Copyright 2012 Lee Harris Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:40:02 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Lee Harris :: Writings http://www.lee-harris.org lee_harris@earthlink.net (Lee Harris) webmaster@pundicity.com en-us http://www.lee-harris.org/7676/spirit-of-independence Fri, 2 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST Several years ago, while attending a street festival in the small town of Tucker, Georgia, I came across a booth sponsored by the local libertarian society. At the time, I did not realize that my encounter would generate my next book. I only remember... http://www.lee-harris.org/7675/revolt-against-cronyism Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST Just when we think we have a handle on the Tea Party, it immediately slips out of our grasp. Up until quite recently, the Tea Party was widely accepted as a racist movement made up of grumpy old white men only interested in keeping their pockets... http://www.lee-harris.org/7552/extremism-in-defense-of-rand-paul Tue, 25 May 2010 09:00:00 EST After winning Kentucky's Republican Senate primary, Rand Paul, a Tea Party favorite, swiftly became the focus of a furious racial controversy. Quotes began to circulate that made it appear that Paul advocated repealing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In... http://www.lee-harris.org/7043/weak-tea-or-strong-tea Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST When reading articles that aim at understanding the Tea Party movement, I am reminded of the ancient fable of the elephant and the blind men. Unable to see the whole elephant at a glance, each of the blind men drew his conclusions about the nature of the... http://www.lee-harris.org/6954/attention-must-be-paid Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST Within hours after Joe Stack had crashed his plane into the Internal Revenue Service building in Austin, Texas, the American political class began a mad scramble to figure out what political ideology had motivated his action. Stack was a terrorist, most... http://www.lee-harris.org/6955/argue-about-darwin Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the English naturalist Charles Darwin. To be widely remembered two centuries after your birth is not the usual lot of mortals, and it is rarer still to be a subject of intense and often quite bitter... http://www.lee-harris.org/2516/speaking-of-islam Sun, 2 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST The English-speaking peoples are justifiably proud of their tradition of free speech. When Thomas Macaulay reviewed the achievements of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, he observed that the victorious English Whigs had shown how "the authority of law and... http://www.lee-harris.org/2511/a-question-of-religion Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST Some years ago I was asked a question that has haunted me. It came during a telephone conversation I had with a young man whose Internet book club has selected one of my books to read. The young man wanted to find out more about me, and he began asking... http://www.lee-harris.org/2510/why-we-are-still-arguing-about-darwin Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST Today, almost one hundred and fifty years after the publication of The Origin of Species, we are still arguing about Darwin. How is this possible? If Darwin's theory of natural selection is a scientific theory, as its defenders claim, then why hasn't it... http://www.lee-harris.org/2508/revisiting-the-stupid-party Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST The nineteenth century English philosopher John Stuart Mill bequeathed to modern conservatism a lasting inferiority complex when he dismissed the conservatives of his day as "the stupid party." No one likes to be called stupid, as we can all agree,... http://www.lee-harris.org/2507/what-are-we-celebrating-when-we-celebrate-christmas Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST As children most of us were taught that we celebrate Christmas because it is the birthday of Jesus. This is an easy idea for a child to grasp, since from a tender age we are made aware of the importance of our own birthday, by virtue of the celebration... http://www.lee-harris.org/2506/the-fear-of-living-dangerously Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST Many American boys will be getting a dangerous book for Christmas this year—so dangerous that it is frankly labeled "A Dangerous Book for Boys." Published in the USA back in May 2007, it immediately hit the number two spot on Amazon.com, and a quick... http://www.lee-harris.org/2505/handle-huckabee-with-care Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST For some time now I have been watching the absorbing candidacy of Mike Huckabee. I have also been sampling some of the anti-Huckabee literature, which is becoming increasingly shrill and mean-spirited. As I read some of these comments I found something... http://www.lee-harris.org/2503/reflections-on-blowback Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST Some time back Republican candidate for President Ron Paul stirred up considerable debate by arguing that 9/11 was "blowback" for the United States' foreign policy toward the Muslim world over the past half century or so, going back to the CIA engineered... http://www.lee-harris.org/2502/how-and-why-romney-bombed Fri, 7 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST The Reuters headline said: "Mitt Romney Vows Mormon Church Will Not Run White House." Unfortunately, this time Reuters got its story right. In his long-awaited speech designed to win over conservative evangelicals, Romney actually did say something to...