Trump’s presidency is helping Americans recognize that voting is no guarantee for individual liberty. This is perhaps the most frequently forgotten lesson in politics. Many liberals were convinced that Obama’s election somehow made Americans’ constitutional rights safe, while many conservatives believed that Al Gore’s defeat in 2000 provided the same windfall. In reality, no president can be […]
Tag Archives | Attention Deficit Democracy
Political Positive Thinking is a Slave’s Virtue
This quote is from Attention Deficit Democracy (Palgrave, 2006). I trimmed it slightly from the book version: “In politics, ‘positive thinking’ is often a slave’s virtue, something people do to delude themselves about the burdens and chains being placed upon them.” The background & text layout thanks to Canva.com design software site. Here’s an earlier […]
How Dependency Destroys Democracy – Mises Institute
From the new issue of the Mises Institute The Austrian newsletter Jan. 2016- How Government Buys Your Support by James Bovard In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military officers routinely handed bundles of cash to local residents to buy influence and undermine resistance to the American occupation. Such payments came in especially handy after US troops […]
Iowa GOP Barnbusting Debate!
OK, so sue me for a using a misleading blog headline. What the hell – at least I don’t need to watch any more debates this month. My live tweets as the show went on… and on…. Disappointed that #GOPDebate candidates did not invoke "Judeo-Christian values" in the same sentence calling for carpet bombing — […]
My Carping on Obama’s State of Union 2016 Speech
Obama warns of people who "use the Internet to poison the minds of individuals" – -Heck, but I enjoy sending out tweets! — James Bovard (@JimBovard) January 13, 2016 Obama says a prez with "gifts of Lincoln… might have better bridged the divide" between Americans. So burning down Atlanta would help? — James Bovard (@JimBovard) […]
USA TODAY: Leave More Empty Seats for Obama Victims
USA TODAY, January 12, 2016 First Lady’s box should be empty at State of the Union speech by James Bovard Saving seats for the dead would require a lot more room for victims of Obama’s policies. The White House announced that there will be a seat left vacant in the gallery during Obama’s State of […]
Obama’s Latest Anti-Gun Nonsense and Hypocrisy
“I taught constitutional law, I know a little bit about this,” President Obama lectures us. And then he says: “We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people.” And the best way to protect innocent people is to assume that gun owners as a group are guilty. I think […]