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Gary Nolan shares views at LSUA forum Wednesday
Libertarian presidential candidate shares views at LSUA forum Wednesday
Gary Nolan thinks the Libertarian Party has a better chance this time around to make an impact on the presidential election.
"If you're a small government conservative, and you vote for Bush, they're going to keep spending, but if you vote for me, you're either going to get smaller government or you're going to get gridlock. In either case, it's better than voting for Bush," Nolan said.
...
One strike and you're out of school
Salon.com Life | One strike and you're out of school
Youthful suicides, financial ruin, families torn apart for minor infractions: How post-Columbine hysteria is wrecking lives.
February 27, 2004
Martin: And Now For the Good News
Vanguard: And Now For the Good News
Some folks, it seems, just never learn. Especially doom-and-gloomers.
In 1980, the late economist Julian Simon made a bet with Paul Ehrlich, author of the best-selling 1968 book, The Population Bomb.
The bet concerned commodity prices and was intended to illustrate a point. Simon wagered prices would fall; Ehrlich said they would rise. Both men agreed that higher prices would suggest resource scarcity and a poorer world, while falling prices would signal the opposite.
Based on his beliefs about scarcity and population growth, Ehrlich in his book had predicted hundreds of millions of deaths by starvation -- in America and elsewhere -- by the 1980s.
Erlich, of course, lost his bet. In 1990, though, he wrote another book.
Its title? The Population Explosion, predicting massive famines on the horizon.
...
Oscar bites his fingernails over politically active stars
Yahoo! News - Oscar bites his fingernails over politically active stars
Partiers Injected With Blood At Sex Parties
local6.com - News - Police: Partiers Injected With Blood At Sex Parties
Larry Elder: The state should get out of the marriage business
WorldNetDaily: The state should get out of the marriage business
February 26, 2004
Hey, Where's the Stoners, Druids and Ferret-Lovers?
ORANGE COUNTY WEEKLY OC Weekly: Cover: Hey, Where's the Stoners, Druids and Ferret-Lovers?
Aside from the little frizzy-haired dude in the T-shirt—people of a certain age will recognize him as a demi-Jerry from Room 222—there is a conspicuous paucity of stoners at Judge Jim Gray’s Senate campaign headquarters opening celebration. There are lots of adults in suits and ties—this is key—lots of people who look like they could be attending a Republican or Democratic function—also key—a lot of people whose closest brush with the phrase "try before you buy" no doubt involved vacation-time-share property.
This is disappointing, of course, for anyone who expected Gray’s headquarters to be a kind of Gomorrah Gone Wild, having built his campaign so conspicuously around the idea that the drug war has been a disaster and that his first order of business as a U.S. senator would be to decriminalize marijuana.
"Every vote for me will be a vote against the drug war."
...
Richard Mack addresses students
Southern Utah University Journal Online - Richard Mack addresses students
You're not a Libertarian if...
by Garry Reed -
WorldNetDaily Editor, CEO and columnist Joseph Farah recently offered his thesis on "Why I'm not a Libertarian." But once the final exam is graded, we're left with two reasons why people are not libertarians. First, they simply can't tolerate the idea that they, or a proxy like Big Government, don't have the right to coerce others into acting the way they want those others to act. The second reason is that they simply don't understand libertarianism. Joseph Farah checks both boxes.
Award-winning producer says next role should be president
Award-winning producer says next role should be president
Libertarian Aaron Russo calls for political change at campaign stop in city
02/26/04
By STEVE NOWOTTNY
Times Staff Writer eintern@htimes.com
Hollywood movie producer-turned-politician Aaron Russo, famous for such hits as "The Rose" and "Trading Places," visited Huntsville Wednesday, campaigning for the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party
...
(Cartoon) The All New 2004 Nader Candidate by Mark Fiore
As usual, Fiore's animation is clever and on-target, and very amusing.
The Village Voice: Cartoons: Mark Fiore: The All New 2004 Nader Candidate by Mark Fiore
February 25, 2004
The Reform Party - - Ross Perot: The Political Fray
AllPolitics - The Reform Party - - Ross Perot: The Political Fray
The Reform Party - Ross Perot: Political Timeline
AllPolitics - The Reform Party - Ross Perot: Political Timeline
February 24, 2004
Republican Party Has Betrayed America
Republican Party Has Betrayed America - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
There's something called the "wasted vote."
Some people say that if you vote for a third party your vote means nothing, because in the end only the big boys are going to win. Well, if the two million people that have told me that this year would get off their butts and do something other then settle for the status quo then we'd have a much better nation and guess what... third parties would make a HUGE difference.
This year, I'm not going to waste my vote, I'm voting Libertarian.
...
No, Steve-- Tearing down your own movement is the greatest barrier of all.
I've spent a while trying to think of how to comment on (i.e., attack) this article without causing undue friction. Here's the best that I've come up with:
People who go out of their way to try and drag down the Libertarian Party are doing a bad thing. Pretending like you are trying to help the party by doing so doesn't change the reality of it.
P.S. -- Writing in all caps comes off as shouting-- and shouting comes off as an attempt to cover up for lack of substance.
Self-deception: The greatest barrier of all
The Life of the Party, part 15
by Steve Trinward
Excerpt:
So I rest my case: The Libertarian Party has NEVER had its Presidential candidate's name on ALL FIFTY state ballots ... with the word "Libertarian" beside it!
What does this mean? Not much, except that it is just one more example of how a half-truth has been used to puff up our own little egos, and make the frog pond seem more influential than it actually is. And to me, that is the most essential shortcoming of the Libertarian Party: its willingness to cut corners and shade the Truth, in the name of creating some illusion of the "power" we hold in the political arena.
Will Nader Matter at All?
The best-case scenario for Ralph Nader's fourth presidential campaign -- a 1992 write-in effort in the New Hampshire primary, Green Party runs in 1996 and 2000, and the independent candidacy he announced on Sunday -- is to pull a Norman Thomas. In the Great Depression election of 1932, Democrats worried that Thomas, the perennial Socialist Party candidate, would draw off votes in key states and help reelect Republican President Herbert Hoover. When the ballots were counted, however, Democrat Franklin Roosevelt defeated Hoover in all but six states and was swept into the White House. At the same time, Thomas won close to 900,000 votes nationwide, and in many state his backers provided a cushion of votes for Democrats who swept local, state and congressional races. Thomas was invited to the White House, treated with respect on Capitol Hill and credited with providing the inspiration for important elements of Roosevelt's New Deal.
The worst-case scenario for Nader's 2004 campaign is the James Birney circumstance. Birney, a prominent attorney who served as secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, sought the presidency in 1840 and again in 1844 as the candidate of the abolitionist Liberty Party. Birney's second run for the presidency secured only 62,103 votes, out of 2.7 million cast nationwide. But Birney took away enough votes in key states such as New York from Whig Henry Clay, a more cautious critic of the expansion of slavery, to tip the election to Democrat James K. Polk, who campaigned on a promise to annex Texas as a slave state. Polk quickly did just that, and then ordered the invasion of Mexico. Until his death in 1857, Birney, the passionate abolitionist, was blamed for giving pro-slavery forces an upper hand at a critical stage in American politics.
Somewhere between those best- and worst-case scenarios lies the likely result for Nader this year. It is far less dramatic. Indeed, the most likely scenario for Nader in 2004 is that he will not matter much.
...
Wanted: A Republican Ralph Nader
A Republican Nader? - The third-party candidate Democrats want and need. By Timothy Noah
Noah: Democrats for Roy Moore?
Forget Nader. Draft Moore. - How Democrats can win back the White House. By Timothy Noah
Ralph to Anybody But Bush Liberal Democrats
NOTE: This letter from Ralph has been taken down from his site as far as I can tell. I've changed the link to point to an archived copy at Idaho Indymedia.
Dear Anybody But Bush Liberal Democrats:
From Ralph Nader
If you wish to defeat George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in November, restore the House and/or the Senate to the Democrats and continue to build a longer term progressive political movement, enlisting the young, middle-aged and elderly together, beyond November 2004.... and you have some doubts as to whether the Democrats can do this by themselves, this letter is for you.
...
February 23, 2004
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
Today, Open Debates filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The complaint contains previously unreleased, secret documents that reveal how the major party candidates collude with the CPD to dictate the terms of the presidential debates and exclude third-party and independent challengers.
“FEC regulations require presidential debate sponsors that accept corporate contributions to be `nonpartisan' and to employ `pre-established objective' candidate selection criteria. The CPD, which accepts millions of dollars in corporate contributions, fails to stage the debates in accordance with these FEC regulations,” said Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
...
February 22, 2004
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
(Feb. 20, 2004) — After eight years as Maine's governor, Angus King became "king of the road." The day after he left office a year ago, King, his wife, Mary Herman, and their two children — Ben, 12, and Molly, 9 — hit the road in a 40-foot motorhome to see America. Over the next six months, the family traveled 15,000 miles, visited 34 states and enjoyed the trip of a lifetime before returning home last June.
Based on his experience, King offers some advice. "Get on the road!" says King. "See the country. Do it with the kids. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had in my life."
...
Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
This is a pretty meaty article about the flaws of Howard Dean's campaign.
USATODAY.com - Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
America's first cross country highway
America's first cross country highway
In RV Travel Issue 97 we asked readers to name the first highway to span the United States. Was it Route 66, U.S. Route 1 or the Lincoln Highway?
Readers who chose the Lincoln Highway were correct. Route 66 received its number in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. U.S. 1 runs north-south along the East Coast.
The Lincoln Highway was America's first coast-to-coast road, started in 1913 by men in the automobile industry. Because the government was not yet building roads, the plan was to connect and improve already existing roads. The Lincoln and the hundreds of named roads which followed inspired the highway numbering system, which ultimately made the named highways obsolete.
In 1912, there were almost no good roads in the United States. The relatively few miles of improved road were only around towns and cities. A road was "improved" if it was graded. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. To get from one settlement to another, it was much easier to take the train. Carl Fisher decided there needed to be a "Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway." And so he began a campaign to make it happen.
The road was dedicated on October 31, 1913. Towns and cities all across America celebrated with torchlite parades, bon fires, speeches, dances, fireworks and cannon fire. Completion wasn't as dramatic as the Last Spike in railroad lore but in 1927 the Boy Scouts of America honored the highway by placing commemorative markers from coast-to-coast. The highway was then transporting motorists across the continent, connecting Times Square and San Francisco.
By the late 1940s, the Lincoln Highway started to fade away. A new generation of Americans were born, one which had grown up with paved roads and a numbered highway system. Most Baby Boomers, and even more of their children, have never heard of the Lincoln Highway. But many stretches of the old Lincoln are still part of major auto routes. The most scenic and historic stretches include US 30 through Pennsylvania and western Nebraska and US 50 across central Nevada (the "Loneliest Road").
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
(TruthOut permacopy)
The Bellamys, Socialism, and the Pledge
The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and expresses ideas in the socialist utopian novels of Francis' cousin Edward Bellamy. Francis wrote the pledge to promote the Bellamys' idea of socialism in the most socialistic institution -government schools. The Bellamy cousins were totalitarian socialists, and the ideas that inspired them and the pledge caused mass atrocities worldwide. (http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html)
Edward Bellamy's book “Looking Backward” (1888) was such a success that it inspired the "Nationalism" movement in the U.S. and "Bellamy Clubs" (also known as "Nationalist Clubs") whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. They saw government schools as a means to their socialist "Nationalism."
...
February 21, 2004
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President - The Daily Campus - Commentary
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Not even his own staff would call Democratic congressional candidate Ben Chandler a nethead.
"He uses the Internet almost exclusively for fantasy baseball," said campaign spokesman Jason Sauer, who added that he wasn't sure whether, until recently, Chandler even knew what a blog was.
But that was before Chandler's campaign turned a $2,000 investment in blog advertising into over $80,000 in donations in only two weeks. Chandler -- who won a seat in the House of Representatives Tuesday evening -- definitely knows what a blog is now, Sauer said. "It's that thing that brings in money."
...
Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
2/20/2004 - Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
Three candidates for President of the United States, Michael Badnarik, Gary Nolan, and Aaron Russo, will appear in Chattanooga on March 1, at 7 p.m. for a Presidential debate.
The debate will be held in the Tennessee Room of the University Center on the UTC campus.
Badnarik, Nolan and Russo are the front runners in a field of five candidates seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President. The candidate will be nominated at the national convention May 27-31 in Atlanta.
The Libertarian Party of Tennessee will elect delegates to the national convention April 2-4 in Chattanooga.
Gary Nolan is a nationally syndicated talk show host from Ohio. Aaron Russo, of Nevada, is a film producer, best known for the films Trading Places and The Rose. Texan Michael Badnarik is a computer consultant and teacher of the US Constitution.
For more information contact the Hamilton County Libertarian Party at (423) 634-2595.
Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
IHT: Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
(TruthOut permacopy)
WASHINGTON Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who has cultivated an unblinking image of stern secretiveness and unshakeable discretion, is expected to become far more visible as a campaigner in this presidential election year. Assuming, that is, that he remains on the presidential ticket. "The campaign season is under way," Cheney said recently, "and President Bush and I will be proud to present our vision to voters in every part of this great land."
The White House has said that American voters will see more of the low-profile Cheney this year, and not less.
But while it would fly in the face of history, and what is known of President George W. Bush, to drop a vice president after one term, Cheney has found himself mired in controversy on a variety of fronts. That has made speculation about his political future a suddenly hot topic in this speculation-loving city.
...
Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
I included this article in a recent enry on my main blog, along with a few other really worthwhile articles.
FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
February 20, 2004
64% Favor Smaller Government
Rassmussen Survey: 64% Favor Smaller Government
February 16, 2004--Sixty-four percent (64%) of American voters say that they prefer smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that just 22% would rather see a more active government with more services and higher taxes.
Scott Rasmussen notes that "This data helps explain the recent decline in George W. Bush's approval ratings and general election polls. Being seen as a big spender is dangerous for any candidate."
The President has been challenged on a number of budget items recently by both his opponents and supporters. In fact, voters early in the campaign say they trust Massachusetts Senator John Kerry more than President Bush when it comes to cutting government spending.
The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows a race between Bush and Kerry is very close at this time. The tracking poll is updated daily by noon.
The national telephone survey of 1,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 13-15, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)
Support for smaller government cuts across just about all demographic lines. It is the preference for 67% of men and 62% of women; 52% of those under 30 and 70% of those over 65; 79% of Republicans, 59% of unaffiliateds, and 53% of Democrats; 61% of white voters and 52% of non-white voters.
The only exception to this pattern is voters who identify themselves as very liberal. Among this group, 49% say they want a more active government with more services and higher taxes. Just 40% prefer smaller government.
Rasmussen Reports provides a comprehensive Election 2004 polling service including daily updates of the Presidential Race and economic confidence.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 19, 2004
Dean Wisconsin fundraising claim aside, not all cash went to TV
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / howard dean / Not all cash went to TV
WAUSAU, Wis. -- After being surprised by losses in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Howard Dean and his top advisers decided to seek political rejuvenation by taking a stand in the Wisconsin primary today. To fuel the effort, the campaign sent out an e-mail to 660,000 supporters on Feb. 5, seeking donations.
"The entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," said the message, which bore Dean's electronic signature. "We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin. To do that, I need your help to raise $700,000 by Sunday. . . . Your $50 contribution will allow us to get out our message onto the airwaves, and win Wisconsin. Please contribute now."
And they did, not only meeting the goal of $700,000, but continuing to donate as the campaign doubled the goal to $1.4 million. As of last night, the tally stood at $1.3 million.
Yesterday, a media consortium in Wisconsin released an analysis of advertising spending in the state by the Democratic candidates. It indicated Dean had not spent the $700,000 he said he needed for television ads, having booked only $227,000 worth as of last Friday. That was less than the money spent by his two main rivals, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. The study found that Edwards had booked $316,000 worth of ads, while Kerry had $263,000.
...
Interview with Aaron Russo
As posted on my main blog:
This is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail transmission purposes.
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
RUSSO RISING
The Auburn Plainsman Online - RUSSO RISING
Aaron Russo, Libertarian presidential candidate from California and the man who brought Led Zepplin to the U.S., shares his American dream
Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
t r u t h o u t - Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
(The story is about halfway down the page.)
Presidential dreams
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
t r u t h o u t - Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
February 17, 2004
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
Although it hasn't gotten much attention or exposure other than in music publications, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) has the potential to make an enormous impact on the political front. Since January the three-year-old organization has been spearheading a nationwide voter registration drive called "Hip-Hop Team Vote."
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February 16, 2004
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
...
February 15, 2004
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
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Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
...
Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
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February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
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An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
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Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
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David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
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Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
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February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
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Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
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"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
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(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Martin: And Now For the Good News
Vanguard: And Now For the Good News
Some folks, it seems, just never learn. Especially doom-and-gloomers.
In 1980, the late economist Julian Simon made a bet with Paul Ehrlich, author of the best-selling 1968 book, The Population Bomb.
The bet concerned commodity prices and was intended to illustrate a point. Simon wagered prices would fall; Ehrlich said they would rise. Both men agreed that higher prices would suggest resource scarcity and a poorer world, while falling prices would signal the opposite.
Based on his beliefs about scarcity and population growth, Ehrlich in his book had predicted hundreds of millions of deaths by starvation -- in America and elsewhere -- by the 1980s.
Erlich, of course, lost his bet. In 1990, though, he wrote another book.
Its title? The Population Explosion, predicting massive famines on the horizon.
...
Oscar bites his fingernails over politically active stars
Yahoo! News - Oscar bites his fingernails over politically active stars
Partiers Injected With Blood At Sex Parties
local6.com - News - Police: Partiers Injected With Blood At Sex Parties
Larry Elder: The state should get out of the marriage business
WorldNetDaily: The state should get out of the marriage business
Hey, Where's the Stoners, Druids and Ferret-Lovers?
ORANGE COUNTY WEEKLY OC Weekly: Cover: Hey, Where's the Stoners, Druids and Ferret-Lovers?
Aside from the little frizzy-haired dude in the T-shirt—people of a certain age will recognize him as a demi-Jerry from Room 222—there is a conspicuous paucity of stoners at Judge Jim Gray’s Senate campaign headquarters opening celebration. There are lots of adults in suits and ties—this is key—lots of people who look like they could be attending a Republican or Democratic function—also key—a lot of people whose closest brush with the phrase "try before you buy" no doubt involved vacation-time-share property.
This is disappointing, of course, for anyone who expected Gray’s headquarters to be a kind of Gomorrah Gone Wild, having built his campaign so conspicuously around the idea that the drug war has been a disaster and that his first order of business as a U.S. senator would be to decriminalize marijuana.
"Every vote for me will be a vote against the drug war."
...
Richard Mack addresses students
Southern Utah University Journal Online - Richard Mack addresses students
You're not a Libertarian if...
by Garry Reed -
WorldNetDaily Editor, CEO and columnist Joseph Farah recently offered his thesis on "Why I'm not a Libertarian." But once the final exam is graded, we're left with two reasons why people are not libertarians. First, they simply can't tolerate the idea that they, or a proxy like Big Government, don't have the right to coerce others into acting the way they want those others to act. The second reason is that they simply don't understand libertarianism. Joseph Farah checks both boxes.
Award-winning producer says next role should be president
Award-winning producer says next role should be president
Libertarian Aaron Russo calls for political change at campaign stop in city
02/26/04
By STEVE NOWOTTNY
Times Staff Writer eintern@htimes.com
Hollywood movie producer-turned-politician Aaron Russo, famous for such hits as "The Rose" and "Trading Places," visited Huntsville Wednesday, campaigning for the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party
...
(Cartoon) The All New 2004 Nader Candidate by Mark Fiore
As usual, Fiore's animation is clever and on-target, and very amusing.
The Village Voice: Cartoons: Mark Fiore: The All New 2004 Nader Candidate by Mark Fiore
February 25, 2004
The Reform Party - - Ross Perot: The Political Fray
AllPolitics - The Reform Party - - Ross Perot: The Political Fray
The Reform Party - Ross Perot: Political Timeline
AllPolitics - The Reform Party - Ross Perot: Political Timeline
February 24, 2004
Republican Party Has Betrayed America
Republican Party Has Betrayed America - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
There's something called the "wasted vote."
Some people say that if you vote for a third party your vote means nothing, because in the end only the big boys are going to win. Well, if the two million people that have told me that this year would get off their butts and do something other then settle for the status quo then we'd have a much better nation and guess what... third parties would make a HUGE difference.
This year, I'm not going to waste my vote, I'm voting Libertarian.
...
No, Steve-- Tearing down your own movement is the greatest barrier of all.
I've spent a while trying to think of how to comment on (i.e., attack) this article without causing undue friction. Here's the best that I've come up with:
People who go out of their way to try and drag down the Libertarian Party are doing a bad thing. Pretending like you are trying to help the party by doing so doesn't change the reality of it.
P.S. -- Writing in all caps comes off as shouting-- and shouting comes off as an attempt to cover up for lack of substance.
Self-deception: The greatest barrier of all
The Life of the Party, part 15
by Steve Trinward
Excerpt:
So I rest my case: The Libertarian Party has NEVER had its Presidential candidate's name on ALL FIFTY state ballots ... with the word "Libertarian" beside it!
What does this mean? Not much, except that it is just one more example of how a half-truth has been used to puff up our own little egos, and make the frog pond seem more influential than it actually is. And to me, that is the most essential shortcoming of the Libertarian Party: its willingness to cut corners and shade the Truth, in the name of creating some illusion of the "power" we hold in the political arena.
Will Nader Matter at All?
The best-case scenario for Ralph Nader's fourth presidential campaign -- a 1992 write-in effort in the New Hampshire primary, Green Party runs in 1996 and 2000, and the independent candidacy he announced on Sunday -- is to pull a Norman Thomas. In the Great Depression election of 1932, Democrats worried that Thomas, the perennial Socialist Party candidate, would draw off votes in key states and help reelect Republican President Herbert Hoover. When the ballots were counted, however, Democrat Franklin Roosevelt defeated Hoover in all but six states and was swept into the White House. At the same time, Thomas won close to 900,000 votes nationwide, and in many state his backers provided a cushion of votes for Democrats who swept local, state and congressional races. Thomas was invited to the White House, treated with respect on Capitol Hill and credited with providing the inspiration for important elements of Roosevelt's New Deal.
The worst-case scenario for Nader's 2004 campaign is the James Birney circumstance. Birney, a prominent attorney who served as secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, sought the presidency in 1840 and again in 1844 as the candidate of the abolitionist Liberty Party. Birney's second run for the presidency secured only 62,103 votes, out of 2.7 million cast nationwide. But Birney took away enough votes in key states such as New York from Whig Henry Clay, a more cautious critic of the expansion of slavery, to tip the election to Democrat James K. Polk, who campaigned on a promise to annex Texas as a slave state. Polk quickly did just that, and then ordered the invasion of Mexico. Until his death in 1857, Birney, the passionate abolitionist, was blamed for giving pro-slavery forces an upper hand at a critical stage in American politics.
Somewhere between those best- and worst-case scenarios lies the likely result for Nader this year. It is far less dramatic. Indeed, the most likely scenario for Nader in 2004 is that he will not matter much.
...
Wanted: A Republican Ralph Nader
A Republican Nader? - The third-party candidate Democrats want and need. By Timothy Noah
Noah: Democrats for Roy Moore?
Forget Nader. Draft Moore. - How Democrats can win back the White House. By Timothy Noah
Ralph to Anybody But Bush Liberal Democrats
NOTE: This letter from Ralph has been taken down from his site as far as I can tell. I've changed the link to point to an archived copy at Idaho Indymedia.
Dear Anybody But Bush Liberal Democrats:
From Ralph Nader
If you wish to defeat George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in November, restore the House and/or the Senate to the Democrats and continue to build a longer term progressive political movement, enlisting the young, middle-aged and elderly together, beyond November 2004.... and you have some doubts as to whether the Democrats can do this by themselves, this letter is for you.
...
February 23, 2004
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
Today, Open Debates filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The complaint contains previously unreleased, secret documents that reveal how the major party candidates collude with the CPD to dictate the terms of the presidential debates and exclude third-party and independent challengers.
“FEC regulations require presidential debate sponsors that accept corporate contributions to be `nonpartisan' and to employ `pre-established objective' candidate selection criteria. The CPD, which accepts millions of dollars in corporate contributions, fails to stage the debates in accordance with these FEC regulations,” said Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
...
February 22, 2004
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
(Feb. 20, 2004) — After eight years as Maine's governor, Angus King became "king of the road." The day after he left office a year ago, King, his wife, Mary Herman, and their two children — Ben, 12, and Molly, 9 — hit the road in a 40-foot motorhome to see America. Over the next six months, the family traveled 15,000 miles, visited 34 states and enjoyed the trip of a lifetime before returning home last June.
Based on his experience, King offers some advice. "Get on the road!" says King. "See the country. Do it with the kids. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had in my life."
...
Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
This is a pretty meaty article about the flaws of Howard Dean's campaign.
USATODAY.com - Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
America's first cross country highway
America's first cross country highway
In RV Travel Issue 97 we asked readers to name the first highway to span the United States. Was it Route 66, U.S. Route 1 or the Lincoln Highway?
Readers who chose the Lincoln Highway were correct. Route 66 received its number in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. U.S. 1 runs north-south along the East Coast.
The Lincoln Highway was America's first coast-to-coast road, started in 1913 by men in the automobile industry. Because the government was not yet building roads, the plan was to connect and improve already existing roads. The Lincoln and the hundreds of named roads which followed inspired the highway numbering system, which ultimately made the named highways obsolete.
In 1912, there were almost no good roads in the United States. The relatively few miles of improved road were only around towns and cities. A road was "improved" if it was graded. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. To get from one settlement to another, it was much easier to take the train. Carl Fisher decided there needed to be a "Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway." And so he began a campaign to make it happen.
The road was dedicated on October 31, 1913. Towns and cities all across America celebrated with torchlite parades, bon fires, speeches, dances, fireworks and cannon fire. Completion wasn't as dramatic as the Last Spike in railroad lore but in 1927 the Boy Scouts of America honored the highway by placing commemorative markers from coast-to-coast. The highway was then transporting motorists across the continent, connecting Times Square and San Francisco.
By the late 1940s, the Lincoln Highway started to fade away. A new generation of Americans were born, one which had grown up with paved roads and a numbered highway system. Most Baby Boomers, and even more of their children, have never heard of the Lincoln Highway. But many stretches of the old Lincoln are still part of major auto routes. The most scenic and historic stretches include US 30 through Pennsylvania and western Nebraska and US 50 across central Nevada (the "Loneliest Road").
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
(TruthOut permacopy)
The Bellamys, Socialism, and the Pledge
The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and expresses ideas in the socialist utopian novels of Francis' cousin Edward Bellamy. Francis wrote the pledge to promote the Bellamys' idea of socialism in the most socialistic institution -government schools. The Bellamy cousins were totalitarian socialists, and the ideas that inspired them and the pledge caused mass atrocities worldwide. (http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html)
Edward Bellamy's book “Looking Backward” (1888) was such a success that it inspired the "Nationalism" movement in the U.S. and "Bellamy Clubs" (also known as "Nationalist Clubs") whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. They saw government schools as a means to their socialist "Nationalism."
...
February 21, 2004
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President - The Daily Campus - Commentary
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Not even his own staff would call Democratic congressional candidate Ben Chandler a nethead.
"He uses the Internet almost exclusively for fantasy baseball," said campaign spokesman Jason Sauer, who added that he wasn't sure whether, until recently, Chandler even knew what a blog was.
But that was before Chandler's campaign turned a $2,000 investment in blog advertising into over $80,000 in donations in only two weeks. Chandler -- who won a seat in the House of Representatives Tuesday evening -- definitely knows what a blog is now, Sauer said. "It's that thing that brings in money."
...
Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
2/20/2004 - Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
Three candidates for President of the United States, Michael Badnarik, Gary Nolan, and Aaron Russo, will appear in Chattanooga on March 1, at 7 p.m. for a Presidential debate.
The debate will be held in the Tennessee Room of the University Center on the UTC campus.
Badnarik, Nolan and Russo are the front runners in a field of five candidates seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President. The candidate will be nominated at the national convention May 27-31 in Atlanta.
The Libertarian Party of Tennessee will elect delegates to the national convention April 2-4 in Chattanooga.
Gary Nolan is a nationally syndicated talk show host from Ohio. Aaron Russo, of Nevada, is a film producer, best known for the films Trading Places and The Rose. Texan Michael Badnarik is a computer consultant and teacher of the US Constitution.
For more information contact the Hamilton County Libertarian Party at (423) 634-2595.
Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
IHT: Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
(TruthOut permacopy)
WASHINGTON Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who has cultivated an unblinking image of stern secretiveness and unshakeable discretion, is expected to become far more visible as a campaigner in this presidential election year. Assuming, that is, that he remains on the presidential ticket. "The campaign season is under way," Cheney said recently, "and President Bush and I will be proud to present our vision to voters in every part of this great land."
The White House has said that American voters will see more of the low-profile Cheney this year, and not less.
But while it would fly in the face of history, and what is known of President George W. Bush, to drop a vice president after one term, Cheney has found himself mired in controversy on a variety of fronts. That has made speculation about his political future a suddenly hot topic in this speculation-loving city.
...
Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
I included this article in a recent enry on my main blog, along with a few other really worthwhile articles.
FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
February 20, 2004
64% Favor Smaller Government
Rassmussen Survey: 64% Favor Smaller Government
February 16, 2004--Sixty-four percent (64%) of American voters say that they prefer smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that just 22% would rather see a more active government with more services and higher taxes.
Scott Rasmussen notes that "This data helps explain the recent decline in George W. Bush's approval ratings and general election polls. Being seen as a big spender is dangerous for any candidate."
The President has been challenged on a number of budget items recently by both his opponents and supporters. In fact, voters early in the campaign say they trust Massachusetts Senator John Kerry more than President Bush when it comes to cutting government spending.
The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows a race between Bush and Kerry is very close at this time. The tracking poll is updated daily by noon.
The national telephone survey of 1,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 13-15, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)
Support for smaller government cuts across just about all demographic lines. It is the preference for 67% of men and 62% of women; 52% of those under 30 and 70% of those over 65; 79% of Republicans, 59% of unaffiliateds, and 53% of Democrats; 61% of white voters and 52% of non-white voters.
The only exception to this pattern is voters who identify themselves as very liberal. Among this group, 49% say they want a more active government with more services and higher taxes. Just 40% prefer smaller government.
Rasmussen Reports provides a comprehensive Election 2004 polling service including daily updates of the Presidential Race and economic confidence.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 19, 2004
Dean Wisconsin fundraising claim aside, not all cash went to TV
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / howard dean / Not all cash went to TV
WAUSAU, Wis. -- After being surprised by losses in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Howard Dean and his top advisers decided to seek political rejuvenation by taking a stand in the Wisconsin primary today. To fuel the effort, the campaign sent out an e-mail to 660,000 supporters on Feb. 5, seeking donations.
"The entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," said the message, which bore Dean's electronic signature. "We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin. To do that, I need your help to raise $700,000 by Sunday. . . . Your $50 contribution will allow us to get out our message onto the airwaves, and win Wisconsin. Please contribute now."
And they did, not only meeting the goal of $700,000, but continuing to donate as the campaign doubled the goal to $1.4 million. As of last night, the tally stood at $1.3 million.
Yesterday, a media consortium in Wisconsin released an analysis of advertising spending in the state by the Democratic candidates. It indicated Dean had not spent the $700,000 he said he needed for television ads, having booked only $227,000 worth as of last Friday. That was less than the money spent by his two main rivals, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. The study found that Edwards had booked $316,000 worth of ads, while Kerry had $263,000.
...
Interview with Aaron Russo
As posted on my main blog:
This is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail transmission purposes.
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
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See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
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So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
RUSSO RISING
The Auburn Plainsman Online - RUSSO RISING
Aaron Russo, Libertarian presidential candidate from California and the man who brought Led Zepplin to the U.S., shares his American dream
Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
t r u t h o u t - Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
(The story is about halfway down the page.)
Presidential dreams
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
t r u t h o u t - Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
February 17, 2004
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
Although it hasn't gotten much attention or exposure other than in music publications, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) has the potential to make an enormous impact on the political front. Since January the three-year-old organization has been spearheading a nationwide voter registration drive called "Hip-Hop Team Vote."
...
February 16, 2004
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
...
February 15, 2004
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
...
Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
...
Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
...
February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
...
Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
The Reform Party - - Ross Perot: The Political Fray
AllPolitics - The Reform Party - - Ross Perot: The Political Fray
The Reform Party - Ross Perot: Political Timeline
AllPolitics - The Reform Party - Ross Perot: Political Timeline
Republican Party Has Betrayed America
Republican Party Has Betrayed America - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
There's something called the "wasted vote."
Some people say that if you vote for a third party your vote means nothing, because in the end only the big boys are going to win. Well, if the two million people that have told me that this year would get off their butts and do something other then settle for the status quo then we'd have a much better nation and guess what... third parties would make a HUGE difference.
This year, I'm not going to waste my vote, I'm voting Libertarian.
...
No, Steve-- Tearing down your own movement is the greatest barrier of all.
I've spent a while trying to think of how to comment on (i.e., attack) this article without causing undue friction. Here's the best that I've come up with:
People who go out of their way to try and drag down the Libertarian Party are doing a bad thing. Pretending like you are trying to help the party by doing so doesn't change the reality of it.
P.S. -- Writing in all caps comes off as shouting-- and shouting comes off as an attempt to cover up for lack of substance.
Self-deception: The greatest barrier of all
The Life of the Party, part 15
by Steve Trinward
Excerpt:
So I rest my case: The Libertarian Party has NEVER had its Presidential candidate's name on ALL FIFTY state ballots ... with the word "Libertarian" beside it!
What does this mean? Not much, except that it is just one more example of how a half-truth has been used to puff up our own little egos, and make the frog pond seem more influential than it actually is. And to me, that is the most essential shortcoming of the Libertarian Party: its willingness to cut corners and shade the Truth, in the name of creating some illusion of the "power" we hold in the political arena.
Will Nader Matter at All?
The best-case scenario for Ralph Nader's fourth presidential campaign -- a 1992 write-in effort in the New Hampshire primary, Green Party runs in 1996 and 2000, and the independent candidacy he announced on Sunday -- is to pull a Norman Thomas. In the Great Depression election of 1932, Democrats worried that Thomas, the perennial Socialist Party candidate, would draw off votes in key states and help reelect Republican President Herbert Hoover. When the ballots were counted, however, Democrat Franklin Roosevelt defeated Hoover in all but six states and was swept into the White House. At the same time, Thomas won close to 900,000 votes nationwide, and in many state his backers provided a cushion of votes for Democrats who swept local, state and congressional races. Thomas was invited to the White House, treated with respect on Capitol Hill and credited with providing the inspiration for important elements of Roosevelt's New Deal.
The worst-case scenario for Nader's 2004 campaign is the James Birney circumstance. Birney, a prominent attorney who served as secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, sought the presidency in 1840 and again in 1844 as the candidate of the abolitionist Liberty Party. Birney's second run for the presidency secured only 62,103 votes, out of 2.7 million cast nationwide. But Birney took away enough votes in key states such as New York from Whig Henry Clay, a more cautious critic of the expansion of slavery, to tip the election to Democrat James K. Polk, who campaigned on a promise to annex Texas as a slave state. Polk quickly did just that, and then ordered the invasion of Mexico. Until his death in 1857, Birney, the passionate abolitionist, was blamed for giving pro-slavery forces an upper hand at a critical stage in American politics.
Somewhere between those best- and worst-case scenarios lies the likely result for Nader this year. It is far less dramatic. Indeed, the most likely scenario for Nader in 2004 is that he will not matter much.
...
Wanted: A Republican Ralph Nader
A Republican Nader? - The third-party candidate Democrats want and need. By Timothy Noah
Noah: Democrats for Roy Moore?
Forget Nader. Draft Moore. - How Democrats can win back the White House. By Timothy Noah
Ralph to Anybody But Bush Liberal Democrats
NOTE: This letter from Ralph has been taken down from his site as far as I can tell. I've changed the link to point to an archived copy at Idaho Indymedia.
Dear Anybody But Bush Liberal Democrats:
From Ralph Nader
If you wish to defeat George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in November, restore the House and/or the Senate to the Democrats and continue to build a longer term progressive political movement, enlisting the young, middle-aged and elderly together, beyond November 2004.... and you have some doubts as to whether the Democrats can do this by themselves, this letter is for you.
...
February 23, 2004
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
Today, Open Debates filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The complaint contains previously unreleased, secret documents that reveal how the major party candidates collude with the CPD to dictate the terms of the presidential debates and exclude third-party and independent challengers.
“FEC regulations require presidential debate sponsors that accept corporate contributions to be `nonpartisan' and to employ `pre-established objective' candidate selection criteria. The CPD, which accepts millions of dollars in corporate contributions, fails to stage the debates in accordance with these FEC regulations,” said Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
...
February 22, 2004
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
(Feb. 20, 2004) — After eight years as Maine's governor, Angus King became "king of the road." The day after he left office a year ago, King, his wife, Mary Herman, and their two children — Ben, 12, and Molly, 9 — hit the road in a 40-foot motorhome to see America. Over the next six months, the family traveled 15,000 miles, visited 34 states and enjoyed the trip of a lifetime before returning home last June.
Based on his experience, King offers some advice. "Get on the road!" says King. "See the country. Do it with the kids. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had in my life."
...
Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
This is a pretty meaty article about the flaws of Howard Dean's campaign.
USATODAY.com - Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
America's first cross country highway
America's first cross country highway
In RV Travel Issue 97 we asked readers to name the first highway to span the United States. Was it Route 66, U.S. Route 1 or the Lincoln Highway?
Readers who chose the Lincoln Highway were correct. Route 66 received its number in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. U.S. 1 runs north-south along the East Coast.
The Lincoln Highway was America's first coast-to-coast road, started in 1913 by men in the automobile industry. Because the government was not yet building roads, the plan was to connect and improve already existing roads. The Lincoln and the hundreds of named roads which followed inspired the highway numbering system, which ultimately made the named highways obsolete.
In 1912, there were almost no good roads in the United States. The relatively few miles of improved road were only around towns and cities. A road was "improved" if it was graded. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. To get from one settlement to another, it was much easier to take the train. Carl Fisher decided there needed to be a "Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway." And so he began a campaign to make it happen.
The road was dedicated on October 31, 1913. Towns and cities all across America celebrated with torchlite parades, bon fires, speeches, dances, fireworks and cannon fire. Completion wasn't as dramatic as the Last Spike in railroad lore but in 1927 the Boy Scouts of America honored the highway by placing commemorative markers from coast-to-coast. The highway was then transporting motorists across the continent, connecting Times Square and San Francisco.
By the late 1940s, the Lincoln Highway started to fade away. A new generation of Americans were born, one which had grown up with paved roads and a numbered highway system. Most Baby Boomers, and even more of their children, have never heard of the Lincoln Highway. But many stretches of the old Lincoln are still part of major auto routes. The most scenic and historic stretches include US 30 through Pennsylvania and western Nebraska and US 50 across central Nevada (the "Loneliest Road").
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
(TruthOut permacopy)
The Bellamys, Socialism, and the Pledge
The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and expresses ideas in the socialist utopian novels of Francis' cousin Edward Bellamy. Francis wrote the pledge to promote the Bellamys' idea of socialism in the most socialistic institution -government schools. The Bellamy cousins were totalitarian socialists, and the ideas that inspired them and the pledge caused mass atrocities worldwide. (http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html)
Edward Bellamy's book “Looking Backward” (1888) was such a success that it inspired the "Nationalism" movement in the U.S. and "Bellamy Clubs" (also known as "Nationalist Clubs") whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. They saw government schools as a means to their socialist "Nationalism."
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February 21, 2004
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President - The Daily Campus - Commentary
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Not even his own staff would call Democratic congressional candidate Ben Chandler a nethead.
"He uses the Internet almost exclusively for fantasy baseball," said campaign spokesman Jason Sauer, who added that he wasn't sure whether, until recently, Chandler even knew what a blog was.
But that was before Chandler's campaign turned a $2,000 investment in blog advertising into over $80,000 in donations in only two weeks. Chandler -- who won a seat in the House of Representatives Tuesday evening -- definitely knows what a blog is now, Sauer said. "It's that thing that brings in money."
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Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
2/20/2004 - Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
Three candidates for President of the United States, Michael Badnarik, Gary Nolan, and Aaron Russo, will appear in Chattanooga on March 1, at 7 p.m. for a Presidential debate.
The debate will be held in the Tennessee Room of the University Center on the UTC campus.
Badnarik, Nolan and Russo are the front runners in a field of five candidates seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President. The candidate will be nominated at the national convention May 27-31 in Atlanta.
The Libertarian Party of Tennessee will elect delegates to the national convention April 2-4 in Chattanooga.
Gary Nolan is a nationally syndicated talk show host from Ohio. Aaron Russo, of Nevada, is a film producer, best known for the films Trading Places and The Rose. Texan Michael Badnarik is a computer consultant and teacher of the US Constitution.
For more information contact the Hamilton County Libertarian Party at (423) 634-2595.
Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
IHT: Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
(TruthOut permacopy)
WASHINGTON Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who has cultivated an unblinking image of stern secretiveness and unshakeable discretion, is expected to become far more visible as a campaigner in this presidential election year. Assuming, that is, that he remains on the presidential ticket. "The campaign season is under way," Cheney said recently, "and President Bush and I will be proud to present our vision to voters in every part of this great land."
The White House has said that American voters will see more of the low-profile Cheney this year, and not less.
But while it would fly in the face of history, and what is known of President George W. Bush, to drop a vice president after one term, Cheney has found himself mired in controversy on a variety of fronts. That has made speculation about his political future a suddenly hot topic in this speculation-loving city.
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Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
I included this article in a recent enry on my main blog, along with a few other really worthwhile articles.
FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
February 20, 2004
64% Favor Smaller Government
Rassmussen Survey: 64% Favor Smaller Government
February 16, 2004--Sixty-four percent (64%) of American voters say that they prefer smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that just 22% would rather see a more active government with more services and higher taxes.
Scott Rasmussen notes that "This data helps explain the recent decline in George W. Bush's approval ratings and general election polls. Being seen as a big spender is dangerous for any candidate."
The President has been challenged on a number of budget items recently by both his opponents and supporters. In fact, voters early in the campaign say they trust Massachusetts Senator John Kerry more than President Bush when it comes to cutting government spending.
The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows a race between Bush and Kerry is very close at this time. The tracking poll is updated daily by noon.
The national telephone survey of 1,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 13-15, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)
Support for smaller government cuts across just about all demographic lines. It is the preference for 67% of men and 62% of women; 52% of those under 30 and 70% of those over 65; 79% of Republicans, 59% of unaffiliateds, and 53% of Democrats; 61% of white voters and 52% of non-white voters.
The only exception to this pattern is voters who identify themselves as very liberal. Among this group, 49% say they want a more active government with more services and higher taxes. Just 40% prefer smaller government.
Rasmussen Reports provides a comprehensive Election 2004 polling service including daily updates of the Presidential Race and economic confidence.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 19, 2004
Dean Wisconsin fundraising claim aside, not all cash went to TV
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / howard dean / Not all cash went to TV
WAUSAU, Wis. -- After being surprised by losses in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Howard Dean and his top advisers decided to seek political rejuvenation by taking a stand in the Wisconsin primary today. To fuel the effort, the campaign sent out an e-mail to 660,000 supporters on Feb. 5, seeking donations.
"The entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," said the message, which bore Dean's electronic signature. "We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin. To do that, I need your help to raise $700,000 by Sunday. . . . Your $50 contribution will allow us to get out our message onto the airwaves, and win Wisconsin. Please contribute now."
And they did, not only meeting the goal of $700,000, but continuing to donate as the campaign doubled the goal to $1.4 million. As of last night, the tally stood at $1.3 million.
Yesterday, a media consortium in Wisconsin released an analysis of advertising spending in the state by the Democratic candidates. It indicated Dean had not spent the $700,000 he said he needed for television ads, having booked only $227,000 worth as of last Friday. That was less than the money spent by his two main rivals, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. The study found that Edwards had booked $316,000 worth of ads, while Kerry had $263,000.
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Interview with Aaron Russo
As posted on my main blog:
This is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail transmission purposes.
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
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See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
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So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
RUSSO RISING
The Auburn Plainsman Online - RUSSO RISING
Aaron Russo, Libertarian presidential candidate from California and the man who brought Led Zepplin to the U.S., shares his American dream
Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
t r u t h o u t - Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
(The story is about halfway down the page.)
Presidential dreams
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
t r u t h o u t - Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
February 17, 2004
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
Although it hasn't gotten much attention or exposure other than in music publications, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) has the potential to make an enormous impact on the political front. Since January the three-year-old organization has been spearheading a nationwide voter registration drive called "Hip-Hop Team Vote."
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February 16, 2004
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
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February 15, 2004
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
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Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
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Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
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February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
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An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
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Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
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David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
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Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
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February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
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Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
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Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
OPEN DEBATES FILED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
Today, Open Debates filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The complaint contains previously unreleased, secret documents that reveal how the major party candidates collude with the CPD to dictate the terms of the presidential debates and exclude third-party and independent challengers.
“FEC regulations require presidential debate sponsors that accept corporate contributions to be `nonpartisan' and to employ `pre-established objective' candidate selection criteria. The CPD, which accepts millions of dollars in corporate contributions, fails to stage the debates in accordance with these FEC regulations,” said Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
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Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
Former Governor Offers RVing Tips
(Feb. 20, 2004) — After eight years as Maine's governor, Angus King became "king of the road." The day after he left office a year ago, King, his wife, Mary Herman, and their two children — Ben, 12, and Molly, 9 — hit the road in a 40-foot motorhome to see America. Over the next six months, the family traveled 15,000 miles, visited 34 states and enjoyed the trip of a lifetime before returning home last June.
Based on his experience, King offers some advice. "Get on the road!" says King. "See the country. Do it with the kids. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had in my life."
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Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
This is a pretty meaty article about the flaws of Howard Dean's campaign.
USATODAY.com - Staffers fill in details of the decline of Dean
America's first cross country highway
America's first cross country highway
In RV Travel Issue 97 we asked readers to name the first highway to span the United States. Was it Route 66, U.S. Route 1 or the Lincoln Highway?
Readers who chose the Lincoln Highway were correct. Route 66 received its number in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. U.S. 1 runs north-south along the East Coast.
The Lincoln Highway was America's first coast-to-coast road, started in 1913 by men in the automobile industry. Because the government was not yet building roads, the plan was to connect and improve already existing roads. The Lincoln and the hundreds of named roads which followed inspired the highway numbering system, which ultimately made the named highways obsolete.
In 1912, there were almost no good roads in the United States. The relatively few miles of improved road were only around towns and cities. A road was "improved" if it was graded. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. To get from one settlement to another, it was much easier to take the train. Carl Fisher decided there needed to be a "Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway." And so he began a campaign to make it happen.
The road was dedicated on October 31, 1913. Towns and cities all across America celebrated with torchlite parades, bon fires, speeches, dances, fireworks and cannon fire. Completion wasn't as dramatic as the Last Spike in railroad lore but in 1927 the Boy Scouts of America honored the highway by placing commemorative markers from coast-to-coast. The highway was then transporting motorists across the continent, connecting Times Square and San Francisco.
By the late 1940s, the Lincoln Highway started to fade away. A new generation of Americans were born, one which had grown up with paved roads and a numbered highway system. Most Baby Boomers, and even more of their children, have never heard of the Lincoln Highway. But many stretches of the old Lincoln are still part of major auto routes. The most scenic and historic stretches include US 30 through Pennsylvania and western Nebraska and US 50 across central Nevada (the "Loneliest Road").
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
Washingtonian: Washington BUZZ
White House Press Secretary Lashes Out at Reporter: “There’s a Difference Between Trashy Rumors and Journalism”
(TruthOut's archived copy of this has the transcript of the long exchange described in this article.
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
Democrats United in Asking That Nader Not Enter Race
(TruthOut permacopy)
The Bellamys, Socialism, and the Pledge
The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and expresses ideas in the socialist utopian novels of Francis' cousin Edward Bellamy. Francis wrote the pledge to promote the Bellamys' idea of socialism in the most socialistic institution -government schools. The Bellamy cousins were totalitarian socialists, and the ideas that inspired them and the pledge caused mass atrocities worldwide. (http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html)
Edward Bellamy's book “Looking Backward” (1888) was such a success that it inspired the "Nationalism" movement in the U.S. and "Bellamy Clubs" (also known as "Nationalist Clubs") whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. They saw government schools as a means to their socialist "Nationalism."
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February 21, 2004
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President - The Daily Campus - Commentary
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Not even his own staff would call Democratic congressional candidate Ben Chandler a nethead.
"He uses the Internet almost exclusively for fantasy baseball," said campaign spokesman Jason Sauer, who added that he wasn't sure whether, until recently, Chandler even knew what a blog was.
But that was before Chandler's campaign turned a $2,000 investment in blog advertising into over $80,000 in donations in only two weeks. Chandler -- who won a seat in the House of Representatives Tuesday evening -- definitely knows what a blog is now, Sauer said. "It's that thing that brings in money."
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Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
2/20/2004 - Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
Three candidates for President of the United States, Michael Badnarik, Gary Nolan, and Aaron Russo, will appear in Chattanooga on March 1, at 7 p.m. for a Presidential debate.
The debate will be held in the Tennessee Room of the University Center on the UTC campus.
Badnarik, Nolan and Russo are the front runners in a field of five candidates seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President. The candidate will be nominated at the national convention May 27-31 in Atlanta.
The Libertarian Party of Tennessee will elect delegates to the national convention April 2-4 in Chattanooga.
Gary Nolan is a nationally syndicated talk show host from Ohio. Aaron Russo, of Nevada, is a film producer, best known for the films Trading Places and The Rose. Texan Michael Badnarik is a computer consultant and teacher of the US Constitution.
For more information contact the Hamilton County Libertarian Party at (423) 634-2595.
Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
IHT: Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
(TruthOut permacopy)
WASHINGTON Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who has cultivated an unblinking image of stern secretiveness and unshakeable discretion, is expected to become far more visible as a campaigner in this presidential election year. Assuming, that is, that he remains on the presidential ticket. "The campaign season is under way," Cheney said recently, "and President Bush and I will be proud to present our vision to voters in every part of this great land."
The White House has said that American voters will see more of the low-profile Cheney this year, and not less.
But while it would fly in the face of history, and what is known of President George W. Bush, to drop a vice president after one term, Cheney has found himself mired in controversy on a variety of fronts. That has made speculation about his political future a suddenly hot topic in this speculation-loving city.
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Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
I included this article in a recent enry on my main blog, along with a few other really worthwhile articles.
FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
February 20, 2004
64% Favor Smaller Government
Rassmussen Survey: 64% Favor Smaller Government
February 16, 2004--Sixty-four percent (64%) of American voters say that they prefer smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that just 22% would rather see a more active government with more services and higher taxes.
Scott Rasmussen notes that "This data helps explain the recent decline in George W. Bush's approval ratings and general election polls. Being seen as a big spender is dangerous for any candidate."
The President has been challenged on a number of budget items recently by both his opponents and supporters. In fact, voters early in the campaign say they trust Massachusetts Senator John Kerry more than President Bush when it comes to cutting government spending.
The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows a race between Bush and Kerry is very close at this time. The tracking poll is updated daily by noon.
The national telephone survey of 1,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 13-15, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)
Support for smaller government cuts across just about all demographic lines. It is the preference for 67% of men and 62% of women; 52% of those under 30 and 70% of those over 65; 79% of Republicans, 59% of unaffiliateds, and 53% of Democrats; 61% of white voters and 52% of non-white voters.
The only exception to this pattern is voters who identify themselves as very liberal. Among this group, 49% say they want a more active government with more services and higher taxes. Just 40% prefer smaller government.
Rasmussen Reports provides a comprehensive Election 2004 polling service including daily updates of the Presidential Race and economic confidence.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 19, 2004
Dean Wisconsin fundraising claim aside, not all cash went to TV
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / howard dean / Not all cash went to TV
WAUSAU, Wis. -- After being surprised by losses in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Howard Dean and his top advisers decided to seek political rejuvenation by taking a stand in the Wisconsin primary today. To fuel the effort, the campaign sent out an e-mail to 660,000 supporters on Feb. 5, seeking donations.
"The entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," said the message, which bore Dean's electronic signature. "We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin. To do that, I need your help to raise $700,000 by Sunday. . . . Your $50 contribution will allow us to get out our message onto the airwaves, and win Wisconsin. Please contribute now."
And they did, not only meeting the goal of $700,000, but continuing to donate as the campaign doubled the goal to $1.4 million. As of last night, the tally stood at $1.3 million.
Yesterday, a media consortium in Wisconsin released an analysis of advertising spending in the state by the Democratic candidates. It indicated Dean had not spent the $700,000 he said he needed for television ads, having booked only $227,000 worth as of last Friday. That was less than the money spent by his two main rivals, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. The study found that Edwards had booked $316,000 worth of ads, while Kerry had $263,000.
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Interview with Aaron Russo
As posted on my main blog:
This is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail transmission purposes.
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
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See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
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So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
RUSSO RISING
The Auburn Plainsman Online - RUSSO RISING
Aaron Russo, Libertarian presidential candidate from California and the man who brought Led Zepplin to the U.S., shares his American dream
Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
t r u t h o u t - Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
(The story is about halfway down the page.)
Presidential dreams
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
t r u t h o u t - Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
February 17, 2004
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
Although it hasn't gotten much attention or exposure other than in music publications, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) has the potential to make an enormous impact on the political front. Since January the three-year-old organization has been spearheading a nationwide voter registration drive called "Hip-Hop Team Vote."
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February 16, 2004
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
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February 15, 2004
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
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Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
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Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
...
February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
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Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
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David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
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Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
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Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President - The Daily Campus - Commentary
Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Wired News: Blogs Pump Bucks Into Campaigns
Not even his own staff would call Democratic congressional candidate Ben Chandler a nethead.
"He uses the Internet almost exclusively for fantasy baseball," said campaign spokesman Jason Sauer, who added that he wasn't sure whether, until recently, Chandler even knew what a blog was.
But that was before Chandler's campaign turned a $2,000 investment in blog advertising into over $80,000 in donations in only two weeks. Chandler -- who won a seat in the House of Representatives Tuesday evening -- definitely knows what a blog is now, Sauer said. "It's that thing that brings in money."
...
Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
2/20/2004 - Presidential Candidates Scheduled For Debate On UTC Campus
Three candidates for President of the United States, Michael Badnarik, Gary Nolan, and Aaron Russo, will appear in Chattanooga on March 1, at 7 p.m. for a Presidential debate.
The debate will be held in the Tennessee Room of the University Center on the UTC campus.
Badnarik, Nolan and Russo are the front runners in a field of five candidates seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President. The candidate will be nominated at the national convention May 27-31 in Atlanta.
The Libertarian Party of Tennessee will elect delegates to the national convention April 2-4 in Chattanooga.
Gary Nolan is a nationally syndicated talk show host from Ohio. Aaron Russo, of Nevada, is a film producer, best known for the films Trading Places and The Rose. Texan Michael Badnarik is a computer consultant and teacher of the US Constitution.
For more information contact the Hamilton County Libertarian Party at (423) 634-2595.
Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
IHT: Cheney's future is Washington's current topic
(TruthOut permacopy)
WASHINGTON Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who has cultivated an unblinking image of stern secretiveness and unshakeable discretion, is expected to become far more visible as a campaigner in this presidential election year. Assuming, that is, that he remains on the presidential ticket. "The campaign season is under way," Cheney said recently, "and President Bush and I will be proud to present our vision to voters in every part of this great land."
The White House has said that American voters will see more of the low-profile Cheney this year, and not less.
But while it would fly in the face of history, and what is known of President George W. Bush, to drop a vice president after one term, Cheney has found himself mired in controversy on a variety of fronts. That has made speculation about his political future a suddenly hot topic in this speculation-loving city.
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Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
I included this article in a recent enry on my main blog, along with a few other really worthwhile articles.
FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Bush Pursues Big-Gov Nanny State
Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Nader to Jump in Presidential Race
64% Favor Smaller Government
Rassmussen Survey: 64% Favor Smaller Government
February 16, 2004--Sixty-four percent (64%) of American voters say that they prefer smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes. A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that just 22% would rather see a more active government with more services and higher taxes.
Scott Rasmussen notes that "This data helps explain the recent decline in George W. Bush's approval ratings and general election polls. Being seen as a big spender is dangerous for any candidate."
The President has been challenged on a number of budget items recently by both his opponents and supporters. In fact, voters early in the campaign say they trust Massachusetts Senator John Kerry more than President Bush when it comes to cutting government spending.
The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows a race between Bush and Kerry is very close at this time. The tracking poll is updated daily by noon.
The national telephone survey of 1,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 13-15, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)
Support for smaller government cuts across just about all demographic lines. It is the preference for 67% of men and 62% of women; 52% of those under 30 and 70% of those over 65; 79% of Republicans, 59% of unaffiliateds, and 53% of Democrats; 61% of white voters and 52% of non-white voters.
The only exception to this pattern is voters who identify themselves as very liberal. Among this group, 49% say they want a more active government with more services and higher taxes. Just 40% prefer smaller government.
Rasmussen Reports provides a comprehensive Election 2004 polling service including daily updates of the Presidential Race and economic confidence.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 19, 2004
Dean Wisconsin fundraising claim aside, not all cash went to TV
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / howard dean / Not all cash went to TV
WAUSAU, Wis. -- After being surprised by losses in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Howard Dean and his top advisers decided to seek political rejuvenation by taking a stand in the Wisconsin primary today. To fuel the effort, the campaign sent out an e-mail to 660,000 supporters on Feb. 5, seeking donations.
"The entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," said the message, which bore Dean's electronic signature. "We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin. To do that, I need your help to raise $700,000 by Sunday. . . . Your $50 contribution will allow us to get out our message onto the airwaves, and win Wisconsin. Please contribute now."
And they did, not only meeting the goal of $700,000, but continuing to donate as the campaign doubled the goal to $1.4 million. As of last night, the tally stood at $1.3 million.
Yesterday, a media consortium in Wisconsin released an analysis of advertising spending in the state by the Democratic candidates. It indicated Dean had not spent the $700,000 he said he needed for television ads, having booked only $227,000 worth as of last Friday. That was less than the money spent by his two main rivals, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. The study found that Edwards had booked $316,000 worth of ads, while Kerry had $263,000.
...
Interview with Aaron Russo
As posted on my main blog:
This is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail transmission purposes.
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
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See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
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So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
RUSSO RISING
The Auburn Plainsman Online - RUSSO RISING
Aaron Russo, Libertarian presidential candidate from California and the man who brought Led Zepplin to the U.S., shares his American dream
Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
t r u t h o u t - Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
(The story is about halfway down the page.)
Presidential dreams
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
t r u t h o u t - Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
February 17, 2004
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
Although it hasn't gotten much attention or exposure other than in music publications, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) has the potential to make an enormous impact on the political front. Since January the three-year-old organization has been spearheading a nationwide voter registration drive called "Hip-Hop Team Vote."
...
February 16, 2004
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
...
February 15, 2004
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
...
Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
...
Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
...
February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Dean Wisconsin fundraising claim aside, not all cash went to TV
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / howard dean / Not all cash went to TV
WAUSAU, Wis. -- After being surprised by losses in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Howard Dean and his top advisers decided to seek political rejuvenation by taking a stand in the Wisconsin primary today. To fuel the effort, the campaign sent out an e-mail to 660,000 supporters on Feb. 5, seeking donations.
"The entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," said the message, which bore Dean's electronic signature. "We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin. To do that, I need your help to raise $700,000 by Sunday. . . . Your $50 contribution will allow us to get out our message onto the airwaves, and win Wisconsin. Please contribute now."
And they did, not only meeting the goal of $700,000, but continuing to donate as the campaign doubled the goal to $1.4 million. As of last night, the tally stood at $1.3 million.
Yesterday, a media consortium in Wisconsin released an analysis of advertising spending in the state by the Democratic candidates. It indicated Dean had not spent the $700,000 he said he needed for television ads, having booked only $227,000 worth as of last Friday. That was less than the money spent by his two main rivals, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. The study found that Edwards had booked $316,000 worth of ads, while Kerry had $263,000.
...
Interview with Aaron Russo
As posted on my main blog:
This is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail transmission purposes.
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
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See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
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So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
RUSSO RISING
The Auburn Plainsman Online - RUSSO RISING
Aaron Russo, Libertarian presidential candidate from California and the man who brought Led Zepplin to the U.S., shares his American dream
Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
t r u t h o u t - Iraqi Guerillas Briefly Took Over Falluja Saturday
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
(The story is about halfway down the page.)
Presidential dreams
Libertarian burns draft cards to ignite voter enthusiasm
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
t r u t h o u t - Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
HSAN adds worthy layer to the upcoming election
Although it hasn't gotten much attention or exposure other than in music publications, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) has the potential to make an enormous impact on the political front. Since January the three-year-old organization has been spearheading a nationwide voter registration drive called "Hip-Hop Team Vote."
...
February 16, 2004
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
...
February 15, 2004
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
...
Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
...
Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
...
February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
...
Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
CA March 2, 2004 Primary - LP Candidate Statements
March 2, 2004 Primary Election - Candidate Statements
LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part One, by L. Neil Smith, transcribed by Rylla Smith
Aaron Russo is becoming better and better known to libertarians as a celebrated movie maker who is fed up with the direction in which the Bush Administration is taking America, and seeks the Librtarian Party's Presidential nomination. I recently interviewed Aaron by telephone...
The Troika: A winning political team
LP News Online: March 2004: The Troika: A winning political team
Troika is the Russian word for three. It also refers to a vehicle drawn by three horses or a group of three closely related objects or people.
In the Libertarian lexicon, the Troika is a trio of political consultants with a habit of winning. They are Greg Dirasian and husband and wife Fred Collins and Barbara Goushaw-Collins.
...
Libertarians unite
Libertarians unite
Facing uphill battle, third-party alternative discusses strategy
While most of the nation is focused on the hubbub of the Democratic nominations, they are not the only ones scrambling to take on President Bush.
This weekend, the Florida Libertarian Party met in Gainesville to mull over its nominee for the presidential election. Members hope their candidate will garner the same national attention as past third-party alternatives like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
...
Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
t r u t h o u t - Scott Galindez | Shame on You, Ann Coulter
UN rules out early elections, warns Iraq against civil war
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut
Rugged Romanian 4WD vehicle set for Valley debut - 2004-02-09 - The Business Journal of Phoenix
When foreign carmakers come to mind, Romanian brands don't usually jump out to the front of the pack, but that soon may change.
A new brand of sport recreational vehicle manufactured in Romania is expected to debut at four Arizona dealerships and across most of the country later this year.
...
Russo visits with Free-Staters
Libertarian candidate visits area
02/15/04
ANITA DEBRO
News staff writer
A Hollywood movie producer turned Libertarian presidential candidate told a group of free-thinkers Saturday that American citizens should have the right to live their lives without government intervention.
Aaron Russo spoke Saturday to members of the Free State Project at the Homewood Public Library.
The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 people seeking liberty from overbearing government to move to New Hampshire, according to the organization's Web site. "We are not the property of the government," he said. "The government should never legislate morality."
Russo produced movies such as "Trading Places" and "The Rose." He managed entertainers such as Bette Midler, and produced concerts for performers including Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.
Russo entered politics in 1998 when he ran for governor of Nevada for the Republican party. After that election, Russo became an independent.
He said he is running for president to take power away from the government and give it back to the people.
Russo is an advocate for the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana and for abolishing gun control.
"Jail is not a place for people who smoke marijuana," he said.
Chris Harrison, an organizer of the Free State Project, invited Russo to speak.
"We need someone who's going to do something for the people of this country, rather than the special interests," he said. "I think Russo would do a good job as president."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
Tips teach travelers to stay safe
BROOKSVILLE - "Be vigilant," the former law enforcement official urged an audience of some 200 who came Thursday to learn about crimes against travelers.
The need for vigilance has been declared before. But Bill Cain, an instructor for the National Crime Prevention Task Force in Atlanta, enumerated some surprising signs that should heighten travelers' alertness. And he followed up with methods to avoid becoming a victim.
...
February 14, 2004
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
February 12, 2004
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
...
Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam
CBS News icon fields questions
Walter Cronkite draws parallels between Iraq, Vietnam for Thomas students
(TruthOut permacopy)
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
Censor 'Scooby-Doo'? Words fail
By Dan Moffett, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2004
The Bush administration has decided that people with bad hearing have bad judgment, too, and need special guidance from the federal government.
So the U.S. Department of Education is declaring about 200 television programs inappropriate for closed-captioning and denying federal grant requests to make them accessible to the hearing-impaired.
The department made its decisions based on the recommendations of a five-member panel. Who the five members are, only the government seems to know, and it isn't saying. But the shows they censored suggest a perspective that is Talibanesque.
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
Libertarian Party Selects Iowa Delegates to National Convention
January 17, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa -- At their state convention in Hotel Fort Des Moines on Saturday, January 17, Libertarian Party members selected 14 delegates to represent them at their national convention, which will be held May 27-31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
...
Presidential candidate to visit campus
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Presidential candidate to visit campus
The man who brought Led Zeppelin to the United States, managed part of Bette Midler's career and survived bladder cancer to win a NAACP Image Award will visit Auburn Feb. 17 to speak in 202 Foy Student Union.
Aaron Russo, a Libertarian candidate for president, is scheduled to stop in Auburn during his month-long campaign throughout the Southeast, in addition to stops at two other college campuses.
....
February 11, 2004
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
February 10, 2004
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
The Government Doesn’t Belong in Television
The Government Doesn't Belong in Television
by Scott McPherson, February 6, 2003
"Any material element or resource which, in order to become of use or value to men, requires the application of human knowledge and effort, should be private property — by the right of those who apply the knowledge and effort. "
— Ayn Rand, “The Property Status of Airwaves” (1964)
Outrage over Janet Jackson’s racy half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII did not go unnoticed by television’s government overseers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is actually considering fining CBS for the broadcast.
According to the February 3 Washington Times, “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell ... ordered an investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show.... ‘I am outraged at what I saw ... ,’ Mr. Powell said.” So-called pro-family groups and a number of talk-radio hosts are likewise disgusted with the Super Bowl show.
Okay, so people found the show revolting. But what does that have to do with the government?
...
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush
Jon Carroll Thanks Howard Dean
(S.F. Chronicle columnist) JON CARROLL
(Truthout permacopy)
Excerpt:
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.
February 09, 2004
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
February 07, 2004
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
The Miami Herald | 02/08/2004 | Judge: School must tell feds about war protest
(TruthOut permacopy)
Drake University was subpoenaed for a list of those who attended, and four activists who attended a related forum have been ordered before a grand jury.
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered Drake University to turn over records about a gathering of antiwar activists.
...
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
Alabama and US Marijuana Party Founder Goes on Trial
ALEXANDER CITY, Al. - Feb. 2, 2004 (ALMJP) - Alabama and US Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall will appear in Tallapoosa County District Court on Feb. 10, 2004 at 2 p.m. to face charges of 2nd degree Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mrs. Nall, who maintains her innocence, was arrested in a November 2002 raid on her home less than a week after the Birmingham News published her letter to the editor in which she called for citizens to vote and change Alabama's drug laws.
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, which conducted the raid on Nall's home, alleges that the raid yielded 0.87 grams of marijuana.
...
David Kopel on Gun Laws on National Review Online
Erasing a Clinton Legacy
Rolling back antigun regs.
January 27, 2004, 9:28 a.m.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday contains several important reforms in federal gun laws, to protect the privacy of people who lawfully exercise their constitutional rights. Most of the reforms undo abuses of federal power introduced in the Clinton er.
...
Haugh: Why I am a Pro-Gun Pacifist
by Sean Haugh
OK, so I'm not really quite a pacifist. But I'm close, I think. The truth is, I honestly don't know if I would use force to defend myself or my loved ones. Before one can really label themselves as a pacifist, one has to be able to answer that deeply personal question. I thank God I have never had to answer that question for myself, and I have arranged my life so that I can avoid ever having to discover that answer.
I can say that I don't own a gun, and I don't ever want to own one. I do not allow them in my home or my car. I'd prefer not to be within 10 feet of one, but hanging out with Libertarians as I do, I can't always have my way.
I say this not out of fear of guns. I know most of them have a range of over 10 feet. No, it's an aesthetic thing for me. I'd rather guns didn't exist. I'd love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and read the headline that all guns and other weapons have disappeared from the face of the earth, never to return.
My job as Mr. North Carolina Libertarian is chock full of delicious ironies. One of my favorites is that this self-styled pacifist is one of the most prominent Second Amendment advocates in the state. I don't care who you are, now that's funny.
So why I am such a passionate defender of the right to keep and bear arms?
...
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network
(TruthOut permacopy)
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's choice to co-chair his commission to investigate intelligence failures prior to the Iraq War is a long-time, right wing political activist closely tied to the neo-conservative network that led the pro-war propaganda campaign.
Federal appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, who will share the chairmanship with former Virginia Democratic Senator Charles Robb, also has some history in covert operations.
...
Scott Ritter: Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
HoustonChronicle.com - Not everyone got it wrong on Iraqi WMDs
We were all wrong," David Kay, the Bush administration's top weapons sleuth in Iraq, recently told members of Congress after acknowledging that there were probably no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and contradicting President Bush's pre-war claims to the contrary.
Despite the deaths of more than 525 American service members in Iraq, David Kay insisted that the blame for the failure to find the expected weapons lies not with the president and his administration -- which had relentlessly pushed for war -- but rather with the U.S. intelligence community, which had, according to Kay, provided inaccurate assessments.
The Kay remarks appear to be an attempt to spin potentially damaging data in a way that is to the president's political advantage. President Bush's decision to create an "independent commission" to investigate the intelligence failure reinforces this suspicion, since such a commission would only be given the mandate to examine intelligence data, and not the policies and decision-making processes that made use of that data. More disturbing, the proposed commission's findings would be delayed until late fall, after the November 2004 presidential election.
The fact is, regardless of the findings of any commission, not everyone was wrong. I, for one, wasn't, having done my level best to demand facts from the Bush administration to back up its unsustained allegations regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and, failing that, speaking out and writing in as many forums as possible to educate the public in the United States and around the world about the looming danger of war based upon a hyped-up threat.
In this I was not alone....
...
I consider myself to be a reasonable person. Like Stu Cohen and the intelligence professionals who prepared the October 2002 Iraq NIE, I was intimately familiar with vast quantities of intelligence data, collected from around the world by numerous foreign intelligence services (including the CIA), and on the ground in Iraq by U.N. weapons inspectors, at least up until the time of my resignation from UNSCOM in August 1998. Based on this experience, I was asked by Arms Control Today, the respected journal of the Arms Control Association, to write a piece on the status of disarmament regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
That article, "The Case for Iraq's Qualitative Disarmament," was published in June 2000 and received wide media coverage. The intelligence communities of the United States and Great Britain, however, dismissed its conclusions. But my finding that "because of the work carried out by UNSCOM, it can be fairly stated that Iraq was qualitatively disarmed at the time inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998" was an accurate assessment of the disarmament of Iraq's WMD capabilities, much more so than the CIA's 2002 NIE or any corresponding analysis carried out by British intelligence services.
I am not alone in my analytical differences. Ray McGovern, who heads the nonprofit Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, or VIPS, also takes umbrage at Cohen's "no reasonable person" assertion. "Had Cohen taken the trouble to read the op-eds and other issuances of VIPS members over the past two years," McGovern said recently, he would have seen that "our writings consistently contained conclusions and alternative views that were indeed profoundly different -- even without having had access to what Stu calls the `totality of the information.' And Stu never indicated he thought us not `reasonable' -- at least back when many of us worked with him at CIA."
The fact is, Ray McGovern and I, and the scores of intelligence professionals, retired or still in service, who studied Iraq and its WMD capabilities, are reasonable men. We got it right. The Bush administration, in its rush toward war, ignored our advice and the body of factual data we used, and instead relied on rumor, speculation, exaggeration and falsification to mislead the American people and their elected representatives into supporting a war that is rapidly turning into a quagmire. We knew the truth about Iraq's WMD.
Sadly, no one listened.
Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
USATODAY.com - Bush alters political strategy after Democrats' hammering
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
From LibertyForAll.net:
Citizens' Debate Commission formed
Washington -- National civic leaders from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum have come together to form the Citizens' Debate Commission. Operating with full transparency, the Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates the American people want to see.
"The Citizens' Debate Commission will sponsor presidential debates that put voter education first," said former Congressman John B. Anderson.
"This is an issue of such importance to the health of our democracy that we, liberals and conservatives, are putting aside ideological differences and joining together to sponsor truly democratic debates," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission was formed because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has sponsored presidential debates since 1988, fails to adequately serve voters' interests. The CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
"The CPD has consistently undermined our democracy by employing stilted and unrevealing debate formats," stated Bay Buchanan, President of the American Cause.
"The CPD is a complete failure. In order to have real and robust debate, the American people deserve a new debate sponsor," stated Open Debates' Executive Director George Farah.
The Citizens' Debate Commission members are:
· John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of Center for Voting and Democracy
· Angela "Bay" Buchanan, President of The American Cause
· Veronica De La Garza, Executive Director of the Youth Vote Coalition
· Norman Dean, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth
· George Farah, Executive Director of Open Debates and author of the forthcoming book No Debate
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Tom Gerety, Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
· Jehmu Greene, Executive Director of Rock the Vote
· Ambassador Alan Keyes
· Jeff Milchen, Executive Director of ReclaimDemocracy.org
· Larry Noble, former General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission
· Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
· Chellie Pingree, President and CEO of Common Cause
· Randall Robinson, Founder of TransAfrica Forum
· Dan Stein, Executive Director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
· Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
· Paul Weyrich, Chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
February 06, 2004
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
February 05, 2004
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
Collegiate Times -- Column: Voters must consider third party candidates
By Jonathon McGlumpy
...
Put simply, the Republican Party has totally abandoned its true conservative supporters. It is in power and seems to have no regard for the principles and promises of the people who put it there. Every day I see another opinions piece by a conservative author questioning whether the GOP should receive continued support. They should not.
It is time for all those who truly believe in limited government, individual freedom and individual responsibility to abandon the GOP just as it has abandoned us.
The Democrats, unfortunately, have not proven a more principled opposition. Democratic votes helped pass the Patriot Act. It was with Democratic votes that we went to war in Iraq. Democratic votes in Congress allow for such grossly irresponsible fiscal policy.
I voted Republican in 1998, and I have not done so since. There is but one party that consistently supports lesser taxes, less regulation of private life and less intrusive foreign policy: the Libertarian Party.
...
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
"A free market is the answer," Stossel says
By Fran Eaton
CHICAGO -- "Do the world a favor, commit suicide." "You make the Spice Girls look like brain surgeons." And the all-time witty phrase, "You suck."
Those are just a few of the angry e-mail messages viewers have sent to ABC's 20/20 co-host John Stossel over the past few years. Some of the show's viewers evidently haven't taken well to Stossel's personal journey towards a libertarian worldview as reflected in his most recent television presentations.
"I don't know why my fellow journalists try to label me as 'conservative' these days," Stossel said. "Where I come from, being called 'conservative' is like being called a 'child molester.'"
Stossel spoke Wednesday at a luncheon event hosted by Chicago's Heartland Institute, a non-profit think tank that promotes the philosophy of free market and personal responsibility. He was promoting his new book entitled, Give Me a Break.
Stossel told the audience while working as an award-winning consumer reporter, he found the ever-growing list of government regulations on American products has led to an increase in consumer dissatisfaction and complaints. He told the audience of three hundred he believes if government regulations were lifted and the enforcing bureaucracies were to be defunded, the free market competition would eventually take care of the most serious abusers.
...
John Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety. Read this fascinating book to learn - by example after example - how the indirect, unseen, effects of government policies often dominate the direct, seen, effects. Again and again, policies have effects the opposite of those intended.
Heartland Institute's Joe Bast encouraged the audience to purchase Stossel's book and have it autographed as they were departing.
As the national book tour continues, Stossel is likely to be elated with the results. After all, he will be experiencing competition, the free marketplace and an unbridled, continual exchange of ideas -- the things a true libertarian loves most.
Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
t r u t h o u t - Kerry Calls on Bush to Settle Questions on Military Record
After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
t r u t h o u t - After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
Democrats Assail, and Tap, "Special Interests"
My favorite line in the article is italicized below:
Mr. Edwards tells audiences, "I've never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist and I never will." That might be literally true — not many lobbyists give dimes these days — but Mr. Edwards has accepted at least a few contributions from current and former lobbyists, and his campaign manager was a registered Washington lobbyist in 2002.
Tamara Millay: "That vision thing"
"That vision thing"
by Tamara Millay
(Tamara Millay is a contender for the Libertarian Party's 2004 vice presidential nomination.)
Extended excerpt:
Every four years, we go looking for a silver bullet. If we could only raise $10 million dollars. If only we could get Clint Eastwood or Drew Carey to run as our presidential candidate. And somehow, somewhere, we let ourselves be convinced that it's all simple, and that if we just keep on plugging, the American public will wake up one November morning and vote Libertarian.
And every four years, we hold back from emphasizing the true benefits, the real impact, the better times that characterize the changes we want to make and the society we want to build. We undersell ourselves. We limit ourselves to asking for the American people's support in ending government's most egregious abuses or blocking its most dangerous new initiatives, instead of offering them the genuine article -- a real vision of a better, safer, freer world.
We do this in the name of realism, but what's really underneath it all is a subtle cowardice -- a fear of promising too much, lest we be written off as silly or unrealistic.
But who's being unrealistic?
Our opponents want the American people to believe that, after nearly a century of abject failure, "victory" in the war on drugs is "just around the corner" -- that a few more laws and few more hundreds of thousands of Americans in prison will do the trick.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that we can tax ourselves into prosperity -- that punishing innovation, suppressing profit and regulating industry will somehow magically create more wealth and distribute it more equitably.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that security can be obtained by disarming ourselves at home and provoking fights abroad.
Our opponents want the American people to believe that universal health care is a simple matter of enslaving the doctors, stealing the drugs and giving everyone a card entitling them to stand in line and wait.
And they say we are unrealistic?
Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
The reference in this article (in the title, and in the body of it) to Deaniacs "pulling a Nader" doesn't make any sense to me. There is nothing in the article about Deaniacs supporting a "spoiler" candidate. It's about how they might not enthusiastically support Kerry if Dean isn't the nominee. The "pull a Nader" language is apparently just lazy wordplay, since it's not justified or explained in the article.
Salon.com News | Will Deaniacs pull a Nader on the Democratic Party?
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Nick Halfinger: How the Other Half Lives in Iraq
Excerpts:
For these reasons, myself and another journalist from the United States decide one day to go ahead and arrange ourselves a visit with the Occupation forces, while we still can, to provide the 'other side of the story'. We have yet to move amongst ordinary American soldiers, and so we set up to be 'embedded' at a place called Logistical Staging Area Anaconda.
L.S.A. Anaconda is situated sixty kilometers north of Baghdad, on the site of what was formerly an Iraqi airbase under Saddam. It has been appropriated by the US Army, and they have moved into the old hangars, mess halls, and offices as if it were their own construction.
...
Not much happens for several hours. The atmosphere, to us visitors, is stifling and slightly uncomfortable. Not that anyone there is unpleasant, it's just that they are all career soldiers, conservative politically and somewhat narrow in world-view. We are also trying to watch what we say, as we don't want anyone to overhear our real opinions about what's going on in Iraq, which we absolutely have a better understanding of than these folks, the majority of whom have spent an entire year on this one patch of ground without going "outside the wire", as leaving the base is called.
One woman tells us about all the media that have already visited. "The Guardian from England was here," she says, "that's why we don't always trust journalists. They wrote about 'Iraqi resistance fighters' ". She rolls her eyes, incredulous that they would use such language to describe people that she believes are all "Saddam Loyalists".
In fact, everyone we talk to at the base thinks of the resistance in Iraq as being monolithic, an army of lunatics bent on returning Iraq to Saddam Hussein. This runs counter to everything we hear on the street in Baghdad, where it is common knowledge that there are religious groups, straight-up nationalists, and generally angry people that all take part in attacking American troops, in addition to the former Baathists. L.S.A. Anaconda is indeed a different world from the one that we have been living in.
...
Like everyone else we meet at L.S.A. Anaconda, the therapist is amazed that we move about in Iraq so freely, without weapons or security. She has been "in country" a whole year, without leaving the base. When we tell her that if a military convoy can't take us back to Baghdad, that we may return by taxi, she almost falls out of her chair. "You can do that?" she exclaims. "Sure," replies my associate. "I once took a bus all the way to Mosul."
...
Basically, life at the base seems like what every one of my friends who joined the Army after high- school described to me: an oppressive, thankless life, overworked and underpaid, the only thing holding you together being the people around you, with whom you develop incredibly strong bonds. Other than that it totally sucks, and war makes it even worse.
Fuck this. We're going back to Baghdad, back to the real world, back to Iraq.
Nick Halfinger is the pen name of a freelance filmmaker working in Iraq.
Kevin Cooper: Making a life for myself in this living hell
Making a life for myself in this living hell
One day in 1991, I was out on the yard playing basketball when an officer called my name and told me that I was wanted inside. When I asked him what I was wanted for, he just turned and walked away. After being handcuffed behind my back, I was taken from the yard to inside the unit, where I was placed in a holding cell where I was uncuffed and told to wait.
In the six years that I had been in this prison, I had never felt more alive than while sitting in that holding cell, soaking wet with sweat. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my blood running in my veins. I could hear my breathing and taste my sweat. I couldn't wait to get back outside to finish playing basketball. Basketball not only kept me in great physical shape, but it was also a way for me to escape from this prison environment for a couple of hours every day.
While in the holding cell, I was approached by a man wearing a suit and tie, not a uniform like the officers who work in the unit wear. The man asked me my name and number, and I told him Cooper C-65304. He then told me that I, Kevin Cooper C-65304, had been given an execution date.
...
Adams: I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives
I'm Tired of Neo-Cons Being Tired of Conservatives - by Jeff Adams - Sierra Times.com
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
Police Chief Won't Work With Feds In Pot Busts
When it comes to legitimate use of medical marijuana, the San Diego Police Department won't be cooperating with the feds, according to a Jan. 28 memo from police chief William Lansdowne. In the memo, sent to Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council, Lansdowne says his officers, if asked, will not participate in any federal investigation or drug bust where qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the target.
Lansdowne formerly headed the police department in San Jose, where he pulled his officers from a joint federal-state drug task force after agents targeted members of a Northern California cannabis club. Lansdowne was named San Diego's new chief of police in August after former Chief David Bejarano was appointed U.S. Marshall for Southern California by President Bush.
...
(review of) Dude, where's my country?
WorldNetDaily: Dude, where's my country?
Excerpts:
It's surprising, and gratifying, to see something that makes a strong anti-war, pro personal-freedom case sit atop the best-seller list. And not just in the U.S. – I bought my copy last week in London. So I really liked the first half of the book. Then Mike has a psychotic break of sorts in the second half, starting with a chapter called "Horatio Alger Must Die," where he debunks, as myth, the notion anybody in America can get rich.
...
The first half of the book is very worthwhile, and will reaffirm your faith in the fact America is going to hell in a handbasket under the Republicans. The second half will reaffirm your faith in the fact America will go to hell in an even larger-sized container, maybe a stolen shopping cart, should the Democrats get in.
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
Kevin Cooper: This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
I, Kevin Cooper, am writing this from death row at San Quentin Prison. I am scheduled to be the next Black man executed by the state of California on February 10th, 2004.
While I am an innocent man about to be murdered by this state, I realize that innocence makes no difference to the people who control the criminal justice system, including this prison. This is the same system that has historically and systematically executed men, women and children who look just like me, if only because they can.
While it is my life that will be taken, and my body filled with poison, I will not say that this is my execution! That's because it is not, it is just a continuation of the historic system of capital punishment that all poor people all over this world have been and are subjected to.
To personalize this crime against humanity as "my execution" would be to ignore the universal plight, struggle and murder of poor people all over this planet we call Earth. Thi! s I cannot and will not do!
I will be murdered by the state with my understanding that this crime of evil is something that happens to men like me in this country. Especially when we are convicted (wrongfully, in my situation) of killing white people!
If I must be murdered by the state, then I will do so with my dignity in tact. This guilt that the criminal justice system has put on me will be questioned by anyone and everyone who finds out the whole truth of this case.
In Struggle, From Death Row at San Quentin Prison,
Kevin Cooper
For more on the Cooper case visit: www.savekevincooper.org/
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
Most of this article is not very instructive. After all, it contains the premise that John Kerry is more attractive than John Edwards, which is quite a claim. More poised? Yes. More attractive? Well, I'm not a lady or a gay guy, so I guess I'll ddefer to the judgment of others. I've excerpted what I think is the real meat of the article.
Why Kerry is Winning the Democratic Nomination
by Rachel Alexander
...Kerry is the only presidential candidate who appears confident, poised, eloquent, and knowledgeable.
...
February 04, 2004
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
February 03, 2004
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
The "Dean Scream" -- The Version of Reality You Didn't See.. or Hear on TV
By Diane Sawyer
(New York-ABC News, January 29, 2004) _ It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room. ...
(Includes video from a different perspective int the room that night -- where the scream isn't even audible over the hysterical crowd.)
Arianna: Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
February 4, 2004 - Will Cheney Provide The Margin Of Victory... For Democrats?
CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring
There's one thing I haven't heard in all the reporting of this story:
IT'S JUST A BREAST. EVERYONE HAS THEM.
Sometimes I'm embarrassed at how immature our culture is when it comes to certain things...like, say, the human body.
It's 2004, folks -- don't forget to be ashamed of your bodies! Dirty dirty dirty!
SI.com - CBS apologizes for halftime breast-baring - Monday February 2, 2004 12:20PM
Shales: a Superbowl of Sleaze
Incomplete! (washingtonpost.com)
Viewers who tuned in expecting a big-time football game saw the Super Bowl of Sleaze instead. Sexy and violent commercials that included jokes about flatulence and bestiality mercilessly interrupted the CBS telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII from Houston last night, making it a dubious choice for family viewing.
...
Pub drinkers tested for drugs
BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Pub drinkers tested for drugs
Computerised drug tests have been carried out at a Kent pub as part of a police crackdown on drug use.
The pub landlord and the police have defended the measures even though there were no positive tests or arrests at the Bishops Oak in Tonbridge on Friday.
The tests involve a swab on the hand, after which hi-tech equipment can show whether a person has handled drugs.
Landlord Paul Sarnie said: "I just want to find out for myself what is going on in my establishment."
Prevalence of drugs
He said: "It is basically to highlight the growing awareness we have that drugs are more prevalent in the community than they have been in recent years."
Everyone in the pub on Friday night agreed to be tested and were all found to be clear.
Pc Tim Moody, of Kent Police, said: "Our general feedback that we get from members of the public is that they think it is a fantastic idea."
He said: "They do feel safer going out in these places because they know that the particular element that may use drugs are not going to be there."
Wendy McElroy enters the "Libertarians who Loathe Israel Fracas
This weblog entry by Wendy McElroy is related to this article by Ilana Mercer, and this one by Jacob Hornberger, and others, in what is becoming quite the heated issue in Libertarian circles.
Archived Weblog Entry - 09/02/2003: ""
It is with no pleasure that I enter an ongoing fray within libertarianism....
A recent controversy demonstrates the need for people of good will to take a stand. Let me sketch the dispute.
On August 13, Ilana Mercer made an unfortunate and erroneous statement in a WorldNetDaily column entitled "Libertarians who loathe Israel." She wrote, "I understand that libertarians like Sheldon Richman (and the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review) believe, mistakenly, that all 'the land' belongs to the Arabs." The statement was erroneous because Sheldon Richman believes no such thing, as his writings have made clear. The statement was unfortunate because it associated his name with the IHR, which is notorious for denying the Holocaust and for promoting hate-filled anti-Semitic views.
On August 18, Richman offered rebuttal in a WorldNetDaily article entitled "Disregard for the truth." The rebuttal focused on two points: 1) he has never argued that "all the land" in the Middle East belongs to the Arabs nor does the link to his work provided by Mercer support that contention; and, 2) the placement of his name next to IHR falsely implies that he is a Holocaust denier -- a particularly bitter juxtaposition given that he lost family to Nazi genocide.
...
February 02, 2004
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
February 01, 2004
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot at FTAA
The Miami Herald | 02/01/2004 | Nonprotesting filmmaker wonders why he was shot
SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: A murderous system? Let's try it...
Excerpt:
The Soviet Union was, of course, the first country to adopt all-round socialized medical care -- the dream of most of America's modern politicians, Republicrat and Demopublican alike. In 1919, Lenin signed a decree that said every Soviet citizen had a right to free medical care. By 1977, this right had dramatically expanded to become the right to health itself -- language now regularly employed by U.S. politicians.
"In the in-between years," Mr. Rockwell reports, "the Soviet Union became host to one of the most backward, murderous, and coercive systems of medical provision every concocted. The country trained more doctors than any in the world, but the vital statistics showed a more complete picture. Lifespans averaged 10 to 20 years less than in western countries.
"Infant mortality was twice as high. By the time of the collapse of socialism, 80 million people were said to have chronic illnesses, and up to 68 percent of the public was health-deficient by international standards. Mental retardation afflicted nearly a quarter of the children -- a consequence of serious deprivation. ...
"Of course most real care went underground, where bribing for anaesthesia was common," Mr. Rockwell concludes. "After former Soviet economist Yuri N. Maltsev ... emigrated to the U.S., he was astonished to see that the U.S. was adopting many of the principles that drove the old Soviet system. ...
Smith: LIbertarians for who?
Libertarians for who?
by L.Neil Smith
Excerpts:
We've all been hearing lately that some disgusted and determined libertarians, rather than see the despicable George Bush reelected in November, are throwing their support to certain Democratic candidates. There's a lot of talk about it on the Internet, and even a website or two.
...
So ask your candidate the following questions. They aren't hard or tricky -- and you probably already know the answers yourself -- but they do indicate what you ought to regard as minimally acceptable performance:
- Will he repeal, nullify, or otherwise dispose of the vile Patriot Act?
- Will he terminate the occupation of Iraq, and withdraw American troops from the more than 160 other nations where they're currently stationed?
- Will he take immediate action to demilitarize the police here at home?
- Will he act swiftly to put an end to the oppressive police state atmosphere that has settled over this country like blanket of killer smog?
- Will he prosecute John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, George Bush and their pals for their crimes against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- More fundamentally, will he put a stop to the criminal campaign that dragged us here in the first place -- the abominable War on Drugs?
...
Forget "Libertarians for Whatshisface."
How about libertarians for liberty?
FIRE: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Press Release: Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary
WILLIAMSBURG, VA—After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement denying that his administration acted improperly in stopping the same protest just months before.
"We are pleased that W&M has realized that under the First Amendment free speech belongs to all students on its campus," said Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "We are appalled, however, by W&M's continuing efforts to distort the truth about its actions and to evade responsibility for what it has done."
...
Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives
1/30/2004 - Libertarians Are The Only Fiscal Conservatives - Opinion - Chattanoogan.com
by Joe Dumas
I have read a number of Mike North's columns on the chattanoogan.com and, though I don't always agree with everything he says, we seem to share a good deal of common ground. He certainly hit the nail on the head this week when he said "it’s been 10 years since the GOP took control of the House of Representatives with a promise of fiscal restraint and smaller government. I’m still waiting for them to deliver."
Guess what, Mike. You'll die waiting for them to deliver. And so will
the children born the day you wrote those words.
With George W. Bush's administration running up record deficits, it is
blatantly obvious that fiscal conservatism in the Republican Party is officially dead. ...
What Mr. North didn't do in his article was take his observations to
their logical conclusion. Since the Republicans have shown themselves
to be even bigger spenders than the Democrats, there is no longer any reason for fiscal conservatives to vote for candidates of either party.
It is time for advocates of fiscal restraint to abandon the Republicans and vote for candidates of the only party to actually advocate significant reductions in the size of government - the Libertarian Party. If all who agree with Mike would bolt the GOP for the LP, Libertarians could actually win elections and start to shrink government. And even if they didn't, the conservative votes lost by the Republicans could possibly swing the balance of power and result in the election of more Democrats ... which, fiscally speaking, would (as Mike so aptly demonstrates) at least be a small step in the direction of slowing government growth.
...
Cato: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Cato Institute: Republicans Become the Party of Big Government
Excerpt:
In May 1995, the House approved a budget plan calling for the elimination of the departments of Education, Commerce, and Energy. At the time, the House determined that each of these departments was wasteful, ineffective, and unconstitutional. Indeed, the GOP presidential platform in 1996 stated: "The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula ... this is why we will abolish the Department of Education."
It's true that many of the budget cuts of Reagan and of the GOP in the mid-1990s did not last very long. But at least they were pushing in the right direction. By contrast, President Bush has sought large spending increases for the Department of Education, for example. Education outlays increased from $36 billion to $61 billion in just the last three years.
A sharp contrast is evident when comparing Reagan and Bush on spending. While both boosted defense outlays during their first three years in office, Reagan offset that increase with a 13 percent cut in real discretionary nondefense spending. By contrast, Bush has increased nondefense spending by more than 20 percent in real terms.
Reagan was not able to follow through on many of his cuts because of solid opposition by the Democratic House. In the 1990s, President Clinton was an obstacle to many cuts, despite his conservative rhetoric. But today, Republicans have the White House and a majority in Congress and should be moving ahead with these long-sought reforms.
Instead, they have moved in an anti-reform direction in many cases. For example, they have turned their back on past Republican efforts to reform agriculture subsidies. The farm bill signed into law by President Bush in 2002 represented a reversal of the Republican 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The 1996 Act had sought to finally wean farmers off federal price supports and subsidies. But the new farm bill embraced price supports and boosted farm subsidies.
The culture of spending seems to have prevailed over the current Republican Party. In his initial budget plan in 2001, President Bush noted: "For too long, politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need." Three years later it is clear that Bush has embraced Big Government without regard to cost.
CFIF: The Self-Destruction of General Clark
The Self-Destruction of General Clark
In the time between the New Hampshire Democrat Primary and the rest of our lives, the presidential campaign of retired General Wesley Clark should become nothing more than a bizarre footnote to history. That does not mean that Clark will fade away, because the grace to do so is nowhere evident in his personality.
...
Richard Blow: Seeing the Signs of Dean's implosion
TOMPAINE.com - Seeing The Signs
(Richard Blow is the former executive editor of George Magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.)
Watching the death of a political campaign is a lot like rubbernecking. You know that checking out a car crash isn’t exactly healthy, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
So it is with Howard Dean’s once-unstoppable presidential race. On Jan. 28, Dean announced that he was bringing in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore associate, to run the campaign. Media and Internet guru Joe Trippi promptly announced his exit. Worse still, the Dean campaign was apparently broke, having burned through most of the estimated $45 million it raised. Dean has asked his 500 paid employees to work for free for the next two weeks, and is now talking about winning enough delegates to mount a convention challenge.
Stick a fork in Howard Dean—he’s done. The story of the death of his campaign can now be written. The real question is, How could the media have missed it for so long?
...
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
Narrating your way into—and out of—the White House
by Charles Paul Freund
Reason
Are this year's Democratic primary competitions shaping up as more examples of the nation's developing style of "cultural campaigning"? In the midst of the 2000 presidential race, reason magazine argued that, due largely to the growth of ever more intimate media, as well as the decline of a foreign military threat, presidential candidates were under pressure to expose more and more of their private, "backstage" lives, and to offer voters an ever more compelling story about themselves.
This process is not merely a matter of establishing the gravity of a candidate's character, which has always been a political necessity. Nor is it a question of shaping a politically advantageous candidate biography, a fundamental aspect of national campaigns since 1840. Rather, it is an issue of recognizing that candidates and voters must now find a way to deal with a revolutionary level of candidate exposure, and of intimacy that candidates and voters did not previously share. These developments have altered the political process.
...
Yaser Hamdi to Meet Lawyer For First Time
t r u t h o u t - "Enemy Combatant" to Meet Lawyer For First Time
Excerpt:
Dunham, meanwhile, has argued Hamdi's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the administration of side-stepping the American judicial system.
Late last year, the administration relented and agreed to let Hamdi see his attorney but under certain restrictions. Lawyer groups have complained that these restrictions threaten attorney-client privilege.
"A lot of lawyers think I shouldn't even go. I feel we have an obligation to see this man. We are in a position we don't have a choice," Dunham told The Associated Press. "The big thing is meeting this guy I've been representing for close to two years."
Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
LP News Online: March 2004: Past LP political director Ron Crickenberger dies
Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
You can read my short memorial message about Ron's passing here.
Liberty for All/American Liberty Foundation-- Ron Crickenberger: Gone but not forgotten
