Fifty years ago today, I received the Eagle badge in Boy Scouts. If I had a dollar for every person in subsequent decades who was shocked or appalled that someone like me could have reached Eagle, I could buy several kegs of the best beer in Maryland. Likewise, it would be fun to know how […]
Tag Archives | nixon
Old Coins Taught Me to Never Trust the Government
Mises Institute, July 2, 2020 How Collecting Old Coins Taught Me to Never Trust the Government by James Bovard Old coins vaccinated me against trusting politicians long before I grew my first scruffy beard. I began collecting coins when I was eight years old in 1965, the year President Lyndon Johnson began eliminating all the […]
50 Years of Unhinged Presidential Televised Warmongering
Libertarian Institute, May 4, 2020 50 Years Of Unhinged, Televised Presidential Warmongering by Jim Bovard Fifty years ago, President Richard Nixon popped up on national television on a Thursday night to proudly announce that he invaded Cambodia. At that time, Nixon was selling himself as a peacemaker, promising to withdraw U.S. troops from the Vietnam […]
USA TODAY: Another FBI FISA Fiasco Proves Need for Radical Reform
usatoday.com, December 10, 2019 Inspector General report on FBI’s FISA abuse tells us one thing: We need radical reform. by James Bovard In a bombshell report yesterday, the Justice Department Inspector General found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation made “fundamental errors” and persistently deceived a secret court to authorize surveilling a 2016 Trump presidential […]
Seymour Hersh and the Decline of Knockdown Journalism
The American Conservative Seymour Hersh and the Disappearing Iconoclast He won a Pulitzer for My Lai and cracked Abu Ghraib wide open. But this reporter is still a lonely breed. By James Bovard • August 17, 2018 Journalist Seymour Hersh in 2009. Credit: Institute for Policy Studies/Flickr Seymour Hersh, Reporter: A Memoir, Sy Hersh. Knopf, June […]
FFF: Pro-War Media Deserve Criticism, Not Sainthood
Future of Freedom Foundation The Pro-War Media Deserve Criticism, Not Sainthood by James Bovard June 20, 2018 The media nowadays are busy congratulating themselves for their vigorous criticism of Donald Trump. To exploit that surge of sanctimony, Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg rushed out The Post, a movie depicting an epic press battle with the Nixon […]
The Hill: Hollywood hoopla ignores media’s history of servility
The Hill, March 2, 2018 Hollywood hoopla ignores media’s history of servility by James Bovard Much of the media nowadays is portraying itself as heroes of the #Resist Trump movement. To exploit that meme, Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg rushed out “The Post,” a movie depicting an epic press battle with the Nixon administration. But regardless […]