This is a now page, inspired by Derek Sivers. Updated October 2026.
Writing By What Standard?
My next book is By What Standard?: The Office and the Record. It asks a question that political coverage usually answers with a verdict instead of evidence: what standard does a republic apply to the person holding office, and what happens when the standard is removed but the office is not?
The argument is institutional, not electoral. The tools of the presidency have changed little across administrations. What changed is whether a standard exists that an office-holder can be held to, and whether it is stated out loud. The evidence is the primary record: court filings, executive orders, the Federal Register, the docket. I keep those documents close, because a claim about what a government did should be checkable against what the government wrote.
The first draft is complete. I will post progress here as revision goes.
Coming in late November
Two books are in production and expected late in November.
Profiles in Compliance: The Standard, and Who Pays for It applies John F. Kennedy’s distinction in Profiles in Courage — courage or compliance, and the price of each — to the people who choose the second. Kennedy’s eight senators are remembered because they paid for their votes. This book is about the ones who did not.
Raise ‘Em Right: Raising Kids with Agency, Resilience, and Purpose is the parenting book. Its through-line is the one in Unstuck and Misaligned: self-governance begins with accurate thinking, and the habits of mind built in childhood determine the quality of adult decisions.