Bestselling author Tom Woods and I had fun shellacking the Transportation Security Administration in a podcast he posted online today. Tom does some of the best and most thought-provoking podcasts on the Internet and I appreciated him having me on his show. The interview was spurred by a piece I did for USA Today after […]
Tag Archives | tyranny
Germany Should Release Courageous Al Jazeera Journalist Ahmed Mansour
The German government seized one of Al Jazeera’s best known and most courageous journalists, Ahmed Mansour, this weekend at the behest of the Egyptian government. Al Jazeera has done some of the best work of any media organization in the world exposing the abuses and oppression of the Egyptian government. It is appalling that a western […]

MP3 of Magna Carta Turkey Shoot on Scott Horton Show
Scott Horton and I had a rowdy chat on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta on his radio show. Everyone seems to have forgotten how King John tried to slaughter the barons after he promised to limit his power. Following is the nub of my comments in this interview: From the mid-1200s onwards, English kings were […]
King John Butchered Authors of Magna Charta
… or at least he tried to butcher them. On this day 800 years ago, King John was compelled to sign Magna Charta, formally accepting a limit to his prerogative to ravage everything in England. But the ink on his signature was barely dry before he brought in foreign forces and tried to wipe out […]
Mises Inst.: The Washington Intellectual Gravy Train
The Mises Institute’s “The Austrian” Newsletter The Washington Intellectual Gravy Train by James Bovard Intellectuals have long been glorified as champions of truth and defenders of society’s highest values. But in Washington, they serve as Leviathan‘s Praetorian Guard. Intellectuals are thriving in DC thanks in large part to the ruinous policy advice they proffer. The […]
FFF: Forgotten Civil War Atrocities Breed More Carnage
This is the 150th anniversary of General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Many commentators are touting Lee’s surrender as a triumph for freedom. While it was a great blessing that slavery ended, the Civil War set precedents for ignoring atrocities that continue to bedevil America. Here’s a piece from the January issue of The Future of […]

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 […]