The Fascinating Interventionist Mindset by Jacob G. Hornberger August 28, 2013 I sometimes wonder why interventionists don’t donate their brains to science, after they die of course. It would be interesting to know whether they are born with interventionist mindsets or whether their mindsets are the result of the many years of indoctrination they received in the public (i.e., government) schools their parents were forced to send them to. The situation in Egypt provides a perfect example of why the interventionist mindset is so fascinating and worth studying. One faction within the interventionist movement fervently argues that Mohamed Morsi, the democratically elected president, was an authoritarian who was making a big mess out of the economy, sort of like President Franklin Roosevelt was doing to the American economy with his New Deal, I suppose. This group of interventionists justifies the coup that ousted Morsi by saying that it was necessary to protect “national security” and to save the country. It’s necessary to “stand with Egypt,” these interventionists say, by continuing to fortify ...
More Judicial Deference on National-Security State Murder by Jacob G. Hornberger August 5, 2013 Continuing the long tradition of deference to the national-security state by the U.S. federal judiciary, a federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit by the sons of a man named Frank Olson seeking damages for the CIA’s murder of their father. The excuses that the judge used to dismiss the case were the statute of limitations and a previous settlement that had been entered into regarding the case. The sordid details of the Olson case have been set forth in a book entitled A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Cold War Experiments by H.P. Albarelli. A good review of the book, written by a filmmaker named Melissa Roddy, is posted on the website of the Huffington Post. For another discussion of Albarelli’s book, see my article “The Evil of the National Security State, Part 5.” Olson was a scientist working for the national-security state during the Cold War. He participated in the infamous ...
Send the CIA Kidnapper Back to Italy to Face Justice by Jacob G. Hornberger July 19, 2013 An opportunity for the anti-Snowden crowd to show their consistency to principle has arisen. A convicted American kidnapper has been apprehended in Panama as a result of an international arrest warrant. The man was convicted in Italy in 2009 and sentenced to serve 9 years in jail. However, he went on the lam and has never returned to Italy to face justice. While Italy and Panama do not have an extradition treaty, Panama could nonetheless voluntarily send this convict back to Italy to serve his time, much as the anti-Snowden crowd is requesting Russia to send Edward Snowden back to the United States. Will the anti-Snowden crowd demand that Panama extradite this convicted kidnapper to Italy, as they have been doing with Russia and Edward Snowden? Don’t count it. Statists have never been known for their consistency to principle. Their “principles” are usually just a bunch of ad-hoc choices that revolve around the dictum, “My U.S. national-security state, never wrong.” You ...
No Military Coups for America? What About November 1963? by Jacob G. Hornberger July 9, 2013 An interesting aspect of the military coup in Egypt has been the attitude of American mainstream commentators who suggest that unlike Egypt and other countries, the chances of a military coup in the United States are virtually nil. See, for example, “America the Coupless” by Rosa Brooks and “Could a Military Coup Happen in America?” by Paul ...
National-Security State Toadies are Guilty of Hypocrisy on Snowden by Jacob G. Hornberger June 21, 2013 One of the most amusing aspects of the NSA scandal has been watching national-security state toadies berate Edward Snowden, the man who blew the whistle on the NSA’s longtime secret surveillance system, for being a “coward.” Their rationale? They say that Snowden should have stayed here in the United States instead of fleeing to Hong Kong. They say that if he ...
My Talk at UNC by Jacob G. Hornberger March 22, 2013 On Thursday evening, I had the honor of addressing the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) and the Students for Liberty (SDS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The two groups were working together to oppose the U.S. government’s assassination program as well as foreign interventionism and empire in general. During the day, the students promoted the event ...
Why Isn’t the Murder of an American Boy an Impeachable Offense? by Jacob G. Hornberger February 20, 2013 Article 2, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice for matters arising out of ...
The Omnipotent Power to Assassinate Any of Us by Jacob G. Hornberger February 12, 2013 Suppose an American citizen who is openly critical of governmental policy decides to take a trip overseas, say to Yemen. Suppose that President Obama orders the military and the CIA to assassinate him while he is traveling within Yemen. Suppose the order is carried out and that that American is, in fact, assassinated. Most Americans would consider such an assassination ...
What Were the Standards for Executing Charles Horman? by Jacob G. Hornberger February 8, 2013 While Americans are seeking to determine the standards, if any, for President Obama’s assassination of American citizens, would it be too much to ask about the standards that were applied in the U.S. national-security state’s execution of American citizen Charles Horman? After all, in principle is a state-sponsored extra-judicial execution any different from a state-sponsored assassination? Why shouldn’t Americans ...
Private: The Evil of the National-Security State, Part 11 by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 2013 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 On September 11, 1973, the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, was ...
Crises: A Gun-Grabber’s Best Friend by Jacob G. Hornberger January 17, 2013 After President Obama’s election in 2008, gun buyers went on a buying spree. Prices of assault rifles, ammunition, and high-magazine clips soared. The buying continued unabated for the four years of Obama’s first term. Throughout that time, gun-control advocates ridiculed the gun buyers. They called them overreacting paranoids, pointing out that Obama was doing nothing to initiate gun-control measures and ...
The CIA’s Murder of Frank Olson Goes to Court by Jacob G. Hornberger November 28, 2012 Yesterday, the New York Times carried a fascinating article entitled "Suit Planned Over Death of Man C.I.A. Drugged." According to the article, the children of a former federal official named Frank Olson are suing the CIA for murdering their father in 1953 as part of the agency’s ...
