Jul

3

Bovard on The Capsizing of American Democracy

Filed Under Jim Bovard, Libertarian, Taxation | 2 Comments

Politicians have divided America into two blocs of voters labeled “more deserving of others’ paychecks,” and “less deserving of their own paycheck.”

Some somber thoughts for this Dependence Day, July 4th, 2008.

The Capsizing of American Democracy
by James Bovard, Posted June 30, 2008

American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees. This has created a voting bloc that overwhelms every other potential force. H.L. Mencken quipped in the 1930s that the New Deal divided America into “those who work for a living and those who vote for a living” — a division truer now than ever before.

In the era of the Founding Fathers, few things were more dreaded than “dependency” — not being one’s own man, not having a truly independent will because of reliance on someone or something else to survive. One of the glories of America was the possibility that common people could become self-reliant with hard work and discipline. Prof. John Philip Reid, the author of The Concept of Liberty in the Age of the American Revolution, summarized 18th-century political thinking:

Property was independence; lack of property was servility, even servitude…. A man without independent wealth could easily be bought and bribed. A man of property had a will of his own.

This was part of the reason that many of the states initially required a property qualification for voters. Sir William Blackstone, whose work on the English constitution profoundly influenced Americans, observed that a property qualification for suffrage was necessary because if the property-less “had votes, they would be tempted to dispose of them under some undue influence or other.” Thomas Jefferson warned, “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.”

READ ON

Mar

22

McCain is for torture at the same time he’s against it

Filed Under Jim Bovard, Libertarian, Republican Party | Leave a Comment

Jim Bovard explains: “John McCain voted to uphold Bush’s veto of the latest anti-torture legislation to pass Congress.”

“McCain also voted against the initial version of this law that would ban waterboarding by U.S. government agents.”

“McCain also voted for the final version of the Military Comissions Act in September 2006.”

But don’t pay any attention to the facts, the MSM has told us John McCain, “The Maverick” is against torture. That’s all you need to know citizen, be on your way.

Jul

25

Jim Bovard - How Foreign Warring Subverts Freedom at Home

Filed Under Foreign Policy, Jim Bovard, Libertarian | Leave a Comment

Future of Freedom Foundation
Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties
At the Hyatt Reston, June 1-4, 2007

Part 1 of 6

View the other parts here

May

16

Jim Bovard on Ron Paul - Truth & Politics

Filed Under Jim Bovard, Libertarian, Republican Party, Ron Paul | 2 Comments

Jim Bovard’s thoughts on Ron Paul and the 9/11 debate controversy.
Jim will be on the Brian Wilson show today (5/16) at 3:30 pm Eastern time discussing Ron Paul’s debate performance.
Listen live here

If you haven’t read Jim’s latest book Attention Deficit Democracy, you should, it’ll knock your socks off. Many of the candidates and FOX NEWS commentators at last night’s debate clearly suffer from attention deficit syndrome.

Hats off to Ron Paul for another great performance in the Republican presidential debate in South Carolina last night.

For almost six years, politicians have acted as if it is federal crime to speak bluntly about 9/11. On the day of the attacks, George Bush proclaimed that the hijackers attacked because they hate America for its freedom. This has been treated as a revealed truth ever since. (When I saw Bush on TV that day, I was perplexed how the US government could know the motive before it knew the identity of the hijackers).

READ ON AT THE BOVARD BLOG


May

16

Jim Bovard on Ron Paul - Truth & Politics

Filed Under Jim Bovard, Libertarian, Republican Party, Ron Paul | 2 Comments

Jim Bovard’s thoughts on Ron Paul and the 9/11 debate controversy.
Jim will be on the Brian Wilson show today (5/16) at 3:30 pm Eastern time discussing Ron Paul’s debate performance.
Listen live here

If you haven’t read Jim’s latest book Attention Deficit Democracy, you should, it’ll knock your socks off. Many of the candidates and FOX NEWS commentators at last night’s debate clearly suffer from attention deficit syndrome.

Hats off to Ron Paul for another great performance in the Republican presidential debate in South Carolina last night.

For almost six years, politicians have acted as if it is federal crime to speak bluntly about 9/11. On the day of the attacks, George Bush proclaimed that the hijackers attacked because they hate America for its freedom. This has been treated as a revealed truth ever since. (When I saw Bush on TV that day, I was perplexed how the US government could know the motive before it knew the identity of the hijackers).

READ ON AT THE BOVARD BLOG