Birth of a Blog

Why another blog when there are millions of them already?

One reason is that this one will very likely present viewpoints not always easily found elsewhere. Another is that it is just too time-consuming to be writing extended e-mails to family, friends, and associates about this, that, and the other burning issue. That is what I have been doing for some years. It's just not very efficient.

A third reason is that I'd be writing all of this down somewhere anyway, so why not place it where anyone with an interest can read it? If no one is interested, the loss is negligible, especially given the ease with which a blog can be launched. It took all of three minutes to set up this one.

This blog will deal with the large issues we face. It's not that every post will discuss the fate of the universe, of course, because there is plenty to instruct, amuse, bemuse, and uplift us that isn't necessarily earth-shattering. But the large issues will never be far off. They really can't be even if we wished it. The challenges before us will not go away, and we can't put them in a box and just forget about them.

We live in a serious time full of serious problems. Fortunately, there is nothing that says we have to go around in a state of despair, however difficult conditions are. So let's consider what we have before us, see if we can find ways to improve things and maintain a cheerful attitude throughout. Or at least not be too dismal.

One final word. Why is this blog called The U.S. Federalist? Frankly, I'd have preferred "The American Federalist"--it rolls off the tongue more smoothly--but that was already taken. So The U.S. Federalist it is. But what does it signify?

In presidential lists, George Washington's party designation is commonly made "Federalist." Strictly speaking, he wasn't a Federalist at all, at least not the first time he was elected. He was a member of no party and in fact very strongly opposed and vigorously spoke against "faction," what we would now call dividing into political parties.

By his second term, he was more accurately known as a Federalist, whether he liked it or not (by most accounts, he didn't). Infighting and squabbling had already arisen, and the great Washington himself was subject to criticism. But the Federalist Party was the founding political party of our republic, and even though the Republicans, as the Jeffersonians came to be called (later the Democratic-Republicans and then Democrats), had legitimate viewpoints as well, the Federalists were truly the "founding faction" of the United States.

Remember The Federalist (usually called The Federalist Papers)? This series of newspaper articles, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, were published in New York newspapers during 1787 and 1788 under the name "Publius." They were arguing in support of the Constitution, then in process of ratification. Because of English that is 220 years old, the reading requires more attention than if you're scanning through Harry Potter, but the reasoning in defense of the Constitution is breathtaking. We should have such great minds in our service today.

The point is, they called it The Federalist, because they were expounding upon a new, amazing governmental arrangement unlike anything else in history, one based on carefully separated and balanced powers, including a strong separation between the states and the people on the one hand and the federal government on the other.

As The U.S. Federalist unfolds and develops, I hope you will enjoy it. Meanwhile, I hope someone comes up with an alternative for the ugly word "blog." It sounds like the end of a dry heave or something Klingons would eat at a wedding feast.