Freedom

Solzhenitsyn, Reagan, and the Death of Détente

American Thinker | Paul Kengor | Aug. 10, 2008

In a tribute I wrote earlier, posted at National Review, I noted that it is impossible to capture in one column what Solzhenitsyn meant, experienced, and how he went about translating it to the West. Professors like me know such frustration well, as we struggle to fully convey the impact of such a man to a classroom of students born after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In my earlier piece, I talked about The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn’s shocking firsthand account of the Soviet forced-labor-camp system, where he himself had been held captive, and where tens of millions of innocents perished. In a disturbing way, that book may have made Solzhenitsyn the most significant of all Russian writers, quite a prize when one considers the caliber of the company. [Read more…]

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The Thin Margin of Freedom’s Victory

American Thinker | Lee Cary | July 4, 2008

We the people metaphorically dodged a bullet when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment is still alive. While many of us celebrated, we were also dismayed by the thin margin of freedom’s victory.

But that should not surprise us. There have been close calls in the past. And there will be others in the future, because, as once the Liberty Bell cracked soon after it was hung, so too, from time-to-time, freedom itself hangs by the thin margin of one vote. [Read more…]

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Why we’re losing our right to speak out

Christian Examiner online | Chuck Colson | June 2008

Do you want to talk about traditional values on a college campus? Or do you want to speak out against same-sex “marriage”? You may have to enter the Whisper Zone. David Woodard is a political science professor at Clemson University—one who has first-hand experience on how dangerous it can be to speak out in favor of traditional values: He almost lost his job over it. [Read more…]

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Why Do We Call Them ‘Democrats’?

American Thinker | Lance Fairchok | Jun. 21, 2008

We all knew it even though Democrat spokespersons denied it. Worried that the negative connotations would affect their electability and their eyes glued to the capricious winds of public opinion, they invented new words for the old ideology such as progressivism and communitarianism. Apparently, the camouflage is no longer needed. The masks are off. They now openly call for the nationalization of private business, the establishment of universal entitlements and increased taxation to pay for them. Why worry about socialist labels? The electorate is complacent, prosperity has numbed our senses and the left has worked diligently for many years to sap our national pride and deface our self-image. [Read more…]

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Encouraging Thrift Just Makes Cents

Townhall.com | Rebecca Hagelin | Jun. 12, 2008

Ask 10 people to define capitalism. Chances are, eight or nine will stress the importance of buying things.

They’re making a common mistake — equating capitalism with consumerism. As our friends over at the Acton Institute understand, capitalism, properly understood, involves more than just spending. It’s an economic system that (to the horror of liberals) puts decision-making power over financial matters where it belongs — with free individuals, not with government. [Read more…]

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Men with Guns

American Thinker | Mike Austin | May. 11, 2008

Another sophisticate has spoken out, and bravely. “I don’t want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that. It’s not as bright.”

So said Stephen King. He is a writer of horror I hear, though I have never read his books. I do hope that his written prose is more literate than that evinced by his speech. [Read more…]

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Imagine a Free Tibet!

American Thinker | David Bueche | Apr. 20, 2008

I don’t know what the “Free Tibet” bumper sticker crowd must be thinking these days, but I can assure you it most certainly doesn’t involve the 101st Airborne, tanks, guns, or any of that other “culture of violence” stuff.

I guess it involves something along the lines of everyone focusing — I mean really focusing — their energy, and the ensuing global vibe snapping the Chinese out of their misguided ways. This would be followed immediately by a retreat, apology, and later, some really cool sharing and cultural appreciation between the two. [Read more…]

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Defining the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

FrontPageMag | Thomas A. Bowden | Apr. 3, 2008

As the Declaration of Independence recognizes, governments are created to protect our individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The right of self-defense is included and implied in the right to life. In forming a government, citizens delegate the task of defending themselves to the police. But to delegate is not to surrender. Each citizen retains the ultimate right to defend himself in emergencies when his appointed agents, the police, are not available to help. [Read more…]

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