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Freedom is whatever the president says it is, pending revision.

James Bovard

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James Bovard
Age: 68
Born: 1956
Born: July 22
Author
Journalist
Writer
Ames
Iowa
Freedom
Peace
President
War
Pending
Revision
Antiwar
Says
Whatever

More quotes by James Bovard

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It is amazing to think after all that has happened in this country in the last few years, the last few decades, that so many people have this blind faith that government is our friend and therefore, we don’t need protections against it.
James Bovard
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Today's citizen is obliged to find his freedom only in the narrow ruts pre-approved by his bureaucratic overlords. Risk-free liberty is the ideal of the Welfare State: citizens are permitted only liberties which have been declawed, defanged, neutered, certified and wrapped in benevolent restrictions.
James Bovard
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The Federal Government is exploiting public fear to redefine the relationship between the rulers and the American people.
James Bovard
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Dependency is the highest political good - at least for politicians. Since the 1930s, politicians have striven to leave no vote unbought.
James Bovard
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Politicians as a class are dangerous, that people who are seeking power over us are not, by definition, our friends.
James Bovard
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Well, one of the first things is to restore the rule of law, to place the government back under the cage of law. Another thing is to stop falling for the myth of democracy.
James Bovard
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As we learned from the Clinton administration and much of the media, a machine gun in the hands of a federal agent is now a symbol of benevolence and concern for a child's well-being.
James Bovard
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It is one of the great tragedies of the US, that most learn most of what they know about the government from the government.
James Bovard
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There has been so much power concentrated. There is no leash on that power anymore and Americans face the situation that this power is getting momentum with each passing year with each presidency.
James Bovard
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Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
James Bovard
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Not only has the number of government employees multiplied in recent decades, but the rise of government unions further stacks the political odds against private citizens.
James Bovard
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The only things government can do are regulate and redistribute, prohibit and penalize, confiscate and command. Are these the things that liberty is made of? Somebody else's money and an endless list of Thou Shalt Nots?
James Bovard
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It has been surprising to me that so few conservatives have voiced concern over the precedence that are being set in favor of suppression by this so-called conservative administration.
James Bovard
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The more people expect from government, the more biased they become against limiting government power.
James Bovard
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The more government dependents, the more likely that democracy will become a conspiracy against self-reliance.
James Bovard
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How many McDonald's gift certificates would it take to sway a lot of Americans to pledge to never publicly criticize the U.S, President?
James Bovard
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It is important to recognize and politics positive thinking is often the slaves' virtue - something that people do to con themselves about the burden and change being placed upon them.
James Bovard
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If so many Americans are looking for the government to save them, then it is hard to have a dignified search for a shepherd in chief.
James Bovard
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Governments and citizens blend together only in the imaginations of political theorists. Government is, and always will be, an alien power over private citizens. There is no magic in a ballot box that makes government any less coercive.
James Bovard
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American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees.
James Bovard