August is an interesting month. The weather is always a topic. So are the bugs in the backyard. (Cicadas, anyone?) Some people are going on vacation or returning from one in August. Others are emptying their pockets to buy school supplies and clothing. Fall tuitions are due. Work goals don’t go away in August. They […]
Did SCOTUS Establish a Religion in Ruling?
Did the Supreme Court just establish a religion by issuing its opinion in the Kennedy v Bremerton School District case? Did the Supreme Court establish Christianity as a religion to exclude all others? What happened to the separation of Church and State? Maybe you see the need for a civics lesson with all the rumors […]
Happy Independence Day!
Welcome back to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship! We are considering our American Independence this week by thinking of all the reasons we have to celebrate it- yes, even now. Following the first article is a piece that addresses our need for more and better civics education. Let’s begin: Happy Independence Day! Well, it is […]
Wanted: Civics Education
Ignorance is not bliss. I am stunned at the lack of American civics knowledge on display. I mean, people in the know don’t know, and children are parroting the mistaken views of law and freedom. The Liberty Bell is ringing loud and clear (figuratively, of course). “Come all who will listen and learn the American […]
Factions Don’t Work
Have you ever thought that this or that could be a great idea if only it were given the opportunity? Later, your idea was tried, but it nearly brought disaster. You end up pondering, “How could this be? I thought it surely would yield the best outcome. What went wrong?“ That’s where I am at […]
Communist Goals, Circa 1958
Thank you for returning to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship and this newsletter. The articles this week concern communist goals for our country that were developed in the 1950’s. Part 2 appears first and part 1 appears underneath it. I divide the discussion into education and the arts. Perhaps you will see the digression of […]
Communist Goals -Then and Now
This is an eye-opener. We’ve talked before about the goals of Commun-ism (misspelling intentional), listing them for our consideration and discussion. Yesterday, I was handed a list of sixteen Neo-Commun-ist goals from “The Naked Communist” by W. Cleon Skousen 1958. If you’ve been with us on this page for a while, you know that Skousen […]
How A Bill Becomes A Law
Thank you for returning to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. This week we take up some important civics lessons and issues that I hope you will find helpful as you listen to and make sense of the news. I know that I benefit from reflection on simple civics when issues on the national scene seem […]
What Does the Constitution Say About War?
War is on everyone’s mind. The images we see are far from the precision conflicts shown in recent years, for example, Desert Storm. Instead, what we see is reminiscent of scenes displayed on the nightly news during the Viet Nam war. Raw, bone-chilling horrors of war. We can’t help but wonder, what if that were […]
Gerrymandering
aa Most of us have received newly assigned congressional districts since the United States completed its 2020 census. We may find that we have been redistricted, or the shape of our district has changed to include new areas. Gerrymandering: The practice of redrawing electoral districts to gain an electoral advantage for a political party. This […]
What We Believe is How We Behave
Welcome back to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship! More and more, it seems, people are starting to realize what is going on in the United States. If you are a diversified news watcher, I’m sure you’re seeing it, too. It really has my attention. In this week’s newsletter, we look at what we believe and […]
Who Were the Framers’ Influencers?
Thank you for returning and subscribing to the Common Sense Civics and Citizenship newsletter. It’s great to have you here. I get a lot of questions about the Constitution.We address two of them this week. Can the Constitution ever be removed from the American people?” and “How did our Constitution come about?” Let’s dive right […]
Can Our Constitution Ever Be Taken From Us?
“Can our Constitution ever be removed from the American people?” This question was sent to me from one of our participants last week. How many of us have considered ways that our Constitution could be taken from us? We know that We the People are the keepers of the Constitution. We don’t even want to […]
Evolutionaries and Constitutionalists
Welcome back to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. I hope you will find our topics this week on the U.S. Constitution informative. The goal here is to help us ascertain what is going on in our government by looking through the lens of our founding American documents. More and more Americans tell me they are […]
The Most Underreported Story of 2021
Thank you for returning to Common Sense Civics and Citizenship! As we ring in a new year, we often look for things that we need to improve in our lives. I’m suggesting we look at our news consumption with a new angle- looking for the truth. After all, the most underreported story of 2021 is […]
