Future of Freedom Foundation Your Tax Dollars Bankroll Afghan Child-Molesters by James Bovard Donald Trump was hailed by the media last August when he announced he was sending more U.S. troops to fight in Afghanistan. A Washington Post editorial praised his “principled realism” and saluted “a rare but welcome story of self-correction” (since Trump had […]
The Hill, May 9, 2017 Washington secrecy is creating a know-nothing democracy by James Bovard Washington may be more secretive nowadays than at any time in recent decades. Federal policymakers have become accustomed to rationing what they release while citizens are assured that official secrecy makes them more secure. But American democracy cannot survive perpetual […]
Today is the 350th anniversary of the greatest English satirist, Jonathan Swift. Folks who only know Gulliver’s Travel have missed a goldmine of glorious prose and devastating wit. If you haven’t read “A Modest Proposal” since school days, trust me – it is even better when not read under duress. His “Argument Against Abolishing Christianity” is […]
The following essay is excerpted from Freedom in Chains (1999) and was also published in The Freeman in September 1999. I tweaked a few sentences but have otherwise not corrected glaring flaws. * Many federal agents have zero curiosity about the impact of their actions on private citizens. Collateral damage voids no pensions. Political Accounting […]
OK, so not everybody liked my op-ed “Facebook farce shows lawmaker deviousness, demagoguery” in The Hill yesterday. I had fun on Twitter with the feedback. Full-size versions of the Quote jpegs are at the bottom of this page for anyone who wants to kindly copy & repost – So now I'm guilty of treason: @thehill commentor: "Traitor […]
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 […]
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 […]
