James Kenneth Rogers

The rhetorical claim that America is a “nation of immigrants” is so common that it is taken for granted. This propagandistic notion is beaten into our heads from childhood. But is this how the American nation traditionally saw itself? I’ll look at quantitative data from Google engrams in a subsequent post. Here, we look something more qualitative: a speech from Theodore Roosevelt at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901. Roosevelt gave this speech less than two weeks before…

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(Note: I wrote this post when I changed my blog’s name and URL to TemplesandAshes.com.) Welcome to my new blog. In this first post, I explain 13 major themes for the blog (#2 explains the name): 1) Tradition: Our cultural traditions represent the accumulated wisdom of our ancestors. They were fine-tuned over generations and lasted, usually, because they served a useful purpose. Rejecting tradition means turning our backs on the accumulated wisdom of our ancestors. Lasting progress usually comes by…

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The summer after my first year at Harvard Law School, I worked at the Office of Legal Counsel for Governor Mitt Romney. At a small private meeting with the interns, an elected official (not Romney) said something that I’ve never forgotten. This politican pointed out that there are two different skill sets to being a politician: campaigning and governing. These two skill sets are different and we choose our politicians based almost exclusively on their skill at campaigning, not at…

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