Twenty-four Sussex Drive, Residence of the Prime Minister of Canada

Recent links of note:

There is no conspiracy. The EU is completely open about its superstate plan
Boris Johnson, The Telegraph
Last week we took a break from commenting on the impending British vote on continued membership in the EU—the referendum isn’t until June after all. In prior weeks we noted that what the “out” movement seemed to lack was a strong, recognizable, and cogent spokesperson. With Boris Johnson now arguing lucidly in favor of Brexit in The Telegraph on a weekly basis, the uncertain “out” camp can rest easier. On Monday the inimitable BoJo warned readers of the peril in not taking the EU seriously. Yes, it might be easy to laugh at ridiculous regulations on what kind of bananas farmers can grow, but to treat the EU as a joke is a mistake. When Brussels “set[s] out [its] ambition in black and white—to create a monetary union, a political union, a social union: in essence, to take a load of disparate countries and to try to fuse them into one, with common citizenship and loyalty to a ‘European” idea,’” our reaction is  “Oh come off it . . . It’ll never happen.” Should Britain stay in, it just might.

Scalia made the weather
John O. McGinnis, City Journal
If the current presidential election cycle has made one thing clear it is that “today, the ideal of limited government is under attack in both parties.” Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, continues to be taken as a legitimate candidate. Donald Trump—a man whose beliefs are more nebulous—is certain that he, backed by a vigorous central government can “make America great again.” All of which makes the death of Antonin Scalia so much more fraught. Justice Scalia’s judicial philosophy influenced the whole of American politics, re-legitimizing the idea of limitation. As John McGinnis tells it, Scalia’s “legacy will be preserved only if the republic can find new political champions of Enlightenment values who can make the case clearly, succinctly, and in fidelity to the Constitution’s original meaning. Originalists need again someone who can make the weather.”

Justin Trudeau has his mother’s looks—and his father’s dodgy economics
Harry Mount, The Spectator
This week, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Washington. He’s young, genial-faced, and oh-so-progressive. It’s no wonder the media, and President Barack Obama—who gabbed jestingly with Trudeau about the Stanley Cup—love the guy. All great, but what about when the bill comes due? Facing a continued decline in the oil markets, Canada’s economy is in trouble. Yet Trudeau insists on more regulation and larger government spending. Perhaps Mr. Obama can give Trudeau the ultimate lesson in national politics, namely that a baby face and smooth talk can only take you so far.

From our pages:

Olmsted as author
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
On the writings of Frederick Law Olmsted.
 

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