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As soon as people drop the reins on government, government will leash the people.

James Bovard

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James Bovard
Age: 68
Born: 1956
Born: July 22
Author
Journalist
Writer
Ames
Iowa
People
Leash
Leashes
Reins
Drop
Soon
Government

More quotes by James Bovard

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There is no virtue in denying the law of gravity, and there should be no virtue in denying the limitations of government. ... The more we glorify government, the more liberties we will lose.
James Bovard
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The first step in saving our liberty is to realize how much we have already lost, how we lost it, and how we will continue to lose it unless fundamental political changes occur.
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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.
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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.
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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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It is absurd to expect governments to descend gradually, step-by-step into barbarism - as if there was a train schedule to political hell and people could get off at any stop along the way.
James Bovard
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Some of the folks on both sides might be sincere, but it does seem as if it is only the opposition that cares about the Bill of Rights most of the time.
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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Politicians nowadays treat Americans like medical orderlies treat Alzheimer's patients, telling them anything that will keep them subdued. It doesn't matter what untruths the people are fed because they will not long remember. But in politics, forgotten falsehoods almost guarantee new treachery.
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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We are asking the wrong question. The issue is not who should be trusted with all the power of the Presidency. Instead, we must ask how much power any candidate can be trusted with.
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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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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The more government dependents, the more likely that democracy will become a conspiracy against self-reliance.
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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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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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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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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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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American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees.
James Bovard