Constitution

Bringing Freedom to Iraq

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Iraq War on Terrorism on by

Just how soon might we expect the bushies to bring home their latest version of freedom?

US commanders and Iraqi leaders have declared their intention to make Fallujah a “model city,” where they can maintain the security that has eluded them elsewhere.
Which apparently requires stuff like this:
Under the plans, troops would funnel Fallujans to so-called citizen processing centers on the outskirts of the city to compile a database of their identities through DNA testing and retina scans. Residents would receive badges displaying their home addresses that they must wear at all times. Buses would ferry them into the city, where cars, the deadliest tool of suicide bombers, would be banned.
……
One idea that has stirred debate among Marine officers would require all men to work, for pay, in military-style battalions. Depending on their skills, they would be assigned jobs in construction, waterworks, or rubble-clearing platoons.
And, it is convenient to try to place the blame somewhere else:
To accomplish those goals, they think they will have to use coercive measures allowed under martial law imposed last month by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
“It’s the Iraqi interim government that’s coming up with all these ideas,” Major General Richard Natonski, who commanded the Fallujah assault and oversees its reconstruction, said of the plans for identity badges and work brigades.
If these are really Allawi’s ideas then why is the US supporting someone so obviously opposed to basic principles of freedom? It seems to me that representatives of the land of the free should just say no to this kind of crap.
Via Scott.

Federalism?

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Drug Laws Federal Government Government Libertarianism on by

Jonah Goldberg thinks federalism is a good thing and rues the apparent abandonment of the concept by bush and other conservatives:

The virtue of a federalist, republican form of government is that the more you push these decisions down to the level where people actually have to live with their consequences, the more likely it is they will be a) involved and interested in the decision-making process, and b) happy with the result. Federalism is also morally superior because it requires the consent of the governed at the most basic level.
Goldberg, though, believes the “most basic level” is the individual state when, in fact, state level legislation exhibits the same problems as federal legislation, e.g., it can not properly take into account the local1 context and, as above, legislators at all levels are disconnected from the consequences of their decisions, their feedback loops are broken, the have likely been captured by moneyed interests, and their citizens are poorly served.
It is time for us, the citizens, to eliminate the federal, state, and, perhaps, city monopolies on creating law and implement federalism carried to a more appropriate level, a polycentric government structure.
Via Running Scared.
1At the level where human interactions take place.

Raich v Ashcroft

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law Enforcement Libertarianism Regulation on by

This is what you should be paying attention to today! Drug War Rant has a detailed guide on the issues and links to the supporting documents.
Though I do not have high expectations that the Supremes will do the right thing Lawrence v Texas does give me a bit of hope. Heck, maybe they will go just a bit extreme and just whack Commerce Clause legislation back to its foundations: the feds only business in regulating interstate commerce is to make sure the states do not establish laws that discriminate against the citizens of other states.

Making the Drug Thugs Useful

This entry was posted in Constitution Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

The DEA is about as useful as an appendix. It and the rest of the thugs participating in the so called war on drugs do much more harm than good to the citizens of the US and its dependent countries.
They could, if we must allow them to continue to exist, make themselves a little more useful if they focused their efforts on a real problem. Something that kills 5 million people a year world wide.

Voting

This entry was posted in Constitution Election 2004 Government Libertarianism on by

I voted in the US election via absentee ballot over a week ago and have been delightedly ignoring all the campaign BS ever since.
I have encouraged many others to vote however I do not fault some of the non-voters. The past several days have produced a challenging debate between voting and non-voting libertarians at Catallarchy. No matter your current leaning, today is a good day to read through and deliberate about the points raised in this discussion.
My take: even with all the faults of the current system your votes can make some small positive difference for the immediate future. I fully expect whoever wins to provide ample material for sharp discussion and dark humor.
This periodic voting is, though, a relatively small part of the ongoing discussion. Real long term change requires that discussion leads to regular action not simply a yes or no, him or her, every two or four years. Let’s start looking for actions that can be done daily, weekly, monthly to move us toward a free and peaceful world.