Ten years ago, the 9/11 Commission released its report on the challenges to the nation. Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, the chairman and vice chairman of the commission, have a platitude-laden piece this morning in USA Today: “The “generational challenge” against terrorism we anticipated 10 years ago has entered a new and dangerous phase. America cannot […]
Tag Archives | Lying
Foreign Aid Clobbers the Third World
From the FFF‘s April 2014 issue of the Future of Freedom – Foreign Aid Clobbers the Third World by James Bovard The U.S. government loves to preen about its generosity to the world’s downtrodden. However, a long series of presidents and their tools have scorned the evidence that their aid programs perennially clobber recipients. Nowhere is this […]
Fixing Legacies by Killing Historians (Or the Facts)
New White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was on CNN yesterday defending Obama administration coverups. He was asked about a letter from the Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations which scolded the White House for “politically driven suppression of news and information about federal agencies.” Earnest proclaimed that he is “definitely committed” to helping […]
Killing in Lieu of Surveilling
Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles deserves another Pulitzer Prize for this superb cartoon. Some people are singing hallelujahs over the Supreme Court’s recent decision that police cannot automatically search people’s cell phones. However, the Supreme Court has done nothing to negate the government’s prerogative to kill people based on secret memos, secret evidence, and utter bunk. […]
Counterpunch: Medals of Freedom vs. America’s Freedom
June 25, 2014 The Medals of Freedom vs. America’s Freedom by JAMES BOVARD For almost 50 years, politicians have used Medals of Freedom to reward their henchmen who started wars or subverted freedom. Prior to the 1960s, the U.S. government avoided the temptation to distribute nonmilitary awards by the bucket. However, in 1963, President […]
FFF: Freedom vs. Medals of Freedom
From the Future of Freedom Foundation’s monthly journal – Freedom vs. Medals of Freedom by James Bovard Though proximity to power is its own reward, rulers have long recognized the benefit of distributing trinkets to potential sycophants. From medieval times onwards, the English king was seen as the “fount of all honors.” The British government […]
My Wash. Times Op-Ed: Obama’s Democracy Flim-Flam
WASHINGTON TIMES June 20, 2014 How Obama whoops up democracy The president blunders by thinking voting alone will keep people safe by James Bovard As his foreign policy becomes more bollixed by the week, President Obama is taking refuge by whooping up democracy. In Warsaw, Poland, earlier this month, Mr. Obama proclaimed, “Wherever people are […]