The AmericanPlatform.org Blog

“[A] wise and frugal government … shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” –Thomas Jefferson addthis_url [...]

Regarding the Uganda bombings, president Obama said, What you’ve seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself. They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without [...]

“There is a rank due to the United States, among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness.” –George Washington addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Famericanplatform.org%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D919'; addthis_title = 'A+Good+Thing+To+Remember'; addthis_pub = '';

Via the LA Times today: Los Angeles on Wednesday became the largest city yet to boycott Arizona over its tough new law targeting illegal immigration in a move that likely will affect some $8 million in contracts with the state. The City Council voted 13-1 to bar Los Angeles from conducting business with Arizona unless the law [...]

Solution to the oil goo enveloping the gulf coast: Sham-Wow Snuggies. We need 1 million Snuggies made of the Sham-Wow material, stat. A human wall of Sham-Snuggie wearing volunteers will then wade out, arm in arm, waist deep along the coast to absorb the slick. Problem solved. Now we just need to [...]

“The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals… It does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government… It is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen’s protection against the government.” — Ayn Rand (1905-1982) addthis_url [...]

Regarding how Muslims around the world view the United States, and why, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times wrote this today.  I was very surprised to agree with him. Glenn Greenwald at Salon responded to Friedman’s piece with this.  Read them both and see what you think. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Famericanplatform.org%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D786'; [...]

The television is overflowing with dopey analysis of the two attention seekers who crashed the state dinner the other night. Much has been made of the fact that they had been through metal detectors like everyone else and therefore the President was in no danger. Are we sure about that?  Everything is impossible right up [...]

“It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country … in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them [...]

A really terrific speech. Somber in tone, but uplifting and respectful of the victims and their families. I was pleased that the president understood and acknowledged that it was a terrorist attack, and that “…no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor.” The homage [...]