Dear readers,
Welcome to The Logical Liberal and thank you for taking the time to read my work. I’m David Edward Burke and I’m excited to tell you a little bit about myself and what you can expect from this site.
About Me
I was born, raised, and still live in Southern California. I’m the son of two public school teachers and have long been interested in politics, in large part because it struck me as the most efficient way to do good in the world. I was on my high school’s “Constitution Team.” I graduated from UCLA for both undergraduate and law school, having worked as a Congressional staffer in between. After law school I clerked for two local judges, then practiced law independently and co-founded a nonprofit.
In 2016 I founded Citizens Take Action, a nonprofit organization that is focused on fundamental political reforms like getting big money out of politics. And I have written a constitutional amendment proposal to accomplish that goal called the Restore Democracy Amendment. We are currently working to build bipartisan support for the amendment in Congress.
Along the way I also taught LSAT classes–hence, the “Logical” in the title of this website. I used to spend four hours a day teaching aspiring law students how to spot logical fallacies, and how to tell the difference between truth, opinion, and falsehood. Very randomly, I have also been an event producer, putting on the world’s first major Vegan Oktoberfest event (which “The Onion” made fun of)!
Writing Background
I started writing opinion columns in college and got back into it after an extended hiatus within the past few years. I enjoy writing, in itself, as a way to clarify my own thoughts or to shape an argument. So I’d probably do it even if nobody was reading. But luckily I’ve been able to write for a number of outlets including Washington Montly (ongoing) and The Huffington Post, and some of my work (even pieces I just self-published) has gotten a lot of attention and interesting feedback, which motivates me to continue writing even more. Some of the most widely read pieces I’ve written include: The Intellectual Fraud of Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility”, The Electoral College Is Not What Its Defenders Say It Is, When #MeToo Got It Wrong: The Al Franken Controversy, One Year Later, and “Donald Trump is the President We Deserve”.
Why Read The Logical Liberal?
You can expect a few different types of articles from this site including political and cultural commentary, book reviews, life advice (so you can learn from my mistakes), and even other random topics now and then. And though there are other sites with similar content, there are a few specific things I think I can offer that are in relatively short supply.
1) Thoughtful, nuanced opinons–not extreme, superficial BS. I’m not about pandering to my fans, being extreme to get attention, or scoring points by antagonizing the opposing team. I’ll be critical or complimentary of both Democrats and Republicans. My goal is to tell the truth and make sense in an effort to further fairness, justice, and make people’s lives better. When you read my work, you know it was written with those goals in mind.
2) I am willing to speak the truth when others are afraid. If you look at some of my more popular pieces, like the Al Franken piece or my criticism of White Fragility, you may notice that I went against the prevailing winds. Once I did, countless people wrote or commented to thank me for saying what they thought, but were afraid to say themselves. And in both cases major publications subsequently pushed backed against the old narrative and embraced the perspective I put forth.
3) I may make mistakes on occasion, but if I publish something, you can trust that I’ve done my best to make sure it’s thorough, factually accurate, and logical. And sadly, that combination doesn’t grow on trees these days.
My Political Views
I am a registered Democrat. I volunteered for Barack Obama’s campaign in 2012. I supported Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Inslee in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary. When I call myself “Liberal” I mean it in the traditional sense of the word. I am open to new ideas and support a well-regulated (but not over-regulated) market economy. On issues of race and culture I believe in treating people as individuals based on the content of their character rather than on their race, gender, religious beliefs, etc. I think the American political system is in desperate need of major reforms including diminishing the influence of big money and breaking the two party stranglehold on national politics (exactly what the Framers feared). If you want to know what I think about a specific issue please send me a message using this site’s Contact Form.
Fun Facts
Though most of what I write about is “serious”, I joke around a lot in real life. I’ve published a comedy newspaper, written Weird Al style songs, recorded satirical radio shows, and the like.
Sports were a big part of my childhood. I played soccer, baseball, basketball, and volleyball growing up and I still play softball now.
Some of my favorite authors are Chuck Klosterman, John Steinbeck, and Bill James.
Favorite movies include The Shawshank Redemption, Quiz Show, Batman Begins, the Before Sunrise to Before Sunset trilogy, Bridesmaids, and The Matrix.
People seem to think I look like (or used to look like) some combination of Jim Carey, Jonathan Bennett, and Jim Parsons, though I’ve also gotten Bob Saget, Billy Crudup, Sean William Scott, and been told I have the same build as Clint Eastwood.
