The Abandonment of the Rule of Law by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2008 Ahmed Khalfan Ghailana, a citizen of Tanzania, is learning first-hand what it’s like to be the victim of the U.S. government’s post-9/11 regime of the “rule of men,” as compared to the “rule of law.” Some people believe, incorrectly, that the term “rule of law” means that people are expected to obey the law. What it actually ...
Hornberger’s Blog, April 2008 by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2008 Wednesday, April 30, 2008 The Heroes at Guantanamo by Jacob G. Hornberger Just as Eastern European and Russian dissidents who opposed the Soviet Empire’s tyrannical system are today celebrated as heroes, so it will be with those Americans who have opposed the Pentagon’s system at Guantanamo Bay. Among the heroes will be Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who formerly served as the ...
Attacking Basra on the Way to Iran? by Jacob G. Hornberger March 31, 2008 As most everyone knows, since last week the Iraqi government, supported by U.S. troops and warplanes, has been engaged in fierce battles for control of Basra. The question, of course, is: Why now, and why is control over Basra so important? We can only hope that the answer does not lie in any plans that President ...
A Problem with Conservatives by Jacob G. Hornberger March 28, 2008 Two new articles in the mainstream press demonstrate a problem that afflicts conservatives. The two articles are “Tax Tyrannies” by Richard Rahn, which appears in today’s Washington Times, and “Stop Those Checks” by Bruce Bartlett, which appeared in the March 24 issue of the New York Times. Rahn makes some good points about taxation. He ...
The Deadly Sanctions on Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger March 27, 2008 The federal government has indicted an American man from Detroit, Muthanna al-Hanooti, for working on behalf of the Saddam Hussein government to help get the brutal sanctions. lifted that the U.S. government was enforcing against Iraq for more than a decade. While working for a Detroit-based charity whose mission was to fund humanitarian work in Iraq after the first ...
Free to Ask Permission to Conduct Business by Jacob G. Hornberger March 26, 2008 The Justice Department has consented to the proposed merger between satellite radio providers XM and Sirius. Well, isn’t that nice — government officials giving private businesses permission to combine their operations? I suppose that’s what government officials mean by the term “free enterprise” — the freedom to seek government permission to do what you want with ...
The Capacity of Ordinary Citizens to Do Evil by Jacob G. Hornberger March 25, 2008 In his Washington Post column today, “The Ultimate Casualty,” Richard Cohen makes a reference to a fascinating book entitled “Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland” by Christopher R. Browning, published in 1992. The book is about ordinary German citizens who loyally and obediently followed orders to murder people while serving as soldiers ...
Killing and Dying in Iraq for Nothing by Jacob G. Hornberger March 24, 2008 At the five-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. government has hit another milestone — 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead. And what have those soldiers died for? They died for the same thing that 58,000 soldiers died for in Vietnam — nothing. Well, okay, not exactly nothing: (1) They died to oust a dictator from office that U.S. officials ...
Immigration Enforcement and Sex by Jacob G. Hornberger March 21, 2008 U.S. officials often look down their noses at the corruption in the Mexican government, especially with respect to the war on drugs, where drug laws have long enriched the coffers of Mexican officials through bribery, extortion, and blackmail. U.S. officials behave as if somehow they are above such things. Not so. The beauty of economic regulations, ...
McCain’s Al-Qaeda Scare by Jacob G. Hornberger March 20, 2008 During his recent trip to Iraq, Republican presidential candidate John McCain proclaimed, “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” According to the New York Times, Senator Joseph Lieberman, who ...
Both Obama and Clinton Miss the Point on Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger March 19, 2008 Throughout the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Barack Obama has taken Hillary Clinton to task for her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq. Obama says that Clinton’s vote reflected poor judgment on her part. Clinton has claimed that when she voted in favor of the authorization, she never imagined that President Bush ...
The D.C. Gun Ban Doesn’t Work by Jacob G. Hornberger March 18, 2008 In yesterday’s Washington Post, there was an article about gun traffickers who are robbing gun stores in Virginia in order to sell the guns to people in Washington, D.C. The story is timely given that the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in a case involving the constitutionality of D.C.’s gun ban. According to ...
