August 11, 2026

H is for Hit Squads from the CIA

A new book released today takes a look at the CIA’s shifting role from that of intelligence gathering (aka “spying”) to more direct action through targeted killings, through drone strikes, hit squads, or other clandestine action. The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth by […]

Deliberative Democracy: A Way to Increase Civic Participation

The Problem: Dropping Civic Participation We live in a democracy that faces decreasing participation on a dramatic scale.   In many respects, because of our republican form of government, the only real opportunity we have to engage in public decision-making is during periodic elections. With so little control and distanced from the decision-making process, from […]

We are all just pawns: moral ambivalence & criminal offenses in the Clinton Cabinet

I read a startling story yesterday. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff retired General Hugh Shelton says in his memoir that in 1997 a Clinton cabinet member suggested letting Saddam Hussein shoot down a U2 spy plane to create a ruse to go to war against Iraq. It would  provide for international sympathy and justification the Clinton Administration felt it needed […]