Jim Bovard

Sunni: That sounds like a decent start. It's got to be very nice to see some of the good things others say about your work, but it was amusing for me to see some of the things your targets have had to say. I can imagine you chuckling over that kind of stuff, too ... so, which is more fun for you?

Jim: I got a big grin when FBI director Louis Freeh publicly attacked an article I wrote about Ruby Ridge. Later revelations proved that the FBI knew or should have known that almost all the claims that Freeh made in the FBI's defense were as bogus as a $3 bill. But it was fascinating to see how Freeh became an icon—if not a saint—for so many conservatives during the Clinton era. Simply because he went through the motions of opposing some of Clinton's stuff, that meant that he had a blank check to cover up or misrepresent what the FBI did at Ruby Ridge and Waco (both of which occurred before he became FBI director).

Sunni: I honestly don't know how a thinking person could ever really believe that any government-sponsored investigation is anything but the ol' fox and henhouse situation. And I'm not convinced the independent investigations really are, not in the ways that matter. That's one reason why I think your work is so important. As a genuinely concerned, pro-freedom writer, you seem willing to take on anyone who tries to wield political power. Can only a freelancer like yourself be independent enough to be sufficiently critical of the information and people involved in an investigation?

Jim: Some of the federal investigations have been fairly honest and have uncovered 14-karat dirt. Sometimes the investigations unearth good facts but don't put them together, which creates an opportunity for the peanut gallery. But you are right—many of the so-called independent investigations are total frauds. This has been especially true for the torture scandal—Bush bragged last year about how there had been 8 or 9 independent investigations of torture—and no one in Washington shouted, Bullshit!.

As for the positive comments on my work, I appreciate them very much. It helps to know when I have written something which resonates intensely with folks. And given the prevailing political views in this neck of the woods, it is encouraging to hear that Americans beyond the Beltway are less servile in their attitude towards government than around here.

Sunni: Have all your detractors given up? Is that why the most recent item on that page is ten years old? [laughs]

Jim: I never denied being laggardly on updating the web site. The Justice Department despised what I wrote on the Patriot Act and attacked me by name on their goofy web site pimping for it. The Bush Betrayal generated heaps of denunciations, posted at Lew Rockwell's site. The number of denunciations by government officials has slackened in part because fewer newspapers are willing to print vigorous attacks on government policies. Many op-ed editors seem far more risk averse than a decade ago. As a result, government gets away with more crimes and cons.

Sunni: That official picture of Gonzalez incites impulses in me that I probably shouldn't state publicly. What an obsequious toad!

Jim: And yet he is treated deferentially in most of Washington. Because he is less visibly obnoxious than John Ashcroft, he is a statesman-in-waiting.

Sunni: With so many outlets for your writing, what prompted you to begin blogging?

Jim: It was part of the terms of my parole.

Sunni: [laughs] Which parole is that, specifically? Are you enjoying doing it?

Jim: Parole or the blog?

Sunni: [laughs] The blogging, of course!

Jim: Yes, I am enjoying it. It is fun to write without the challenge or aggravation of marketing. It is fun to be able to zip out an idea when it is fresh. It helps keeps some of the rust off my keyboard. I especially appreciate the excellent comments many folks have added to the blog. Bantering with them in the comment section is a real treat.