Editor’s Break 060 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: the distinction of libertarian political philosophy from libertarian legal philosophy, the practice of abortion, where he comes down personally on the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, Walter Block’s evictionism compromise, Richard Dawkins on gun control, the FBI on the possibility of China spying on Americans through their phones, and Trump’s insane militarism.
Tag: trump
“Peace Through Strength” Is a Racket
“I’m going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody — absolutely nobody — is gonna to mess with us,” Trump says. On other occasions he’s said similar things: “We want to defer, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength” (same link) and, a year ago, “Nobody is going to mess with us. Nobody. It will be one of the greatest military build-ups in American history.”
No Huawei! US Spy Chiefs Reverse Course on Phone Spying
Testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committee, officials from the FBI, CIA, NSA, et al. warned Americans against using phones made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. Why? Because, Christopher Wray (Comey’s successor at the FBI) explains, the Chinese government might equip, or find and exploit weaknesses in, such phones to “maliciously modify or steal information” and “conduct undetected espionage.”
Raining on the Parade
Some people have proposed that Trump’s parade be postponed until all the wars the U.S. government is waging are finished and the troops are back home. That would indeed be an indefinite postponement, and I wouldn’t want to see a parade even then. But if that’s the price for ending those imperial wars, I’ll take it.
The Nunes Memo Only Partially “Vindicates” Trump, But it Fully Indicts the FBI and the FISA Court
Did Trump and/or his campaign team “collude” with the Russian government to manipulate the 2016 presidential election? I don’t know. But I do know that disguising a circus as an investigation isn’t likely to shed real light on the matter.
The Church of America
“Perhaps we should read the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause — ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion’ — not as a mandated separation of religion and state but as a non-compete clause.”
#ReleaseTheMemo — And Then Some
On the campaign trail, they tell us that we’re their employers and that they’re just humble “public servants.” But once elected, they go to work behind closed doors and hide their hearings, their discussions, their memos and their other work product from us at will.
Protectionism: Trump’s Tariff-ic Attack on Your Wallet
On January 22, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer fired the first shots of the Trump administration’s 2018 trade agenda: Tariffs of 30% on imported solar panels, and tariffs starting at 20% on imported residential washing machines. In the name of “protecting” jobs — “America First!” — the administration is dead-set on making you poorer.
The Trump Wall
Trump is like a high wall with a narrow walkway along the top. On one side of the wall is irrational Trump worship, and on the other side is irrational Trump hate. You only stay rational by not falling off on either side.
The Voice of American Workers Is a Charlatan
Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed voice of American working people, has decreed that the prices of washing machines and solar panels shall rise. So it is written. So it is done.