For the longest time, I tried to be skeptical about all these protesters getting arrested for protesting the president. I thought, sure, the “Free Speech Zone” is absurd, but it can’t last.
Now, however, we seem to have reached a boiling point with the new enforcement of an old law that’s being used to bring protesters up on federal charges. This stinks. It’s right up there with the Alien & Sedition Act.
I was listening to Lewis Lapham on the radio this morning, and say what you will about the guy and his pre-GOP-convention rants, he’s hella smart and he makes a good point: we’ve been living in “war time” more or less constantly for the past 50 years. And so a good deal of national security who-hah has been built up in that half-century to deal with this era of endless war. This protester-arrest stuff is just another step in that inexorable march.
As alarmist as it may sound, I remain somewhat unconvinced that free societies can successfully turn back the scourge of terrorism. We may be able to manage it, but, like cancer, it’s nature’s way of restoring a Hobbesian balance to the world.
Makes me think of John Adams, who, until his dying day in 1826, remained skeptical that this whole “America” thing would actually work!
Now Playing: Episode 356
The Republican Convention, Fannie and Freddie go bust, and finally, our international news roundup.
Links Mentioned: Europeans try to placate the Russians … details on the bail-out … a brief history of Fannie and Freddie … Mark Schmitt on Obama’s high-risk, high-reward strategy … Biden tears it up on the trail.
