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 […]
Michael Griffith has just posted an excellent analysis and survey of the role of tariff conflicts in paving the path to the American Civil War: The Tariff and Secession: Statements on the Tariff as a Major Factor in Sectional Strife and Southern Secession http://www.mtgriffith.com/web_documents/tariffandsecession.htm : Northern and Southern leaders began arguing over the tariff almost as […]
WALL STREET JOURNAL, July 26, 2014 Violence, Chaos and the Expansion of Government Power in 1864 Gen. Grant’s order to turn the Shenandoah Valley into a ‘desert’ signaled an unsettling new chapter in the Civil War. By James Bovard During the second weekend of July, Washington, D.C., celebrated the repulse of Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s […]
UPDATE: Counterpunch reposted this essay on June 26 and LewRockwell.com posted it on the 28th. Reason.com’s J.D. Tuccille discussed the piece in an article on the Hit & Run blog, and a couple folks at LewRockwell.com blog kindly gave it a plug. EconomicPolicyJournal also posted a big chunk of it. I appreciate all the comments and the bevy […]
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 […]
I blogged a few weeks ago about the tribute gathering for the 80th birthday of Jon Utley, the publisher of American Conservative and one of the most dedicated and principled pro-freedom and antiwar activists in the nation. The Committee for the Republic and the Empire Salon have now placed online the video from that event. There […]
On this day in 1973, all federal charges were dismissed against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers release. Most whistleblowers have not been as lucky since Obama took power. Here’s a piece I wrote in 2008 that was spurred by Ellsberg’s excellent memoir: COUNTERPUNCH, July 24, 2008 Leaking Crimes of State: Daniel Ellsberg’s Lessons for […]
