Lucy Steigerwald

During the most recent GOP debate, there appeared to be a contest between candidates over who could sound the most outraged by the Obama administration on foreign policy. These men are running against Hillary Clinton (and Barack Obama, at least in rhetoric) and to do so – and to pander to the most basic version … Continue reading “What Kind of Diplomacy Do Hawks Want?”

Former Texas Congressman Ron Paul was not the perfect antiwar candidate sent down from above, but you would be forgiven for thinking so if you compare the 2008 and 2012 presidential races to the 2016 one. Ron Paul was not without fault (early immigration fearmongering, the vote for the Afghanistan Authorization for Use of Military … Continue reading “GOP Debates Are Pure Hawk Without a Paul”

There are myriad perspectives on the events currently taking place in Harney County, Oregon. That is, the dozen armed men who made themselves at home in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are terrorists to some, fools to others, and fighters against tyranny to a few. They’ve gone to Oregon in honor of two men named … Continue reading “Terrorism, the Oregon Standoff, and Mandatory Minimums”

The War on Terror has been atrocious for civil liberties in America. Yet, as (my former boss) Matt Welch noted in the LA Times on Wednesday, for all of our declining freedom post-9/11, compared to France’s response to their recent terrorist tragedy “our document is far less pliable and far more subject to robust judicial … Continue reading “No, ISIS Isn’t Worth Sacrificing the First Amendment Over”

The most recent Republican debate for the 2016 election was unsurprisingly dominated by the shadow of terrorism and war. The Paris attacks that killed more than 130 people, plus the 14 deaths in San Bernardino, California seem to have brought about a new-old sentiment among Republicans. The year is now somewhere between 2001 and 2005 … Continue reading “Technology Is a Mysterious Enemy to Politicians”

On December 1, journalist Radley Balko published a short piece at his Washington Post blog headlined “The age of ‘pre-crime’ has arrived.” In the post, Balko describes how LA County may emulate other cities and begin sending letters home to men whose license plates have merely been scanned in areas where street-walking sex workers have … Continue reading “PATRIOT, Pre-Crime, and the War on Terror”

The strange contradiction about America’s staunchest defenders is that they so often seem perfectly willing to sacrifice the country’s best ideals in order to enhance their own safety. And they’re not really doing so particularly. Human beings ignore the banal ways they might leave this mortal coil – home accidents, car accidents, heart disease – … Continue reading “Paris, Fear, and Repetition”

The difference between Veterans Day and Armistice Day is more than a name. It’s the difference between thanking a veteran for their service and celebrating the end of a bloodbath. It’s the difference between the poetry of Jessie Pope and that of Wilfred Owen. One is a bumper sticker’s version of honor, and the other … Continue reading “Armistice Day or Veterans Day, Both Have Casualties”

The Internet’s infatuation with Wednesday’s story of the runaway blimp lasted about as long as the blimp did before being taken down in Pennsylvania. The (wretched) third Republican debate soon took over the news cycle, leaving the blimp a brief trending twitter hashtag. The blimp didn’t injure or kill anyone, though it did destroy power … Continue reading “Say, What’s Hovering Over American Cities?”

Drone (don’t call them) assassinations must feel good. They must feel effective. You don’t need to worry about Gitmo, or moving prisoners into the US after Gitmo becomes unpopular. You just kill the bad guys with your superior technology. It’s very Democrat. Very Clinton. Very 1990s to just skip merrily from war to war, without … Continue reading “Drones, Torture, and the Impatient State”