The book collects almost 35 opinion pieces, essays, and two poems written by the author on a wide variety of public policy topics written and published between 2006 and 2022.

The author, a self-described 'militant moderate', draws on his participation in many public debates. The articles are grouped into six parts, topical groupings that range widely: the growing need for moderate voices in policy debates, the nature of American exceptionalism, the challenge of civic discourse, the depredations of the Trump years, and policies concerning immigration, citizenship, and refugees.