Tyranny and the Military Commissions Act by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 2007 In Star Wars, Episode 3, in response to the Senate’s grant of sweeping powers to Chancellor Palpatine, Padme declares, “So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause.” The same may be said about the Military Commissions Act (MCA) that was recently enacted by Congress — that this is how freedom ends, with or without the applause. Despite the fact that the ...
End the Other War, Too by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2007 The war in Iraq goes on, but we shouldn’t let it overshadow the war at home — one that frequently takes the lives of people who don’t deserve to die. It’s known as the war on drugs, but it’s really a war on people who themselves are not making war against anyone. Too often individuals ...
The Second Anniversary of Bush’s Worst Bosh by James Bovard February 1, 2007 Two years ago last month, Bush gave his second inaugural address. As I watched the speech on television, I and perhaps millions of other Americans struggled to answer the obvious question about the speech: Is it puerile or is it merely tripe? Bush was hailed throughout the greater Washington metropolitan area for ...
Executive Orders and the Decline of Law, Part 2 by William L. Anderson February 1, 2007 Part 1 | Part 2 The longest-lasting legacy of Lincoln is not the War Between the States or even the violent way in which slavery ended in the United States. Lincoln was able to use brute force to “settle” the various arguments regarding the centralization of political power in this country. As the late Shelby Foote said during an ...
Taxicab Absurdity by Scott McPherson February 1, 2007 When one hears words such as “crackdown” and “sting” and “bust” the image that comes to mind is that of daring police officers engaged in some colossal operation that nets really bad people doing really bad things. At least, that’s the image that ought to come to mind. In the charming little city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, there are taxicab companies ...
We Are Your Bad Conscience by Lawrence M. Ludlow February 1, 2007 The members of the White Rose still speak to us today, and during a recent trip to Munich, I was able to explore the place where this heroic group of German dissidents crafted their powerful message. Some readers already may be familiar with the White Rose as a result of articles posted at The Future of Freedom Foundation or ...
Why Did They Torture Jose Padilla? by John Grant February 1, 2007 There’s a rancid odor escaping from the cracks in the Jose Padilla case. Padilla is the American citizen arrested in Chicago and declared by President Bush to be an “enemy combatant.” He was then kept for nearly two years in a South Carolina brig without access to a lawyer, family, or friends. The courts finally forced the Bush administration to ...
Ripping Off the Taxpayers by Thomas E. Woods Jr. February 1, 2007 The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money by Timothy P. Carney (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2006); 285 pages; $24.95. Frédéric Bastiat called it legal plunder when the state expropriated one set of property owners for the benefit of another. Whether it loots the workers to benefit the farmers, the farmers to benefit the workers, ...
A Clarion Call for Health Independence by Wendy McElroy January 31, 2007 Lorenzo’s Oil (1992) is one of the best movies you’ve never seen. This incredible drama hit the big screen for two seconds before skidding into rental stores, where it failed to find the wider audience it deserves. Lorenzo’s Oil is a compelling reality-based story of parental devotion and the triumph of truth ...
Conference 2007 Speaker Spotlight: Lew Rockwell and Bob Higgs by Jacob G. Hornberger January 26, 2007 Two weeks ago, I profiled the first two speakers James Bovard and Ralph Raico at our upcoming June 1-4 conference: Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia. Jim and Ralph will be followed by two of the most principled and courageous people in the libertarian movement: Lew Rockwell and Bob ...
No Need for Energy Subsidies by Sheldon Richman January 26, 2007 For a guy who claims to believe in limited government, President Bush is awfully good at dangling subsidies and threatening coercion when he wants to encourage or discourage something. That’s the lesson to take from his State of the Union Address. Look at what he said about energy: “For too ...
Bush’s Doublethink by Sheldon Richman January 19, 2007 The most peculiar passage in President Bushs much-dissected surge speech was this: I have made it clear to the prime minister and Iraqs other leaders that Americas commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people. What could the president have meant by ...