Explore Freedom

Close the Bases and Cut the Spending

by Sheldon Richman May 30, 2005

The frantic reaction to the Pentagons plans to close 33 major military facilities demonstrates how heavily government dominates modern life. Most of the reaction had nothing to do with national security. After all, it is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld floating the proposal. Who is going to believe that he and his boss, President Bush, are weak on the military? ... [click for more]

Democracy, But Not Necessarily Freedom

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2005

Democracy is breaking out all over. Or thats the impression we get from the daily news. Maybe its true. Elections have been held in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories. Theres talk (just talk) of a real presidential election in autocratic Egypt. Whos next? One need not sanction the imperial Bush Doctrine to take inspiration from two salient ... [click for more]

Pentagon Conduits

by Sheldon Richman April 25, 2005

As we now know, thanks to the New York Times, the military-industrial complex is well represented in the daily television news coverage of the Iraq and Afghan occupations. Those former generals who seemed generously to have come out of retirement to provide disinterested analysis of the Bush administration’s military ... [click for more]

Book Review: Christianity and War

by Anthony Gregory April 1, 2005

Christianity and War; And Other Essays against the Warfare State by Laurence M. Vance (Pensacola, Fla.: Vance Publications, 2005); 118 pages. When asked to name his favorite political philosopher in late 1999 during a debate with other Republicans in the campaign for the presidential nomination, George W. Bush named Jesus Christ. Bush’s ... [click for more]

Democracy May Be Breaking Out, But Is Freedom?

by Sheldon Richman March 14, 2005

Virtually everyone from President Bush to the New York Times sees democracy on a roll. Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinians, and Saudi Arabia (men, not women) have had elections. Egypt could be next. Is something really happening in that part of the world? Perhaps. The real question is, what is happening? People are ... [click for more]

Murder or Ouster for Chavez?

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 7, 2005

According to CNN, unnamed U.S. officials have branded the charge of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, that the U.S. government plans to oust him from office through assassination as “ridiculous.” Ridiculous? Maybe those particular unnamed U.S. officials aren’t familiar with a government organization known as the Central Intelligence ... [click for more]

An Anti-Democracy Foreign Policy: Guatemala

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 11, 2005

Unfortunately, the CIA “success” in Iran, which produced the CIA’s ouster of Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, bred a CIA “success” in another part of the world, Latin America. One year after the 1953 coup in Iran, the CIA did it again, this time in Guatemala, where U.S. officials feared the communist threat even more than they ... [click for more]

A More Powerful President Is the Last Thing We Need

by Anthony Gregory February 9, 2005

Vice President Richard Cheney recently credited George W. Bush with restoring the presidency to its proper station of authority and power. According to Cheney, the American presidency declined in its prestige and status in recent years, especially during the Nixon, Ford, ... [click for more]

An Anti-Democracy Foreign Policy: Iran

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 31, 2005

When Iranians took U.S. officials hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, Americans were mystified and angry, not being able to comprehend how Iranians could be so hateful toward U.S. officials, especially since the U.S. government had been so supportive of the shah of Iran for some ... [click for more]

A Whopper of an Inaugural Address

by Sheldon Richman January 31, 2005

2005 We have come to understand that when the typical politician speaks, he ought not to be believed. Nevertheless, in his inaugural address last week President Bush achieved depths of incredibility deserving of a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Leave aside that his speech was preceded by his ... [click for more]

Tsunami Aid: Not Theirs to Give

by Sheldon Richman January 7, 2005

The devastating earthquake-induced tidal waves in Asia are the latest reminders that Mother Nature can be a mass killer. It’s worth contemplating that the societies that interfere most with nature — the rich, market-oriented industrial societies — are the least vulnerable to her ravages. That’s not what the environmentalists ... [click for more]

“Our” Collective Goodness in the Tsunami Disaster

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 29, 2004

Stung by the suggestion that “we” (please note the quotation marks) are stingy because “we” (quotation marks again) were sending only $15 million to the tsunami victims, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell immediately upped the ante with another $20 million in U.S. government assistance. Powell also made it clear that ... [click for more]