Obama and the Global Police: More Friendly Fascism?

John W. Whitehead January 14th, 2010

"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."– James Madison

Over the course of his first year in office, Barack Obama has shown himself to be a skillful and savvy politician, saying the things Americans want to hear while stealthily and inexorably moving forward the government's agenda of centralized power. For example, in one breath, Obama pays lip service to the need for greater transparency in governme … (Read More)

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Loving Big Brother: The Future Is Now

John W. Whitehead October 5th, 2009

"He loved Big Brother."–George Orwell, 1984

1984 portrays a global society of total control in which people are not supposed to have thoughts that in any way disagree with the corporate state. There is no personal freedom. Snitches and surveillance cameras are everywhere. And people are subject to the Thought Police, who deal with anyone guilty of such thought crimes. The government, or "Party," is headed by Big Brother, who appears on posters everywhere with the words: … (Read More)

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Barack, What Happened to All the Change You Promised?

John W. Whitehead July 20th, 2009

The unemployment rate in the U.S. now stands at 9.5% and soon will top 10%. And the number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes soared by nearly 15% in the first half of this year. This has caused some economists to question whether or not the country is headed toward another economic meltdown–a point of no return. However, watching the news coverage of Barack Obama’s adventures while in office, you might be forgiven for thinking there were no problems left to solve in t … (Read More)

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Freedom Fading - John W. Whitehead on SBE

Erik Guzman July 3rd, 2009

If it's not enough of a 4th of July bummer that the economy is in the toilet, join John Whitehead on this edition of Steve Brown Etc. to hear about the shocking ways that the freedoms we're celebrating are going up in smoke.

(If you're on the front page of the site, click "Read More" to see player options.)

If your city canceled their 4th of July celebration because of budget cuts, here's a recipe for fireworks. Combine one part federal hate crimes law and two pa … (Read More)

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Nat Hentoff Has Never Lost His Sense of Rage

John W. Whitehead June 9th, 2009

My lives as a radical (according to the FBI): an "enslaver of women" (according to pro-choicers); a suspiciously unpredictable civil-libertarian (according to the ACLU); a dangerous defender of alleged pornography (according to my friend Catherine MacKinnon); an irrelevant, anachronistic integrationist (according to assorted black nationalists); and, as an editor at the Washington Post once said, not unkindly–"a general pain in the…"–Nat Hentoff

Nat Hentoff … (Read More)

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Angry Conversations with God - Susan Isaacs on SBE

Erik Guzman May 22nd, 2009

After forty years of being a good Christian girl, Susan Isaacs' life fell apart. Her dad died, her mom had a stroke, her career tanked and then her boyfriend of three years left her with no house and no husband…all simultaneously.

What's a girl to do? She had a nervous breakdown, took God to couples counseling, gave Him a piece of her mind and wrote Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir.

Join Susan on this week's Steve Brown Etc. as we t … (Read More)

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