Clinton-haters and some (though perhaps not all) libertarians will be the primary audience for this latest screed from a journalist who writes frequently for the Wall Street Journal, the American Spectator , and Play boy. "The Clinton administration," Bovard declares in his introduction, "stretched the power of government on all fronts." He endeavors to demonstrate that premise with chapters on AmeriCorps, the IRS, affirmative action, FEMA, the War on Drugs, search and seizure property forfeitures, trade agreements, HUD, farm legislation, the enforcement of disability protection and environmental legislation, gun control, Waco, Ruby Ridge, "The Reno-Freeh Whitewash Team," and Kosovo. This rather mixed bag includes at least a few complaints almost any reader will share, but Bovard's aggressive antigovernment sentiments will not be as universally accepted. Still, where Cato Institute publications are popular and any criticism of the man in the White House circulates, Bovard's attacks will have appeal. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Another of Bovard's harangues against the power of the federal government, this time focusing primarily on the Clinton administration's domestic policies and programs.Washington journalist Bovard (Freedom in Chains, not reviewed, etc.) charges fervidly that President Clinton has "exploited and expanded the dictatorial potential of the U.S. presidency." To back up this assertion, the author examines numerous government agencies (DOJ, FBI, HUD, EEOC, FEMA, EPA, ATF), programs (AmeriCorps), and policies (farm subsidies, the war on drugs, gun control, affirmative action, trade agreements)-and finds evidence of bad thinking and abuse of power everywhere he looks. AmeriCorps, he claims, is "little more than social work tinged with messianic delusions," and FEMA's "lackeys throw federal checks at everyone they see." Bovard's use of name-calling, exaggeration, loaded language, and colorful images-he describes the DOJ and the FBI as "competing for the best imitation of the Keystone Kops" and Clinton's trade policy as "slave to almost any pressure group that caterwauled on the White House steps"-are designed to stir emotions, not to promote reasonable discussion of controversial issues. While Clinton is seen as the worst abuser of government power, Republicans are also criticized, with the hapless Newt Gingrich receiving the brunt of Bovard's ire for his inability to deliver the goods that were ordered in the elections of 1994. The various news media are also heavily criticized for complicity and cowardice. But the author sees the problem going much deeper-and we are all part of it. Americans, Bovard says, must stop being subjects and become the self-reliant citizens the Founding Fathers envisioned.Replete with quotable lines, a diatribe well-timed to bring heat but little light to this fall's campaign. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

" 'Feeling Your Pain' may well survive as the best political obituary of the Clinton era..." -- Vin Suprynowicz, nationally syndicated columnist

"Feeling Your Pain is filled with horror stories, but they are spun so engagingly that readers may feel pleasure even as they grit their teeth in rage." -- Wall Street Journal

"The book lays out the crimes Clinton has practiced against the American people." -- Charley Reese, The Orlando Sentinel, August 8, 2000

"The book makes the case against this president with nary a word about the Lewinsky affair." -- Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register, June 22, 2000

James Bovard has become the roving inspector general of the modern state. -- The Wall Street Journal

the book lays out the deceptions and intimidations that the government under William Jefferson Clinton has practiced... -- Charley Reese, The Orlando Sentinel, August 8, 2000

James Bovard is a journalist who has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. He is the author of Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (SMP, 1994).