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  • Sheldon Richman

Available Now! — America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited Mar 29, 2016

Help Support America's Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited You can support my efforts to promote this book through PayPal: or by becoming a patron at Patreon. I hope you'll consider it. Thanks! From the back cover: This book challenges the assumption that the Constitution was a landmark in the struggle for liberty. Instead, Sheldon Richman argues, it was the product of a counter-revolution, a setback for the radicalism represented by America’s break with the British empire. Drawing on careful, credible historical scholarship and contemporary political analysis, Richman suggests that this counter-revolution was the work of conservatives who sought a nation of...

By Sheldon Richman Vote8 8

TGIF: Trump Nation Jan 27, 2017

Did Donald Trump on Inauguration Day intend to remind us of the European despotisms of the last century?Who could miss signs? They adorned from the speech from brim to dottle with its invocations of solidarity, unity of purpose, devotion, patriotism, "loyalty to our country ... and to each other," "total allegiance," national striving, nationalism, and assurances that the state would protect us from enemies -- including even those would bestow low-priced goods on us. Then, to boot, he followed it all up with a decree that the day be known as the “National Day of Patriotic Devotion.”Where the hell are we? And what...

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Trump's Wall and the Assault on Private Property Jan 26, 2017

The Washington Post's article on Donald Trump's border wall does something unusual: it takes into account Trump's planned assault on property owners along the Mexican border. Note:In Texas, almost all of the land along the border is privately owned. When former President George W. Bush tried to build border fencing starting in 2006 he faced stiff opposition from local ranchers and farmers, many of whom took the government to court on plans to use their land.   In many areas along the Rio Grande the fencing is built well inside the United States, as far as a mile north of the Rio Grande,...

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Cognitive Dissonance Jan 20, 2017

On this day of all days America’s priestly political class can extol the great glory of the Almighty State without restraint — but Donald Trump is the one being crowned.Atom

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TGIF: A Principle for All Seasons Jan 20, 2017

Despite my utter disdain for Donald Trump, I am uneasy about many who oppose him. My specific concern is that they apparently believe that, because of the kind of person Trump is, they may dispense with all constraint when fighting him. Thus the common-sense rules of just conduct and decency that are normally honored at least by lip service, if not by strict observance, are not regarded as binding when Trump is the target. It is a bad -- not to mention shortsighted -- idea.Read the full TGIF at The Libertarian Institute.TGIF (The Goal Is Freedom) appears on Fridays. Sheldon...

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TGIF: The Man Behind the Curtain Jan 20, 2017

Although the Grateful Dead told us that "every silver lining's got a touch of grey" (lyric by Robert Hunter), it's my nature to look for one anyway. At the risk of being accused of gross naivete, I'd like to hope that the Trump presidency (I still can't believe I have to type those words) will once and for all sour people on government and politics.Read the full article at The Libertarian Institute.TGIF (The Goal Is Freedom) appears on Fridays. Sheldon Richman, author of America's Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited, keeps the blog Free Association and is executive editor of The Libertarian Institute. He is also a...

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With Trump You Get Military Parades Jan 19, 2017

Donald Trump says:“Being a great president has to do with a lot of things, but one of them is being a great cheerleader for the country. And we’re going to show the people as we build up our military, we’re going to display our military.“That military may come marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. That military may be flying over New York City and Washington, D.C., for parades. I mean, we’re going to be showing our military.”This is just one way, he says, he'll show he's making American great again.Heaven help us.Atom

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He Bombed the Poorest People on Earth Jan 18, 2017

John Pilger has some choice words for those who worship Barack Obama and now fear the end of civilization with the coming of Trump.Obama "bombed the poorest people on earth, in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan," Pilger writes.Where was the progressives' indignation the last eight years?Read Pilger's article here.Atom

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US Created Cyberwarfare Jan 12, 2017

One can reasonably argue that Washington started the practice of cyber-warfare and has been a long-time practitioner of both regime change and election tampering in its relationship with much of the world…. Stepping back a bit, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that anything Russia did or is suspected of doing in 2016 pales in comparison to what the United States has been doing for much longer and on a much wider scale.”–Philip Giraldi, “Washington Invented Hacking and Interfering in Elections”Atom

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Your Tax Dollars at Work Jan 12, 2017

“Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact.” — “Declassified Intelligence Community Assessment of Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections,” Annex B, Estimative LanguageAtom

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Batchelor and Cohen Counter Anti-Russian Hysteria Jan 10, 2017

Hats off to John Batchelor, the radio talk-show host and podcaster, who has countered the raging Russophobia and Cold War revival by regularly interviewing the eminent Russian scholar Stephen F. Cohen. (Links to the podcasts are here.) Cohen, who taught Russian history and politics for many years at Princeton and New York universities and who is affiliated with the pro-detente American Committee on East-West Accord, is a rare voice of calm good sense on Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the hacking of the DNC and John Podesta email accounts. Batchelor is a hero for having Cohen on his program about once...

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