Liberty and Power

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  "THINGS NEVER WORK OUT QUITE AS YOU HOPE"

  by Gene Healy

  I'm informed by James Markels that in the foreward to The Essential Neo-Conservative Reader, James Q. Wilson defines the neoconservative persuasion as follows:

  "Neoconservatism is an ... attitude that holds social reality to be complex and change difficult. If there is any article of faith common to almost every adherent, it is the Law of Unintended Consequences. Things never work out quite as you hope; in particular, go

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  LUTHER AS "RANDIAN HERO," PART II

  by David T. Beito

  Allen Brill at The Right Christians “nearly gagged” when he saw my comparison of Luther (at least as depicted in the movie) to a Randian hero. He proceeds to give many examples of how Luther and Rand differed on range of issues including the role of greed, etc.

  My comparison was a limited one and not intended to be revisionist history. I was arguing th

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  CORRECTION

  by Sheldon Richman

  The reporting about the just-upheld campaign-finance law has been confusing, probably because the law itself is so confusing. At any rate, yesterday I stated, apparently erroneously, that issue ads which implicitly target candidates were banned in the 60 days before an election and 30 days before a primary. It seems that the law only heavily restricts such advertising by imposing rules on how the money for it can be raised and s

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  JUS IN BELLO

  by Roderick T. Long

  [Cross-posted at In a Blog's Stead]
  
  I have a problem with both sides in the debate over Lt. Col. Allen West.
  
  West's defenders say his actions were justified because they resulted in information that helped to avert an attack on his unit. Let's think what that means. If such a defense is correct, then why should it apply solely in this particular case? Wouldn't it follow that torturing prisoners of war is j

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  PROCESS AND PROCEEDURES: HOW BUREAUCRACY DEFEATS DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY

  by Charles W. Nuckolls

  The decline of liberal democracy in this county was accompanied by the rise of bureaucracy at the beginning of the 20th century. Initially, this was seen by the early"progressives" as a way to insure fairness in the application of rules. Experts, not politicians, would make the decisions, removing decision-making from the play of politics.

  It didn't work. Instead, politicians used the newly created regulatory bureaucracy to escape scrutiny or criticism. After all, they said, it's a mat

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  "LUTHER"

  by David T. Beito

  I just saw the film “Luther.” My background, if nothing else, compelled me. I was raised by devout Minnesotan Lutherans who tried to live up to the best standards of that faith. Also, my grandfather and great grandfather (both Norwegian born) served as Lutheran pastors in Texas and Minnesota. Some people in my family hoped that I would follow in their footsteps.

  The film was really quite good. Of cour

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  WHAT PRIVATE FINANCING OF HIGHER EDUCATION BUYS

  by King Banaian

  I wrote recently on SCSU Scholars about a graph I saw in a recent copy of Investors Business Daily. It was of spending per capita on higher education in the OECD countries. Unlike primary and secondary education, where we’re quite ordinary, the U.S. spends 2.7% of its GDP on higher education, a full percent mo

  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  CONGRESSIONAL COWARDICE

  by Gene Healy

  David Broder had an interesting column in Sunday's Washington Post (did I really just type that?). In it, he explores who should get the blame for the post-9/11 growth of the Imperial Presidency. Through much of the 20th century, from Truman's"police action" in Korea, through Bill Clinton's"bimbo bombings," executive aggrandizement was the main cause. Presidential power in foreign policy grew as a result o
  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  THE MIDDLE EASTERN THIRD WAY AND THE NEO-CONS

  by David T. Beito

  Iran’s Shirin Ebadi, the winner of the Nobel prize, shows again that there are many in the Middle East who do not fit into the simplistic"if you’re not with us, you’re against us” view of the world propagated by the neo-conservative Wilsonians in the Bush administration. She continues to stand up, often at considerable risk, for democracy in Iran but, at the same time, just as consistently co
  

• Dec 27, 2003 1:43 am
  

  MONEY AND POLITICS

  by Sheldon Richman

  The Supreme Court has upheld the fascistic campaign-finance law, which limits how much money people can give to political parties (who’d want to do that?) and, even more egregiously, bans political “issue ads” by private groups in the last 60 days of campaigns. The 5-4 majority said the appearance of government corruption justifies these restrictions. In other words, the distributive state require