Personal essays

Signius

Notes on attention, technology, judgment, and the small practices that shape a thoughtful life.

Judgment / August 1, 2026

The Caucus Is the Last Defense Against Primary Mob Rule

The presidential nomination process has become a carnival of impulse, not a contest of judgment. Millions of voters, isolated in voting booths, pull levers...

1 min read

JudgmentAugust 1, 20261 min read

The Forgotten Judgment of Republics: How the Founders Solved the Knowledge Problem

Most Americans will tell you we live in a democracy. A few will correct that to "constitutional republic," and they'll rightly note the difference: in a...

JudgmentJuly 31, 20261 min read

Habeas Corpus Is Not a Technicality — It’s How We Force the State to Prove It Knows What It’s Doing

Most people believe they already understand the Great Writ. They learned it as a civics trivia answer: a prisoner's right to be brought before a judge so...

JudgmentJuly 31, 20261 min read

Impeachment Inflation: Why Using Our Ultimate Check as a Political Weapon Is Destroying It

The Framers handed us a precise constitutional instrument meant for the gravest moments of a republic's life, and we are now debasing it the same way...

JudgmentJuly 31, 20261 min read

The Plebiscite Problem: When Majority Rule Abandons Judgment

There is a seductive idea that sits just beneath the surface of every debate about gridlock, polarization, and democratic reform. It whispers that if only...

JudgmentJuly 31, 20261 min read

The Supreme Court’s Judgment Problem: How Marbury v. Madison Built a Constitutional Central Planner

Most of us were taught to revere Marbury v. Madison as a stroke of genius. The story goes that Chief Justice John Marshall, cornered by a hostile Jefferson...

AttentionJuly 30, 20261 min read

The Only Real Lobbying Reform Is a Government Small Enough to Talk To

Every election season, without fail, the same tired chorus rises from the television studios and the op-ed pages. A bill stalls in Congress, a...

JudgmentJuly 30, 20261 min read

The Real Erosion of Self-Government Isn’t the Electoral College—It’s the Administrative State

You hear the phrase democratic erosion a lot these days, usually from people who are convinced the republic is slipping away because the wrong party won a...

JudgmentJuly 30, 20261 min read

The Social Contract Is a Signed, Sealed Document — Not a Blank Check

The left has a nasty habit of turning every good idea into a weapon against liberty. The phrase "social contract" is one of them. Say those words today, and...

JudgmentJuly 30, 20261 min read

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment Is Central Planning for the Presidency

Picture a quiet Tuesday morning in Washington. The vice president closes the door to the Cabinet Room, takes a seat at the center of the long mahogany...