Guest Column: Extremist Overreaction Syndrome

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Brian Wright

As public political discourse descends to new lows,
what is a common-sense person to do?
by Paul Jacob [Common Sense]

This is a recent column by my good friend and fellow independent Web columnist Paul Jacob, pertaining to the Trump phenomenon. It’s short and to the point, so I’m posting the entire piece, with a hearty recommendation to subscribe to Paul’s daily column—which is always erudite, efficient, and practical. He’s also timely, every weekday 9-10 a.m. Eastern Time. Subscribe here.

Well, not go over the deep end.

What is that end?

Maybe it is Trump Anxiety Syndrome, the haunting fear that Donald Trump may become the next president.

Hey, I don’t support The Donald, but I always try to avoid syndromes. Continue reading →

Guest Column: Drive Free or Die

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Brian Wright

Help reverse the Portsmouth, NH, crushing of Uber
From Common Sense, by Paul Jacob (full column here)

Ever told your kids to share? That’s aiding and abetting, you know.

Sharing is illegal.

At least, it is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire . . . regarding Uber.

The popular ride-sharing company may be widely heralded as the flagship of the new sharing economy, but a Portsmouth city ordinance effectively blocks the service, requiring that the company provide background checks on all drivers, which Uber calls “draconian.”

While the company is trying to get the city to alter that mandate, several Uber drivers have ignored the ban, continuing to pick up passengers. In October, police stopped Stephanie Franz, who now faces a $500 fine. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: The Blood of Patriots and Tyrants

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Brian Wright

Reflections on John Adams and Tax Day (2008)

And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that the people preserve the spirit of resistance? The remedy is to set them [the rulers] right as to the facts…. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

—Thomas Jefferson

The full quote from Mr. Jefferson can be found in a number of places on the Web, but be advised as you fire up your browser: Homeland Security will probably be looking over your shoulder. Strange how far we’ve gone down Tyranny Road without so much as a peep from the general nonlibertarian population—perhaps such lack of resistance is explained by another Jeffersonian passage:

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Which, as we all know, is from the Declaration of Independence. Continue reading →