American Conservative, December 18, 2020 Biden’s ‘Will of the People’ Malarkey Generations of presidents have cited “the will of the people” to legitimize power grabs. The Founding Fathers wouldn’t approve. by James Bovard In his cough-ridden victory speech Monday night, President-elect Joe Biden proclaimed again that “the will of the people prevailed” in the 2020 […]
Tag Archives | Supreme Court
Playboy: Ken Starr’s Greatest Hits Against the Constitution
President Trump added former Special Counsel Ken Starr to his legal team for his Senate impeachment trial. Starr is idolized by some conservatives but when he was Solicitor General for President George H.W. Bush, he championed some of the worst civil liberties abuses in modern times. Here’s my 1999 Playboy piece on his forgotten record. […]
The Sham of Government Secrecy
The Sham of Government Secrecy by James Bovard The Supreme Court in June ruled that the federal government can keep secret the food-stamp sales totals of grocery stores. By a 6 to 3 vote, the Court declared that such business records are exempt from disclosure under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This case, […]
Donald Trump and Abe Lincoln: Two of a Kind?
Mises Institute, July 3, 2019 Lincoln and Trump: Two of a Kind? by James Bovard President Trump has outraged legions of political opponents with his plan to give a Fourth of July speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A Washington Post columnist frets that Trump’s speech will leave a “stain” that “won’t ever […]
USA Today: Supreme Court Turns FOIA Into a Fraud
USA Today, June 27, 2019 The Supreme Court rewrote FOIA into the Freedom FROM Information Act by James Bovard, Opinion columnist This Supreme Court decision doesn’t help those on food stamps. All it does is protect the interests of the federal government and business. This week the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can keep secret […]
Ten Thousand Czars (1999)
Here’s a piece spun off from my 1999 book, Freedom in Chains. In 2007, New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich was writing a piece on czars, called me up and asked if I was still a libertarian. I burst out laughing – but his question was understandable inside the Beltway. From his article: “‘I don’t […]
Supreme Court: The Dog That Didn’t Bark
Mises Institute, September 26, 2018 The Supreme Court: The Dog that Didn’t Bark by James Bovard The furor over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh is spurring many commentators to bewail that the Supreme Court has become too powerful. But the real problem is that the Court is now often little more than a fig leaf […]