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Liberty and Power

  • Dec 13, 2004

    We Broke It, Umm...France Bought It!

    by Liberty and Power

    Robert "Birthday Suit" Blackwill had a rather odd op-ed in the WaPo's Outlook section on Sunday that I think isn't getting nearly the attention in the blogosphere that it deserves.  In it, Blackwill -- in the throes of some painful transatlantic soul-searching -- asserts that:

    Their Cartesian upbring

  • Dec 13, 2004

    Blood Money: Invest Now!

    by Liberty and Power

    The Spectator reports on a new British, private mercenary, corporation to rival Halliburton.

    I wonder if Dick Cheney will like our coalition partners, the Brits, getting into the"gun for hire game." We keep saying that the Brits are the second largest force in Iraq, but the last time I checked"our" private armies, were up toward 30,000 with Halliburton & others training more each week.
    These have a
  • Dec 12, 2004

    Report on Thursday's Debate

    by Liberty and Power

    Thursday evening's debate at Georgetown University between Doug Bandow of CATO and Peter Lawler of Berry College sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) attracted an audience of thirty-seven and the ISI representative. If the Hoyas hadn't been playing Illinois and exams weren't imminent, it would probably have drawn more students. The debate itself consisted of timed presentations and replies by Bandow and Lawler. I thought Bandow did a first-class job of presenting libertari
  • Dec 12, 2004

    Bernie, Rudy ... and George

    by Liberty and Power

    The other day I chuckled over the"New Alert Levels" suggested (in a political cartoon) by the nomination of ex-NYC top cop Bernie Kerik to head Homeland Security. With a whole lotta stuff circulating that might have sunk the Kerik nomination, GOP strategists are now assessing the impact on the future political career of Rudy Giuliani (who lobbied hard for Kerik).

    One GOP strategist (Nelson Warfield)

  • Dec 10, 2004

    Peter Schwartz and the Abandonment of Rand’s Radical Legacy, Part II

    by Liberty and Power

    Foreign Aid and the United Nations

    In part one of this series, I introduced this discussion of Objectivist Peter Schwartz’s new book, The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America. I outlined briefly his core argument and suggested that it was marred by ahistorical and rationalistic elements.

    One example of what I’m driving at can be found in Schwartz’s discussion of foreign aid and the United Nations.

  • Dec 10, 2004

    Peter Schwartz and the Abandonment of Rand’s Radical Legacy, Part I

    by Liberty and Power

    Introduction

    For several years now, I’ve been engaged in a critique of the foreign policy writings of various Objectivists, who, I believe, have abandoned Ayn Rand’s radical insights on the nature of U.S. politics. For those who are not Ayn Rand fans or who don’t care one iota what Objectivists have to say on U.S. foreign policy, this week’s five-part series (which begins today) might not provide the requisite excitement. But for those readers who are classical liberals and liberta

  • Dec 10, 2004

    Peter Schwartz and the Abandonment of Rand’s Radical Legacy, Part III

    by Liberty and Power

    In part one and part two of this series, I outlined a few core points in Objectivist Peter Schwartz’s new book, The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America. After discussing inadequacies in Schwartz’s analysis of the U.N. and U.S. foreign aid policy, I now turn to his examination of the problem of Saudi Arabia.

    Saudi Arabia

    The ever-expanding “neofasc

  • Dec 10, 2004

    Smith on Flew

    by Liberty and Power

    I suppose that famous atheist and classical liberal Antony Flew's conversion to deism will be getting lots of comment. So I thought I would reproduce this material from George H. Smith's Atheism: The Case Against God, 1974, pp. 233-34:

    “Flew is quite right in insisting that the natural universe must constitute the starting point of our inquiry, and he is correct in pointing out that the burden of proof falls solely on
  • Dec 10, 2004

    Journalism Ethics

    by Liberty and Power

    This strikes me as deliberately dishonest: ABC’s web site offers the headline “Famous Atheist Now Believes in God” for a story about philosopher Antony Flew. But if you read the story, it’s clear and unambiguous that he doesn’t believe in the deity that the headline seems to refer to. (He seems to have a religion similar to that of our co-blogger Roderick Long.)
  • Dec 8, 2004

    I Blame Steel Tariffs

    by Liberty and Power

    I generally like Don Rumsfeld as a matter of style, although not policy.  I like the way he conducts himself in press conferences.  I remember one time when the invasion of Iraq had first started, and a correspondent asked him, "Where are you headed next?"  Rumsfeld proceeded to berate the reporter so viciously ("I cannot believe you asked me that question!  Do you honestly expect me to answer it?  To tell the enemy what we're goin