Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here.

Here.

Today was my first day of fall classes. I'm starting my 30th year at the University of Texas at Arlington. I teach Logic at eight o'clock and Social and Political Philosophy at 9:30, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The focus of the latter course will be John Stuart Mill's 1859 classic, On Liberty, which is as important today as it was when it was published. (Actually, with the advent of the totalitarian Left, it's more important.) We will be reading the fourth edition of 1869, which was the last edition to appear during Mill's lifetime (1806-1873).

Here is Kurt Schlichter's latest column.

It seems outrageous that a president who has been implicated in a felony should be able to nominate a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

If the Democrats in the U.S. Senate can't obtain a postponement of the vote on Brett Kavanaugh, they should at least obtain a commitment from Kavanaugh to recuse himself from any issue pertaining to Trump’s ability to issue pardons, any issue as to whether Trump has to submit to a subpoena to testify before a grand jury, or any other matter for which Trump could be under investigation.

— Michael Lockard, Chicago

Note from KBJ: Read the Constitution, Michael.

The only thing that I have done wrong is to win an election that was expected to be won by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. The problem is, they forgot to campaign in numerous states!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2018

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What did he say? How are readers supposed to know what they can and cannot say if the reporter doesn't tell them what got the man in trouble? Did he say "nigger"? Note that I am not using the word "nigger" here. I am mentioning the word. I am talking about the word. The reporter could simply have said that the man in question used the word "nigger." That provides information to the readers. Here is how my New Oxford American Dictionary (3d ed., 2010) defines "nigger": "n. offensive a contemptuous term for a black or dark-skinned person." Are we reaching the point where dictionaries may not report the meanings of such words, lest certain readers be offended? What is offensive (objectionable) is not the word itself, but its use.

Holy Smoke (1992).