WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced today that the government will forbid the television news media from covering the conflict in the Middle East because “displays of U.S. military operations there have the potential to radicalize Americans against the Obama administration’s foreign policy and provoke terrorism in the United States.”…

I see no point splitting hairs over whether Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio is the more egregious warmonger. Both love the bloody and costly U.S. empire. Both believe in American exceptionalism. (Rubio arrogantly calls for a “New American Century.”) Both want to make war in the Middle East (and beyond) and “stand behind Israel,” though…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Sheldon Richman‘s “Whatever’s Going on in Oregon, It’s Not Terrorism” read by Stephen Leger and edited by Tony Dreher. Citizens for Constitutional Freedom is right that the national government should vacate the land. But it’s wrong about who should have it. It was stolen from the Northern Paiute, and therefore it…

Even considering that no one is fit to be president — in that no one should be able to command a state, which rules by threatening and committing violence against innocents — Hillary Clinton is especially unfit. No one who has done what she has done as a government official should be rewarded with power….

A key to understanding the political world lies in realizing that the words terrorism and terrorist are inherently political terms. This has been clear in international affairs, but we now see this in domestic matters, specifically the case involving ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond and the takeover of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service building…

L’esagerazione demagogica della “minaccia terroristica”, al centro dell’ultimo dibattito dei repubblicani, si sgonfia immediatamente alla prima riflessione. Che probabilità c’è che un residente in America si trovi esattamente dove si trova qualcuno che vuole uccidere nel nome dello Stato Islamico, al Qaeda o qualche altra causa? Scarsissima. In America è molto più probabile morire per…

Questo fine settimana la CNN ha mandato in onda come “Ultimissima” mozzafiato (tutto quello che manda in onda è una “Ultimissima” da mozzare il fiato) un nuovo sondaggio che dimostra come la gente sia sempre più spaventata dal terrorismo. La versione su internet dice: “Il terrorismo ha soppiantato l’economia quale problema nazionale più importante per…

The demagogic exaggeration of the “terrorist threat,” which was the centerpiece of the last Republican debates, is easily deflated with just a moment’s thought. What is the chance that any particular resident of the United States will happen to be in the same place as someone who intends to murder in the name of the…

Su Progressive Review (“Two Types of Terrorism,” 7 dicembre), Sam Smith distingue due tipi di terrorismo: “Quello che usa armi e bombe e quello che usa le parole per terrorizzare la gente e convincerla ad accettare la volontà di chi sta al potere.” Ma tra i due tipi c’è una relazione, come dimostrano le relative…

Over the weekend CNN breathlessly reported as “Breaking News” — it breathlessly reports everything as “Breaking News” — a new poll indicating that people are increasingly frightened about terrorism. The accompanying web story stated, “Terrorism has eclipsed the economy as voters’ top pick for the biggest issue facing America, a New York Times/CBS News poll…

Cos’hanno in comune Barack Obama e Donald Trump? Fra l’altro, il fatto che non sanno, o fingono di sapere, perché i musulmani ci odiano. Trump dice (stavo per scrivere “crede”, ma non so se esiste qualcuno, compreso Trump, che sappia in cosa crede) che i musulmani dovrebbero essere tenuti alla larga dagli Stati Uniti finché…

Il programma di torture della Cia è tornato alla ribalta questa settimana, quando tre ex detenuti hanno denunciato i due psicologi che crearono e gestirono il programma ai tempi di Bush. Secondo l’Unione Americana per le Libertà Civili (che preme affinché il responsabile del Dipartimento di Giustizia, Loretta Lynch, incarichi un pubblico ministero apposito), James…

Forse Franklin Roosevelt non disse mai del dittatore nicaraguense Anastasio Somoza “sarà un figlio di puttana, ma è il nostro figlio di puttana”, ma probabilmente lo pensò; e anche tanti altri presidenti devono aver pensato qualcosa di simile di miriadi di dittatori brutali. Ma se il governo americano ha costretto gli americani ad appoggiare dittature…

It’s about time someone challenged the phrase radical Islamic terrorism. The most objectionable part is the word radical since it is now popularly associated with aggression — violence against innocents — as an acceptable means to politico-religious ends. But nothing about the word radical implies approval of aggression or terrorism. Rather, the word signifies an approach that goes to the…

I usually don’t dip my feet into the perilous waters of the gun-control debate for several reasons: I’m not a gun-owner, guns have never interested me as either a pastime or culturally, and having the capacity to end people’s lives easily unnerves me. Be this as it may, I still strongly oppose gun control and Obama’s…

At Progressive Review (“Two Types of Terrorism,” Dec. 7), Sam Smith breaks terrorism down into two types: “That which uses guns and bombs and that which uses words to terrify the public into going along with whatever those in power want.” But the two aren’t unrelated, as the respective domestic reactions to the Paris bombings…

What do Barack Obama and Donald Trump have in common? Among other things, they have — or pretend to have — no clue why some Muslims hate us. Trump says (I almost typed believes, but I’m not sure anyone, including Trump, knows what he believes) Muslims should be barred from the United States until “until…

While Franklin Roosevelt may not have said that Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza “may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch,” he probably thought it — just as other presidents have had similar thoughts about myriad brutal rulers. So if the U.S. government has forced the American people to support useful dictators, why is…

Gli attentati di Parigi del tredici novembre erano ancora in corso quando già si levavano le prime voci che chiedevano porte chiuse ai profughi in Europa e America. Per chi conosce la politica e gli obiettivi dello Stato Islamico, l’organizzazione fascista responsabile degli attentati, la tragedia è evidente. Come i tanti spacconi sciovinisti e nazionalisti…

From the start, opponents of the American empire warned that the government could not violate the rights of foreigners without eventually violating the rights of Americans. An excellent example is William Graham Sumner’s post-Spanish-American War classic The Conquest of the United States by Spain. The anti-imperialists were spot-on, and the evidence for their case keeps…