Free Republic

Donald Trump, whose 2016 presidential campaign was consciously modeled after Richard Nixon's 1968 run, seems to think he can win reelection by emulating his predecessor's appeal to a "silent majority" disgusted by raucous anti-war protests. Trump is offering voters a choice between his firm hand and the pusillanimity of "liberal Democrats" who let "violent anarchists" run wild in the streets. Notwithstanding Trump's pose as "your president of law and order," his heavy-handed reaction to the protests triggered by George Floyd's death represents neither. In response to largely peaceful demonstrations against police brutality that have been punctuated by criminal behavior, he...

People who knew Jose Padilla before he was sent to a Navy brig in 2002 say he emerged a different man after three and a half years of isolation and interrogation. Those who observed him only from a distance also noticed a change: The "dirty bomber" whose capture then-Attorney General John Ashcroft had announced on live TV morphed into yet another junior jihadist who went to Afghanistan for arms training but never came close to carrying out an attack. Padilla's recent conviction on terrorism-related charges highlights the contrast between the murderous mastermind portrayed by the Bush administration and the less...

Joe Cherner vs. Jacob Sullum If you are going to be in New York City on February 5 (next Wednesday), you are invited to take part in a live taping for National Public Radio (NPR) about smokefree workplace legislation. What:  NPR's Justice Talking (audience participation encouraged)When: Wednesday, February 5, 2003, 6:30pm-8:00pmWhere: Baruch University's Newman Conference Center (151 East 25th Street), Room 750Who: Jacob Sullum, Senior Editor, Reason Magazine   vs.          Joe Cherner, President, SmokeFree Educational Services, Inc.How: Reserve your place at www.justicetalking.org/upcoming.asp (click on "join the audience")         or call Joy Cerequas at 212-316-3636 Cherner will argue that ALL workers deserve a smokefree work...

A dangerous naivete...Jacob Sullum has been around for years. Libertarians will know his name from Reason magazine. In this column from TownHall.com he seems to me to highlight the worst aspects of squeamish libertarianism: The answer to the question of why some Muslims consider it their religious duty to kill nonbelievers cannot lie in the Koran, the authority of which is accepted by all followers of Islam. That is the point President Bush was making when, soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, he declared that Islamist terrorists twist their religion into a justification for their vile crimes. Robertson is not...

Trial run Jacob Sullum September 20, 2002 The federal government recently charged six men from Lackawanna, N.Y., with providing material support to Al Qaeda by undergoing training at one of the network's camps in Afghanistan. There, according to prosecutors, they received indoctrination in terrorism, a pep talk from Osama bin Laden, and instruction in the use of assault rifles, handguns, artillery and anti-aircraft guns. The authorities say the men, U.S. citizens of Yemeni descent, returned to the United States as a "sleeper cell," awaiting orders to attack. But despite their alleged commitment to violence against Americans, they are not to...