Let us be clear- the attack on Iraq was an act of aggressive war, and those responsible should be indicted and tried for it per the Nuremberg standard. That they were American absolves them of nothing, it simply makes them our responsibility. We cannot very well hold our own govenment to a lower standard than we held the Nazis. (Read more ...)

We invaded Afghanistan for the stated reason that its government, such as it was, refused to extradite Osama bin Ladin without being shown some evidence of his guilt. It's worth noting ... (Read more ...)

The federal government has metastasized well beyond the limits established by the Constitution, plainly expanding to an extent the Constitution just as plainly has not, ... (Read more ...)

Who did I vote for in the last election? Good question. There's more evidence of the last hamburger I ate than the last vote I cast. Even McDonald's gives you a receipt. (Read more ...)

... a vibrant economy requires a knowledge based approach that leverages worker skills in a global environment, coupled with a sound fiscal policy responsive to monetary dynamics.. ( Read more ...)

OK, here's how it works: (Read more ...)

How did we manage to get through the Civil War, how did we defeat Germany and Japan, how did we prevail in the cold war without resort to torture? How can we now hem and haw about the Geneva Conventions, how can we tolerate Bush's "alternative interrogation" doublespeak on this? How can we even be having this debate? (Read more ...)

Where to begin on this? (Read more ...)

There is an emerging scientific consensus that the earth is warming due to human activity, but there remains significant uncertainty over what the future trend will be and what course of action is warranted. (Read more ...)

This is a big, complicated subject. (Read more ...)

America's "war on drugs" has led to the "Land of the Free" having the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. Higher than Russia, higher than China, higher than Saudi Arabia. Higher than every other country in the world. (Read more ...)

The Second Amendment is intended to guarantee the existence of an armed citizenry capable of defeating the forces of the federal government in battle. Period. (Read more ...)

Let me explain the system's priorities on this ... (Read more ...)

I think the UN is a good example of how the left/right polarization manages to miss the middle.(Read more ...)

You really think people who couldn't see a hurricane coming are going to stop a terrorist attack? Do you really think they've gotten that much better at it since 9/11? Dream on. (Read more ...)

The "War on Terror" has by every quantifiable measure been a "catastrophic success", to use another of Bush's Oh Wellian additions to the language. (Read more ...)

The facility at Guantanamo is a concentration camp, placed in a faraway no man's land altogether fitting to its dark reality. (Read more ...)

However indifferent Bush claims to be about bin Laden, I for one would like to get him. I shared some thoughts on how to do this with a few friends shortly after the 9/11 attacks: (Read more ...)

I like Ike. (Read more ...)

A single bomb that will destroy an entire city is an abomination certainly intolerable to a civilized world. In every nation on earth, including our own, a clear majority would like to see nuclear weapons abolished. Yet still they persist. Why? (Read more ...)

Back when I worked for the space program one of the things I did was figure out how to get object A to point B. Of course it was always a friendly object A going to a happy point B. But it didn't have to be. (Read more ...)

It might help put the Weapon of Mass Destruction debate into perspective to keep in mind that it's entirely possible to build a single nuclear weapon which will kill all human life on the surface of the Earth. The idea may sound a bit far fetched, but that doesn't affect the physics. (Read more ...)

If you think they've messed up in Iraq and Afghanistan, tighten your seat belt for Iran. (Read more ...)

We supposedly won the cold war by outspending the Soviet Union, in the process acquiring a governmental structure which has amassed the greatest debt in history. (Read more ...)

Two words: "means testing". (Read more ...)

Why is health insurance necessary to see a doctor? Do you need car insurance to buy tires or a tank of gas? Is house insurance necessary to fix a faucet or paint a room? When did insurance become synonymous with being able to afford medical care? When we put the lobbyists in charge. (Read more ...)

Everything in politics now happens on a partisan stage, with the enthusiastic co-operation or resigned acceptance of almost everyone involved.

This was not the original plan. (Read more ...)

Let's be serious- expecting politicians to reform campaign finance is like expecting the foxes to feed the hens dinner and tuck them into bed at night. (Read more ...)

I think somebody with a clear idea of what the federal government ought to be doing in this field should propose an amendment and we can go from there. Maybe leave off several days of mandatory testing every year, Congressionally mandated classroom subjects, and a massive bureaucracy. (Read more ...)

Abortion is a wedge issue, not a Constitutional one. The Constitution neither creates nor guarantees a right to abortion, any more than it grants the federal government authority to ban it. (Read more ...)

What do I think about the government taking someone's property because a well connected developer wants it? (Read more ...)

I don't know what one Congressman could do, but when I say go after the IRS, I don't mean maybe. (Read more ...)

Israel is essentially a late religious variation on European colonialism, a Jewish South Africa of sorts. It was established by force, is maintained by force, has expanded by force, and has of late been shrinking under the weight of opposing force. The principal dynamic is a violent struggle for land, period. (Read more ...)

We have by now spent over half a century, 54,000 lives, and upwards of a trillion dollars defending the more populous and industrialized southern half of Korea from its less populous and much less industrialized northern half. Was this the plan? (Read more ...)

What's up with Cuba? Why won't we recognize the government that's been running that island since before most of us were born? Exactly what is our problem with them? (Read more ...)

If you want to appreciate being American, go to Pakistan. This is not to speak ill of Pakistan or its people, as they no more deserve generalization than anyone else, but Americans who haven't seen someplace like Pakistan really can't understand what it's like. And they now have nuclear weapons. (Read more ...)

I know we're not supposed to like the French, but really I think they're OK. I like their language, which I've always been careful not to learn lest it lose something. Truth be told, we're all about the same, except that anybody who thinks France and the US are particularly different needs to get out more. (Read more ...)

America is certainly the greatest nation on Earth, and arguably the greatest nation that has ever been. I don't write this as an American or a Patriot(TM) or another red white and blue flag waving politician, I write it as a sometime student of history who's seen some share of the world and knows it to be true. (Read more ...)

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most insular, closed society on Earth. My trip there some years ago got as far as the gate of their embassy in Cairo. (Read more ...)

OK, I am after all a reality based candidate, and not only that but will openly discuss reality without hesitation or apology, and am thus some fair distance outside the political and media mainstream. So let's just get this out of the way. (Read more ...)

Whatever happened to ... (Read more ...)

"Obvious" is a tricky word to use in politics ... (Read more ...)

I think the government could perhaps do more if it was formally constrained, for instance in the manner specified by the Constitution. (Read more ...)

These are issues substantially fabricated to push people's buttons. (Read more ...)