Barely a week after the latest bizarre Clinton scandal erupted, this time Hillary's inexplicable decision to use a private personal system for all her email while Secretary of State without telling anyone, a company in Connecticut has created a Hillary Clinton action figure complete with Blackberry. Some people find the general rowdiness of the United States, including its political system, off-putting. They prefer genteel stuffiness in which establishment boats are not rocked and pundits and statespersons are not mocked.

The U.S. political system certainly has its failings, some shared with other Western democracies including Canada and some unique to itself. But I think we need more of the wide-open, lively, dynamic American tone. Their political culture reacts faster, more pointedly and more frankly, letting in more air and making more room for honest expressions of public sentiment.

Charles Adler was guest-hosting the Roy Green show today and invited me on to discuss topics from Manitoba politics to Hillary Clinton's presidential prospects (dismal, I say) to our successful Kickstarter campaign to produce a documentary on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. (The Magna Carta bit starts at 10:20) [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/194904663" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

In my latest Rebel Media piece I ask why government is teaching kids about sex at all. Instead of debating what's in the state school curriculum, we should be debating state schools. John Stuart Mill said in On Liberty that the government should require parents to educate children, and make sure they could afford to, but should not deliver it because

A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another: and as the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power in the government, whether this be a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or the majority of the existing generation, in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body.

How right he was.

Mark Steyn, "The One-Man Global Content Provider," just wrote a great post "The Field Where Liberty Was Sown" about Magna Carta, the "real rights" it contains, and the modern threat to freedom as voters get seduced by the "right" to free stuff from politicians in return for their right to due process, property and so on. In it he kindly praised our documentary project and people have really taken notice. Thanks, Mark. We really appreciate it.

John Ivison in the National Post laments how Parliament is ceasing to control executive branch spending as a departure from the principle of individual freedom from arbitrary government.

See my latest thoughts on the Greek financial crisis on the IRPP's Policy Options blog here.

The National Post just published my article on how legislators aren't keeping the executive in line (or judges) and we aren't making them do it. Politics isn't a fun sport with orange, blue and red competing for supremacy. It's about protecting our life, liberty and property. We need to remember that, and make the people we elect act on it.

Last night I attended an excellent panel discussion "Magna Carta: What does it mean to Canada?" hosted by House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer. And I was very struck by a comment by panelist the Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform) that our liberties may be eight centuries long but they are only one generation deep. Exactly why we're making the documentary (https://www.kickstarter.com/…/magna-carta-our-shared-legacy…) and I'm delighted to report that we're now at 45%. Nearly half way. A long road ahead... but many thanks to all who have gotten us this far and let's keep it going.