Allen Weinstein, the first chief of the National Endowment for Democracy, died yesterday. The logo to the left illustrates some of the anti-government protest movements that the Endowment helped bankroll (courtesy of the Voltaire Network). But helping topple foreign regimes that refused to kowtow to Washington has done little to advance self-government around the world. Ron […]
Tag Archives | Elections
Hillary Clinton the Most Corrupt Secretary of State?
Press TV called early this morning seeking comments on an article about Hillary Clinton’s promise to “topple” the top 1%. That topic was too good to resist; here’s the link to their page and file of my monologue, and here are some outtakes: *Hillary Clinton is perhaps the most corrupt Secretary of State in American history. […]
Wash. Times: The Mandatory Voting Panacea
Washington Times, April 2, 2015 The mandatory voting panacea Obama would deploy coercion in the voting booth By James Bovard – – Wednesday, April 1, 2015 President Obama recently suggested that mandatory voting could cure some of the ills of American democracy. Mr. Obama observed that compelling everyone to vote is one way to “encourage […]
MP3 of Elective Dictatorship Interview on Al Korelin Show
I had a jovial chat with Al Korelin, the host of the hardline Korelin Economic Report, in his weekend report on the debility of contemporary democracy. Here are a few of my comments: *”The system that we now have is an elective dictatorship in which the president can dictate almost as much as he pleases and […]
USA Today: Govt. by Cromnibus – blind, deaf, & dumb
USA TODAY, December 12, 2014 Government by Cromnibus – blind, deaf and dumb: Column by James Bovard The Know-Nothing Party Rules Us All “You can lead a man to Congress but you can’t make him think,” quipped Milton Berle in 1950. Last night’s House of Representatives’ approval of the 1,603 page, $1 trillion Cromnibus bill […]
Election Epigrams for Democracy’s Big Day
America is now an Attention Deficit Democracy where citizens’ ignorance and apathy allow politicians to do they please. The worst violation of voting rights occurs when election winners trample the law and the Constitution. Trumpeting the importance of voting deludes people into thinking that they have a leash on the government. Ballot Buffoonery: Modern […]
Elections as Execution Day for Rights & Liberties
President Obama and a heap of other politicians are imploring us to view voting as the ultimate expression of our freedom and self-government. The reality is that the vast majority of politicians will do as they damn well please after Election Day. Edward Snowden’s revelations should have been a battering ram to use against […]