We'll be back with a few changes.

See you soon.

Roger Clemens, Steroids, and Perjury. Good Reality TV, Terrible Politics

Government again takes time to tackle the imminent issue of...steroids use in Major League baseball?  The video below dates to 2008 where Congress first decided to take on the steroids issue; this week the perjury matter will consume time and taxes in the federal court system. 

This foray into the goings on of professional sports is a classic example of government involving itself in matters that have nothing to do with the matters of government.  Politicians get their time pontificating before cameras while the debt, deficit spending, foreign military entanglements, declining freedom at home, that will all have to wait for televised committee meetings.

Vote-catching demagogues in Congress play to the social demands and tolerances of their constituents.  The less people tune in to this kind of nonsense and the more they demand Congress do the things it is actually authorized to do in the Constitution, the better.

Having just celebrated the Fourth of July, perhaps a line from the Declaration would put this debacle into sharper perspective:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. (Emphasis added.)

Changes in the Middle East

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain.  The people of the Middle East are restless and demanding change.

The important question is this: What change are the people of that region desiring?

When we see oppressed people revolting and unseating their long-standing despots and tyrants we of course wish to see them succeed.  But what if all they really want is a change of masters, someone better suited to provide for their needs?  Have the people of this region simply grown tired of how poorly their overlords have ordered and planned their societies and, if so, simply want more efficient dictators?

In her penetrating look at man's historic struggle against arbitrary authority, Rose Wilder Lane reminds us that mankind has long believed, erroneously, that people are controlled by an intangible force--gods, spirits, luck, etc--and their rulers are political manifestations of that force.

Very few men have ever known that men are free.  Among this earth's population now, few know the fact.  The Discovery of Freedom, 1943 

Revolutions and uprisings and social upheavals in "The Old World" revolved around this belief and anytime rulers were deposed it was in order to institute another ruler with no less authority over the people, just one with what the people believed had a better chance to rule them more efficiently.

I'm not suggesting this scenario is the case in the Middle East.  It may very well be, though.  If it is the case then what we're witnessing in the Middle East is no revolution, just violent efforts to put new faces to the same old problems. 

If this is not the case, as I hope it to be, then we could be witnessing a long-overdue step forward in that region, politically, economically, and with regard to basic civil and human rights.  Limitations on the power of government could be instituted and a new understanding of the proper role and place of government power in the lives of everyday individuals could take hold.

This entire process depends, of course, on the vitality and commonality of the idea of freedom, just as it does in any society around the globe.

I hope this latter scenario is the case and, if so, wish them every good turn and blessing on the long road ahead.

I'm a Daddy!!!

I won't be posting for a while as I'll be preoccupied: We are the proud parents of a  baby girl!

This would a great time for more guest contributions. Be encouraged to send your scribblings to freedomlessons@gmail.com or adam@freedomlessons.net

God bless!

US Intervention Would Hurt, Not Help, Libyan Protesters

It sounds counter intuitive, but intervening in Libya with US forces for humanitarian purposes would harm the very people such intervention is designed to help. 


We've been down this road before.  Think of Somalia and Iraq in the 1990s.  Humanitarian intervention via the force of US military leads to nothing good for the people we intend to aid, strengthens the authoritarian rule of the thugs we intend to weaken, and reinforces resentment of the US in the Muslim world.

Now Senator Graham wants to try it all over again by enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya.    

At 5:05 Graham pontificates on how US military intervention, via a no-fly zone, would weaken Qaddafi's air capability and save lives.

Militarily, such an immediate goal is probably attainable and would put a momentary stop to the killing of Libyans by air strike.  Politically, however, intervening would give Gadhafi rhetorical leverage to solidify loyalty and increase violent suppression of protesters. We're quick to dismiss Gadhafi's rants as delusional but he has been saying the Libyan uprisings have been incited by the US.

Seeing American fighter jets blanket Libyan airspace would only give credence to Gadhafi and embolden his loyalists.  Protesters could be viewed not only as disloyal to Gadhafi but also collaborators with the US government. 

This move would increase the ranks of pro-Gadhafi forces and give him some credibility among the Libyan people just as such credibility is vanishing.   This halt, or perhaps shift, in momentum can only lead to further violence against protesters, not less, and only prolong all the violence and suffering that attends such civil wars.

Any of these situations would be detrimental to the anti government protesters and would only prolong the fighting and their suffering.

As Bruce Fein notes in his poignant book, American Empire: Before The Fall, there are two reasons to desist from humanitarian intervention via military force: they fail at their stated goals and compound the misery of the population, and they are a pretext for any country for military occupation of any other country.  It is lose-lose.

Opposition to Gadhafi is growing.  We should let it continue to grow by staying out of the mess.