May 3, 2011
The Burial At Sea

Laurence Vance has some questions about bin Laden’s death:

The government is reporting that it buried the body of bin Laden at sea. Conspiracy theorists – and rightly so – are going to have a field day with this for years to come. How could the government do something so stupid as dispose of bin Laden’s body so quickly? Are we just supposed to have faith in the government when it says it had the body and positively identified it by a DNA test?

CNN has an article on their website attempting to explain why Osama bin Laden was buried at sea. From the article:

Osama bin Laden was buried at sea from the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier because there was no alternative to bury him on land within the 24 hours required by Islamic law, President Barack Obama’s homeland security and counterterrorism adviser said Monday.

The article goes on to say the following:

A senior Defense official said no country was willing or able to take bin Laden’s body for a funeral.

Which countries were asked to take the body? Seriously, I’d love for CNN to ask that question, and when the answer is given, go to the authorities of those countries and get them to confirm or deny that they were asked to take the body.

I’m certainly no expert on Islamic law, so I’ll concede it’s possible the sea burial really was the best course of action if you’ve made the decision to try to be respectful of Islamic law, but from the outside looking in, it certainly feels like a hasty attempt to get rid of the evidence. I also agree with the sentiment expressed by Vance that we have reason to be skeptical of the DNA test. Why not let an independent organization examine the body and perform its own DNA test to corroborate the government’s claims? Also, is there really no latitude within Islamic practice for burying a body beyond 24 hours? What do Muslim societies do when in the course of a normal forensic investigation the body is required to be accessible for a longer period of time? My concern is that while the American people are swept up in rejoicing and feeling united, they’re missing out on a healthy dose of skepticism.

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Filed under: Osama bin Laden government 
January 26, 2011

I didn’t watch the State Of The Union address last night. I honestly wish the President would go old school and just send it in written form to Congress. I did see several of the quotes from the address, and it was what you might expect from any modern president: lots of unconstitutional, anti-liberty spending promises.

I think Rand Paul’s response above is pretty good, though I wish he’d get away from words like “elitist” and “progressive.” I also wish that everywhere he used the word “liberal” that he would’ve used the word “statist” instead. Rand has a lot of potential if he sticks to his guns and doesn’t compromise. I continue to be cautiously optimistic about him.

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Filed under: liberty sotu rand paul government the state 
January 5, 2011
Let Rover Die

Don’t worry, we’re not talking about a dog here, but rather Murfreesboro’s public transportation system. A recent article on the WGNS website highlights the fact that due to potential cuts to the federal budget, there may not be enough money to keep the city buses rolling. In an audio clip Mayor Bragg essentially attributes this to the American people wanting more fiscal responsibility from Washington. If that’s true it’s a big win for individual financial liberty, and a big blow to the State.

In the comments section of the article, Phil Harper offers the following:

Interesting, isn’t it, that the Rover buses have darkened windows so that the public cannot observe the ridership (or lack thereof).

If the people of Murfreesboro have need of a system of busses, then the market will bare fare increases to make the program financially viable. If that kind of market support isn’t there, then there’s no financial incentive for even having a bus system, let alone the fact that governments shouldn’t be in the business of operating transportation businesses. After all, if there was a big enough market for transporting people by bus in Murfreesboro, private enterprises would sweep in to provide that service.

What say you, America? Do you appreciate picking up the tab for an unnecessary bus system in Murfreesboro, Tennessee?

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Filed under: murfreesboro rover government liberty 
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