Hornberger’s Blog, August 2009 by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2009 Monday, August 31, 2009 Torture Works. Just Ask U.S. POWs from the Korean War by Jacob G. Hornberger An August 29 Washington Post article entitled “How a Detainee Became an Asset” details how the CIA’s “harsh interrogation techniques” caused Khalid Sheik Mohammed to become a CIA “asset,” meaning that he sung like a canary, confessed his crimes, disclosed everything he ...
The New York Time’s Failure of Understanding by Jacob G. Hornberger July 31, 2009 In a July 29 editorial entitled “The Military Is Not the Police,” the New York Times stated, “It was disturbing to learn the other day just how close the last administration came to violating laws barring the military from engaging in law enforcement when President George W. Bush considered sending troops into a ...
The North Carolinian Jihadist by Jacob G. Hornberger July 30, 2009 Neighbors of Daniel Boyd, a son of a Marine, are befuddled over his federal indictment on terrorism-related charges. Boyd, who attended a public high school here in Northern Virginia and who now lives in North Carolina, runs a dry-wall business in Raleigh. The feds are alleging that on the side, Boyd is a terrorist. Charles Casale, a neighbor ...
“Evil Eating Evil Eating Evil” by Jacob G. Hornberger July 29, 2009 A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times carried a fascinating article that detailed the pride that a particular torturer took in doing his job well. The man expressed “pride in the efficiency” with which he did his job. As he put it, “In my entire life, if I do something, I’ll ...
What about Racism in the Drug War? by Jacob G. Hornberger July 28, 2009 Amidst all the hubbub regarding racism and the cops arising out of the arrest of Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., we should at least mention the biggest outlet for cops who happen to be racists: the war on drugs. As any black living in the poorer part of any community in America will ...
Waging the War on Terrorism on American Soil by Jacob G. Hornberger July 27, 2009 A logical consequence of having permitted the Bush administration to treat terrorism as either an act of war or a criminal offense, came to the forefront last week when the New York Times revealed that top administration officials were considering deploying troops here in the United States to take suspected terrorists into custody as ...
The Pledge of Allegiance to Socialism and Imperialism by Jacob G. Hornberger July 24, 2009 Since everyone is discussing the socialism of the Obama administration, it seems to me that this would be a good time to discuss the Pledge of Allegiance. Why the Pledge? Well, because the pledge was written by a socialist named Francis Bellamy. He was the cousin of Edward Bellamy, the author of the 1888 novel Looking Backward, which was a ...
Protecting the Statist Party by Jacob G. Hornberger July 23, 2009 While we’re on the subject of a one-party political system in places like Iran and China, we would be remiss if we didn’t remind periodically remind ourselves that for all practical purposes, the political situation isn’t much different here in the United States. Sure, we’re taught to believe that America is a two-party system — ...
Private Bergdahl and the Silence of the Pro-Torture Crowd by Jacob G. Hornberger July 22, 2009 The pro-torture crowd sure seems quiet about the plight of 23-year-old private Bowe R. Bergdahl, the American soldier being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Why the silence? For eight years the pro-torture crowd has been defending the propriety of subjecting prisoners and detainees to such things as waterboarding, repeated waterboarding, walling, beatings, forced ...
Update on Robert Kahre Case by Jacob G. Hornberger July 21, 2009 I have published three blog posts regarding the abusive grand-jury subpoena that federal prosecutors in the Robert Kahre case served on the Las Vegas Review Journal: Kahre’s Prosecutors Are Going Nutso (June 12) Federal Prosecutors Buckle on Abusive Subpoena in Kahre Case (June 17) Suppressing Free Speech Here at Home (June 25) Dozens of people had posted online comments ...
Shame on Conservatives by Jacob G. Hornberger July 20, 2009 Washington insiders are agog over what seems to be a rather dramatic flip flop of principles by conservatives at the American Conservative Union, which touts itself as America’s oldest conservative lobbying organization. Like other conservative organizations, the ACU spouts the standard free-market, limited-government mantra that conservatives have employed since at least the 1950s: ...
A Free Market in Health Care Is the Only Solution by Jacob G. Hornberger July 17, 2009 The debate over the health-care monstrosity that Congress is considering enacting raises some fundamental issues about our lives, liberty, and health. There is one reason why there is a health-care crisis in America: socialism and interventionism, both at the federal level and the state level. On the demand side, there are Medicare and Medicaid. On ...