This is the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and America continues to suffer from the political exploitation of that day. When Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evil came out in 2003, many people condemned that book as alarmist. The final sentence of the first chapter […]
Tag Archives | torture
Wash. Times: Saving ObamaCare with Supreme Hypocrisy?
Washington Times, March 12, 2015 Saving Obamacare with supreme hypocrisy By James Bovard – March 12, 2015 Justices fret over coercing states while endlessly menacing individuals At last week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, several justices questioned whether a verdict against Obamacare would be “unconstitutionally coercive” to state governments that did […]
Senate Torture Report – My Initial Two Cents+
I have not finished reading the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture. Following are some of my initial thoughts via Twitter @jimbovard – #TortureReport CIA interrogators often did not speak the language of detainees so they compensated by beating hell out of them — James Bovard (@JimBovard) December 11, 2014 #TortureReport With all the […]
Torture Deja Vu: Congress Covered up Torture 8 Years Ago
It is good that Americans are finally learning some of the details of the CIA torture regime thanks to the Senate Intelligence Committee report. But were the most shocking details redacted? Will we ever know? Following is a piece I wrote 8 years ago after Congress enacted the Military Commissions Act which effectively retroactively legalized […]
9/11 Commission: 10th Anniversary of a Bootlicking National Disgrace
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 […]
How Should We Baptize Politicians?
Sarah Palin declared last weekend that “waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists.” Her remark has justifiably been condemned far and wide. But how should we baptize politicians? If suspected terrorists deserve to be tortured, what should we do with a class of people who perennially ravage our rights and liberties? [image from www.EmpowerTexans.com]
My 2007 FFF Speech Transcript: Foreign Warring vs. American Freedom
Here is the transcript from my speech on “How Foreign Warring Subverts Freedom at Home” from the June 2007 The Future of Freedom Foundation conference on Restoring the Republic. This has lots of remarks about the NSA scandal, torture, the suspension of habeas corpus, and other cheerful topics. There were some excellent questions after the speech […]