Published Feb. 5, 2002
AFTER months of “daisy cutters,” B-52 bombings and lightning special operation raids, the United States has deployed its most destructive weapon: The lawyers have landed in Afghanistan. Continue reading “Wartime Compensation: The New Bomb and Buy Policy”
Published an. 25, 2002
THIS week marked the return of America’s most curious prodigal son. The long-waited transfer of John Walker Lindh to federal custody has focused the nation’s attention on what to do with the 20-year-old jihadi from Marin County. Regardless of Lindh’s potential criminal liability, there remains the question of his right to be called an American citizen, a son of the nation that he abandoned. Continue reading “John Walker Lindh and the Right to Citizenship”
Published Jan. 21, 2002
IN 1014, Byzantine Emperor Basil II had a bit of a problem. He had decisively defeated the Bulgarian tsar and taken virtually the entire opposing army captive. Basil II was not keen on feeding and holding more than 14,000 prisoners of war, but he also was not inclined to release an entire army that could simply turn around and resume hostilities. His solution was both chilling and simple: He divided the army into groups of 100 and blinded 99 out of each group. He left one man with one eye in each group to lead this line of wretches back to the Bulgarian tsar. Continue reading “Emperor Basil II and America’s Secret Prisons”
Published Jan. 14, 2002
THIS month, a little-known group is meeting to take a step that may affect every citizen of the United States. The American Assn. of Motor Vehicle Administrators has announced it will create a de facto national identification card. The association reportedly is working with the Justice Department and the General Services Administration to create a system with a massive database encompassing every citizen. Thus largely unknown bureaucrats could create a kind of human license plate to track and restrict our movements–anathema in the U.S. In the past, it was technically impossible or prohibitively expensive to monitor more than a fraction of the population at any given time. But recent advances in technology have removed these barriers. The only thing missing was a catalyst–some event that would substitute immediate security concerns for abstract notions of privacy. That took place Sept. 11. Continue reading “National Identification Cards and the America’s Fishbowl Society”
Published Jan. 7, 2002
AFTER a couple of centuries of successful democratic government, it would appear rather late to sell citizens on the superiority of one-man rule. However, according to a new model law drafted by the federal government for the states, the best cure for terrorism may be a small dose of tyranny. Continue reading “Bioterrorism and a Prescription for Disaster”
Published May 4, 2004
Last week, a New York federal judge refused to dismiss a defamation case that reads like a mix of Dr. Ruth and Dr. Seuss. At its heart is a controversy over what a procurer of prostitutes in Dubai told a “horse whisperer” in Germany who told a gossipmonger in New York who told millions of Americans about former Congress member Gary Condit. Though this might sound like a game of post office for pundits, the stakes are high — for commentators, the Constitution and for Condit. Continue reading “Dominick Dunne, Gary Condit, and the Horse Whisperer”
When the Supreme Court created the Feres Doctrine in 1950, it barred all injuries that are “incident to service,” a prohibition that effectively blocked any negligence lawsuit by a servicemember against the military. This doctrine extends to a wide array of businesses maintained by the military – from movie theaters to bowling alleys to restaurants to gasoline stations. Many are profit-making enterprises operated by civilians under contract with the military, yet they are still immune from lawsuits by military personnel.
Consider just a few of the dismissed cases from the Feres follies: Continue reading “The Feres Follies: Sacrificing our Soldiers to Protect Military Incompetence”
Published November 6, 2002
“Nothing is too good for our men and women in uniform.”
It may be the world’s most predictable political applause line. It was a central theme of President Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign. With both war and elections looming, it became a virtual mantra among politicians across the country.
This month, however, the Bush administration is waging a little-known battle to preserve a rule that reduces service members to second-class citizens. Continue reading “The Feres Doctrine: Giving our Service Members the Freedom to Sue”
Published October 2004
Where Dwight Eisenhower had the Military-Industrial Complex and Richard Nixon had the Trilateral Commission, George Bush has Karl Rove. If you take all of the conspiracies involving one world order, United Nations black helicopters, fluoridation as mind-control, and Hillary Clinton, and roll them into a pear-shaped figure, you get Karl Rove for liberals. Continue reading “Six Degrees from Karl Rove”
Published December 2001
IN Afghanistan, all politics are tribal. National governments, like the recently announced interim government, are examples of the triumph of hope over experience. Of course, no American official wants to suggest that the new government should be shaped in our own image at the risk of appearing culturally chauvinistic or insensitive. While understandable, this reluctance is tragic because James Madison has much to offer the Mujahedeen including a system that is designed to handle the very thing that is tearing their country apart. Continue reading “James Madison and the Mujahedeen”
Published December 2001
In the U.S., espionage crime is easy to understand but difficult to prove
CHIEF JUSTICE John Marshall once said that treason is the crime that most can “excite and agitate the passions of men.” The public outcry after the capture of John Walker Lindh, an American who fought with the Taliban, shows that Marshall was right. Treason remains our ultimate form of betrayal, an offense that is felt personally and intimately by every other citizen. Continue reading “John Walker Lindh, Treason, and Citizenship”
Published October 2001
THERE was a time when the idea of an incapacitated Congress would have been greeted with considerable relief by most citizens. In what may be the ultimate sign of our times, a constitutional amendment has been proposed to address what was once the unthinkable: the death or incapacitation of one-fourth or more of the members of the House of Representatives. This amendment, introduced by Rep. Brian Baird (D, Wash.), cannot be easily dismissed. The Constitution does in fact have a blind spot that makes the system vulnerable to terrorism. Continue reading “Terrorist Attacks and an Incapacitated Congress”
Published October 2001
THERE is an interesting by-product of the bombings on September 11, 2001 that seems to be sweeping the country. In universities and the media, people are learning about Al-Qaida and their religious philosophy. There is a tendency in our country, particularly among academics, to treat all beliefs as worthy of equal merit. It is a type of intellectual relativism that ignores the obvious in favor of the inquiry. Continue reading “Intellectual Relativism and the Al Qaida”
Published September 2001
PERHAPS one of the most frightening aspects of our current crisis is the uncertainty of how to fight an enemy, which is largely unseen and incomprehensible. Americans have been shocked by the raw hatred that would sustain such attacks on innocent persons and the support of such terrorists by other nations. What is most frightening is the idea that we have never had to face such fanatical individuals and that we are facing the prospect of perpetual war. It is here that history can offer a degree of knowledge and perhaps a bit of comfort. While we often forget our past, we would be wise to consider an anniversary this month and a prior war against religious-based terrorists. Continue reading “The Boxer Rebellion and the War on Terror”
Published August 2001
A FEW years ago, the public was caught up in the debate over which stamp they preferred: the fat Elvis or the thin Elvis. This great public debate came to mind after Rep. Gary Condit finally came forward and spoke for the first time about his involvement with missing intern Chandra Levy. We can now decide which we prefer: the silent Condit or the speaking Condit. I, for one, preferred the former. Continue reading “Condit and the Chandra Levy Scandal”