Progressives, otherwise known as modern liberals, tend to view the world as being made up of very big pieces. They like their government to be big and take every opportunity to make it as powerful and intrusive as possible. And, whether they like to admit it or not, they like their corporations big also. That makes their beloved big and powerful unions possible.

The current session of the West Virginia legislature is over except for the shouting — which will probably go on for quite some time. In fact, some are already howling. About two weeks ago, with the legislature still in session, the Charleston Gazette’s editorial department published an op-ed piece that began, “And the award for the worst legislative session . . .Someday, historians may call the 2016 Legislature the worst in West Virginia’s history”.

Political economist Robert Reich has produced a series of videos that purport to educate the public on - well – “the dismal science”. According to Wikipedia, “‘The dismal science’ is a derogatory alternative name for economics coined by the Victorian historian Thomas Carlyle in the 19th century”, adding, “Many at the time and afterward have understood the phrase in relation to the grim predictions drawn from the principles of 19th century ‘political economy’’.

With the passing of Antonin Scalia America has lost a valiant defender of the Constitution. According to Wikipedia, “Appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the Court’s conservative wing”. To Scalia, the Constitution is a legal document and he respected both the spirit and letter of the law. Amen.

Nashville, a movie directed by Robert Altman (of MASH fame) came out in 1975 - more than four decades ago. There are some critics that have called the film a masterpiece. I’m not one of them, but the film does have its moments. One of the recurring themes throughout the movie is the populist rhetoric of one of the characters in the movie - Hal Phillip Walker. Walker never appears on screen but his presence is felt, or rather, heard through a bull horn in the background during several scenes as he campaigns for president running on the Replacement Party ticket.

“Party of the People: A History of the Democrats”, published in 2003, is a book written by Jules Witcover who co-wrote the syndicated column “Politics Today” with Jack Germond for more than 24 years. Germond passed away here in Jefferson County, at his home in Charles Town in 2013. According to one synopsis of Witcover’s weighty 846 page tome, “Jules Witcover traces the Democratic Party’s evolution, from its roots in the agrarian, individualistic concepts of Thomas Jefferson to its emergence as today’s progressive party of social change and economic justice”.