Bob Sale, a Canadian drummer living in San Diego, kindly posted a review of Public Policy Hooligan on Amazon yesterday: Memoirs of A(nother) Superfluous Man It’s always a joy and personally helpful to read the memoirs and realization of the imperative for individual liberty from someone who’s been at the center of the storm. Such […]
Leipzig Church Memories: Socialism’s Forgotten Toll
The New York Review of Books posted this great painting by Mendelssohn of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. I wrote about that seeing that church in Public Policy Hooligan – and in a 1987 New York Times article on how socialism was ruining the East Bloc. Here’s the riff from Hooligan – from a jaunt […]
Latest Foreign Aid Fiasco: Afghanistan’s Killer Roads
Going back nigh 30 years, I have always been deeply pained when people accuse me of being cynical about U.S. foreign aid. At least my breakfast was nicely spiced this morning by a Washington Post front page story – “After billions in U.S. investment, Afghan roads are falling apart.” The highways that the U.S. spent billions […]
How Many Howlers Will Obama Tell In State Of Union Speech Tonight?
Is anyone else having trouble distinguishing today’s two most popular acronyms – SOTU & STFU? When people ask why I watch Obama speeches, I shrug and admit that that is part of the terms of my parole. What will Obama’s biggest howlers be tonight? I am expecting a burst of candor as much as I […]
Holder and NSA Must Confess Guilt Before Clemency Talks
Attorney General Eric Holder & NSA poohbahs should be required to plead guilty before starting any clemency talks with Snowden. Otherwise, how can Snowden know that the Obama administration is negotiating in good faith? How many violations of federal law has the NSA committed since January 20, 2009? How many NSA crimes has Eric Holder […]
Voting Rights as Bogus Panaceas
From the Future of Freedom Foundation (October 2013) VOTING RIGHTS AS BOGUS PANACEAS by James Bovard The Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act last June. “Liberals” were horrified and reacted as if the Civil War had been fought in vain. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg denounced the decision for […]
Hillary Clinton’s Legacy: Democracy in Egypt
A front page Washington Post piece revealed today that Hillary Clinton is racing to finish her memoir so that she can define her legacy in time for her 2016 presidential run. Shortly after Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, she promised to reform foreign aid. Egypt has gotten billions of aid in the meantime – […]