Here is an absolutely fascinating article with much detailed historical information on a topic which I would venture most LRC readers have very little knowledge — filibustering — private military expeditions against foreign states and dependencies with which their own country was officially at peace. Filibustering once had an entirely different meaning in the context of American political affairs. So forget Jimmy Stewart’s classic performance in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington as the idealistic, naive Senator Jefferson Smith heroically standing as David versus Goliath in opposition to the evil Taylor political machine led by Boss Jim Taylor, or Rand Paul’s recent speaking truth to power on the renewal of the USA Patriot Act on the Senate floor. The appropriate film to view after reading this informative piece is Walker, the 1987 epic about filibustering adventurer William Walker and his private military expeditions into Latin America.

The Best of Charles Burris