I’ve been reading Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis and can’t believe how timely it is. The book focuses on six moments in the early history of the nation and the main actors in them. You get a real sense of who the Founding Fathers were, what they cared about, their characters, their principals. It’s a fun read. Really it is.

One thing they cared passionately about was the balance of power. Their views ranged widely. Paint them in the widesest strokes and you have those that believed in strong federal government with emphasis on economic and foreign policy and those that believed in strong local (state) government.

It’s that tension that has more or less defined American politics for the past two hundred years.

Consider that dynamic when you read the next two stories:

At the NYTimes – Cities Urge Restraint in Fight Against Terror.

And in a bill that will probably be overturned (make your bets), a local government in the United States to eliminate corporate claims to civil and constitutional privileges. via dangerousmeta.