{"id":22875,"date":"2026-07-04T11:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=22875"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:42:59","slug":"tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_22888\" style=\"width: 201px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TomBlanton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22888\" class=\"wp-image-22888 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TomBlanton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"191\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TomBlanton.jpg 191w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TomBlanton-112x150.jpg 112w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22888\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One of America&#8217;s top political satirists and funniest hellraisers passed away this week. <strong>Tom Blanton<\/strong> did one of the best daily roundups of government oppression and outrages stories on the Internet.\u00a0 His <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnar.org\">Project for a New American Revolution was<\/a><\/strong> an inspiration for me and thousands of other folks over the years.\u00a0 Tom was also one of the best and funniest headline writers I knew. He was principled, courageous, and talented as the day is long.<\/p>\n<p>Tom was mocking the Iran War even before Trump&#8217;s victory proclamations reached the double digits. Here&#8217;s an April 17 post on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/project2000\/55214287493\/in\/dateposted\/\"><strong>Flickr page:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22882\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/55214287493_4076337c19_c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22882\" class=\"wp-image-22882\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/55214287493_4076337c19_c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/55214287493_4076337c19_c.jpg 800w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/55214287493_4076337c19_c-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/55214287493_4076337c19_c-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22882\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Tom&#8217;s artistic talent could add laughs to any topic.\u00a0 After I wrote in the <a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/22\/confessions-of-a-one-season-santa-wsj\/\">Wall Street Journal<\/a> about my experience working as a Santa Claus in Boston, Tom made a graphic themed to my favorite beer:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22876\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22876\" class=\"wp-image-22876\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/face3-less-red-santajim_edited-2blanton.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22876\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton Raging Bitch art<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Tom consistently exposed the Dark Side of warmongering that the media &amp; political elite ignore. In <a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/30\/memorial-day-remember-political-lies-that-caused-soldiers-to-die-2\/\"><strong>2011, Tom recommended<\/strong><\/a> a new way to celebrate Memorial Day:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It used to be that Memorial Day was to honor dead soldiers. In recent years, we are asked to also honor veterans (who already have a day) and active duty members of the armed services. This may be an indication that the politicians feel there aren\u2019t enough dead soldiers\u2026<\/p>\n<p>I think Memorial Day should simply be renamed Tombstone Day and people should decorate their yards with styrofoam tombstones like they do for Halloween. True-believers might even consider a few flag-draped coffins made of cardboard and maybe hanging dismembered arms and legs made of rubber from their trees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I commented that Blanton\u2019s proposal would provide a shot in the arm for party stores during the slow period between Valentine\u2019s Day and Halloween. And it would be a spark for conversations that were far more substantive than the usual flag waving.<\/p>\n<p>Tom never curtsied to police or to SWAT teams.\u00a0 In 2014, he created an updated version of one of my childhood favorites entitled CHALK LINE FEVER.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22886\" style=\"width: 384px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tom-blanton-police-shooting-artwork-14538867894_0ae292e8b0_b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22886\" class=\"wp-image-22886\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tom-blanton-police-shooting-artwork-14538867894_0ae292e8b0_b-534x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"374\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tom-blanton-police-shooting-artwork-14538867894_0ae292e8b0_b-534x800.jpg 534w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tom-blanton-police-shooting-artwork-14538867894_0ae292e8b0_b-100x150.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tom-blanton-police-shooting-artwork-14538867894_0ae292e8b0_b.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 374px) 100vw, 374px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22886\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When Wikileaks began exposing U.S. government crime waves around the world, politicians and agency chiefs rushed to hector people not to read about official crimes. <a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/07\/the-wikileaks-pledge-by-tom-blanton\/\"><strong>Tom in 2010<\/strong> <\/a>made the perfect art retort:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22877\" style=\"width: 437px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22877\" class=\"wp-image-22877 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"427\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg 427w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22877\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Tom was also an eagle-eyed cultural critic, such as a classic post on the mind control benefits of television:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22884\" style=\"width: 437px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5671138642_eb97bd2abe_z-tom-blanton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22884\" class=\"wp-image-22884 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5671138642_eb97bd2abe_z-tom-blanton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"427\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5671138642_eb97bd2abe_z-tom-blanton.jpg 427w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5671138642_eb97bd2abe_z-tom-blanton-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When I wrote about how TSA screeners and angry newspaper editors always gave me guff, Tom explained the problem: &#8220;I<em>t has come to my attention that many of these hostile editors may have you confused with <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnar.org\/bovard.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><em>Blind Sheik al-Bovard<\/em><\/span><\/a><em>. This guy was a piano player who penned a few hits in the 70\u2019s (Rock The Cash Bar, Sheik Ya Booty, and the classic Mini-Burka, No Panties) and is now trying to establish a global caliphate from his base in Freedonia.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22885\" style=\"width: 186px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blaton-bovard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22885\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22885\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blaton-bovard.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"176\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blaton-bovard.jpg 176w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blaton-bovard-106x150.jpg 106w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 176px) 100vw, 176px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22885\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton art<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In a 2006 blog post, I scoffed about the proper way to <a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/17\/celebrating-constitution-day-age-obama\/\">celebrate Constitution Day d<\/a>uring the President Bush&#8217;s fanatical war on terrorism. Tom had the best suggestion:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Real Americans should celebrate Constitution Day by doing their part to fight the war on terror in their own neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">First, identify that neighbor whom you suspect may pose a gathering threat. Things like facial hair, unusual schedules, and bringing in unknown materials in shopping bags are sure signs that something is up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Next, notify all the other neighbors that the suspect neighbor is a madman who is building bombs in his home to kill everyone in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Then, go to the suspect neighbor\u2019s house and ask to look around. If he resists or if he refuses to let you rip up the floors in his house, it is obvious that he must be hiding something.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Finally, wait until the suspect neighbors go to sleep, blow up their car, set their tool shed on fire, break out their windows, enter their home, tie them up, make them take off their clothes and put bags on their heads, play a Spinal Tap CD really loud, and interrogate the family until they admit to their evil plans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">In the event these people don\u2019t talk, drive them over to your cousin\u2019s house and tie them up in his garage and have him interrogate them from time to time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Meanwhile, be sure to report to your Neighborhood Association how you have made the neighborhood safe, but not completely safe.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Repeat the process with a new suspicious neighbor<\/p>\n<p>After he saw a piece I wrote about &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/06\/01\/will-treason-mania-destroy-america\/\"><strong>Treason Mania<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; in early 2021, Tom created this art to affirm my faith in elections:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22889\" style=\"width: 454px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-jpb-on-elections.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22889\" class=\"wp-image-22889\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-jpb-on-elections.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"444\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-jpb-on-elections.jpg 799w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-jpb-on-elections-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-jpb-on-elections-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 444px) 100vw, 444px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22889\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Tom had no patience for hypocrisy or carnage from either political party. His mockery of Obama&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/project2000\/6334326809\/sizes\/z\/in\/photostream\/\">Liberty Drones<\/a>&#8221; was 24 karat:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22880\" style=\"width: 436px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-liberty-drones.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22880\" class=\"wp-image-22880 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-liberty-drones.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"426\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-liberty-drones.jpg 426w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-liberty-drones-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 426px) 100vw, 426px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22880\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Blanton<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of America&#8217;s top political satirists and funniest hellraisers passed away this week. Tom Blanton did one of the best daily roundups of government oppression and outrages stories on the Internet.\u00a0 His Project for a New American Revolution was an inspiration for me and thousands of other folks over the years.\u00a0 Tom was also one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[781,512,74,38,4887,782,76,75],"class_list":["post-22875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-art","tag-humor-2","tag-memorial-day","tag-obama","tag-political-protest","tag-tom-blanton","tag-tsa","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P. - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tom Blanton, one of America&#039;s top political satirists, passed away this week. His superb work &amp; humor deserve to live on\" \/>\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\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P. - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tom Blanton, one of America&#039;s top political satirists, passed away this week. His superb work &amp; humor deserve to live on\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-07-04T15:42:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\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=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T15:42:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":881,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"art\",\"humor\",\"memorial day\",\"Obama\",\"political protest\",\"Tom Blanton\",\"TSA\",\"war\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P. - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T15:42:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"Tom Blanton, one of America's top political satirists, passed away this week. His superb work & humor deserve to live on\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg\",\"width\":427,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/04\\\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P.\"}]},{\"@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 &amp; 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":"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P. - James Bovard","description":"Tom Blanton, one of America's top political satirists, passed away this week. His superb work & humor deserve to live on","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\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P. - James Bovard","og_description":"Tom Blanton, one of America's top political satirists, passed away this week. His superb work & humor deserve to live on","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2026-07-04T15:42:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":427,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P.","datePublished":"2026-07-04T15:42:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/"},"wordCount":881,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg","keywords":["art","humor","memorial day","Obama","political protest","Tom Blanton","TSA","war"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/","name":"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P. - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-04T15:42:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"Tom Blanton, one of America's top political satirists, passed away this week. His superb work & humor deserve to live on","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/blanton-artwork-5241303625_f34f9137be_z.jpg","width":427,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/04\/tom-blanton-heroic-hell-raiser-for-freedom-r-i-p\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tom Blanton, Heroic Hell-raiser for Freedom, R.I.P."}]},{"@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 &amp; 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\/22875","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=22875"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22893,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22875\/revisions\/22893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}