{"id":12249,"date":"2018-07-03T11:05:02","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=12249"},"modified":"2018-07-03T11:05:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:05:03","slug":"my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On July 4 twenty-two years ago, I riled up folks at the Libertarian National Convention.\u00a0 I talked about the EEOC’s war on Hooters, House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s pig paranoia,\u00a0zoning idiocy, and\u00a0other boondoggles.\u00a0Commenting on a recent idiotic asset forfeiture decision, I noted, “The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court did not explain the equivalency of piracy in the 1820s and oral sex in the 1990s.”\u00a0 I noted that\u00a0nothing could “justify granting federal agents the power to seize your house, strip mine you paycheck, grab your guns, trespass on your land, stop you from getting life-saving medicines, and shut down the Internet.”<\/p>\n

After recapping Waco and Ruby Ridge and calling for the death sentence for the Oklahoma City bombers, I concluded: \u201cThere is nothing that Timothy McVeigh or others could have done that would\u00a0 ex post facto validate what the federal government did at Waco…. It’s important for critics of government to act responsibly, but it’s important for the government to keep one thing in mind, and that is we will not be silenced<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CSPAN video of the speech is online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

FDCH Political Transcripts July 4, 1996, Thursday<\/p>\n

TYPE: NEWS EVENT<\/p>\n

HEADLINE: LIBERTARIAN PARTY MEMBER DELIVERS REMARKS AT THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
\nPRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CONVENTION<\/p>\n

SPEAKER: JAMES BOVARD, AUTHOR<\/p>\n

LOCATION: WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/p>\n

FDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

BOVARD: (AUDIO GAP) …and the whole attitude towards government
\nin this country has been — much of the media has been part of the
\ntrouble because — well, for example, The Washington Post had a
\nseries recently of articles — a series of article on how people think
\nabout government. Now, there are some newspapers that do series — do
\ninvestigations on why it is that the people believe in witches, or<\/p>\n

trust in goblins, or things like that. What The Washington Post tried
\nto investigate is why is it that people don’t trust government.<\/p>\n

And it was a pretty good series. But there was a sense of wonder
\nthroughout it that the — wonder by the journalists, that so many
\npeople would think the government wastes their money, or lies to them,
\nor is a threat to their basic rights and freedoms. The series, I
\nthink, documented how badly informed most Americans are about their
\ngovernment. But one thing that the journalists found absolutely
\nimpossible to explain was the fact that the most informed citizens are
\nthose who distrust the government most. This is the kind of problem
\nthat we wouldn’t have if more people read The Washington Post. The
\npeople would understand the good things that the government does.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

You know, it’s interesting. Props for speakers are becoming all
\nthe rage now, especially in Washington. Speaker Newt Gingrich went on
\nJay Leno’s show a few weeks ago, and Mr. Gingrich to prove that he
\ncared and was compassionate, he showed up with a baby pig, to show
\nthat he loved animals and cared about the environment and stuff like
\nthat. My impression is that Mr. Gingrich might find pigs more
\nattractive now than some of the ideas and principles he championed
\nlast year.<\/p>\n

But the show didn’t turn out so well because the pig kept
\nsquealing, and the reason was that Gingich was holding it at arm’s
\nlength. And Gingrich was apparently afraid the pig would do to him
\nwhat Congress does to the American people.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

Since Gingrich showed compassion with the pig, I was thinking of
\ncoming and showing my compassion with pork barbecue sandwich, but I
\ncouldn’t find one this early in day, so.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Politicians have concentrated vast power in the federal
\ngovernment based on the notion that the government is a great
\nbenefactor. However, in reality, government is simply a pious fraud.
\nA clear understanding of what government is is important for the
\ndefense of individual freedom. I want to talk about a few areas where
\nthe nature of government power becomes very clear. The first of these
\nis asset forfeiture.<\/p>\n

Private property marks the boundary between the citizen and the
\nstate. John Locke, a writer who had great influence with the founding
\nfathers, wrote that if someone can come in and seize part of his
\nproperty, then a man has no property rights at all because property
\nhas to be inviable or it’s not property.<\/p>\n

One of the most radical changes in the lives of the American
\npeople in the last decade has been the proliferation of asset
\nforfeiture laws. Federal agents have confiscated over $4 billion in
\ncars, boats, houses, and cash, and other property in the last 10
\nyears. In most cases, with no proof of criminal wrongdoing by the
\ncitizen.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have had their property seized
\nthanks to these forfeiture laws.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: Asset forfeiture is one of the most important issues
\nbecause the government has no burden of proof. The government can
\ncome in, and based on hearsay evidence — or gossip, rumor, whatever
\n— come in and grab a person’s property. And the person has to sue
\nthe government in court to prove that he’s innocent and to get his
\nproperty back.<\/p>\n

Not only that, the person has to post a 10 percent bond to cover
\nthe government’s cost in trying to keep — the government’s legal cost
\n— in the court fight. It’s a real balanced, level playing field.<\/p>\n

The federal agents can seize property over a hundred different
\nstatutes right now. A few examples: In Georgia, the FBI seized three
\nMercedes Benzes from a businesswoman. The reason was, it claimed her
\nhusband had used the car phone in the Mercedes Benz to place a few
\nsports bets, which were illegal. That was the only nexus that they
\nneeded to seize that car, or seize those cars.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

A central Florida police department launched a program to
\nautomatically seize the cash of anyone police considered suspicious,
\nand who had more than $100 in their pockets. Naturally, the police
\ntended to target blacks and Hispanics because they look suspicious to
\nthe police.<\/p>\n

In another Florida case, in Miami, federal attorney’s confiscated
\nthe $150,000 home of an elderly Cuban-American couple after the couple
\nwas convicted of holding weekly poker games for friends and relatives.
\nThe poker games had some gambling, some small gambling. It wasn’t
\nlegal. So the government stole their house.<\/p>\n

In Pittsburgh, federal prosecutors last year devastated Jane Ward
\nafter she had fully cooperated with them in testifying to try to help
\nthem solve the murder of her husband, John Ward. Prosecutors decided
\nthat John Ward had been a drug dealer and that all of his previous
\nincome was drug profits, even though Jane Ward had her own business
\nand had proof that she had valid noncriminal income.<\/p>\n

The feds proceeded to confiscate almost all of the widow’s
\nassets. Federal officials arrived with a truck at the Ward’s home and
\ncarted off all the family’s furniture. Prosecutors even sought to
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

grab the proceeds of the husband’s life insurance. Jane Ward and her
\nthree children were forced to go one welfare. That’s how asset
\nforfeiture works in actual practice.<\/p>\n

But the amusing — the amazing thing is that, as these abuses
\nhave become better known, they’ve kept on growing. Politicians have
\ntalked about changing them. Nothing has happened. And it’s — as the<\/p>\n

laws become more sweeping, the less effort police are making to
\nactually prove that they’re seizing the property of a guilty person.<\/p>\n

For instance, last January, a mayor of a Utah town announce that
\npolice officers would permitted to personally keep up to 25 percent of
\nall the property or cash they confiscated from suspected drug dealers.<\/p>\n

I mean, is it possible to have a worse incentive for law
\nenforcement? I mean, these are the kind of programs that turn the
\npolice into public enemies.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: Certainly not all police are public enemies, but it’d be
\ndifficult to create a set of incentives that was better crafted to do
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

that.<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

The — there was a case recently heard by the Supreme Court, a
\nlandmark case in forfeiture. This case involved John Bennis, a man
\nwho had picked up a lady of the night off a Detroit street. Police
\nswooped down upon the two of them, there in his car, as she was, in
\nthe words of The New York Times, “performing a sex act on him.”<\/p>\n

I wasn’t quite sure what the Times meant, but anyhow. The co-
\nowner of the Pontiac that he was driving was one Tina Bennis, John’s
\nwife. She was outraged that the government — city government —
\nconfiscated the car, even though she had no guilt or no role in her
\nhusband’s decision to stop on the way home from work to pick up a
\nprostitute.<\/p>\n

This case went through the courts, and on March 4th, the Supreme
\nCourt shocked almost everybody by endorsing the seizure. The chief
\njustice, Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion, and he based his ruling
\nheavily on an 1827 case, which involved the seizure of a Spanish
\npirate ship that had attacked U.S. ships.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

The chief justice did not explain the legal equivalence between
\npiracy in the 1820’s and oral sex in 1990s, but apparently, he didn’t
\nhave to. Justice Stevens issued a dissent that vividly portrayed how
\nmuch arbitrary power the government has gained from this decision. He
\nsaid, for centuries, prostitutes have plied their trade on other
\npeople’s property in palaces, hotels, cruise ships, and to sign off on
\nthis forfeiture thing simply because of a single act of prostitution
\ngreatly increased government power to seize all types of property.<\/p>\n

And importantly, the Supreme Court’s decision also proposed a
\nserious threat to public safety. Justice Stevens noted, if the
\nhusband had taken advantage of the car’s power of movement by picking
\nup the prostitute and keeping on driving, presumably the car would not
\nhave been forfeitable at all.<\/p>\n

Now, what sort of incentive system do we have here? People are
\nworried about people that drive along and talk on the cell phones?<\/p>\n

Well, this is far more dangerous. And to have a Supreme Court
\njustice note this, I guess, that they just didn’t care about public
\nsafety.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

And not only was it an issue of prostitution. The thing that
\nBennis was convicted on was not hiring a prostitute, but gross
\nindecency, since he had not paid the prostitute by the time the police
\nhad arrived. Because of that, this is the kind of statute that can
\njustify the police seizing cars from any overheated teenagers on
\nLover’s Lane. This is the kind of thing that might make a few parents
\nstop and say, now, wait a minute. Maybe it’s not such a good law.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the court decided another forfeiture case a few
\nweeks ago. And this time the chief justice based his decision on the
\ndoctrine that forfeiture is justified because of the “fiction” that
\nthe government is suing the property itself, not the property owner.<\/p>\n

And since a mere piece of property can have no rights. What’s
\nnot to like. I mean, this is a fiction that goes back at least 800
\nyears.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: But it was apparently fresh enough for a majority of the
\nSupreme Court Justices to sign off on one more time, as we get closer
\nto another century.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this is the same caliber of fiction that we have,
\nlike the fiction the Supreme Court is going to stand up for the Bill
\nof Rights and protect Americans from arbitrary government.<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

A second area I want to talk about that shows the nature of
\ngovernment power is zoning. If a person wants to use his own land,
\nnowadays you have to beg, bribe and grovel to the nearest bureaucrat.
\nA man’s home is his castle, except if a politician covets the land the
\nhouse is built on, or if his house is more than 50 years old, or if he
\nhas too many relatives living with him, or if it’s painted the wrong
\ncolor, or if he wants to add a porch or a deck.<\/p>\n

Modern zoning laws presume that no citizen has a right to control
\nhis own land, and that every person has a right to control his
\nneighbor’s land. Zoning laws have become far more invasive and
\nrestrictive. Several cities have banned pickup trucks from the
\nstreets — even from private driveways. This is known as snob zoning.<\/p>\n

Another case of that. Wellesley, Massachusetts, passed a zoning
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

law that limited homeowners that limited homeowners to only two live-
\nin servants. You know, I was thinking about moving to Wellesley, but
\nI said no. I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

Some California examples. In Los Angeles, a citizen could be
\nsent to jail for converting his garage into a playroom for his
\nchildren if he doesn’t have government permission.<\/p>\n

Pasadena, California, proposed banning residents from having any
\nweeds in their yards — a policy sometimes known as crab grass
\nfascism.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

And up in Boston, Boston bureaucrats invoking historic
\npreservation regulations banned a Catholic church from altering the
\nlighting, windows and a painting of the assumption of the Virgin Mary
\ninside the church. The bureaucrats decreed that the interior of the
\nchurch has major aesthetic importance, independent of its symbolism
\nfor the Catholic church. And thus the bureaucrats proclaimed
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

themselves to be Pope, and tried to tell the church how it had to
\nstructure its worship area.<\/p>\n

This is a case that was finally overturned after several years of
\ncourt battles, but other historic preservation councils are doing the
\nsame thing around the country.<\/p>\n

The essence of zoning is a shotgun behind the door — a pending
\ncall to police to drag someone away in handcuffs, and bulldoze their
\nhome. This happens. It’s happened in upstate New York. It’s
\nhappened elsewhere.<\/p>\n

There was a case in New York City in 1985. It gave a company
\npermission to build a 31-story apartment building. Once the building
\nwas already up, the City announced its officials had misread their own
\nzoning maps, a demanded that the company slash 12 stories off its
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n

And what happened was the developer had to spend $1 million to
\npay for a 7,000-pound robot to smash down the extra floors, one by
\none.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s just me, but that seemed wasteful.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

You know, I think it would have been a good compromise if they
\nput a couple of officials from the zoning commission on each floor,
\nand then knocked the floor down. That’s a compromise.<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

Another symbol of government coercion I want to talk about is
\naffirmative action. Politicians and bureaucrats are jamming racial
\nand gender preferences down the throats of American businesses, and
\nthereby wrongfully thwarting the lives and the freedom of millions of
\nAmericans.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: Seeking the best person for the job has gone from being
\npart of the American heritage to being a federal crime.<\/p>\n

A couple cases that illustrate this. The Equal Employment
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Opportunity Commission torpedoed a small metal forming shop in Chicago
\nbecause it believed the company had hired too many Hispanics and
\nPolish immigrants and not enough blacks. The EEOC hounded this
\ncompany for nine years, even though it could not produce a single
\nBlack person who had actually applied for a job at a time when the
\ncompany was actually hiring.<\/p>\n

As the settlement, the court settlement, the EEOC forced the
\ncompany to run advertisements in Chicago newspapers inviting blacks to
\nfile claims for compensation even if they never applied for a job with
\nthe company, they were still entitled. Four hundred and fifty-one
\npeople filed claims for part of the settlement.<\/p>\n

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission certified each one as
\neligible and deserving, even though several of the people had actually
\nbeen in prison at the time of the hiring dispute. It’s very difficult
\nto apply for a job from federal prison and take the job, you know,
\nbecause most wardens don’t let people leave when they get a job
\noutside, but it was good enough for the EEOC.<\/p>\n

You know, another example of the EEOC’s action on sex
\ndiscrimination, the Hooter’s case. Hooter’s was not willing to hire
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

male waiters. The EEOC demanded that Hooter’s impose a hiring quota
\nguaranteeing at least 40 percent of its waiters would be male. The
\nEEOC also claimed that Hooter’s owed $22 million in back pay to guys
\nwho never worked there because it supposedly violated these guys’
\ncivil rights. And best of all, the EEOC has insisted that Hooter’s —
\nhas insisted that the restaurant chain modify the concept of Hooter’s
\nand make it gender neutral.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

They have some good visions over there at the EEOC.<\/p>\n

Now, on a more serious note, there is an old saying that in a
\nfree society government fears the people; in an unfree society people
\nfear the government. That’s why it’s important to say a few words
\nabout Ruby Ridge. I apologize if some of this seems old hat, but for
\nthe 97 million people watching C-SPAN, maybe some of it’s somewhat
\nfresh for some of them.<\/p>\n

The Ruby Ridge fiasco began when the Alcohol, Tobacco and
\nFirearms agent arranged to have a confidential informant set Randy
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Weaver up to sell sawed-off shotguns, thereby violating federal
\nfirearms law.<\/p>\n

Weaver lived with his wife and four children in an isolated cabin
\non 20 acres in the Idaho mountains. Weaver was a white separatist.
\nWeaver did not favor violence against blacks or any other race, but
\nmerely believed that the races should live separately.<\/p>\n

Because of his odd beliefs, he was targeted by the federal
\ngovernment for a sting operation. The first time he was approached,
\nhe refused. The agent was persistent and he eventually succumbed.
\nAnd once he was indicted he was sent the wrong date to show up for
\ncourt, and since he didn’t show up the government went into overdrive
\non that.<\/p>\n

Federal agents launched an elaborate 18 month surveillance of
\nWeaver’s cabin and land.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: David Nevin, a lawyer involved in the subsequent court
\ncase noted, the U.S. marshals called in military air reconnaissance
\nand had photos studied by the Pentagon Mapping Agency. They had
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

psychological profiles performed and installed $130,000-worth of
\nsolar-powered, long-range spy cameras. They intercepted the Weaver’s
\nmail; they even knew the menstrual cycle of Weaver’s teenager daughter
\nand planned and arrest around that.<\/p>\n

I mean, this is because of a sale of two sawed-off shotguns. On
\nAugust 21, 1992, six U.S. marshals snuck onto Weaver’s property,
\noutfitted in full camouflage and ski masks and carrying submachine
\nguns. Three agents circled close to the cabin and threw rocks at the
\ncabin in order to get the attention of Weaver’s dogs.<\/p>\n

Once the dogs started to bark, Weaver’s 14-year old son, Sammy,
\nand Kevin Harris, a 25-year old family friend ran to see what the dogs
\nwere upset by. At this point, three U.S. marshals took off, running
\nthrough the woods, followed by one dog. Now, the marshals later
\nclaimed that they had been ambushed by the Weavers, that they were
\nambushed out of the blue and never suspected anything.<\/p>\n

However, according to a confidential report by the Justice
\nDepartment, which the Justice Department has still not made public,
\nbut it’s gotten out anyhow, according to that report, the marshals
\nchose to stop running and take a stand behind stumps of trees.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

According to the report, the marshals’ leader, Larry Cooper, told the
\nothers that it was bullshit for them to keep on running and that he
\ndid not want to run down the trail and get shot in the back. He urged
\nthem to take up positions. The marshals had the advantage of
\nsurprise, camouflage and vastly more firepower than the 14-year old
\nboy and Kevin Harris.<\/p>\n

Once Kevin Harris and the boy came up where the marshals were,
\nMarshal Arthur Roderick apparently panicked and shot and killed Sammy
\nWeaver’s dog. Sammy Weaver fired his gun in the direction from where
\nthe shots came from. Randy Weaver came out of his cabin and called
\nfor his son to come back.<\/p>\n

His son answered, I’m coming, dad, and was running back to the
\ncabin when a federal marshal shot him in the back and killed him.
\nKevin Harris responded to the killing of Sammy by firing in self-
\ndefense and apparently killing a U.S. marshal. Federal agents
\ntestified in court that the U.S. marshal had been killed by the first
\nshot of the exchange. But evidence later proved that the marshal had
\nfired seven shots from his gun during the exchange before he was shot.<\/p>\n

Now, as soon as the marshal was killed, the U.S. government went
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

into a frenzy. The chief of the FBI hostage rescue team was called in
\nand orders were given to shoot to kill any armed adult male outside
\nthe Weaver cabin. It didn’t matter if the person was doing anything
\nto threaten the federal agents or pose any kind of direct threat to
\nanybody. The person was to be shot on sight, basically.<\/p>\n

That’s an interesting set of rules of engagement because it was
\neasier for the FBI snipers to get permission to kill Randy Weaver, to
\ntry to kill him, than to shoot his dog. Because, for killing the dog,
\nthe dog had to pose a threat. But Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris
\ndidn’t have to pose a threat. If — And the federal agents knew that
\nthe Weavers almost always carried guns when they were outside the
\ncabin.<\/p>\n

Within a few hours, 400 government agents swarmed around the
\nmountains outside that cabin. And, here again, this is a case that
\ninvolved the sale of two sawed-off shotguns. On the following day,
\nRandy Weaver walked from his cabin to the little shack where his son’s
\nbody lay to say one last goodbye to his boy. As Weaver was lifting
\nthe latch on the shack’s door, he was shot from behind by FBI sniper,
\nLon Horiuchi.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

Now, FBI Director Louis Freeh claims that Horiuchi shot Weaver
\nbecause he saw Weaver aiming at a government helicopter. But Horiuchi
\ntestified in court, federal court in Idaho that he never even saw
\nWeaver holding a rifle before he tried to kill him. But the FBI has
\nimposed no penalties or no sanctions or no reprimands on Lon Horiuchi.<\/p>\n

As Randy Weaver, after he’d been shot, struggled back to the
\ncabin, his wife, Vicki, stood in the doorway holding a ten-month old
\nbaby in her arms and calling for her husband to hurry.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: The FBI sniper, Horiuchi, fired again hit Vicki Weaver
\nin the head and killed her almost instantly. The bullet that killed
\nher passed through her and then hit Kevin Harris.<\/p>\n

Once the FBI sniper had killed or wounded all the adults there in
\nthat Idaho cabin, the FBI decided it was time to send an emissary to
\nthe cabin and call for the survivors’ surrender. It’s — I think that
\nthe official plan of action called for the call for surrender to
\nhappen before they started shooting but, you know, details.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

What happened next was an FBI robot rambled up to about 15 feet
\nfrom the cabin door and broadcast a call for Weaver to come out and
\npick up a phone in one of the robot’s arms and talk to the FBI. The
\nFBI kept insisting that he had to come out, pick up the phone and talk
\nto them.<\/p>\n

During the following days of the siege, the FBI’s press spokesman
\ncomplained that Weaver was unreasonably refusing to talk to the
\ngovernment via that telephone held by the robot. What the FBI didn’t
\ntell people at that time was that in the robot’s other arm was a 12-
\ngauge shotgun pointed right at the cabin door.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

Perhaps, this is the FBI’s concept of a good neighbor policy,
\nbut, you know, you go and shoot somebody in the back, you kill his
\nwife and then you put a robot with a shotgun at his door, and says, he
\nwon’t talk to us. What’s wrong with him?<\/p>\n

Weaver eventually surrendered and was taken into custody. In
\n1993, an Idaho jury found Weaver innocent of almost all charges and
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

ruled that Kevin Harris’ shooting of a U.S. marshal was self-defense.
\nFederal Judge Lodge issued a lengthy list detailing the Justice
\nDepartment misconduct, fabrication of evidence and refusal to obey
\ncourt orders. Judge Lodge was famous as a law-and-order type
\nconservative. But, in this case, even he was shocked at what the
\nfederal government had done.<\/p>\n

Now, Senator Specter, here in Washington, fought long and hard to
\nget hearings on Ruby Ridge. Senator Orrin Hatch, who was the chairman
\nof the committee that would have to authorize the committee, fought
\nlong and hard to block those hearings. Senator Hatch even went on
\nradio and said that Lon Horiuchi, the sniper who killed Vicki Weaver
\nwas an American hero.<\/p>\n

Senator Hatch also insisted that any hearings that did occur had
\nto be structured to boost public confidence in government.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

This is a real tricky one, you know, when you’ve got all these —
\nyou know, when there are dead bodies and the government lieing left
\nand right.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

The Senate finally held hearings and the most surprising news
\nthat came out of that was that the U.S. marshals came before the
\nSenate and announced that Randy Weaver had somehow shot his own son.
\nThis was a bizarre new theory. The government had never offered it in
\ncourt. It took people’s breath away.<\/p>\n

It was especially tricky since Sammy Weaver was shot as he was
\nrunning in the direction of his father, shot in that back, and that
\nWeaver was far away from the scene of the death and was located in
\nfront of him at a higher elevation and the bullet had an upward slant
\nin the boy’s back.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: Now, the only plausible theory which would explain that
\nwas that Randy Weaver used one of those Roger Rabbit bullets that goes
\nup and down and around trees and circles around. I mean this was the
\ncaliber of the testimony that the U.S. marshals gave to the U.S.
\nSenate. And no one from the Senate busted their chops.<\/p>\n

You know, this is a case that you think has finally gone away,
\nbut it keeps rising from its grave like a Frankenstein monster. A
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

couple months ago, on March 1, the U.S. Marshals Service gave its
\nhighest award for valor to the five surviving U.S. marshals involved
\nat Ruby Ridge. And the valor awards were given to Cooper that shot
\nthe boy in the back and to Roderick that started the fire fight by
\nshooting the dog.<\/p>\n

Marshals got the award, according to the Marshals Service
\ndirector, “for their exceptional courage, their sound judgment in the
\nface of attack, and their high degree of professional competence
\nduring this incident.” The Marshals director said that all the men
\nwere heroes.<\/p>\n

You know, it’s bizarre to see the Marshals Service doing this,
\nthe U.S. Justice Department doing this after there have been a lot of
\nallegations that these guys perjured themselves before the U.S.
\nSenate, once their testimony before the federal court in Idaho fell to
\npieces in about four or five different places, and yet these guys are
\nstill heroes in the eyes of federal law enforcement.<\/p>\n

I want to say a few quick words on Waco, it’s also a very
\nimportant case. There was one comment that summarized how the federal
\ngovernment thought about Waco. Last year, when Attorney General Reno
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

testified before the House, she was asked why she sent 54 ton tanks,
\nsmashed into a compound that she knew was occupied by women and
\nchildren, why she’d used the military against American civilians.
\nAttorney General Reno replied that she did not think of the tanks as
\nbeing military vehicles, instead she thought of them as being good
\nrent-a-cars.<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

You know, this is the kind of comment that should have created
\nnational outrage. I mean, you know, the government’s using that
\ndeadly force and it’s absolutely bizarre that attorney general would
\nsay something like that, but perhaps the Justice Department had taken
\nthe damage waiver and wasn’t worrying about a few scratches or blood
\nstains on the tanks, I don’t know.<\/p>\n

But it’s a symbol of how complacent and compliant most of the
\nnational media is that there was no outrage against Janet Reno for
\nmaking her comparison of tanks to good rent-a-cars. I mean it’s there
\nin the official testimony, it’s there on Nexus, it’s there in one or
\ntwo newspaper editorials, but otherwise it didn’t exist.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

I want to make a few quick comments to wrap up here on how the
\nmedia portrays supposedly anti-government citizens.<\/p>\n

During the long standoff with the so-called Freemen in Montana,
\nmuch of the media sought to portray the Freemen as typical of people
\nwho distrust the government or who favor slashing federal power.<\/p>\n

BOVARD: Now, it turns out that the chief of these Freemen just
\nhappened to be a disgruntled farmer who had received and defaulted on
\n$2 million in federal Farmers Home Administration loans. You know,
\nI’d like to know how many people in this audience have defaulted on $2
\nmillion in federal loans, is that why you’re here?<\/p>\n

(LAUGHTER)<\/p>\n

I mean but it seems close enough for the media.<\/p>\n

You know, once the Oklahoma City bombing happened last year, many
\nof the ideas like those presented at this conference became very
\nunfashionable. There was an amusing comment in National Review that
\nhad an editorial that cited my book “Lost Rights” in an editorial
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

stressing that conservatives must “take care about where to draw the
\nline in criticizing government.” You know, it’s unfortunate that some
\npeople don’t have the same concern about drawing the line for
\ngovernment violating the people’s rights.<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

Personally, I’m all in favor of the death penalty for the people
\nthat carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. There’s no excuse for
\nkilling innocent human beings in the name of any principle of
\npolitics. I mean that’s so basic.<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

Perhaps in the case of the media, we’ll try to draw analogies to
\nOklahoma City with. Yesterday, The New York Times reported that four<\/strong>
\nof the 12 people arrested so far in the Arizona conspiracy to bomb<\/strong>
\nfederal office buildings were members or supporters of the Libertarian<\/strong>
\nParty<\/strong>. I don’t know what the courts are going to find out in this
\ncase. We have to wait and see what the details are and how much
\nevidence there is on both sides.
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

But it’s important to recognize, no matter what the government
\nalleges or proves that a handful of disgruntled people in Arizona said
\nor did, that does not justify the excesses of federal power. That
\ndoes not justify granting federal agents the power to seize your<\/strong>
\nhouse, strip mine you paycheck, grab your guns, trespass on your land,<\/strong>
\nstop you from getting life-saving medicines, and shut down the<\/strong>
\nInternet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)<\/p>\n

There is nothing that Timothy McVeigh or others could have done
\nthat would somehow ex post facto validate what the federal government
\ndid at Waco. The crimes of private citizens cannot absolve the
\nprevious and future crimes of federal agents. It’s important for
\ncritics of government to act responsibly, but it’s important for the
\ngovernment to keep one thing in mind, and that is we will not be
\nsilenced.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

(APPLAUSE)
\nFDCH Political Transcripts, July 4, 1996<\/p>\n

END
\n.ETX<\/p>\n

Jul 05, 1996 13:58 ET
\n.EOF<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 4 twenty-two years ago, I riled up folks at the Libertarian National Convention.\u00a0 I talked about the EEOC’s war on Hooters, House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s pig paranoia,\u00a0zoning idiocy, and\u00a0other boondoggles.\u00a0Commenting on a recent idiotic asset forfeiture decision, I noted, “The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court did not explain the equivalency of piracy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[539,1067,1590,1591,1592,652,345,820,370],"class_list":["post-12249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-asset-forfeiture","tag-entrapment","tag-libertarian-party-convention","tag-oral-sex","tag-piracy","tag-ruby-ridge","tag-speech","tag-video","tag-zoning"],"yoast_head":"\nMy July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My July 4, 1996 hell-raising speech to the Libertarian Party Conv. on Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc. which concluded by warning: "We will not be silenced!"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My July 4, 1996 hell-raising speech to the Libertarian Party Conv. on Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc. which concluded by warning: "We will not be silenced!"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-03T15:05:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-03T15:05:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"619\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"435\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"27 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-03T15:05:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-03T15:05:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":5445,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"asset forfeiture\",\"entrapment\",\"Libertarian Party convention\",\"oral sex\",\"piracy\",\"Ruby Ridge\",\"Speech\",\"video\",\"zoning\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/\",\"name\":\"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-03T15:05:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-03T15:05:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"My July 4, 1996 hell-raising speech to the Libertarian Party Conv. on Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc. which concluded by warning: \\\"We will not be silenced!\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg\",\"width\":619,\"height\":435},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/03\\\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech - James Bovard","description":"My July 4, 1996 hell-raising speech to the Libertarian Party Conv. on Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc. which concluded by warning: \"We will not be silenced!\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech - James Bovard","og_description":"My July 4, 1996 hell-raising speech to the Libertarian Party Conv. on Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc. which concluded by warning: \"We will not be silenced!\"","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2018-07-03T15:05:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-07-03T15:05:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":619,"height":435,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"27 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech","datePublished":"2018-07-03T15:05:02+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-03T15:05:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/"},"wordCount":5445,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg","keywords":["asset forfeiture","entrapment","Libertarian Party convention","oral sex","piracy","Ruby Ridge","Speech","video","zoning"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/","name":"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-03T15:05:02+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-03T15:05:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"My July 4, 1996 hell-raising speech to the Libertarian Party Conv. on Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc. which concluded by warning: \"We will not be silenced!\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/jpb-c-span-screenshot-july-4-1996-libertarian-party-speech.jpg","width":619,"height":435},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/03\/my-july-4-1996-hell-raising-libertarian-convention-speech\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My July 4, 1996 Hell-Raising Libertarian Convention Speech"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12249"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12252,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12249\/revisions\/12252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}