I’ve tried to do the math, but over the last 25 years I’m sure I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words in hundreds of blog posts, articles, reports, and other publications. I’ve written about everything from education policy to country music. There’s some really good stuff, some useful stuff, and some other stuff that I’d probably want to edit and rewrite. But here’s a sample.

Sightline
Highlight From “The Truth About Thomas Jefferson,” July 20, 2010

And here’s something you may not know about Thomas Jefferson: he was a secessionist. Jefferson believed that if a state didn’t like what the federal government was doing, it had a right to leave the Union. In fact, Jefferson (possibly with help from James Madison) was the author of the earliest document articulating the principles of secession: the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. You won’t find passages of the Kentucky Resolutions being read out loud in elementary school classes (“whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force”) or quoted by scholars like Barone. But listen to the rants of your local tea baggers and the Governor of Texas and you’ll hear similar language. Jefferson’s individualism extended beyond the idea of limited government but to outright nullification of federal laws and withdrawal from the Union, the essential causes of the Civil War.

The Seattle Times
Highlight from,”Preserving arts spaces in Seattle,” January 25, 2008

Arts organizations should not go extinct. Without arts and culture, we cannot make Seattle the vibrant urban oasis that it truly ought to be. Culture must take its place along with parks, sidewalks and bike lanes in making Seattle a more sustainable city.

Publicola
Highlight from, “Seattle City Council Common Denominator: Smothering Urban Innovation,” 4/15/2014

If the city of Seattle regulated hot dogs one can only imagine what the advent of the corn dog would provoke at City Hall. How do we define a corn dog? Is it safe? And about that breading made of corn as opposed to a bun—what have other cities done?

Forbes
Highlight from, “The Essentials Of Housing Economics: The Price System And The Market,” August 21, 2019

Price is the measure that matters most, but that does not mean we ought to strive to set it or control it; we can’t any more than King Cnute could command the waves. What we can do is get out of the way of producers and consumers and allow them as much freedom as possible to exchange value

Medium
Highlight from, “Day of Remembrance: Where a battle raged,” November 11, 2018

Politicians and planners with maps and statistics must always be challenged. It is the young people, knowing little, filled with enthusiasm and idealism that should be left at home to live their lives. If the planners want to send someone into battle, let them send men like me, with skepticism and perhaps even cynicism. This may be the best way to stem the suffering of war since our failing eyes and bodies would do less damage. And perhaps, stumbling around trying to kill each other would require too many naps. A war’s toll could be measured in heart attacks, desertions, meetings about risk, and a glancing blow struck at happy hour. That’s the only war I’ll ever support.