Washington Times, December 10, 2015 Talking freedom but practicing fear by James Bovard The president employs scare tactics to diminish liberties The most memorable line in President Obama’s Oval Office Sunday speech was his declaration that “freedom is more powerful than fear.” That epigram might have made John F. Kennedy’s speechwriters beam. But it is […]
Tag Archives | Boondoggle
Wash. Times: TSA Bombs the Holidays
Washington Times, December 3, 2015 TSA screens holiday travelers once again, with feeling by James Bovard Flyers must surrender their privacy with their boarding passes If you use hand sanitizer when traveling, the Transportation Security Administration can badger you as if you were a terrorist suspect. TSA is one of the biggest hassles many Americans […]
Senate Report on Federal Follies Includes Silent Shakespeare
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) has issued his first report on wasteful federal spending, entitled “Federal Fumbles: 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball.” Lankford continues an honorable tradition begun by his predecessor, Sen. Tom Coburn. Here is an excerpt on the report’s critique of the National Endowment for the Arts for bankrolling Synetic Theater’s Silent Shakespeare: William […]
USA TODAY: Trump Card for Another Census Roundup
USA TODAY, November 24, 2015 The Trump card for another Census roundup by James Bovard The Census Bureau is sending its hefty American Community Survey to more than 3 million households a year. That’s good news for a would-be president Donald Trump, who will find just the information he needs for some of his kookier ideas. I […]
USA TODAY: The Freedom Foyer Fraud on Our Liberty
USA TODAY, October 28, 2015 Freedom gets a foyer; Liberty gets the shaft by James Bovard The budget agreement between President Obama and leaders of the House of Representatives is sparking a conservative firestorm across the land. Newt Gingrich predicts every Republican presidential candidate in tonight’s debate will oppose the deal — which a New York […]
FFF: The Mandatory Voting Panacea
from the July 2015 issue of The Future of Freedom The Mandatory Voting Panacea by James Bovard Barack Obama suggested on March 18, 2015, that mandatory voting could cure some of the ills of American democracy. He said that compelling everyone to vote would “encourage more participation” — perhaps the same way that the specter […]
My Playboy Greatest Hits
So Playboy is becoming proudly birthday-suit free. Lots of jokes this week about how guys will now be able to honestly say “I only read it for the articles.” From 1994 through 2002, I wrote a bunch of pieces for Playboy on No-Knock Raids, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Janet Reno, IRS, Surveillance, Pork Barrel Prisons, the […]
Jim Bovard
Thanks very much, Ron! Ping pong balls can provi
Ron Redrift
'[T]he American Federation of Government Empl