HERE’S AN EXCELLENT COLUMN BY ROGER PILON on the Texas sodomy case. Excerpt:

In a free society, before government can legitimately restrict the liberty of a citizen, it must have a good reason. The basic presumption, that is, is on the side of individual liberty, not government power. It is the government that must justify its action, not the citizen his liberty. And in that framework, not every rationale for government power will do. In fact, beyond protecting the rights of others, the rationales that will do concern primarily the protection of the general welfare – that is, the good of all.

Plainly, powers that punish those who are doing no harm fail that test immediately. If there is anything that marks the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, it is the right to pursue happiness, consistent with the rights of others, even when doing so may be unpopular or, in the eyes of many, immoral. That, in a nutshell, is the morality of liberty.

I agree, of course. (Via Keith Terranova).

UPDATE: Yeah, a non-war-related item. I’m hoping to trend steadily in that direction.