Politics

The Peaceful Transfer of Violent Power

by Sheldon Richman January 19, 2009

At the risk of raining on the parade, I suggest that the inaugural festivities are not what they appear. Barack Obama says the pomp and circumstance are not about him but are a celebration of democracy. “For the forty-third time, we will execute the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next,” ...

The Campaign-Reform Crime, Part 1

by James Bovard January 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 In 2002, Congress passed and George Bush signed the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). The McCain-Feingold Act was supposed to create an era of clean politics — uncorrupt, untainted, and far loftier than what Americans had experienced in prior decades. If the 2008 election proved anything, it revealed that politicians cannot be trusted ...

Bush Shows that Politics is Theater

by Sheldon Richman December 26, 2008

Politics is corrupt theater. Actors set the mood, and some members of the audience have their pockets picked. Exhibit A is President Bushs surprise trip to Baghdad on Thanksgiving. Whats important is not the secrecy or the collusion by anointed members of the news media. Its the use of ...

The Crusade Against Population

by George Leef December 1, 2008

Population Control: Real Costs, Illusory Benefits by Steven W. Mosher (Transaction Publishers, 2008); 300 pages. You have probably never heard of Dr. Reimert Ravenholt, but he was one of the most influential people of the 20th century. More than anyone else, Ravenholt was responsible for putting together the worldwide network ...

McCain’s Self-Righteous Fakery

by Sheldon Richman September 10, 2008

If John McCain keeps up that self-righteous fakery about wanting to be our servant, were in for two rather tedious months until election day. First of all, he also says he wants to be our leader. How can he be both our leader and our servant? We know whats really going on here. The servant shtick is phony humility intended ...

Well, That’s Politics

by Sheldon Richman August 29, 2008

So Barack Obama, the man who promises to reform Washington, has picked as his running mate someone who has been a fixture of the U.S. Senate nearly his entire adult life. Sen. Joseph Biden of course had no trouble accepting the honor. Insider, outsider hes whatever youre looking for. Well, thats politics. When Biden was running for president, he said of ...

How Can You Love a Country?

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 2008

Why do people get upset when Barack Obama refuses to wear an American-flag lapel pin or Michelle Obama suggests that she hadn’t been proud of her country until recently? The Right, led by its talk-radio spokesmen, makes the biggest fuss about these things, but other people appeared bothered as well, and it may account for ...

Slandering America

by Michael Tennant August 1, 2008

Much virtual ink has been spilled in the blogosphere over President Bushs assertion that criticism of the U.S. governments treatment of prisoners in the war on terrorism is tantamount to slander America an assertion he made in a lengthy June 15 interview with Adam Boulton of Britains Sky News. While condemnation of Bushs remark is certainly deserved, most of ...

Reaching Out to the Left, Part 2: The Issues

by Anthony Gregory August 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Communicating libertarian ideals to the Left can be a challenge, but it can also help bolster our own understanding of our principles. Often, libertarians try to appeal to the Left by emphasizing our areas of agreement, which are conventionally seen as mostly including personal liberties and war. But even when ...

On the Limits of Government, Part 2

by Scott McPherson August 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 In 1776 the Continental Congress submitted to a “candid World” the “self-evident” truths that “all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness....” Government, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed, is merely the means to a noble end. ...

Honesty among Thieves

by Michael Tennant July 30, 2008

The state of Minnesota is prosecuting a 19-year-old college student, Max P. Sanders, for the crime of having offered his vote in this years presidential election to the highest bidder on eBay. He is being charged with this heinous crime, which could land him in prison for as long as five years and cost him as much as $10,000, ...

On Winning and Losing Wars

by Sheldon Richman July 25, 2008

The campaign of presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has already gotten tedious. In a campaign appearance the other day, he said in his characteristically sanctimonious way, I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in ...