Today is the birthday of our greatest Framer and the genius behind our Constitution: James Madison. He would have been 275 years old. I ordinarily celebrate at home (as shown in this picture from a previous Jemmy Party). However, I am in Naples, Florida, to talk about Rage and the Republic, which discusses Madison’s brilliant design for our Republic. I will be toasting Jemmy tonight as I hope you do.
In Rage and the Republic, I discussed how Madison’s “auxiliary precautions” were essential in creating a stable republic. The book compares the American and French Revolutions, exploring how one revolution led to the world’s oldest and most stable democracy while the other led to the “Terror.” The difference came down to the protections in the Madisonian system against “democratic despotism,” a tendency of democracies to devour themselves in majoritarian terror.
From the book:
Where Paine was righteous rage, Madison was pious reason. The two documents speak to the different roles that they played as well as the key figures associated with them. The Declaration is exhilarating in its language and declarations of liberty. The Constitution in comparison is more clinical in tone and focus. The Declaration focused on transcendent principles of liberty, while the Constitution focused on the nuts and bolts of democracy.
The Constitution is neither poetic nor particularly inspiring. It was written by the ultimate political wonk. Madison was a true genius who viewed government as more of a science than an art. He saw the inherent dangers of democracy far more clearly than Paine; a more sobering reality taken from Madison’s review of failed systems going back to ancient Athens. Human beings—not deities—run governments, and any government must be able to withstand the petty, corrupt, and pernicious motives of those in power…
…That was most evident in his famous statement in Federalist 51 that “if men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Even Paine, who was viewed as favoring robust democratic powers, acknowledged that “government, like dress, is a badge of our lost innocence.” Paine would find few angels in power in Paris and come to recognize the necessity of some of Madison’s “precautions.”
We ordinarily celebrate with a traditional Virginia dinner (with the required Virginia ham), a three-layer cake, and Madison’s favorite dessert of ice cream (I recommend the tripartite Neapolitan).
James Madison, Jr. was born on March 16, 1751, at the Belle Gove Plantation in the colony of Virginia to James Madison Sr. and Nelly Conway Madison.
Despite being only 5’4” and barely above 100 pounds, Madison proved to be an intellectual giant who shaped constitutional theory for generations.
While critics would call him “Little Jemmy,” Jemmy was a nickname others used for Madison.
Madison died of congestive heart failure at Montpelier on the morning of June 28, 1836. He was 85 — an advanced age for the time. My favorite story from his death came from his niece who asked him, “What is the matter, Uncle James?” Madison responded, “Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear.” He then promptly passed.
So enjoy the day and celebrate in true Madisonian fashion. There is no need to be moderate. After all, “if men were angels, no government would be necessary. As always, while I expect Dolley would not be thrilled, here is our annual sultry send-off for James Madison at 275 years young today:
This is why I love Professor Turley. He’s a history nerd deep down underneath the legal nerd. These days, I pretty much only trust Turley, Dershowitz and VDH as legal or historical pundits – why? They are 3 of the very few who insist on trying to maintain an objective POV amidst their immense cumulative wisdom. This helps them be truer to the law and history. The rest are either woke lefties or hard-core right wing.
Saving our Republic is a mathematical necessity to save this planet
Genetic Physicist
I really don’t know how Turley can claim to be a fan of James Madison and ignore the reality of how everything Trump and Republicans do runs counter to his strong beliefs and his writings. It’s really stunning!
Stunning, you say? Did you happen to notice the corruption of fundamental law by the judicial branch all the way back to Chief Justice Marshall in his decision on the Bank Act, 1819, wherein he arbitrarily amended the Constitution by murdering the Necessary and Proper Clause? The Bank Act must have been struck down in 1791. It’s been all downhill for the anti-constitutional judicial branch ever since.
You meant Biden, a dementia president whose shadowy cabal of fascists ran the government via auto-pen, established a ministry of truth, erased our national borders, and turned the FBI into a Stasi-like secret police organization to hound concerned moms at school board meetings, dads praying with their kids near abortion clinics, and traditional Catholics who favor the Latin Mass.
The Donald JTrump was killed in a helicopter crash 1989
The Constitution is neither poetic nor particularly inspiring.
Perhaps the preamble is the exception that proves the rule:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
I particularly like that phrase, a more perfect union. Perfection is generally not thought of as comparative, but it does allow such derivative phrases as “a more or less perfect union” – which, by adding the words “or less,” bring the union closer to perfection. To understand more:
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/more-less-perfect-union/
“We the People of the United States…secure the Blessings of Liberty TO OURSELVES and OUR POSTERITY.”
– The American Founders, 1789
A little overacting by William Shatner, but the words are timeless.
I’m currently in the middle of reading the “Federalist” and I am surprised at how much I am enjoying going through it. If you haven’t read the papers, you should. It’s really amazing the thought Publius went through.
Trump’s incompetence is spectacular.
Maybe not.
Havana is expected to allow Cubans in Miami, elsewhere to own businesses on the island By Nora Gámez Torres and Andrés Viglucci March 13, 2026 7:30 PM Gift IconGift Article
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article315047280.html#storylink=cpy
So are your mononic posts. I know you have the attention span of a flee, but this article is about James Madison, not Joe Biden’s incompetentecy.
Annoyingus
That’s flea not flee.
Flea: A small insect that sucks blood
Flee: to quickly vacate or escape, which most all of us here wish we could do from your obsessive compulsive TDS behavior.
Vive La Différence!
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“[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”
– James Madison
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“In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
– Karl Marx
One factor not foreseen by Madison that could destroy our constitutional rule of law system of government is:
“Electronic Covert Non-Confrontational Blacklisting”.
McCarthyism in the 1950’s was somewhat “Overt Blacklisting” – targets were publicly interrogated in front of Congress and Hollywood writers were publicly blacklisted merely based on suspicion.
The federal agencies, including DOJ, were exposed and embarrassed for the fraud of (overt) McCarthyism blacklisting tactics that it devolved into “Covert” blacklisting tactics like Cointelpro – never confronting your targets as the U.S. Constitution mandates but covertly punishing, destroying and gaslighting your targets.
Basically extrajudicial punishments perpetrated without even informing the citizen-target and usually without their knowledge. Denying the constitutional rights of confrontation (indictment), bypassing 4th Amendment law and bypassing judges.
There is no provision in the 1791 U.S. Constitution to prevent these abuses and in 2026 there is no proposals by any member of Congress to create a new constitutional-amendment to plug this loophole.
For example:
In the early 2000’s the federal Attorney General exercised the federal “Material Witness Statute” as a punitive tool to punish citizens where constitutional “probable cause” was lacking.
Back then the federal AG could go to your employer and force or coerce your employer to fire you. The AG then slapped a gag order on the employer so you never knew why you were fired. The AG also had tremendous power to prevent his target from obtaining a new job.
Bottom Line: any AG could cause you to lose your income, lose your house, lose your assets, lose your marriage, completely destroy your dignity (no longer a bread winner) and likely caused some totally innocent Americans to commit suicide or suffer premature death. In 2026, any citizen claiming to be harmed is gaslighted by every federal official in every agency, never receiving an official apology or even an explanation.
In 2026, there is no constitutional provision that prevents this fatal flaw in the American system. Since 9/11 about 25 years later – using the governments’ own records – there have been at least 40,000 Americans and over 1 million persons worldwide blacklisted by local, state and federal agencies through Fusion Centers.
Of those 40,000 Americans (U.S. citizens) covertly blacklisted and gaslighted for 25 years, the conviction rate is less than 1%. More than 99% harmed, destroyed or suffering premature death denied indictment, denied judge or jury and denied any guilty verdict by any court.
The Press doesn’t seem too interested in proposing a new constitutional-amendment to fix this fatal flaw in America’s constitutional democratic republic. This can happen to anyone for any reason. After 25 years where is the much needed constitutional amendment to end this evil practice contrary to Judeo-Christian values and contrary to American governance?
There is no statute of limitations on these types of war crimes against humanity, but the real solution is reforms not criminal prosecution of America’s war crimes. Only the security and intelligence agencies themselves can reform this evil practice and it only happens through “conditional immunity” in exchange for truth – not imprisoning or punishing most Bush officials following illegal orders from Bush political appointees.
Madison’s design was brilliant, and its long endurance is the proof. But he would caution against any thoughts of it not needing repair and refinement over time. Article V (the rigorous Amendment process) is equally visionary as the first 3 Articles.
The internet age, globalism, AI and the quickening pace of change are seriously testing the existing governing blueprint. Why can’t Congress anticipate coming legal controversies and provide the legal architecture in realtime? Why is lawmaking lagging now decades behind the public will? Are we doomed to ping-pong Presidencies and yo-yo policy oscillations? Are stable policies to be instead decided by activist plaintiffs and sympathetic federal judges?
The checks and balances written into the Constitution address the over-concentration of power. But what about abdication of responsibility?
Do we need Constitutional Amendments to make Congress keep abreast with the pace of change? What kinds of checks and balances would do that?
Congressional Due Diligence Amendment. I can imagine some measures to prod Congress out of its escapist lethargy:
• The Constitutional Offices (Speaker of the House, Presiding Officer of the Senate) are amended to be strictly non-partisan offices with responsibility for the overall productivity of their respective legislative bodies. These office holders must renounce party affiliation as a part of the Oath to lead the entire body. The leader stands astride the parties, and forces them into constructive competition at pace. The leader must publish a legislative agenda and calendar by March 1st of each new Congress, updated by Jan 15th of the 2nd year.
• Lobbying must be conducted in the Public Domain. All legislative advocacy must be published authentically by its proponents on the internet. Private communication with lobbyists broaching “asks” not already published are illegal. This follows the thinking of Sunshine Laws in the states. This upholds the 1st Amendment, since the freedom to express ideas is not constrained, only the freedom to pursue govt. policies outside the public’s purview.
• Consequences for Missing Statutory Deadlines. One idea with teeth is to randomly disqualify 10% of the members’ eligibility for re-election every instance of a statutory deadline being missed. Merely withholding pay is not strong enough medicine. Re-election to office is the prize, and it must be put in jeopardy for poor time management.
• SCOTUS Case Precedents. Congress shall have one full election cycle and 2-year governing calendar to countermand or refine any Supreme Court case precedent rendered in the 2 years before the election. If no action is taken in that timeframe, the precedent stands as law for the following 20 years, after which that Congress has one
lawmaking cycle to make amends. This incents Congress to take responsibility for policy when activist plaintiffs and sympathetic Justices have waded into lawmaking.
• Legislative Maintenance. All federal law would be put on a periodic review schedule. Laws which are obsolete, too vague, or peppered with loopholes would have to be addressed on a schedule, and corrections made.
• Public funding of Federal Office campaigns. This would be a choice open to office-seekers. Publicly-funded debates and job-interviews would be allowed. Any attempt to tactically undermine this system would be illegal.
These are things to be considered. If you don’t like them, at least admit that Congress is falling way behind in keeping tempo with tech and societal changes. For example, birth tourism is reviled by over 90% of the population, and almost all the of the other 10% are willing to hold their noses because they want SCOTUS making the law, not majority rule through Congress. Why hasn’t Congress banned it?
Happy Birthday Jemmy! Look what WE have evolved into:
The day is coming soon when A.I. will write with the righteous rage and pious reason of Paine and Madison. At that point AutoPen will become the Judge, Jury, and Executor (Executive, Congress, Judicial branches all-in-one)
BTW:
Anthropic’s top lawyer says AI will kill the legal profession’s dreaded billable hour
The billable hour’s time is approaching midnight, according to Anthropic’s top lawyer.
By: Jacob Shamsian – Business Insider (Law) ~ Mar 13, 2026
https://www.businessinsider.com/anthropic-general-counsel-jeff-bleich-ai-billable-hour-lawyers-ibm-2026-3
More:
More than half of legal professionals expect AI to drive more work to ALSPs, new report says
By: Amanda Robert – ABA Journal ~ March 10, 2026
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/more-than-half-of-legal-professionals-expect-ai-to-drive-more-work-to-alsps-new-report-says
–
Billable Hours Are Dead, AI Killed Them, Here’s How To Survive
By: Joe Mandese – Media3.0 ~ March 3, 2026
[Link] mediapost.com/publications/article/413193/billable-hours-are-dead-ai-killed-them-heres-ho.html?edition=141900
Re.: “Redesigning The Agency Value Model” (.pdf)
[Link] s3.amazonaws.com/media.mediapost.com/uploads/RedesigningTheAgencyValueModel.pdf
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Shakespeare’s quote from Henry VI— “THE FIRST THING WE DO, LET’S KILL ALL THE LAWYERS.” (A.I. will do this deed)
Great, now the streets will be filled with un-happy un-employed Litigators, no-doubt joining the ranks of disgruntled Democrats crying about how life is so unfair.
The A.I. Revolt-Revolution is taking shape.
I love this. Happy birthday, Jemmy!
A.I. ( James Madison’s favorite food and drink )
Preferred Spirits: Madison was known to enjoy a pint of whiskey per day and dubbed champagne “the most delightful wine”.
Dining Preferences: His favorite meals were reportedly quite traditional for the era, involving Virginia ham, cider, and ice cream, rather than tavern fare.
“You may know that Thomas Jefferson’s favorite food was macaroni, which he first encountered in France. …” *
What Did James and Dolley Madison Serve to Guests? **
According to authors of “The Presidents’ Cookbook,” Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks: “No president’s wife before her was so thoroughly in charge of the nation’s social life. On the surface, the social scene during Madison’s administration followed the pattern established by Thomas Jefferson.”
Indeed, the cuisine was French as well as English-Virginian, the wines were the finest French vintages, and the hospitality was as open and cordial as Jefferson’s. …
* https://ourfriendben.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/james-madisons-favorite-food/
** https://inkandescentmagazine.com/articles/what-did-james-and-dolley-madison-serve-to-guests
Madison recognized the utility of civilized violence. People know that being a contingent being , some violence is required. But violence does not always have to be life threatening. As such we must not fail to respectfully disagree, and it must be collegial, so say the justices, and the war between mod violence and civilized violence continues.
“mob”
Madison, the GOAT
The greatest of the great. Happy Birthday!
sadly Democrats would prefer a FASCIST State, with THEM in charge!
Not true. Why is the President (a republican) calling for news reporters to be hung for treason? 1st amendment does not apply to critics of trump?
We’re at war with an enemy that vows “Death to America”. Some media are giving aid and comfort to the enemy by replaying their propaganda lines, something I never thought American journalists would stoop to. That said, those media people are to be mocked mercilessly for their moral stupidity.
You do know the definition of Fascism I hope?
Fascism – (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
I am pretty sure that applies to a president that wants to hang and imprison his opponents. That would be trump.
Even the President has free speech. He’s VENTING. All talk but definitely no action. Reason why he’s exactly NOT fascist nor a King. Thought does not constitute a crime, not yet anyway. Hyperbole can be misleading if one believes it.
Happy birthday, 8th cousin Jemmy! 🎂🎉🇺🇸🤗
Cheers to everyone on this great day. And to the healthy debate we all have nearly every day.
For he IS the Kwisatz Haderach!
Jimmy of Jemmy?
Yes, Jemmy, among family and friends, he was so known. You didn’t know that? What sort of American are you?