Trump’s presidency is helping Americans recognize that voting is no guarantee for individual liberty. This is perhaps the most frequently forgotten lesson in politics. Many liberals were convinced that Obama’s election somehow made Americans’ constitutional rights safe, while many conservatives believed that Al Gore’s defeat in 2000 provided the same windfall. In reality, no president can be […]
Tag Archives | liberty
Forty Years Ago: My First Article in The Freeman
Forty years ago, my first article in a national publication appeared in the Freeman. This was also the first piece of mine which paid something other than free copies of the periodical. Actually, the five cents a word pay rate was more than enough to cover a month’s rent. The Freeman, published by the Foundation […]
USA Today: Time to Dethrone the FBI
USA Today, May 11, 2017 Comey firing justly knocks FBI off its pedestal by James Bovard It’s a historically untrustworthy secret organization that needs to live under rule of law. President Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey provides a welcome chance to dethrone the FBI from its pinnacle in American politics and life. Last […]
Bashing the Political Conventions with Ernie Hancock on FreedomsPhoenix Radio
Ernie Hancock and I had fun whupping up on the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on his FreedomsPhoenix / Liberty Radio Network radio show this morning. I was hoping that Ernie could explain how Trump and Hillary have redeemed the American political system but no suck luck. In the final third of the 54 minute […]
Barrons: Supreme Neglect of Liberty at Highest Court
BARRON’S, September 21, 2015 Supreme Neglect of Liberty at the High Court By James Bovard Author James Bovard writes how America’s highest court has turned a blind eye to fundamental rights. In its recent landmark decision on gay marriage, five Supreme Court justices proclaimed that “the Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach…to […]
9/11 and the Triumph of Leviathan
This is the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and America continues to suffer from the political exploitation of that day. When Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evil came out in 2003, many people condemned that book as alarmist. The final sentence of the first chapter […]
Equality versus Liberty – the Obama Update
From the Future of Freedom Foundation – OBAMA AND HIS “MOST EVIDENT” RIGHT: EQUALITY by James Bovard In his second inaugural address, Barack Obama quoted the Declaration of Independence and hailed “the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal.” Obama never explained why “created equal” was more evident than the right to liberty. […]