Politics & Rights
Politics & Rights
Iran's 'Lucky Break'
Alan Germani July 25, 2006
In "Hezbollah lets Iran buy time for nukes," Arizona State University professor Orde Kittrie provides an overview of Iran's nuclear program, recounting the regime's goals and discussing the "lucky break" it got toward achieving those goals when Hezbollah recently attacked Israel from Lebanon. The big winner thus far in the…
Politics & Rights
The Taliban Can… Because We Let Them
Craig Biddle July 12, 2006
Our primary target after 9-11 should not have been the Taliban in Afghanistan; it should have been the regime in Iran. But if we were going to pursue the Taliban, we certainly should have eliminated these vile creatures swiftly and permanently. In order to have done so, however, our military…
History, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Gay Marriage and Rights vs. Democracy
Alan Germani July 11, 2006
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the rights of homosexuals can be violated by majority vote. This Reuters piece reports that a popular vote on the issue of gay marriage could occur in 2008. Such a vote would place the rights of Massachusetts homosexuals at the mercy of…
History, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
On a Deluded America
John David Lewis June 28, 2006
Diana West has written a fiery op-ed that, on its face, seems to provide a well-needed antidote to the moral platitudes that are preventing America from ridding the world of savage brutes ("Deluded America," Washington Times, June 23, 2006). Certainly the defenders of America will be energized to read: If…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
It's Religion and Altruism, Stupid: Take Two
Craig Biddle June 27, 2006
Here is another good piece by Diana West, in which she correctly notes that If we still valued our own men more than the enemy's and the "civilians" he hides among—and now I'm talking about the war in Iraq—our tactics would be totally different, and, not incidentally, infinitely more successful.…
Philosophy, Politics & Rights
It's Religion and Altruism, Stupid
Craig Biddle June 20, 2006
In an article titled "It's an Islamic jihad, stupid," Diana West wonders why the Bush administration "keep[s] things vague and indirect," pursuing a "war on terror" rather than a war on "Islamic jihadists." Ms. West notes that without understanding the religious nature of jihad (holy war), along with its sister…
Politics & Rights
Somalia and Our Tragic Flaw
Alan Germani June 15, 2006
Our policy in Somalia is but a small part of the absurdly-named "War on Terror"; however, a June 14th New York Times article entitled "U.S. Calls Hasty Meeting to Seek Somalia Solution" provides a good example of the tragic flaw that pervades all of our efforts in the battle against…
History, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Terrorism and the Koran
John David Lewis June 11, 2006
Many people in the West maintain that the Koran is opposed to terrorism: the initiation of violence against unarmed civilians to incite terror for a political cause. To many westerners, Bin Laden, et al are motivated by a totalitarian political ideology, not by Islam, and are "hijackers" of Islam, not…
Politics & Rights
Legitimizing the Iranian Theocracy
Alan Germani June 1, 2006
On Wednesday, Condoleezza Rice announced, in so many words, that the US will indefinitely suspend military action against Iran in favor of "diplomacy," giving the theocracy a fresh green light to fund Islamic terrorism and develop nuclear weapons. Despite millennia of evidence to the contrary, the Bush administration clings to…
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Michael Farris Interview on 'Fresh Air'
Alan Germani May 25, 2006
Yesterday on NPR's radio show "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross interviewed Michael Farris, president of the fundamentalist Christian school Patrick Henry College. This regrettably named institution seeks to train home-schooled Christians to be tomorrow's leaders, "ready to reclaim the biblical principles upon which our land was founded." The interview with…