About Robert
I write and teach about civics, American history, law, culture, faith, politics, and the increasingly rare art of admitting that complicated questions sometimes have complicated answers.
Put the cookies on the lower shelf.
That is the rule behind most of what I make. The Constitution should not require a law degree to understand. American history should not feel like punishment. Government should not be explained in a dialect understood only by professors, lawyers, and people who enjoy committee hearings.
I want to take serious subjects seriously without making them miserable to read, watch, or listen to.
Principles before teams
I am not interested in building another political cheering section. I care far more about whether an argument is true, defensible, historically grounded, and consistent than whether it earns applause from the left or the right.
That means I will sometimes agree with people I normally disagree with, disagree with people I normally respect, and occasionally manage to annoy everyone at the same time. I can live with that.
What lives here
RobertFaulkner.com is the home base for Foundational Civics, American history, The Politically Homeless, books and long-form writing, video projects, music, and the broader work of trying to recover some intellectual middle ground without watering everything down into mush.
The goal is not to tell you what to think.
The goal is to give you enough history, context, evidence, and competing argument that you can decide what you think for yourself.