Archive for January 2006
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Tuesday 31st January 2006
The State of the Union Heave-Ho
10:20 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Bush | Lying | Comments: 2
Any time a Washington politician starts out by announcing that he is “humbled,” hip boots become mandatory attire for listeners.
To hear Bush invoke the Rule of Law is like hearing Stalin talk of his devotion for peace.
Bush talked of his friendship for the Iranian people. This will likely sharply boost the number of Iranians building bomb [...]
On northern California Public Radio this morning (1 31)
11:05 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
Jeff Schechtman of KVON public radio (Napa Valley/northern Bay area) interviewed me this morning; the tape will broadcast around 10 a.m. Pacific time. Unfortunately, there is no ”Listen Live” link.
Monday 30th January 2006
Iowa Radio Show now Online
10:37 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Comments: 2
The audio tape of Jan Mickleson’s interview on WHO this morning is now online at http://www.whoradio.com/cc-common/podcast.html (It is a long download - the entire 3 hour show in one file - so only those with high-speed lines might want to consider it).
I was flattered to hear how Jan much liked my new book compared to [...]
The Farce at the Heart of the War on Terrorism
7:07 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Terrorism | Comments: 3
The Future of Freedom Foundation posted my essay today on “The Farcical Definition at the Heart of the War on Terrorism.” Here is how the piece wraps up:
The United States has long insisted that government agents cannot be terrorists. The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property [...]
Thanks to Steve Greenhut and the Orange Co. Register
12:21 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
Columnist Steve Greenhut wrote a kind review of Attention Deficit Democracy which the Orange County Register published. Steve especially liked the chapter on the danger of trusting government. Steve commented, “Bovard explains how supposedly free citizens have bought into the lies and frauds offered by the political class…. Bovard offers wise counsel and sage advice. But [...]
Sunday 29th January 2006
On New England Public Radio Monday (1/30) Morning
3:05 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Elective Dictatorship | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, will broadcast a lively interview that Joe Donahue taped with me on Monday morning (1/30). According to their website, it will apparently be featured sometime between 10:25 am and noon Eastern time. If anyone has more specific information on when the interview will play, please let me know and I will revise this [...]
Friday 27th January 2006
On the Doug Basham Radio Show - 1 a.m. Saturday (1/28) morning
9:59 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Uncategorized | Comments: 1
I will be on the Doug Basham radio show tonight (Friday night, Sat. morn, whatever) at 1 a.m. Eastern time - 11 pm out in Vegas where Doug broadcasts. Doug does cutting edge progressive radio commentary and has been one of the foremost talk show hosts opposed to the Iraq wear.
You can listen live at [...]
Killing in the Name of Democracy
9:51 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Messianic Democracy | Comments: 1
Antiwar.com kindly posted an excerpt from the Messianic Democracy chapter today:
As the Bush administration tub-thumps for imposing democracy upon the entire world, many Americans have forgotten the long and bloody history of the U.S. government forcibly spreading “self-government.” The following discussion, from the “Messianic Democracy” chapter of my new book…
The U.S. government’s first experience with [...]
Iowa Radio Show Postponed till Monday (1/30) 10 am
9:30 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
Just got a call from Jan Mickleson - the radio show scheduled for today is postponed until 10 am (Eastern time) on Monday.
This gives me the weekend to study up on Iowa politics. Maybe I can discover a deeper meaning behind Tom Harkin’s vacuous grin.
Thursday 26th January 2006
Introduction chapter of Attention Deficit Democracy now online
11:39 pm | Attention Deficit Democracy | Elective Dictatorship | Comments: 0
Lew Rockwell kindly posted the Introduction chapter of Attention Deficit Democracy on his website today.
Following is the introduction to I parsed for the posting -
Is American democracy in a death spiral? Why do Americans tolerate so many lies and abuses from their rulers? Why have Americans permitted the U.S. government to shred their rights? Why have [...]
On Friday morning with Iowa Icon & Freedom Champion Jan Mickelson
10:40 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Elective Dictatorship | Rule of Law | Comments: 1
I will be the Jan Mickelson show on Friday (1/27) at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Mickelson is the most popular talk show host in Iowa and has helped alert legions of folks to the perils of politicians. The show will be broadcast on Newsradio 1040 AM - a 50,000 watt station that should cover much [...]
Wednesday 25th January 2006
Thursday - on air & web with Talk Show Legend Brian Wilson
11:32 am | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
I will be on tomorrow afternoon at 4 pm Eastern time with Brian Wilson, one of the fastest thinking, quickest-witted talk show hosts in the business. The show will be broadcast on Toledo’s WSPD radio station.
You can listen live at http://www.wspd.com/pages/listenlive.html
Wisconsin interview posted online
11:16 am | Uncategorized | Comments: 3
The hour long interview with Joy Cardin is also already on her archive page. You can listen by clicking in at http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/ideas_audioarchives.cfm?Code=jca
A listener to the program told me that it would also be re-broadcast over the web later this evening but I am not sure about that.
on Wisconsin Public Radio Wednesday morning
9:04 am | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
I will be Wisconsin Public Radio for an hour on Wednesday morning, 9 a.m. Eastern time.
Listen live at http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/live.cfm
Wednesday 18th January 2006
My Pot Ruling Bash
2:01 pm | Supreme Court | dictatorship | marijuana | think tanks | Comments: 0
The Future of Freedom Foundation posted my article on the Supreme Court ruling on medical marijuana.
The articles begins -
Earlier this year [2005], the Supreme Court, acting again like a gang that smoked too much bad weed, ruled that the federal government has the right to prohibit people from growing marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Court relied [...]
The Republican Abramoff Solution
11:56 am | Abramoff | Attention Deficit Democracy | Congress | Comments: 0
In response to the Jack Abramoff influence-buying scandal, Republican leaders are racing to impose new restrictions on the handouts that lobbyists can give to congressmen. Americans are being assured that the new rules will assure that their representatives are dutiful, high-minded, and devoted to nothing but the public good.
This makes about as much sense as [...]
Speaking in New York City on Saturday Night
10:07 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
I will be speaking at the Manhattan Libertarian Convention on Saturday evening, January 21. This is part of the LP’s annual conference - being held at the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant at 140 Second Ave. Should be lots of fun. I have never seen libertarians eat Ukrainian cuisine before.
Book Signing Thursday in Washington, Capitol Hill
9:59 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Congress | Comments: 0
Trover Book store on Capitol Hill (221 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Washington) will be holding a book signing for my new book, Attention Deficit Democracy, on Thursday at 12:30 pm.
The latest odds from Vegas are 37-to-1 against a Standing Room Only crowd.
Tuesday 17th January 2006
“Credo” from Attention Deficit Democracy
10:44 am | Attention Deficit Democracy | Congress | Elective Dictatorship | Rule of Law | dictatorship | Comments: 3
Credo for the New American Patriotism
I believe:
That politicians are more honest than they seem;
That government is more competent than it appears; That government is benevolent, regardless of how much
it wastes or how many people it harms;
That citizens must trust the government, regardless of how often it lies;
That democracy is a panacea, regardless of [...]
Monday 16th January 2006
Fear & Servitude
4:15 pm | Justice Department | Mohammed Yousry | Rule of Law | Uncategorized | dictatorship | Comments: 1
The Washington Post has an excellent front page story on the boarhawging of Mohammed Yousry, the court-appointed translator for lawyer Lynne Stewart. Federal prosecutors spent three years wiretapping his phone and reading all the files on his computer, thanks to a FISA warrant. Even a federal prosecutor conceded: “Yousry is not a practicing Muslim. He [...]
Friday 13th January 2006
Thanks to Will Grigg & the New American
11:46 am | Uncategorized | Comments: 1
Will Grigg, the editor-in-chief of the New American, wrote a very kind review of Attention Deficit Democracy. I appreciate his bovine humor, since it goes back to my roots.
“Spectacular… Attention Deficit Democracy displays Bovard’s emergence
as a formidable prose stylist. Relentlessly incisive and epigrammatic, Bovard at his best reminds me of Nock and Mencken. And [...]
Thursday 12th January 2006
The FISA Farce
10:05 am | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
The Future of Freedom Foundation posted an article of mine on the FISA Farce. Here are the first few paragraphs of the piece:
President Bush proudly announced last month that he is violating federal law. He declared that in 2002 he ordered the National Security Agency to begin conducting warrantless wiretaps and email intercepts on Americans. [...]
Monday 9th January 2006
On Jim Bohannon show on Tuesday night
2:41 pm | Uncategorized | Comments: 2
I will be on the Jim Bohannon show on Westwood One radio on Tuesday night from 10 till 11 pm Eastern time. I believe Bohannon’s show is on more than 300 stations around the country. The call-in phone number is 1-866-505-4626.
Talkers magazine reports that Bohannon is the fifth most listened-to talk radio program in the [...]
Friday 6th January 2006
Think Tanks as Military Bases
11:22 am | Ashcroft | Bush | Cheney | lese majeste | think tanks | Comments: 4
George W. Bush exploits captive audiences as well as any president. During the last four years, he has ritually gone to military bases to uncork his biggest inanities regarding foreign policy. There are some howlers that can only be tossed out in front of an audience forbidden to laugh. No one in a military audience [...]
Wednesday 4th January 2006
Orange Suits Soon All the Rage on Capitol Hill
7:35 pm | Abramoff | Congress | Elective Dictatorship | Justice Department | Rule of Law | Comments: 0
The Wall Street Journal reported today that superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, who copped a guilty plea yesterday, “says he has information that could implicate 60 lawmakers.”
This is the best news that the moribund prison building industry has had in years. If 60 lawmakers go down in the Abramoff scandal, this could mean that the U.S. [...]
Thanks to Claire Wolfe
3:33 pm | Uncategorized | Comments: 0
Claire Wolfe had some very kind words for Attention Deficit Democracy on her blog this morning. I appreciate her also posting my favorite epigrams from the book.
Claire does some of the best hell-raising on the web. The last I heard, her FBI file was almost as large as Charlie Chaplin’s.
Monday 2nd January 2006
Bush on Spying: Fool or Liar?
3:21 pm | Bush | Rule of Law | Wiretapping | Comments: 2
Bush took a swing at critics of his warrantless wiretaps yesterday. Speaking after visiting wounded soldiers in San Antonio, he declared, “”The NSA program is one that listens to a few numbers called from the outside of the United States of known al-Qaida or affiliated people.”
Except that the program also listens to calls from inside [...]