United Liberty
Robert McNamara: A Legacy Defined By Vietnam
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 3:01pm | posted by Michael O. Powell
The legacy of Robert McNamara can’t be deduced at this early stage, and if anyone were to do it, a layman such as myself certainly wouldn’t be fit for the task. McNamara was at the levers of power during a time when the United States was embroiled in one of the most doomed enterprises of its history - the Vietnam war. In the documentary film The Fog of War, McNamara appears to lay alot of the blame at then President Lyndon Johnson’s feet, while other analysis lays the blame at the feet of technocrats like McNamara:
John Ralston Saul, in Volatire’s Bastards, makes McNamara a central character in his tale of how Western governments came to rely on a cult of credentialed, jargon-y experts to make decisions that were better left to politicians.
Like the anti-poverty policies laid out by Lyndon Johnson, Vietnam was an utter failure. It may not have been such an explosive phenomenon, leading to deaths on college campuses, Woodstock and future presidential candidate John Kerry throwing his purple hearts in public anger, if Johnson had understood what his successor Richard Nixon understood: that those kids out there protesting weren’t protesting American policy in Indochina, but were really just protesting their enlistment to fight on behalf of that policy. If a draft had been a factor during the Bush years, the bitter words hurled at Bush’s policies would have likely turned into bitter action.
Obama owns recession
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 11:12am | posted by Jason Pye
As you can see in the graph below, Christina Romer, an economic advisor to the administration, predicted unemployment to be somewhat better under the so-called “stimulus” plan (p.5) than without it. This was a key selling point to win public support.
It doesn’t take an economist to see that the situtation has been substainially worse as our economy has shed more than 3 million jobs.
Media rediscovers national debt and unsustainable budget
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 8:57am | posted by Jason Pye
It’s nice to see the media finally pick up on this, especially as the Obama Administration runs record deficits “for years to come”:
[A]s the U.S. spends trillions to stabilize the recession-wracked economy, helping to force down the value of the dollar, the securities become less attractive as investments. Some major foreign lenders are already paring back on their purchases of U.S. bonds and other securities.
And if major holders of U.S. debt were to flee, it would send shock waves through the global economy - and sharply force up U.S. interest rates.
Free-Markets meet College Football
Sun, 07/05/2009 - 8:52pm | posted by Jason Pye
For those of you who may not know, I’m a college football fan. I spend my Saturdays in the fall on my couch watching the Georgia Bulldogs. There are probably more productive things to do that are much less annoying to my wife than my yelling at Mark Richt through my television, but I’ve yet to discover them.
It’s not too often that politics and college football intersect, but I came across a post at Dawg Sports, a blog run by a friend and fellow UGA fan, that caught my eye.
Powell no longer an Obama zombie
Sun, 07/05/2009 - 11:16am | posted by Jason Pye
Just a couple months ago, former Secretary of State Colin Powell was defending Barack Obama and criticizing Republicans. Yesterday, he was singing a different tune:
Tegucigalpa, We Have a Problem
Sun, 07/05/2009 - 9:55am | posted by Matt Wittlief
I’ve been keeping an eye on the situation in Honduras which evolved this week. If you have not heard, there is political unrest due to an alleged coup d’etat in the small nation in Central America. President Manuel Zelaya was captured by the military and exiled on June 28. The action has been nearly universally condemned. Here’s what’s gone down…
ACLU now supporting Second Amendment?
Sat, 07/04/2009 - 8:07pm | posted by Jason Pye
The ACLU has filed suit against the City of New Orleans in favor of an individual’s right to own a firearm:
A New Orleans man is suing the city and its district attorney for refusing to give back a gun that police seized when he was arrested on drug and firearms charges.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed the federal suit on behalf of Errol Houston Jr., who was arrested last year following a traffic stop.
The suit says the district attorney’s office declined to prosecute Houston but has refused to return his .40 caliber firearm.
Houston claims Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro has instituted a policy that firearms seized during arrests will not be returned to their owners.
The ACLU says that policy violates Houston’s constitutional rights.
Statists v. Founding Fathers
Sat, 07/04/2009 - 6:47pm | posted by Jason Pye
What do you when those that are while at the same time using Independence Day and the legacy of 1776 for their own statist purposes? You follow the example of David Boaz and hit back at them with the words of the Founding Fathers.
Independence, Justice and Revolution
Sat, 07/04/2009 - 7:55am | posted by United Liberty Guest
The following was written by Jorge Gonzalez, founder of the 1776 Project, as sort of a new Declaration of Independence. Please read through it carefully and repost if so inclined.
Our nation has seen many grim days from the hopelessness of blood stained snow at Valley Forge to the tarnishing mark of slavery. We have suffered a war between states and endured a foreign power’s brutal attack on December 7, 1941. We have seen towers crash down on our own people on a sunny September morning.
UPDATED: Palin to resign
Fri, 07/03/2009 - 2:56pm | posted by Jason Pye
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will not seek re-election next year and will resign her post effective July 25th:
The move, coming nearly a year before she would be forced to reveal her plans by filing deadlines, is sure to lead to widespread speculation that Palin will devote herself full-time to a presidential bid in 2012.
Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who nearly beat Rep. Don Young in the GOP primary for Alaska’s lone House seat, will assume the office.
