Why Yes, They Will Abuse That Power

Sometimes satire can barely stay a step ahead of reality.  Via Jim Geraghty’s daily e-mail newsletter (the Morning Jolt) today, the UK Telegraph reported over the weekend that

Staff working at America’s National Security Agency — the eavesdropping unit that was revealed to have spied on millions of people — have used the technology to spy on their lovers.

The State Can’t “Get Out of the Marriage Business”

In the last few years, some libertarians have responded to the ongoing fight between conservatives and liberals about whether to redefine legal marriage by asking, why is marriage the state’s business in the first place?

Via Wintery Knight, Jennifer Roback Morse has a new series of three articles explaining why the libertarian “third way” is not an option:

“Privatizing Marriage Is Impossible”

We cannot escape the fact that marriage is an intrinsically public institution. We can’t avoid making collective decisions about its meaning and purpose. If we don’t do it explicitly, we will end up doing it implicitly.

“Privatizing Marriage Will Expand the Role of the State”