French Republic and rejected the influence of Britain, which they feared would only lead to a re-emergence of monarchism in the United States. Despite President George Washington's Farewell Address, in which he warned against such partisanship, the divide between the two factions had only widened since Washington left office in March 1797. By the start of John Adams' presidency, each party viewed the other as an existential threat to the country.

President Adams was a Federalist, the only member of that party to ever occupy the presidency. But he was not as radical as the Hamiltonian wing of the party and was not as averse to dealing with France as some of his party may have been. This was significant since, at the time Adams was inaugurated in March 1797, the United States and Revolutionary France were on the brink of war. The French Republic was already at war with Britain and had interpreted the signing of the Jay Treaty – a controversial commercial agreement between the US and Britain – as a British-American alliance. In retaliation, French privateers began attacking neutral American shipping in late 1796, arguing that any American ship carrying British cargo was liable to be seized as a valid prize. Within a year, French privateers had captured nearly 300 American ships and had mistreated their crews. While many Federalists clamored for war, President Adams preferred negotiation. In the autumn of 1797, he dispatched three envoys to Paris – John Marshall, Elbridge Gerry, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – to assert American neutrality in the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars and to hopefully restore relations between the US and France.

This diplomatic mission failed. In an incident known as the XYZ Affair, French agents refused to open negotiations unless the United States agreed to pay a large bribe, resorting to thinly veiled threats once the American envoys resisted the notion. On 5 March 1798, President Adams told Congress that negotiations had failed and, shortly thereafter, requested a build-up of the American army and navy. The aging former President Washington was pulled out of his retirement at Mount Vernon and named commander-in-chief of the American army, which was being organized by the Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton. American and French frigates clashed on the high seas; although this conflict, the Quasi-War, never wound up escalating beyond limited naval skirmishes, for a time it seemed as though France and the United States were on the brink of a major war.

In the months after the details of the XYZ Affair were published, the American public were firmly behind the Federalists; Adams reached the height of his popularity in mid-1798, allowing him and the Federalists to begin their military build-up program practically unimpeded. The blatant disrespectful behavior of the French agents left the Democratic-Republicans with little ammunition, giving them little recourse but to stand to the side and announce that the country was making a bad decision by going to war with France. This was the context – deep partisan rivalry and the looming threat of war – that led Adams and the Federalists to create the Alien and Sedition Acts, policies that ultimately helped lead to the decline of the Federalist Party itself.

Continue reading...

[colinfisher22]

Bones trivia: season 1

Hodgins

1:5 has about twelve cars and a boat,

1:18 certified cave diver,

1:2 Rode schooler

1:2 Graduated top of his classs

1:2 Youngest member inducted into the academy of physical sciences

1:5 Last surviving member of the cantaliver group

1:11 has a cousin who was appointed to a very high government position, hodgins was “checked out” as a potential embarrassment

Booth

1:13 restors vintage cars

1:5 has a scar on his hip from when he was a kid playing shoulder with Jared

1:9 has a (at the time) four year old son Parker, his mom wouldn’t marry him, his parents rights are vague

1:11 was in the army, 75th regiment

1:19 catholic

1:22 dad was a barber, mom wrote jingles for an advertisement agency

Brennen

1:8 attended northwestern dated there teacher in collage

1:5 spent time in foster care until her grandmother got her out

1:7 believes in the death penalty

1:8 parents went missing when she was a teen

1:9 parents disappeared right before Christmas when she was 15

1:13 on a trip to el slavador she was kidnapped and spent three days in a dirt floored cell fearing for her life

1:18 named naharone cave

1:19 profisent in three types of marshal arts, registered marksman, has hunting licenses in four states(only hunts for food),

1:22 her mother was in limbo since 1998, the same year Brennen started at the Jeffersonian

1:22 father was a high school science teacher

1:22 mother was a book keeper

1:22 brother Russ is on parole

1:22 parents disappeared December 1991

1:22 Brennan original name was joy, Russ’s was Kyle

1:22 Russ used to play Marco Polo with Brennen while she was in class

1:22 her parents were originally robbers, but they stopped shortly after she was born

1:22 from Ohio

Zack

1:3 Can’t ride a bike or drive a car

1:6 has three brothers and four sisters

1:6 takes his vacation at the same time as Brennen and goes back home to mishagin

1:7 photographic memory

1:21 likes basketball to the point he has stats memorized

1:5 Lives above hodgins grage

1:9 is a rational empiricalist, unless you talk to his family, then he’s Lutheran

1:10 likes lord of the rings

1:18 had an eyepatch when he was six

Angela

1:9 photocopied her but at a company Christmas party, it took weeks to collect all the photos

1:6 used to have a belly button ring

1:9 believes in Christ (on Christmas and Easter anyways)

1:9 her dad is Billy gibbons

1:11 has had 25 addresses in six countries in eight years

1:11 got married in Fuji

1:17 had a boyfriend for three weeks every year who she went on vacation with, until he was murdered

Goodman

1:4 expert in Native American anthropology

1:9 has a wife and two (at the time) five year old twin daughters

1:9 he’s an archeologist

1:9 deacon at his church

1:11 donates to earth now, the sierra club, habitat for humanity, the opera and public radio

1:11 friends with environmental activist Lily Morrison

1:13 Expert in religious iconography

[icarusbetide]

me making entirely unsubstantiated claims again

this is ridiculous but we can accurately calculate the relative strength of amrev relationships through the lens of mutual hating, actually.

hear me out but for every period of cooperation between two amrev politicians, is at least one person/concept they mutually hate. surprising moments of cooperation make sense if we assume those bonds were forged by pettiness and anger, and strong relationships make sense as well - just longer-lasting, more frequent bonds of hatred. also if we consider if the "hatred' was a politically strategic stance or just. genuine emotion, and whether or not either parties were on the same page.

jefferson & madison: hate hamilton. hate federalists. hate extroverts and large crowds.

jefferson & adams: hate hamilton. hate banks. hate england (to a certain extent)

jefferson & hamilton: hate burr.

jefferson & burr: ...hate hamilton (? again to a certain extent). hate federalists (? to a certain extent because everything with burr is ? to a certain extent)

jefferson & washington: hate large crowds and extroverts. hate being more than cottagecore farmers

hamilton & madison: hate inefficient government (? sort of? kind of? in their early friendship?)

hamilton & adams: hate actually agreeing on some issues

hamilton & washington: hate jeffersonian newspapers. hate monroe. hate burr. by the end of washington's life, hate a lot of virginians.

hamilton & burr: hate jefferson? mayhaps if hamilton lived and mellowed out they could've bonded through it.

washington & madison: hate large crowds and extroverts. seemingly hate partisan opponents.

washington & adams: ?

washington & burr: ?

adams: hates everything.

[landrysg]

Martin Gurri:

The past four years have seen a sustained effort to overturn the principles of the open society. ... Supported by its allies in the media, the university, and the bureaucracy, the administration became, in its own eyes, the guardian of truth. Yet on every important question that confronted the country, it was almost invariably wrong — and I say “almost” as a kindness. From the pandemic to the economy, from energy to war and peace, the faceless clique that ran the government on Biden’s behalf made an unholy mess of things. ...

Whether Trump’s policies turn out to be right or wrong evidently matters. But the resumption of the great American debate, of speech that is unencumbered and unafraid, of a Jeffersonian-style open society, matters much more, since it will enable progress. Let there be furious disputes among political allies, Republicans arguing with Republicans, Democrats with Democrats, inside the right and the left as well as against each other. And let outsiders, popular or unpopular, orthodox and heterodox, join in.

I propose an easy test to tell whether we have regained the freedom to discuss every important subject: Count how often the word “disinformation” appears over the next four years

[deadpresidents]

"General Pierce is a sound radical Democrat of the old Jeffersonian school, and possesses highly respectable abilities. I think he is firm and energetic, without which no man is fit to be President. Should he fall into proper hands, he will administer the Government wisely and well."

-- James Buchanan, in a July 26, 1852 letter to reporter John Binns, on Franklin Pierce, who had just won the Democratic Presidential nomination as a dark horse candidate at the 1852 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore.

Buchanan had been a leading candidate for the nomination throughout the convention but could not win enough votes to put him over the top. Pierce became a compromise candidate when his name was first introduced on the 35th ballot, and clinched the nomination on the 49th ballot.

[whitetape]

I get what they’re trying to do here, but there’s no way that The Jeffersonian Institute, a government building, is not more up to date in terms of ADA compliance.

[irenespring]

Rewatching Bones and the season 1 writing is sure something. There are a lot of scenes where I notice writing...areas for improvement...similar to the ones I find in my own writing, which is weird to see in a professional show.

And s1e21 is so interesting to me. At first I thought it was actually very brave/progressive to have the plot twist be that the tragically suffering Brave Soldier Team assassinated a family of civilians. It was especially surprising because after most of the dialogue around the war could have been pulled by from a DoD press release. Hodgins, a conspiracy theorist, is the only firm anti-war perspective. He states his straw-man arguments and his big Character Building Moment is when he "finally" shuts up about the injustices of the war. So having Hodgins validated by the soldier team's big hero action being a war crime seemed very brave.

But then as the episode went on I got the impression that using the war crime plot twist actually made the episode an especially clever piece of propaganda. By including the war crime, the show can't be accused of ignoring civilian casualties. They get points from the liberals in the audience, while still using every trick they have to exonerate the soldier who killed the civilians and the US military as a whole.

Charlie, the young soldier who killed the family and was later killed by friendly fire is portrayed as: young, inexperienced, panicky, undertrained, and arrogant. His actions are waved away as just a mistake by a freaked out kid. Surely, a proper soldier who received complete military training and knew not to charge forward and instead wait for a command from his superior would never have killed those civilians, right? So in that way, the civilian deaths were not the military's fault. The military's image takes a hit for not properly training the kid, but they couldn't have been expected to correct his temperament, of course. War is war, it isn't the US' fault. It's frankly an extraordinary writing feat given that Charlie was literally wearing a uniform, killing the family with his government-assigned weapon, and acting in a United States military operation. Just in case you weren't convinced, the writing moves on VERY quickly from the deaths of the family. They have like five minutes of mention, tops. After that the show goes back to the REAL problem here, who is killing Americans to cover up this unfortunate accident.

Additionally, the military is seen as a wonderful force for justice. An ally to those looking to expose its dirty secrets. You know---the opposite of what would actually happen. Based on real events, the United States would classify any information the Jeffersonian team reveal and demand their secrecy. But when Booth shows up to arrest a high-ranking officer in a civilian court, the central military authority figure says "we are cooperating fully with Agent Booth, [the officer] will not disgrace us." It's a line so stilted and unrealistic that I almost laughed. The line gets a lot of emphasis in the scene, for good reason. It's the big propaganda message distilled: the United States military is an ethical force that makes mistakes but is always acting in the service of truth and justice (as they say in Chernobyl: "our goal is the happiness of all mankind"....in that show it's meant to be an ironic statement about government failure and cover-up, but in this episode I could imagine it being said earnestly, word-for-word). Thus, people who go against Truth and Justice---by killing civilians or covering up those civilian murders---are either outliers or traitors.

It creates a separation between the tragedies of war and the US government. The final theme is what I imagine the US military desperately wanted liberals to pivot to: war bad, US military good. As long as you don't think too hard about why the war started and was happening, you too can oppose the war but still fall in line and stay the fuck out of our way! Therefore the seemingly subversive plot-line ends up fusing nicely with the earlier rhetoric about the Iraq war being justified and any protest against it being disrespectful to the troops.

So in the end, s1e21 pulls of a very impressive stunt: they use a fictional war crime committed by the US military as a propaganda tool for the US military. It works because the whole episode is built to divide the reality of an action from the perpetrators of said action. Really a shining example of taking the concept of passive voice and running with it. Kudos to the writing team, a very interesting example of poli sci cognitive dissonance in the early-mid 2000s.

[memorable-epocha]

Facts about James Madison Vol. 1

(Because I’m bored and everyone should be enlightened with some James Madison)

James Madison walked with a small spring in his step, considerably to make himself appear slightly taller than he was

Because of the soggy and mushy climates surrounding William and Mary College in Williamsburg, James Madison instead went to the College of New Jersey (Princeton) for his health

James Madison, along with Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, created the Republican Party (also known as the Democratic Republican Party or Jeffersonian Republican Party) in 1792

James Madison’s wife Dolley Payne was gifted a pet parrot named Polly— who was notorious for being aggressive towards humans (thus biting Madison’s finger in front of guests during one occasion)

James Madison personally knew Aaron Burr and Philip Freneau ever since they were all in college

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, reported by a girl walking down the street, could once be seen playing with a neighbor’s pet monkey

James Madison had a long-lasting five decade friendship with Thomas Jefferson

James Madison would eventually have a fall-out with not only Alexander Hamilton, but also George Washington over the belief of federal government and a national bank by the early 1790’s

While Thomas Jefferson in France, he and James Madison would enjoy measuring animals, comparing them to their counterparts (North American animals compared to their similar species in Europe), and telling each other of their findings

James Madison, while he was in college, would last on a five-hour sleep schedule due to studying until he collapsed from a breakdown (this made him stay at the college for an extra year to restore his weakened health)

James Madison had never been good with marital relationships (being allegedly rejected by Freneau’s sister Mary and dumped by Kitty Floyd in the 1780s), but eventually married the 26 year-old widow Dolley Payne in 1794

James Madison was a MASSIVE fan of ice cream, along with his wife Dolley, whose favorite flavor was oyster

[whencyclopedia]

US Presidential Election of 1800

The US presidential election of 1800, referred to by Jeffersonians as the Revolution of 1800, was a turning point in the early political history of the United States. It resulted in the victory of Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party over his rival, incumbent President John Adams of the Federalist Party.

Election of 1800 Electoral Results

United States Geological Survey (Public Domain)

The election came at a moment of deep political polarization across the country, with each party viewing the other as an existential threat to the Constitution. At the same time, the Federalist Party was experiencing infighting, with the Hamiltonian wing of the party – the so-called 'High Federalists' – disappointed with President Adams' handling of the recent Quasi-War with France, as well as his reluctance to adhere to their agenda. When Adams dismissed two prominent High Federalists from his cabinet, Alexander Hamilton turned on him, writing a pamphlet that critiqued Adams' character and his presidency. Attacked by the Jeffersonians on one side and the Hamiltonian extremists on the other, Adams ultimately lost the election. However, in an unexpected turn of events, both Democratic-Republican candidates – Jefferson and Aaron Burr – received an equal number of electoral votes, meaning that they tied for the presidency. The tie-breaking vote was then left to the House of Representatives, which was still controlled by Federalists.

Although many Federalists initially wanted to deny the office to Jefferson, Hamilton once again interfered, using his remaining influence within the party to sway the vote towards Jefferson. Although he despised Jefferson, Hamilton feared a Burr presidency even more and was determined to prevent it. Jefferson thereby won the election and was inaugurated on 4 March 1801 as the third president of the United States. He called his election the 'Revolution of 1800' and promised to steer the country back toward the republican ideals of the American Revolution, which he claimed the Federalists had lost sight of during their time in power. It was indeed a revolution of sorts, as the Democratic-Republicans would hold on to the presidency for the next quarter century, while the Federalists would fade into irrelevance.

Background

At the dawn of the 19th century, the United States was more divided than at any other point prior to the era of the American Civil War. The Federalist Party, which had dominated the national government for the last decade, was being increasingly viewed as an aristocratic if not pro-monarchist faction that had lost touch with the principles of the American Revolution and now stood in the way of republicanism and progress. The other faction, the Democratic-Republican Party, was accused of being a group of atheistic and bloodthirsty Jacobins who sought to bring the excesses of the French Revolution to American shores. The emergence of partisan newspapers only inflamed these divisions, turning ordinary Americans against one another. Historian Gordon S. Wood writes:

As the Federalist and the Republican parties furiously attacked one another as enemies of the Constitution, party loyalties became more intense and began to override personal ties, as every aspect of American life became politicized. People who had known one another their whole lives now crossed streets to avoid confrontations. Personal differences easily spilled into violence, and fighting erupted in the state legislatures and even in the federal Congress. By 1798, public passions and partisanship and indeed public hysteria had increased to the point where armed conflict among the states and the American people seemed likely.

(209)

Each party believed that its own agenda was the best way to ensure the survival of the country and the Constitution. The Federalists were a nationalist party who, under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton, wanted to transform the United States into a modern, industrialized nation on par with the great powers of Europe. The Federalists sought to forge a strong, national government designed for the "accomplishment of great purposes" (Wood, 91). Through Hamilton's influence, Federalist policies greatly shaped the presidency of George Washington (1789-1797) – these included the Hamiltonian financial program of big banks and the funding of national debt, as well as the controversial Jay Treaty (1795), which strengthened ties with Britain. During the presidency of John Adams (1797-1801), the Federalists looked to consolidate their power by provoking and winning a war with France; although President Adams built up the military and allowed US warships to capture hostile French privateers, he did not ask for a declaration of war and, in fact, worked to de-escalate the conflict, called the Quasi-War. Adams' refusal to seek a full-scale war with France would cause a rift in the party, between him and the 'High Federalists', as those loyal to Hamilton's political agenda were known.

John Adams

Gilbert Stuart (Public Domain)

The Democratic-Republican Party, also known as Jeffersonian Republicans, had arisen in opposition to the Federalists. The Democratic-Republicans believed that Federalist policies were too aristocratic and too pro-British and that Federalists like Hamilton and Adams had lost sight of the principles of the Revolution, or the 'spirit of '76'. Jeffersonians believed in an expansion of republicanism and agrarianism and generally supported the French Revolution as a continuation of the American struggle against tyranny. During Adams' presidency, the Democratic-Republicans resisted the war with France and condemned the implementation of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798; this allowed for not only the deportation of non-citizens deemed hostile to the country but also the arrest of journalists and other speakers accused of spreading lies about the president or Congress. Jefferson, serving as vice president in the Adams administration, denounced the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional and condemned the Federalist administration as a "reign of witches". This was one of the larger points of contention in the upcoming election, which promised to be a rematch between Adams and Jefferson.

Continue reading...

[darkmaga-returns]

As I drove across America this summer, I met scores of beautiful people - ordinary Americans, generous, open, folksy, even self-deprecating Americans - who seemed to inherit either through the blood that flowed in their veins or by a transfusion of that blood, a unique albeit subconscious awareness of their unique destiny amongst the nations.

And like Louis Armstrong, I thought to myself - what a wonderful people! And what an enormous tragedy that their ruling class is so pathetically unworthy of them!

Today, America is the envy of the world, including for us here in Canada. Some of the envy is grudging, but most is rooted in the world’s own realization of the uniqueness of the experience of this still young nation.

Most of the world thinks of “democracy” in rather undefinable terms such as “the rule of the people” or “accountable government” or even, “exercising one’s right to vote.”

But few realize that all our modern ideas of democracy owe their inception to the beginnings of the American nation. Jeffersonian democracy was the high point, the defining ideal of a type of system which Lincoln famously described as a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

The English civil war (150 years prior to American Independence) and Cromwell’s challenge to the King’s “divine right to rule,” undoubtedly laid some of the foundational stones of the American nation, when many of those same Englishmen crossed the Atlantic to the American wilderness to start a new nation. But there was nothing resembling Jeffersonian democracy in England when the Declaration of American Independence or the American Constitution were written.

To their credit, the Victorians in Britain in turn, learned from the (unruly) Americans and incorporated for themselves most of the ensconced ideas of a free press, free speech and freedom of conscience that Jeffersonian democracy had bequeathed to the world.

[philosophicalconservatism]

hi, how are you? 😊 just for the fun of it, i'm throwing a random question at you: are there things which you think people shouldn't be able to buy or sell or do you think there should be no restrictions? like buying/selling e.g. organs, babies, weapons, drugs, sexual favors, etc. i follow some radical feminist blogs who are very much against surrogacy and oppose people (mainly sexual minorities) who say they have a right to surrogates and that it should be covered by insurance. i was wondering what a conservative thinks about these issues. i'm just curious & eager to hear different perspectives.

Thanks for the question, and once again for following.

The phrasing of your question cries out for drawing a basic distinction between Conservatism and Libertarianism. Yet the very moment we proceed to do so we come to an initial realization. If Libertarianism is only distinguishable from other ideas of government by the fact that it embraces an “absolute” ethos of liberty, then the only genuine Libertarianism is something called Anarcho-Capitalism. This is a scenario within which every voluntary transaction is permissible, which necessarily means that there can be no political state. Every element of order within such a society is to come about as a consequence of voluntary contracts between individuals at specific moments in time (including policing and enforcement).

Any professed Libertarian that adheres to anything less than this standard does not in fact embrace a genuine Libertarianism but some specific shade of Conservatism. How can I say this? Well, let us consider why someone who calls himself a Libertarian would reject an Anarcho- Capitalist model. How would he explain himself? In explaining himself he would begin to sound very much like a passage from an Edmund Burke pamphlet. He would begin to talk about abstract ideological speculation having to give way to practical human realities, and concrete social precedent. He could not exclude something like Anarcho-Capitalism in principle, as a future possibility, but he would insist that human societies as we presently know them cannot practically assume this form.

Now once he begins to reason in this way on political matters he cannot later on decide to appeal to some “absolute” Liberal ethos to settle every political question. He must continue in his confessed understanding of the fact that politics is actually a convergence of abstract ideals and (historically grounded) practical social realities. Without abstract ideals politics is morally blind, but without practical consideration and historical orientation, it is in applicable and useless. Attempt to establish a Jeffersonian Democracy overnight in a place like Saudi Arabia much less Afghanistan and see how far it gets you. On the other hand, you can take small practical steps toward gradually liberalizing such countries over time. The Conservative is a believer in freedom, but freedom is a thing into which societies must continually grow and develop.

So this brings us to your question of exactly what should and should not be permitted within the so called ”liberal” societies of the West. The answer is that we must determine on a case by case basis what we can realistically sustain as individual societies in this stage of our growth and development. We must carefully examine each issue with a close eye on the law of unintended consequences. Some professed Libertarians for example, like to talk about the legalization of drugs; but what would absolute drug legalization mean? It would consist of the right to freely dispense and use for recreational purposes, every single pharmaceutical and street drug in existence. We have absolutely no idea what an America like that would even look like.

We presently have a nationally crippling epidemic that revolves around a single strictly controlled substance (Fentanyl). One could not even begin to predict the vast sea of long term social consequences that would be created by the kind of policy referred to here. It would not even be guaranteed to eliminate the black market sale of these drugs. For example, there is still a multi-billion dollar international black market in tobacco, a legal drug. Now I made reference specifically to America here for a reason. Because in the end, every individual society must assess these issues for itself, on the basis of its own unique characteristics and national experience. Prostitution may be handled in one way by one legislature but differently by another (including within the same nation, as it is in the U.S.). One of the unintended consequences we must always consider is how the legalization of something complicates the prosecution of the illegal (or unregulated) versions of that thing.

The issue of surrogate motherhood could potentially yield some unique unintended consequences which cause it to stand apart. I do not have a problem with it in principle, but I think it must retain a certain character. If surrogate motherhood becomes a market exactly like any other market, then childbearing becomes the production of a commodity, and human beings can become articles for sale. But a child is not the “possession” of their parent, and therefore an unfettered market model is wrong for this kind of issue. There is a vast difference between parental discretion, and property rights. This topic is somewhat different from the others we have discussed so far. Those issues had to do only with how human beings dispose of their own person and property. This issue has to do with one party’s (or more than one party's) power over another (the future baby). For this reason it must be regulated even in the freest context.

In conclusion, the approach that I take on most of these question is to outline how we need to think about them rather than to try to answer them directly. Some of them are tremendously complex questions that do not necessarily have any uniform answer that is fit for every single society. We should act in a way that tends toward the maximization of freedom within the constraints of the present development of each society.

[46ten]

Hogeland's "The Hamilton Scheme," new book for May 2024

[Here's a search for all my posts with Hogeland in them.]

Ohh, The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding is finally coming out at the end of this month (May 2024) - I've been following Hogeland discussing it for several years!

Hogeland is not at all interested in Alexander Hamilton as a persona (most AmRev and early American historians aren't), but as a policy maker and creator of the federal govt and financial system. And he's sharply critical.

Hogeland and Robert Sullivan (author of the 2016 Harper's magazine cover article "The Hamilton Cult: Has the celebrated musical eclipsed the main himself?", which also quotes Hogeland, will be discussing the book at the National Archives on May 16th, 1-2 pm EDT.

I think this quote from Hogeland in the above linked article is key to his approach:

" 'But it’s just the icing on the cake of this industry that’s existed for decades now, trying to promote Hamilton as something other than what he actually was.” The duel with Burr, his relationship with his wife and his mistress — these are rich material for a narrative biography, Hogeland concedes, but in terms of Hamilton’s impact on the formation and the very nature of the United States, they are little more than footnotes. “Accidents,” he calls them. They lead us to overlook what Hamilton thought was his own purpose in life. "

Blurb: "William Hogeland is the best guide I have found to understanding how we today are, for good and evil, children of Alexander.” ―J. Bradford DeLong, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Kirkus review:

A lively if overlong history of the origins of federal power.

A reader of a QAnon-ish bent might come away from this book convinced that Alexander Hamilton founded the so-called deep state. That person would have a point. As Revolutionary War–era historian Hogeland writes, Hamilton was committed to founding a strong, even imperial national government; to achieve it, he crafted instruments of a national economy. One of them was public debt, the “driving wheel” for a great nation. Without debt, the fledgling nation could not have funded any number of endeavors, not least the first foreign war against the pirates of the Barbary Coast. Much as Thomas Jefferson disliked the specter of a federal power stronger than that of the states, without that debt, the Louisiana Purchase could never have been completed. As Hogeland shows, the struggle between Hamilton and his states’ rights–minded opponents was an existential one “over the fundamental meaning of American government,” and in many respects, it continues today. Hamilton had a talent for making enemies, though friends such as Declaration of Independence signer Robert Morris, wealthy and powerful, helped him survive politically. Morris’ great lesson was one of “commercial domination,” to which Hamilton aspired more as a national than a personal accomplishment. Hogeland’s story is lengthy and circumstantial, but marked by plenty of drama: Hamilton’s stepping out from under George Washington’s shadow to become the foremost “Continentalist” politician of his day; his pitched battles with Albert Gallatin, “treasury secretary to two presidents,” over the structure of the national economy; and Thomas Jefferson’s eventual dismantling of “the Hamilton scheme” and subsequent returns to it until the hybrid called “Jeffersonian ends by Hamiltonian means” took root. A well-wrought tale of how the American empire came to be born on the balance sheet as much as by the gun.

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

I'm not reading all that. The fact is agrarian country > industrial hellhole. Peace.

lmao trust me i had no expectation that your mediocre low iq ass would read it. my response was for my (elite high iq) followers.

you offer a false dichotomy and demonstrate your lack of vision. let me offer you an alternative. not agrarian vs industrial but agrarian AND industrial; an agrarian-industrial superpower. btw, by the time of the civil war the north was producing more staple crops than the south. half of the union army was composed of farmers. industrialization and infrastructure benefits all parties; accessible market for the farmer, cheap food for urban workers, efficient distribution for the manufacturer, etc.

people want to point to the whiskey rebellion as some example of the federal government's "overreach" (lmao) but really it points to the deficiency of jeffersonian democracy. maybe if the jeffersonians let us build roads and canals and issue credit those farmers would have had markets to sell their grains to at fair prices and have them paid with actual money instead of something consumable like whiskey and they'd have the capital to buy machines to farm more efficiently. the people who rebelled weren't simply rebelling because they hated taxes but because they felt like the government wasn't doing /enough/ for them. and who was keeping them from doing so? jeffersonians.

proponents of the american system called these mutually beneficial and mutually reinforcing relationships "the harmony of interests."