Dan Chasan

The Senator Packwood Lesson

Yes, Graham Platner may have been able to beat long-time Republican Senator Susan Collins, but even before allegations of sexual assault, there were the allegations of mistreating girlfriends, the...

Taxes and Millionaires: A State Constitution and a Popular Petition

Constitutionality aside, the best thing about the new tax may be its name. “Millionaires’ tax” is great branding. “Millionaires” don’t need the money.  They probably get their riches by exploiting workers.  And they’re somebody else.  They’re other.

Our New “Rosy” Nuclear Future?

Before we go all in on this new one, it would be nice if the desirability of building new nukes in a hurry were thoughtfully discussed.  Good luck with that.  There’s some serous FOMO involved.

Scalia’s Revenge: A Lone Dissent Haunts the Court

As the Court ponders (or pretends to ponder) Slaughter, is the late Justice Antonin Scalia getting a kind of posthumous revenge? His dissents seem to be all over this case.

The Year in Verse

Don’t greet the New Year with a curse; So things aren’t great -- they could be worse.

Dam it All: The Intractable Knots in the Snake River

Thanks to Donald Trump's intervention, we have here a bi-partisan template for Trump’s approach to the legal system: break the law, lose your case, get reamed out by a judge, then carry on with business as usual.

Early Halloween: Scary Like ICE

How about dressing up in an ICE outfit?  You’ve got the mask, so no one can see who you are -- and you can scare people, too. 

Birthright Citizenship: Can Trump Really Reinterpret the Constitution?

Donald Trump is trying to re-interpret the 14th Amendment.  It says  – right up front in Section 1—that “ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject...

How to Save Orcas? A Report Says “Old Fish”

A new report features fixes that have largely been off-limits for discussion by government groups reluctant to enrage commercial fishers, recreational fishers, or tribes.

Trump’s Capricious Tariff Tantrums are Chaotic. But They’re Also Illegal (Probably)

The uncertainty about tariffs will continue indefinitely. The whole episode is a farce.

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