Explore Freedom

Real Change on Cuba

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 2009

A good place for Barack Obama to begin his program of change would be U.S. policy on Cuba. The change would move America toward three important principles on which our country was founded: economic liberty, civil liberty, and a limited-government republic. Economic liberty First, the Obama administration should lift the U.S. government’s 40-year-old embargo against Cuba. Not only has the embargo ... [click for more]

The Wizards of Washington

by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2009

Remember that telling scene in The Wizard of Oz when Toto reveals the “great and powerful wizard” as nothing but a homunculus operating an imposing thunder-and-lightning machine? “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” he bellows, not knowing enough to quit even when he’s exposed. The government’s response to the current economic turmoil reminds me of that scene. ... [click for more]

The Campaign-Reform Crime, Part 2

by James Bovard February 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 We saw in the last issue how the McCain-Feingold Act — the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) — sought to fundamentally change the American political landscape. Politicians did not allow the Act’s power to lie idle in the first presidential election after its enactment. The BCRA’s issue-ad ban — the peril that Justice ... [click for more]

Regime Change: Promise and Peril, Part 3

by Stephen Kinzer February 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 This article is a transcript of Stephen Kinzer’s speech given on June 6, 2008, at The Future of Freedom Foundation’s conference “Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties.” I talked about unintended consequences. In the period immediately following the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh (see Freedom Daily, ... [click for more]

The Financial Crisis: 9/11 Redux

by Michael Tennant February 1, 2009

Perhaps the one bit of shiny interior in the black cloud of the financial crisis is that most mainstream conservatives, heretofore bootlicking worshippers of George W. Bush and the Republican Party, have come to realize that there’s literally not a dime’s worth of difference between the two parties when it comes to their willingness to bail out their Wall ... [click for more]

The Second Amendment: More Important than Ever

by Scott McPherson February 1, 2009

The day after the November 4 election, Gun Owners of America (GOA), based in Springfield, Virginia, sent an email alert to supporters. With the subject heading “Gun Rights in Peril,” the message began, “Based on his voting record in the Illinois state senate and the U.S. Senate, President-elect Obama will be the most anti-Second Amendment president in the history ... [click for more]

Was the “Good War” Unnecessary? Part 1

by Anthony Gregory February 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World by Patrick J. Buchanan (New York: Crown Publishers, 2008); 518 pages. Of all the wars the United States has ... [click for more]

Hope for Economic Wisdom

by Sheldon Richman January 30, 2009

Should people who disagree with Barack Obama hope he succeeds in his presidency? Conservatives are caught in this question because their leading radio star, Rush Limbaugh, said he hopes Obama fails. Radio stars need regular public controversy to keep their listeners tuned in, so there’s no point in analyzing what ... [click for more]

U.S. Detentions in the War on Terror: What Was Old Is New Again (video)

by Joseph Margulies January 30, 2009

On June 8, 2008, Joseph Margulies gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety. [click for more]

Refuting Cheney’s Lies: The Stories of Six Prisoners Released from Guantánamo

by Andy Worthington January 26, 2009

In the Bush administration’s “war on terror,” the gulf between rhetoric and reality was always pronounced, and never more so than when Vice President Dick Cheney spoke out. Cheney’s lies and distortions were on open display in the last month before his departure from the White House, as he sought to leave his legacy of fear burnished on ... [click for more]

From Checks and Balances to Executive Despotism (video)

by Bruce Fein January 23, 2009

On June 8, 2008, Bruce Fein gave the following Speech at FFF’s conference Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety. [click for more]

Bush Era Ends with Guantánamo Trial Chief’s Torture Confession

by Andy Worthington January 20, 2009

Forget the president’s lame, reality-defying farewell speech and Dick Cheney’s last-ditch attempts to claim that the administration in which he served as vice president has never engaged in torture. The Bush era came to an end last Wednesday when, in one short interview, Susan J. Crawford, the senior Pentagon official overseeing the military commissions at Guantánamo — ... [click for more]