Why Enemies of Liberty Love Lincoln (video) by Thomas J. DiLorenzo October 5, 2007 On June 2, 2007, Thomas J. DiLorenzo gave the following Speech at FFF's conference Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.
Are Presidents Entitled to Kill Foreigners? by James Bovard October 5, 2007 What is the common term for ordering soldiers to kill vast numbers of innocent people? A war crime. But not when it is done on the command of the U.S. president. Killing innocent foreigners seems to be a perk of the modern presidency — akin to the band’s playing “Hail to the Chief” when ...
Ahmadinejad by Sheldon Richman October 3, 2007 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is no one to admire, but when was the last time President Bush stood before a critical college audience and fielded tough questions? Bush appears only before handpicked friendly crowds. Even news conferences are barely adversarial because the media has the curious rule that ...
Randy Barnett’s Wrong-Headed Defense of the Iraq War by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2007 In an op-ed in the July 17, 2007, issue of the Wall Street Journal, Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett stated that President Bush’s war on Iraq could be defended on libertarian principles. He argued that the president’s attack on Iraq fell under the libertarian principle of self-defense. He also suggested that the reason that the occupation of Iraq has ...
A Bogus Libertarian Defense of War by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2007 Many conservatives dubiously insist that a robustly interventionist foreign policy can coexist with a free-market domestic policy. That’s why they have no compunction about supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while claiming to support limited and unintrusive government at home. On the face of it, these seem highly incompatible. War requires the accumulation and exercise of awesome powers. ...
Will a Drug Warrior Be Hanged? by James Bovard October 1, 2007 Thailand’s billionaire prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was deposed in a coup last year by the country’s military. Somchai Hom-la-or, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, recently declared that “Thaksin and his government committed crimes against humanity.” Thai lawyers and human-rights activists are suggesting that he be indicted and tried by the International ...
The Wrong Conversation About Iraq by Frank Nicosia October 1, 2007 Democrats and Republicans, pundits, retired military, the media, and other critics of the Iraq war are having the wrong conversation about how to leave Iraq. They and others, including most of the Democratic candidates for president, focus on the Bush administration’s lack of “success.” We should withdraw or “redeploy” our ...
I Suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Part 1 by James Glaser October 1, 2007 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 No veteran wants Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In fact most will fight it for years, and when things really get out of hand, they have to go through the embarrassment of asking the Veterans Administration for ...
What’s More American Than an American Flag Made in China? by Lois Kaneshiki October 1, 2007 In case you haven’t heard, many states are passing laws that make it illegal to sell American flags that were not made in the United States. I can hear the sound of labor unions cheering the deed as I write this. However, if America wishes to remain the great nation she is, she should celebrate American flags made in ...
Blackhawks over Bourbon Street by Glenn Jacobs October 1, 2007 Last summer it was announced that federal agents would soon join local authorities in policing New Orleans. In addition, National Guard troops will be staying in New Orleans until November, and Mayor Ray Nagin wants the Louisiana Air National Guard to conduct nightly patrols over the city. ...
Rational Irrationality and Bad Policies by George Leef October 1, 2007 The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies by Bryan Caplan (Princeton University Press, 2007); 276 pages; $29.95. For many years, the standard account of the tendency for democratic governments to adopt perverse policies (restrictions on free trade, for ...
Rights & Duties, Left & Right by Tibor R. Machan September 28, 2007 It is interesting that both the Right and the Left complain about the American (Lockean) political tradition because it emphasizes individual rights and not responsibilities or duties. The complaint is ill founded, however. First, a regime of individual rights does directly imply legal responsibilities or duties, albeit of a limited ...