Attention Deficit Democracy
by James Bovard

“Delusions about democracy are subverting peace and freedom ...”

From Publishers Weekly
That mendacity has long been a bedrock of government makes Bovard (Lost Rights; The Bush Betrayal) mad as hell, and he takes administrations from Johnson’s to Bush II’s to task for distorting, concealing and fabricating facts and condemning voices of dissent as unpatriotic and damaging to democracy. Bovard places past and current administrations’ justifications for military actions (Johnson in Vietnam, Reagan in Iran, Bush I in Kuwait, Clinton in the Balkans and Bush II in Iraq) alongside the facts of each case, an approach that ... serves to insulate his argument from partisan criticism. Clearly, it’s government, not the liberals or conservatives who man the helm for any period of time. Government, though, can only be as crooked as the public and media allow it to be, Bovard argues, decrying voters who vote for a candidate because he “wears a cowboy hat” and the media for not being vigilant enough in calling out wayward politicians. ...

Publisher’s Description
Does the people’s need to believe in the president trump their duty to understand, to think critically, and demand truth? Have Americans been conditioned to ignore political frauds and believe the lies perpetuated by campaign ads? James Bovard diagnoses a national malady called “Attention Deficit Democracy,” characterized by a citizenry that seems to be paying less attention to facts, and is less capable of judging when their rights and liberties are under attack. Bovard’s careful research combined with his characteristically caustic style will give “ADD” a whole new meaning that pundits, politicians, and we the people will find hard to ignore.

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Contents
 1    Introduction
 2    Ignorance and the Mirage of Informed Consent
 3    Fearmongering and the Battered Citizen Syndrome
 4    Messianic Democracy
 5    Lying and Legitimacy
 6    Torture and Absolute Power in Contemporary Democracy
 7    Trusting Government at Any Cost
 8    Elections as Reverse Slave Auctions
 9    Democratic Delusions on Peace and Inevitability
 10  Big Picture Myopia
 11  Democracy vs. Liberty
 12  Conclusion

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index