Daily Articles

Hands Off Pakistan

by Sheldon Richman January 4, 2008

“The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was not an attack on this brave woman alone; it was an attack upon democracy, freedom and the United States.” This statement by Asa Hutchinson, former undersecretary of homeland security, was typical of the reaction of the American political and media establishments. The claim that the ...

The Enemy-Combatant Attack on Freedom, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Since an attack on Iran could result in heightened “war-on-terrorism” emergencies here in the United States, this would be a good time to review the issue of “enemy combatants,” especially as the concept applies to American citizens. To analyze the critical importance of the “enemy-combatant” doctrine, we will examine the cases of two people ...

Woodstock May Have Saved Senator McCain’s Life

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2008

Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain scored a standing ovation at one of the presidential debates when he attacked Sen. Hillary Clinton for proposing — unsuccessfully — to spend a million taxpayer dollars on a museum commemorating the 1969 Woodstock festival. In an obviously well-planned moment, McCain told the audience, Now, my friends, I wasn’t there. I’m sure ...

The Martial Law Act of 2006

by James Bovard January 1, 2008

Martial law is perhaps the ultimate stomping of freedom. And yet, on September 30, 2006, Congress passed a provision in a 591-page bill that will make it easy for President Bush to impose martial law in response to a terrorist “incident.” It also empowers him to effectively declare martial law in response to what he ...

I Suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Part 4

by James Glaser January 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 So far I have gone from thinking about needing help with post-traumatic stress, to going to the Minneapolis VA and getting a year of one-on-one sessions with a shrink, and on to an intensive eight-week in-hospital ...

World-Saving: A Disastrous Policy

by Gregory Bresiger January 1, 2008

We must act in time — ahead of time — to stamp the smoldering beginnings of any conflict that may threaten to spread. — George W. Bush As a public policy, world-saving ...

A Short Numismatic History of the United States

by Edward B. Elmer M.D. January 1, 2008

Governments are inveterate despoilers of the freedom, wealth, and lives of their citizens. As consolation, the citizens usually receive little more than lofty words and pretentious sentiments from the political leaders in charge of the looting, murder, and enslavement. Less commonly, governments produce something concrete, such as a marble palace for the ruler or an ...

Crushed by the Fed

by Glenn Jacobs January 1, 2008

During a roundtable debate on a major cable-news outlet about how the Federal Reserve should handle the current credit crunch, one of the economic “experts” made a startling statement. He said, “The Fed has two jobs: to control inflation and to run the economy.” That such a statement is considered conventional wisdom is a stark ...

The Military Draft: A Moral Abomination

by Michael Boldin January 1, 2008

An article in Newsweek, “Why We Need a Draft: A Marine’s Lament,” stirred up a bit of a hornets’ nest online recently. It was written by a Marine who fought in Fallujah, Iraq, and gave a fairly compelling overview of the practical need for the draft. I’m sure the Marine felt he was right. Forcing you or other people next ...

The Nightmare of the New Deal, Part 2

by George Leef January 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes (HarperCollins, 2007); 464 pages. Who were the good guys? They were people who fought against the collectivization favored by Roosevelt and his “brain trust.” Shlaes devotes a full chapter ...

Are Conservatives (Undocumented) Aliens?

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 19, 2007

Conservatives are strange and fascinating creatures. Their minds operate in a strange, Bizarro-like universe in which delusion and deception seem to be considered normal. Consider, for example, the most recent Republican presidential debate. Let’s leave Ron Paul out of the picture for the time being. The rest of the candidates were standing there and periodically proclaiming how committed ...

Torturing the Language of Torture

by Sheldon Richman December 17, 2007

Is waterboarding, known during the Spanish Inquisition as tortura del agua, really torture or not? The question seems to answer itself, but the Bush administration says No. Its critics disagree, noting that the “interrogation technique,” which makes a subject physically and mentally react as though he is drowning, has long been regarded as torture by ...