Peace and Security
When Peeping While You’re Sleeping Is No Laughing Matter
It's a scary world out there, with global terrorists plotting to kill us. That's why we must be grateful to the National Security Agency and our Department of Homeland Security. They're constantly on watch, poised to spring to our defense, no matter from what hellhole...
This Thriller Is Both a Joke and No Laughing Matter
In the standard spy thriller, our hero gets captured by agents of a repressive government. They take him into a dark interrogation room, where the sadistic spymaster hisses: "We have ways of making you talk." In real life, the director of our National Security Agency...
Why Politicians Shouldn’t Fear Getting an F from the NRA
As plenty of unarmed Americans have deduced, our gun-toting brethren live in a propaganda-induced nightmare world. They envision armed, foul-smelling villains either breaking into their snug homes or menacing them on the street. In response, our gunslingers plan to...
A Reason to Party Like It’s 1989
These days, you can get the feeling the Cold War never ended. Le Carré-style intrigue has, it turns out, barely skipped a beat. The 9/11 attacks injected the U.S. spymaster apparatus with steroids. But 23 years ago this week, the Cold War did end. I don't remember...
Redefining Heroism
More then a few veterans, myself included, are troubled by the way Americans observe Veterans Day. Originally called Armistice Day, and intended by Congress in 1926 to "perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations," the holiday has...
A Manufactured Scandal
The American tragedy in Benghazi is the most investigated terrorist attack of its kind in recent history. Eight House and Senate committees have probed the attack, generating 18 hearings, 40 administration briefings, and the production of at least 25,000 pages of...
A Smarter Pentagon Budget
Our bloated military budget contributes significantly to our massive national debt and threatens the very security it's intended to provide. Several expensive and unnecessary military programs are behind this paradox. The Pentagon should cut them from its $640.5...
The Border Patrol’s Out-of-Control Growth
On October 8, Tucson police officers pulled over a driver because the light above his license plate wasn't working. When he didn't present a license, a typical scenario unfolded: Under Arizona's infamous SB 1070 law, cops become de facto immigration enforcement...
A Radioactive Poster Child for Government Waste
Here's a lesson on how the federal government and its contractors can turn a relatively modest project into a massive boondoggle. Back in 2005, officials at the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) persuaded Congress to approve a new...
Too High a Price for Courage
Berta Cáceres, an internationally respected leader of the movement for indigenous rights, is now living as a fugitive. The Honduran government ordered this soft-spoken dynamo imprisoned on September 20. From her undisclosed location, she emailed me and a few others....
