Michael Austin

Professor-turned-administrator and political commentator. Author of six books including "That's Not What They Meant! Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from the American Right" (Prometheus Books).

Thoughts on the Zimmerman Verdict

I think that the verdict was incorrect, but I cannot imagine anything that I would have wanted to happen differently. [The defendant] spent lavishly on a “dream-team” defense, which was

By Michael Austin

July 14, 2013

Should Religious People Ask the Government to Take Care of the Poor?

“Self-righteous liberals tell us that Jesus had a heart for the poor, which is undeniable. But Jesus never directed that government be the agency used to help the poor. He

By Michael Austin

July 12, 2013

Should Religious People Ask the Government to Take Care of the Poor?

Five Things that Same-Sex Marriage Probably Won't Lead To

Now for the slippery slope arguments—those rationally indefensible, but emotionally satisfying predictions of what "something" is going to lead to. The “somethings,” of course, are the two

By Michael Austin

June 27, 2013

Five Things that Same-Sex Marriage Probably Won't Lead To

Now for the slippery slope arguments—those rationally indefensible, but emotionally satisfying predictions of what "something" is going to lead to. The “somethings,” of course, are the two

By Michael Austin

June 27, 2013

The Next Marriage Battle

So California’s Proposition 8 is gone. A coalition of liberal and conservative justices decided today that they did not have to decide the question they had just decided because

By Michael Austin

June 26, 2013

The GOP and Immigration: It's About Free Market Principles, and Survival

I hate, in Rome, a Grecian town to find; To see the scum of Greece transplanted here,Received like gods, is what I cannot bear.Nor Greeks alone, but Syrians

By Michael Austin

June 16, 2013

The GOP and Immigration: It's About Free Market Principles, and Survival

Who Owns Your Metadata? (Hint: Not You)

In a recent discussion about privacy and metadata, a good friend of mine—who is also a judge and is in the habit of issuing search warrants—highly recommended that

By Michael Austin

June 12, 2013

How Much Privacy Should We Trade for Security?

Could we maybe stop pretending that this is an easy question? Now that we know that the NSA is analyzing telephone and Internet metadata, searching for patterns that might indicate

By Michael Austin

June 10, 2013

How Much Privacy Should We Trade for Security?

The "Instant Expert" Culture

I am one of the most useless human beings I know. Sad but true. I have three degrees in English literature, I did not get my first job until I

By Michael Austin

June 8, 2013

The "Instant Expert" Culture

I am one of the most useless human beings I know. Sad but true. I have three degrees in English literature, I did not get my first job until I

By Michael Austin

June 8, 2013

I Am Outraged! How the Government Is Destroying Our Privacy

I had to wait a day longer than most people to start being outraged about America's new wiretapping scandal. I learned about the government’s nefarious deeds yesterday

By Michael Austin

June 7, 2013

I Am Outraged! How the Government Is Destroying Our Privacy

The IRS Scandal: Asking the Right Questions

so long as the people know where the speech is coming from.”Justice Antonin Scali The current “IRS scandal” raises a lot of legitimate questions that deserve answers. If, as

By Michael Austin

June 5, 2013

The IRS Scandal: Asking the Right Questions