The Rule of Law

This is my latest at the Partial Observer. Excerpt:

I'm not saying that the United States of America respected individual rights to the degree that it should have. But I am saying that everything good about America stems not from utilitarian estimates of the public good, pre-emptive wars against far-away dictators, or religiously-motivated crackdowns of other people's wayward behaviors. I will say that these are extremely anti-American attitudes and reflect the very worst in us.

The best thing about American history and tradition is that we have at least some understanding of what the Rule of Law is, that it is about rights, and that good government rests on protecting rights, not on managing other people's affairs.