the empire claims total control of its borders and hemisphere while denying russia the same expectations;

I woke up this morning and saw the news that, last night, the U.S. launched a military operation against Venezuela and swiftly captured President Nicholas Maduro. The Trump administration released the following image of the detained man on board a U.S. military aircraft.

As I drank my morning coffee, my thoughts drifted not to Venezuela, but to the French diplomat and political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited America 1831-1832 to study our prison system. Along the way, he made many observations of American society, which he later presented in his book, Democracy in America, published in two volumes in 1835 and 1840.

I’ve long been a great admirer of Tocqueville, who combined keen powers of observation with deep philosophical insights into human nature. Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution are masterpieces of social and political philosophy.

I often wonder what Tocqueville would think about America if he travelled the country today. I’m confident he would be hard-pressed to reconcile the extreme malaise—both physical and spiritual—of the American people and their cities with the extreme confidence of their leaders that the United States should rule the world...........more...........