A Setback For The Country & The Recovery Of Constitutional Government

Claremont, CA –-(Ammoland.com)- Dear Friends of the Claremont Institute,

The Claremont Institute cares deeply about our nation’s politics even if our sights are set beyond individual elections. Tuesday was a setback for the country and the recovery of constitutional government. Too many Americans saw the reelection of President Obama as a defense of their entitlements and the welfare state in all of its manifestations. The mere fact that the country is going bankrupt was either not explained to them compellingly or was deliberately obscured. For the future of free government this is a problem.

Our own Charles Kesler, in his new book, I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism, explains the impact of Obama’s designs on both our Constitution and the character of the American people. It is essential reading to understand the political transformation that is taking place in America.

Of course it is our purpose here at the Institute to reverse this abandonment of constitutional government. The most immediate way we do so is through our fellowship programs. Our faculty includes scholars like Claremont Review of Books Editor Charles Kesler and Senior Fellows John Marini, Edward Erler, Angelo Codevilla, Hadley Arkes, Ronald J. Pestritto, and Thomas West. Our fellowship alumni now number 397 and we even had two run for national office last week. Although Wendy Long (Publius Fellow ‘87) fell short in her race for U.S. Senate in New York, Tom Cotton (Publius Fellow ‘97) was elected a U.S. congressman representing Arkansas. Tom is going to be a force in Congress and will join former Claremont Institute senior staff member, Congressman Tom McClintock, as part of Congress’s conservative leadership.

It is now time for that leadership to look again to America’s founding principles and the statesmanship of Abraham Lincoln. There is a threat to America and the future of self-government that cannot be ignored. You can count on all of us at the Claremont Institute to be at the forefront of this intellectual battle.

Please know how grateful all of us are for your support and know that we are, everyday, providing to the most influential policy makers the best arguments to defeat liberalism. These arguments demonstrate not merely why big government is bankrupting America, but why it is unjust for a free people and undermines the goodness of the American experiment in constitutional government.

Let us together redouble our efforts to defend that Constitution and the country we hold so dear.

Annual Dinner

The Annual Dinner in honor of Sir Winston Churchill will be held in March 2013. The Claremont Institute will be awarding the prestigious Statesmanship Award to Dr. William J. Bennett. We are looking forward to many of the colleagues and friends he has mentored over the years joining us as we honor this American icon and the Claremont Institute’s Washington Fellow. For video of last year’s dinner (including a speech by Congressman Paul Ryan), visit our YouTube channel.

November & December Preview

• On November 17, the Claremont Institute is sponsoring a debate at the Federalist Society’s Annual Lawyers Convention. The debate and subsequent discussion, “Taking the Natural Law Seriously Again,” will feature Distinguished Fellow Hadley Arkes and Chief Judge Alex Kozinsky of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• On December 6, the Claremont Review of Books will sponsor a CRB Forum at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. The event will feature CRB Editor Charles Kesler, CRB Senior Editor William Voegeli, and University of Virginia Professor James Ceaser discussing the election, the future of conservatism, and most importantly, the future of constitutional government. Reception: 6:00-6:45; Panel: 6:45-8:00 p.m. To RSVP, please email Noreen Burns at noreenburn@gmail.com.

The American Mind

On November 30, we will unveil The American Mind, an online video series to help educate conservatives about the foundational principles of American government. Dr. Charles Kesler, editor of the Claremont Review of Books, will engage today’s best conservative minds in conversation about those principles, through the philosophical lens of the Founders. Harry Jaffa, Bill Bennett, Mark Helprin, and Angelo Codevilla are a few of Dr. Kesler’s guests. Visit our website on November 30 for a link to view the first of many segments.

Fellowships

Application materials for our summer fellowship programs will be available on our website by November 14, with application deadlines in March 2013. For details and brochures, contact Ben Judge at bjudge@claremont.org.

Claremont Review of Books

We’re putting the finishing touches on the Fall 2012 issue of the Claremont Review of Books, featuring James W. Ceaser on the 2012 election, William Voegeli on Republican “extremism,” Steven F. Hayward on the future of liberalism, John J. DiIulio, Jr. on reading James Q. Wilson, Deirdre N. McCloskey on the morality of free markets, Thomas Sowell on how affirmative action hurts everyone involved, Jeremy Rabkin and Richard E. Morgan on interpreting the Constitution, plus discussions of economic development, free will, Muslim dissembling, Aristotle’s Ethics, religion in America, the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, and more.

October Recap

• I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism, by Claremont Review of BooksEditor Charles Kesler, was published by Broadside Books in September. To promote the book, the Claremont Institute hosted a variety of events in both New York and Southern California. Events included the following:
  • On October 2, the Claremont Institute hosted a reception in New York City with political journalists, Publius, Lincoln, and John Marshall Fellowship alumni, and friends of the Claremont Institute.
  • On October 3, Charles Kesler addressed the Manhattan Institute’s Young Leaders Circle at the Harvard Club in New York City.
  • On October 4, the Claremont Institute hosted a book salon with author Charles Kesler and several elite TV and print journalists, including Brian Anderson of City Journal, David Asman of the Fox News Channel, and Bill McGurn of the Wall Street Journal.
  • On October 30, Charles Kesler addressed friends and sponsors of the Claremont Institute at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, California.
• On October 27, the Claremont Institute’s Center for the Jurisprudence of Natural Law hosted a colloquium in Washington, DC for federal judges and clerks, John Marshall Fellows, and influential legal intellectuals. Discussion during the event focused on religious liberty as a natural right, and how judges can better use moral reasoning in their written decisions.

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