To cover their tracks, the leaders of the War Party are relying on Machiavelli's wisdom, which tells them: "It is necessary...to be a great pretender and dissembler; and men are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived."

Although the future of civil liberties is uncertain in the wake of post-9/11 anti-terrorism legislation, the Second Amendment right of individuals to possess firearms is stronger than it has been in years, thanks to new scholarship and a few important recent court decisions. Friends of individual liberty and self-defense should embrace this trend.

A recent survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and Westat, a private research firm, concluded that teenagers mostly ignore the federal government's anti-drug advertisements. Nevertheless, current White House drug policy czar John P. Walters said he wants Congress to continue funding the ad campaign -- which costs taxpayers $180 million a year.