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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As the Obama administration appears to be stumbling back towards warring in Iraq, many folks are recalling the follies of the Bush administration’s 2003 war. This excellent Tom Toles’ cartoon from the Washington Post captures W.’s legacy. As the Bush administration was rattling its sabers towards Iraq from mid-2002 onwards, I hustled numerous pieces to […]
The New York Times has a good story today headlined, “War Gear Flows to Police Departments.” Unfortunately, this nonsense has been going on for decades. Playboy published a piece I wrote in 2000 on the militarization of SWAT teams. The article includes a discussion of Waco and the 1999 high school shootings in Littleton, Colorado. […]
Washington Times, June 5, 2014 Caught between secrecy and censorship Americans need a free press to tell them when the Constitution is trampled by James Bovard Last Monday, the Supreme Court provided invaluable aid to the Obama administration’s campaign to hide evidence of federal abuses from Americans. The court acceded to the administration’s appeal and […]
On this day 150 years ago, General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had their last great victory over the Army of Potomac. General Grant was convinced that the Southerners were whupped and that he merely had to attack a few more times and Lee’s forces would surrender or dissolve. Lee outfoxed Grant again and his […]
Ron Redrift
It's ironic: the nation which sternly lecture
