John Bottoms' Columns
The Case for Preemptive Attack
"But there is an historical precedent for preemptive war....In the past few weeks, the conditions which justify a preemptive strike are again being met." Column by John Bottoms.
It's Time to Reboot the System
"So how do you reboot the State?....To reboot the State, all you have to do is pull the plug, and watch it collapse like a house of cards, or a vampire with a wooden stake through its heart. The power that keeps it alive comes from our money and our belief in its legitimacy." Column by John Bottoms.
Another Sad Week for Federalism
"So what can we do?....the first task is to understand that our central government has launched a covert war on dissent. They'll use the courts and the police to silence those they can, like Scott Ritter. Their no-fly list will expand. And we should expect them to use new internet security rules to prevent people like me from writing articles like this, and getting them published." Column by John Bottoms.
"Just in case anybody hasn’t noticed, it’s way past time to update some of the popular political catch-phrases we grew up with...." Column by John Bottoms.
Total Information Incompetence
"Under the slogan 'We’re doing something,' they’re really creating just another monstrous boondoggle to spend your tax dollars. And maybe that’s good because every dollar wasted on such things is a dollar not spent killing people, and brings them one dollar closer to inevitable financial ruin." Column by John Bottoms.
Latest Terrorist Attack Destroys [?]!
John Bottoms tries to be prepared for the inevitable.
Dangerous Days for the Internet
"If the Terror War starts to go badly (which is all but certain), and the survival of the empire-building police-statists who now infest the government in Washington depends on controlling the message, they know they'll have to shut us down. The groundwork has been laid, and it's again time to pay the price of freedom with our vigilance as we enter this dangerous period in our nation's history." Column by John Bottoms.
"In
the weeks and months to come, don’t be surprised if the contradictions
and misinformation start to pile up, so that we may someday view Senator
Wellstone’s death as something far more ominous than merely 'convenient.'"
Column by John Bottoms.
"Of course, the irony that possible sniper attacks on US senators could be blowback from decades of arrogant theft of our rights, or retribution for America’s foreign injustices, is either unimaginable to our mass media pundits, or more likely part of the vast and growing list of subjects which may not be publicly discussed, but that many Americans understand all too well." Column by John Bottoms.
What's Democracy Got To Do With It?
"In the torrent of lies over the upcoming Iraq war, arguably the most disingenuous claim by the Bush regime is their stated intention to build a democracy in Iraq. Their actions both at home and abroad demonstrate that democracy is the farthest thing from their minds." Column by John Bottoms.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Iraq Attack
"Go to war, and make it total war like FDR's and Lincoln's, so the world can again witness the mass murder which is the calling card of the mature state. As you kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, see who still believes that you're fighting for 'American values.'" John Bottoms is back!
"America today is to a shocking degree spiritually, economically and politically (but not culturally) similar to Rand's portrait of a great society in decline....The American people wear a shallow patriotism like bad face paint to hide their knowledge of the government's lies and the nature of their society." Column by John Bottoms.
"...we could use a system of color-coded warnings about new federal threats to our freedom, security and dignity, which I call the National Emergency Reaction Demarcation System (NERDS)." Column by John Bottoms.
John Bottoms on how a free market in intelligence might work.
Is America Really "Engaged" in Big Government?
Americans aren't "engaged" in homeland security, complain the Feds. John Bottoms explains why.
John
Bottoms on how to stop the attack on Iraq.
John Bottoms on the Hypocrite-in-Chief.
He's Making a List...Checking It Twice
John Ashcroft wants to find out whether you've been naughty or nice. Column by John Bottoms.
John Bottoms gazes into his crystal ball.
Column by John Bottoms.
Get ready for the main act, says John Bottoms.
"In light of the US government's policy of supplying tainted news stories to overseas sources, is there any reason to trust their homeland pronouncements? Wouldn't the pampered, sycophantic members of the Washington press corpse be justified in publicly questioning the veracity of the information they’re given at the next Pentagon briefing, or simply boycotting the entire charade, and doesn't their failure to do so prove their status as concubines of the state?" Column by John Bottoms.
"Generalized paranoia is one of the unintended consequences of a society in the middle stages of terminal politicization, the process by which everyday challenges confronting people and their private social institutions are transformed into political crises addressed only through simplistic, centralized solutions." Column by John Bottoms.
Does Bush Want Another Terror Attack?
Or is he just acting that way? Column by John Bottoms.
Neocons Are the Real Americans
"Those of us who love freedom and loathe the state should understand that our goal must be not to recapture the past, but to create a future that the world has never known." Column by John Bottoms.
It doesn't have anything to do with the State, says John Bottoms. A brilliant column!
John Bottoms strikes--and decimates--the root!
And up with traffic circles, says John Bottoms.
He contributed to the moral delinquency of a generation, says John Bottoms.
Good Cop, Bad Cop and the National ID
The Bush regime "saved" us from a full-blown national ID card. Column by John Bottoms.
John Bottoms on why ID cards should be handled by the private (voluntary) sector.
Compensation to Attack Victims Is Corporate Welfare
What's really going on with the government's payments to families of the victims. Column by new Root Striker John Bottoms.