Archive | October, 2017

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USA TODAY: Facebook’s Vast Censorship Regimes

USA TODAY, October 27, 2017 Facebook censored me. Cross your country’s government and it might censor you too. by James Bovard Facebook said my post’s image of a violent FBI raid ‘incorrectly triggered our automation tools.’ But it wasn’t the first time an iconic image vanished. Responding to Russian-funded political advertisements, Facebook chairman Mark Zuckerberg declared last month that […]

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George Bush: Torturer-in-Chief Becomes Savior of Freedom

From the Mises Institute – Torturer-in-Chief Turned Savior of Freedom? by James Bovard Former President George W. Bush gave a speech yesterday implicitly slamming President Donald Trump for dragging down democracy. Bush told political cronies and other attendees: “We are gathered in the cause of liberty this is a unique moment.” He assured listeners that […]

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FFF: The FBI’s Forgotten Criminal Record

Future of Freedom Foundation The FBI’s Forgotten Criminal Record by James Bovard October 19, 2017 President Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey on May 9 spurred much of the media and many Democrats to rally around America’s most powerful domestic federal agency. But the FBI has a long record of both deceit and incompetence. […]

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USA Today: Trump as Dictator?

USA Today, October 18, 2017 Donald Trump didn’t create danger of presidential dictatorship, he inherited it by James Bovard Americans nowadays have a bad attitude towards presidents. Many people are denouncing Donald Trump as a dictator. But the real problem in this nation is the dictatorial illiteracy that has allowed modern presidents to commandeer far […]

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Fear-Mongering and Servitude (2011)

Freeman, June 2011 Fear-Mongering and Servitude  by  James Bovard In his 1776 essay, “Thoughts on Government,” John Adams observed, “Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve […]

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Torture and Liberty (2008)

A decade ago, many Washington politicians and pundits pretended that torture was no peril to liberty. The Bush administration championed “enhanced interrogation” as a key to preserving public safety, and its apologists scoffed at anyone who objected to “getting tough” with suspected bad guys. When I gave a speech at the Foundation for Economic Education […]

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Orient Express to Hell

At a time when the New York Times and many liberals are romanticizing communism, a refresher course on tyranny is in order. Here’s the story of my visit to communist Romania two years before a popular uprising overthrew the most oppressive government in Europe. An early version of this piece ran in the Freeman in 2010, thanks to one […]

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