Politics

King of Chaos: The Fiasco of Floyd

by James Bovard January 1, 2000

Hurricane Floyd was quickly labeled "the King of Chaos" by southerners. Unfortunately, foolish evacuation orders and foul-ups disrupted the lives of far more people than were seriously hassled by the hurricane itself. Not surprisingly, the spin is on to portray "the largest peacetime evacuation in the history of the United States" as a triumph. Clinton administration officials wasted no time ...

Public Master

by Sheldon Richman December 2, 1999

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton apparently wants to represent New York state in the U.S. Senate. She says she wishes to serve the people of New York. Read that carefully. She wants to be their servant . Does anyone believe that? What I'm about to say does not apply just to Mrs. Clinton. It applies ...

Moderation: Virtue or Vice?

by Sheldon Richman October 2, 1999

The death of Rhode Island Senator John Chafee provides an occasion to look at some fundamentals of what passes for political philosophy in the United States. Chafee was one of those Republicans best loved by big government advocates everywhere, including those at the editorial pages of the establishment newspapers. When he died of heart ...

The Myth of Public Service

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 1999

The death of John F. Kennedy Jr. filled the airwaves with much rhapsodizing about "public service." Never mind that Kennedy did not go into public service, but rather launched a for-profit enterprise, George magazine (although it glamorizes public service). That didn't stop commentators and politicians from lavishing praise on the Kennedys for, as Vice President Al Gore put it, ...

Group of Odd People

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1999

What a sorry lot the GOP is. The frontrunner, Gov. George W. Bush, bases his campaign on the slogan "prosperity with a purpose." Pardon me? I have no idea what that means, but I don't like the sound of it. A president of the United States, and the irants ...

Justice, Not Compassion

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1999

If the 2000 presidential race continues as it has begun, we might all best take a long nap and wake up when it's over. It might be so insipid that we could all suffer a terminal case of boredom. How many of us are looking forward to a year and a ...

Exploiting JFK Jr.’s Death

by Sheldon Richman August 2, 1999

Advocates of activist, overbearing government claim to be against exploitation. But they did not hesitate to exploit John F. Kennedy Jr. in death. Do you believe for a moment that the death of the son or daughter of any other ex-president (or even an ex-president himself!) would have set off the shameful media frenzy we ...

Watering Down the Separation of Powers

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1999

Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening is exercising political power that would be the envy of dictators all over the world. Declaring an emergency due to the current drought, Glendening has issued orders criminalizing the usage of water in Maryland. The governor's decrees prohibited watering lawns; topping swimming pools; washing ...

What’s Compassion Got to Do with It?

by Sheldon Richman July 2, 1999

Gov. George W. Bush has distinguished himself from the pack of Republican presidential aspirants by calling himself a "compassionate conservative." Some conservatives have taken umbrage, charging that Bush's label implies that conservatives aren't generally compassionate. That lame response is to be expected of conservatives, who lack a coherent political philosophy. The better response is: ...

Bill Clinton: World Cop

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 1999

In a major foreign-policy address delivered a few months back in San Francisco, President Bill Clinton solemnly affirmed that everything everywhere in the world is the business of the United States. If you ever entertained the thought that we Americans should be free just to live our lives, raise our families, and participate voluntarily in our communities — forget ...

Sabotaging Privacy for Political Profit

by James Bovard June 1, 1999

Federal regulators announced last December 7, Pearl Harbor Day, a brazen scheme to convert banks into conspirators against their depositors. The "Know Your Customer" rules were a landmark in the history of the attempted subversion of American privacy and property rights. But enough Americans rallied — at least temporarily — to block this power grab. The proposed rules vastly expanded ...

Thank You, Mr. President

by Sheldon Richman March 1, 1999

Maybe we should be grateful for and to President Clinton. Not since Richard Nixon has a tenure in the White House illustrated the evils of the political class with such clarity. Every day brings a new lesson. Libertarians get it. Let's hope the rest of America does too. The last few months have been most enlightening. Through much of 1998, ...