Daily Articles

“Pragmatism over Ideology”: Obama’s Failure to Close Guantánamo, and His Love of Drones

by Andy Worthington June 8, 2012

On May 29, a major article in the New York Times painted a grim portrait of how Barack Obama has taken over from George W. Bush as the “commander in chief” of a “war on terror” that seems to have no end, and that not only appears to be counterproductive but also, at heart, illegal. Understandably, critics have ...

Do Republicans Oppose the Redistribution of Wealth?

by Laurence M. Vance June 5, 2012

The Law of the Sea Treaty, formally known as the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (and informally known as LOST), was adopted in 1982 to establish a comprehensive set of rules governing the oceans and replace two previous UN conventions on the Law of the Sea. It came into force in November 1994, a ...

Obama Steps into It on the Family Farm

by Wendy McElroy June 4, 2012

The upcoming presidential election may well have saved the American family farm — at least, temporarily. The votes in several agricultural swing states are up for grabs, and so the Obama administration has declared a strategic cease-fire in its assault upon small agriculture. A family farm is commonly defined as “a farm owned and operated by a family, ...

U.S. Should Steer Clear of Syria

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2012

We should be grateful that the Obama administration seems disinclined to intervene militarily in Syria. But let’s note that the administration has not kept hands off. In a variety of ways, it is already aiding the rebels. Moreover, White House spokesman Jay Carney says that all options — even military intervention — are on the table. Americans should ...

The Myths of NATO

by Tim Kelly May 30, 2012

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was cast into the national spotlight last week when the 63-year-old alliance held its 25th summit in Chicago. While the thousands of anti-NATO protesters and the government’s heavy-handed security measures attracted most of the media’s attention, important questions regarding the Cold War–era organization went largely ignored. According to Cold War orthodoxy, the United States ...

Ban the Public Library

by Laurence M. Vance May 30, 2012

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to read all the books on the New York Times bestseller list. But even those who have both may not be able to — if they’re trying to find their favorite title at their local public library. Fifty Shades of Grey, the first installment of an erotic, sado-masochistic trilogy by British author ...

Imperialists in the Refrigerator

by Wendy McElroy May 29, 2012

Various American regulatory agencies have criminalized the sale and the distribution of raw milk, allegedly as a means of protecting the welfare of consumers. The government claims unpasteurized milk is dangerous because it has not been treated to eliminate pathogens such as E. coli. Raw-milk enthusiasts counter by pointing to its health benefits and the fact that it ...

U.S. Judge Rules against Military Detention of U.S. Terror Suspects — But What About the Foreigners in Guantánamo?

by Andy Worthington May 25, 2012

Last week in New York, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest took a stand against a contentious provision inserted into the current National Defense Authorization Act (PDF). She ruled (PDF) that it was unconstitutional for lawmakers to demand that, in future, those accused of involvement with terrorism — including U.S. citizens and residents — be subjected ...

Romney and Bain Capital

by Sheldon Richman May 25, 2012

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is essentially playing one card in his quest for Barack Obama’s job: his business experience taught him how economies work. But Romney’s own pitch raises doubts about this. The Obama campaign charges Romney with destroying jobs when he ran Bain Capital, undercutting Romney’s claim he was a job creator. Obama argues that Bain created only ...

No More Entangling Alliances

by Laurence M. Vance May 22, 2012

Would the United States go to war over marine life illegally harvested in the South China Sea? The very thought of such a thing sounds ludicrous. But under the U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines, it is a possibility. For the past month, China and the Philippines have traded threats over a disputed area in the South China Sea ...

The Police State Is Here

by Tim Kelly May 21, 2012

“There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom.” Those are the words of Garet Garrett, the 20th-century journalist and writer, who lamented ...

The Obama Administration “Brainwashes” the Public on Afghanistan

by Sheldon Richman May 20, 2012

In 1967 Gov. George W. Romney of Michigan, a potential contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination, abandoned his earlier support for the war in Vietnam, which he had previously called “morally right and necessary.” Asked why he had changed his position, Romney said, “When I came back from Vietnam , I’d just had the greatest brainwashing ...