Some folks responded to my recent article on Sheridan’s 1864 atrocities in the Shenandoah Valley by denying that there was any systemic effort to downplay or bury U.S. military atrocities. The New York Times reports today that the Pentagon’s effort to whitewash the Vietnam War’s 50th anniversary events are sparking controversy: The website’s “interactive timeline” […]
Tag Archives | nixon
Obama Reincarnates Nixon in Hustling a “Used War”
I recall how my liberal friends assured me in 2008 that Obama would launch a brave new era in American politics. As Obama unleashes the bombs on Iraq and on Syria, we are back to the same pointless killing that defined the George W. Bush administration. I hope that more of the folks who courageously […]
Obama Bombs Iraq to Mark Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Anniversary
This week is the 50th anniversary of the infamous Gulf of Tonkin anniversary. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and President Johnson conned Congress into giving a blank check for war. Politicians have been lying the nation into war ever since (and before, for that matter). President Obama yesterday announced that he was ordering bombing attacks […]
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 Rollicking Interview with Mises Institute President Jeff Deist
I had a lively chat yesterday with Mises Institute President Jeff Deist regarding Hayek, Mencken, Washington venality, the Great Books, that bastard Nixon, and some of my muckraking over the past decades. I was not aware that folks had considered me a unicorn – I’m more accustomed to being compared to weasels or guttersnipes. Their interview description refers […]
Counterpunch: No Cure for IRS’s Perpetual Political Outrages
COUNTERPUNCH, January 7, 2014 How the Tax Code is Used to Suppress Political Opponents Is There No Cure for the IRS’s Perpetual Political Outrages? by JAMES BOVARD The power to tax has long conferred the power to destroy one’s political opponents. When the latest IRS politicalization scandal erupted last May, many commentators talked as if […]
