USA TODAY, December 17, 2015 BUDGET BILL LEAVES NO BOONDOGGLE BEHIND by James Bovard Republican congressional leaders are like a football coach who believes the secret to winning is to punt early and often. House Speaker Paul Ryan and others are claiming victory over the 2,000-plus page appropriations bill, but this is a “no boondoggle left […]
Tag Archives | Wiretapping
Wash. Times: Obama’s Freedom & Fear Farce
Washington Times, December 10, 2015 Talking freedom but practicing fear by James Bovard The president employs scare tactics to diminish liberties The most memorable line in President Obama’s Oval Office Sunday speech was his declaration that “freedom is more powerful than fear.” That epigram might have made John F. Kennedy’s speechwriters beam. But it is […]
My Playboy Greatest Hits
So Playboy is becoming proudly birthday-suit free. Lots of jokes this week about how guys will now be able to honestly say “I only read it for the articles.” From 1994 through 2002, I wrote a bunch of pieces for Playboy on No-Knock Raids, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Janet Reno, IRS, Surveillance, Pork Barrel Prisons, the […]
FFF: Supreme Court’s Dreadful Record on Constitutional Rights
The Future of Freedom Foundation posted online today the following article from the June issue of the Future of Freedom – The Supreme Court’s Dreadful Record on Constitutional Rights by James Bovard The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legality of the Affordable Care Act this past March. Several justices questioned whether a ruling […]
Barrons: Supreme Neglect of Liberty at Highest Court
BARRON’S, September 21, 2015 Supreme Neglect of Liberty at the High Court By James Bovard Author James Bovard writes how America’s highest court has turned a blind eye to fundamental rights. In its recent landmark decision on gay marriage, five Supreme Court justices proclaimed that “the Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach…to […]
9/11 and the Triumph of Leviathan
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 […]
Ruby Ridge 23rd Anniv. of Federal Killings
Federal killings at Ruby Ridge, Idaho began 23 years ago today. Below are some articles I wrote on this case in 1995. Also included is the counterattack on my Wall Street Journal piece from FBI director Louis Freeh, who claimed that I “grossly mischaracterized” the details of the FBI’s killing of Vicki Weaver. I wonder how much […]