Bipartisanship? Bah! by Sheldon Richman January 10, 2007 One of our smartest political philosophers, Will Rogers, had it right: Be thankful were not getting all the government were paying for. I think of that whenever I hear politicians and commentators praise bipartisanship. I also think of this saying: Be careful what you wish for. You might get it. Where did all the wise heads get the idea that Americans ...
What Exactly Did Gerald Ford Heal? by Sheldon Richman January 5, 2007 Over the last several days former President Gerald R. Ford has been repeatedly praised for healing the nation in the aftermath of Richard Nixons Watergate scandal. Democrat, Republican, and solemn pundit alike paid extravagant tribute to the man who, in their view, saved the American people from disaster. But is that what Ford really did? Lets recall the context. The ...
Executive Orders and the Decline of Law, Part 1 by William L. Anderson January 1, 2007 Part 1 | Part 2 During his presidency, Bill Clinton would conclude his trips abroad by telling his advisors that he was determined to use the powers of his office. Those “powers,” of course, included what are called “executive orders,” which are orders that come from the office of the president of the United States and have the ...
The Repudiation of Bush by Sheldon Richman November 10, 2006 Power tends to corrupt, Lord Acton famously said. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. The voters apparently agreed. Its reasonable to conclude from the election results that most voters felt the Republicans had been in power too long. The hopeless war in Iraq, the culture of corruption and incompetence, the spending binge (which includes the war), the grating social conservatism, and ...
They Deserved to Lose by Jacob G. Hornberger November 8, 2006 Having lost control over the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly also the U.S. Senate, Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. They deserved to lose. For years, Republicans have used libertarian rhetoric in their political campaigns. We favor freedom, free enterprise, limited government, and responsibility, Republican candidates have so often proclaimed. Were opposed to big government, they loved ...
Page Scandal: Political Corruption Precedes Sexual Corruption by Sheldon Richman October 25, 2006 For the sake of those vulnerable 16-year-old boys and girls who come to Washington each year, we should abolish the congressional page program immediately. I’m not referring only to the danger posed by the sexual predators in Congress. There’s a more widespread danger that hardly anyone cares about: the congressional page program encourages high ...
Conservatives and the Courts by Sheldon Richman August 23, 2006 It is always amusing to watch conservatives react to court decisions they don’t like. They were firmly in character last week when Federal District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled that the Bush administration broke the law and violated the Constitution when it began wiretapping, without warrants, international phone calls between Americans and “suspected terrorists.” She’s ...
Theodore Roosevelt Is No One to Emulate by Sheldon Richman July 7, 2006 We shouldn’t be surprised that President George W. Bush’s Svengali, Karl Rove, is an admirer of Theodore Roosevelt. TR is hot these days. He made the cover of Time magazine, heralding a series of hagiographic articles, including Rove’s, that make him out to be the first modern American president. In Time’s view, that ...
The Cowardice of the Conservative by Scott McPherson June 2, 2006 Conservatives are an interesting bunch. In a desperate attempt to differentiate themselves from liberals, they like to mock folks on the Left while talking as if they themselves were in agreement with libertarians. “I just vote Republican because they’re the lesser of two evils” is a common excuse for their continued support of that ...
The Fraudulent Meaning of Elections by James Bovard April 1, 2006 Politicians strive to make Americans view elections as sacrosanct. Challenges to election results are portrayed as heresies that threaten to destroy the entire republic. After the 2004 presidential election, many Democrats went on the warpath over alleged voter fraud and manipulation in Ohio and elsewhere. The Constitution requires Congress to certify the Electoral College voters for each state before ...
Misguided Democracy by George Leef March 1, 2006 Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); 288 pages; $26.95. One of Winston Churchill’s most famous quips is that democracy is the worst form of government — except for all the others. The supposition behind the “except” clause is that ...
Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard January 27, 2006 The following is the introduction to James Bovard’s new book, Attention Deficit Democracy. The forms of our free government have outlasted the ends for which they were instituted, and have become a mere mockery of the people for whose benefit they should operate. — “Americus” Delusions about democracy ...