i'm matthew spalding, vice president of american studies here at the american foundation. we're in for a treat. here we are, approaching election, pretends ton a water shed recognized by both political parties as a changes point, a change don't on the role of government, markets, and the future progeek story of the nation. in that debate, commercials and political rhetoric abound. sound bites, daily reactions dominate the news cycle. luckily, for us, in the midst of this, a very serious thinker wrote a serious book. having been discovered by william f. buckley, reading and writing for "national review," having overcome education at harvard university -- [laughter] and upbringing in west virginia -- [laughter] charles is a towering figure of the conservative movement. rightly so. he's a professor of government at clermont college, the co-editor with william f. buckley of "keeping the tablets of modern american conservative thought," and wrote extensively on american constitutionalism and political ideas. indeed, his addition not federalist papers, the one published, is the