James Bovard
James Bovard
James Bovardis a libertarian author and lecturer whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government. He is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, and eight other books. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Reader's Digest, The American Conservative, and many other publications. His books have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean...
ProfessionAuthor
people age president
Entire generations of Americans have come of age since the ancient time when the president's power was constrained by a duty of candor to the American people.
war agency government
No-knock police raids destroy Americans' right to privacy and safety. People's lives are being ruined or ended as a result of unsubstantiated assertions by anonymous government informants. ... Unfortunately, no-knock raids are becoming more common as federal, state, and local politicians and law enforcement agencies decide that the war on drugs justified nullifying the Fourth Amendment. ... No-knock raids in response to alleged narcotics violations presume that the government should have practically unlimited power to endanger some people's lives in order to control what others ingest.
children agency government
The more expansive government is, the more perils people face in daily lives, be it from IRS agents or from child support services, or from other agencies that often have little or no legal restraints on their power.
avoid bush evidence example fought locked produce somebody stuff torture
This stuff on enemy combatants, the Bush Administration has fought like a tiger to avoid having to produce any evidence to a judge to show why somebody is locked up in perpetuity. Another example of that is the torture scandal.
attention death deficit entire fear government lying mass people putting system trying wake
With attention deficit democracy, I am trying to wake up people to how the combination of mass ignorance, fear mongering by the government, and lying politicians is putting our entire system of government to a death spiral.
government importance leash people
Trumpeting the importance of voting deludes people into thinking that they have a leash on the government.
benefits far government system type
There are a lot of benefits representative of government and it is far better than any type of dictatorial system and it is far better than a one-man rule situation.
against clinton easy gun rights surprised
I was also surprised at how easy it was for the Clinton Administration to demagogue against the rights of gun owners, for instance.
government obliged
It is like we are obliged to assume that the government is only doing what it says it is doing.
government thieves aids
Foreign aid breeds kleptocracies, or governments of thieves.
government numbers people
Government aid programs have been endlessly expanded, and the government has sought to maximize the number of people willing to accept handouts..... Roughly half of all Americans are dependent on the government, either for handouts, pensions, or paychecks.
government political liberty
Liberty is a political firewall that limits the damage government can do to the individual.
government people evil
The government's appearing to be a necessary evil does not oblige people to trust it. We face a choice of trusting government or trusting freedom-trusting overlords who have lied and abused their power or trusting individuals to make the most of their own lives.
government order numbers
The sheer number of government employees and welfare recipients effectively transforms the purpose of government from maintaining order to confiscating as much as possible from vulnerable taxpayers.