The Hill, November 4, 2017 Facebook farce shows lawmaker deviousness, demagoguery by James Bovard The 2016 election was the first time in history that goofy advertisements were considered an act of war. The frenzy on Capitol Hill over a smattering of Russian advertisements would be comical except that most of the American media has […]
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Thanks and R.I.P., Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine, passed away yesterday at the age of 91. One of his best lines serves also as his epitaph: “Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dreams.” Hefner was one of the great hellraisers of modern America and had a huge impact for much of the second half of the 20th century. Playboy was a champion of freedom of speech and freedom of […]
Wall Street Journal: Torpedo Jones Act Shipping Protectionism Idiocy (1991)
As Puerto Rico struggles to recover from the devastating hurricane, its task will be far more difficult thanks to an archaic shipping protectionism law, the Jones Act. Here is a 1991 bash I wrote on that law for Wall Street Journal (excerpted from my book, The Fair Trade Fraud). Wall Street Journal, November 26, 1991 […]
CLOWN REVOLT: Whoop! Whoop! Comes to Washington
American Conservative September 19, 2017 Juggalo Blues: Their Beef with FBI No Laughing Matter Attempt of Left to appropriate clowns’ cause in DC fell short. By James Bovard • September 19, 2017 Credit: Jim Bovard Despite being billed as a showdown of competing political protests and rallies, the only political action on the streets of […]