Is personal freedom a reality or a myth? Does the government execute the will of the governed or the will of those who finance its officials? Does the Bill of Rights restrain the government? Are the levers of government power pulled by those the governed have elected...
War and Morality
War is the most horrific series of events upon which any government can engage. It is systematic, industrialized, indiscriminate killing. It kills innocent adults and little girls. It often ruins the post-war lives of the killers. It is young men violently fighting...
Free Speech for Me But Not For Thee
Last week, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to rescind the broadcast licenses of media entities that do not relate events in Iran or Ukraine as the Trump administration would like them to be related. He also attacked The Wall Street...
Silent Attacks on Personal Freedom
During the first Trump administration, the FBI quietly spent $5 million on Pegasus, an Israeli-developed software product known generically as zero click. Zero click permits the user to download the contents of another mobile or desktop device without tricking the...
Donald Trump’s Unjust and Unconstitutional War
Over the past weekend, some apologists for President Donald Trump's recently ordered attacks on Iran argued that because Trump's plans call for a quick strike, the attacks do not constitute a war. George Orwell is vindicated yet again. These apologists believe that...
The Price of Perfect Nihilism
When President Donald Trump first announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to attack fishing boats and speedboats on the high seas which he said carried dangerous drugs destined for willing buyers in the United States, many of us who monitor the government for its...
The American Police State Has Arrived
In recent days, the government in America has not only failed to protect the freedom of speech, it has attacked it. Like authoritarians throughout history, it has sought to silence the speech it hates and fears. But most authoritarians did not have a Constitution that...
An Assault on the Republic
In a scene in Robert Bolt's famous play "A Man for All Seasons," about the treason trial of St. Thomas More, More argues with the attorney general of Wales about the law. The attorney general says he'd cut down all the laws in England to get to the Devil. More reminds...
A Lawless Presidency
The United States invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro, the domestically recognized Venezuelan president, violated the U.S. Constitution and international law. The Constitution makes clear that only Congress can authorize a foreign invasion. In the...
Tucker Carlson and the Freedom of Speech
Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer, the leader of the Democrats in the United States Senate, introduced a resolution on behalf of himself and 40 other Senate Democrats that, if passed, would record the sense of the Senate as condemning the media superstar Tucker Carlson...


