If you're looking for the textbook The Little, Brown Reader, click here.
is a free service provided by Lance Brown, Candidate for President in 2008. You can visit his campaign site and weblog here.
About Lance Brown
The Campaign "Elevator Pitch"
The Longer Pitch: The Future of America is Freedom
10 Easy Ways to Help the Campaign
Join the On-The-Road Support Network
Lance In The Media
Contact Lance
 |
Easy online actions for advancing the cause of freedom.
PNAC.info
An effort to investigate, analyze, and expose the Project for a New American Century, and its plan for a "unipolar" world.
CampusLP.org
Free web sites for campus libertarian clubs!
The Little Brown Reader
A rolling catalog of articles and web sites of significance that Lance is reading.
The Nevada County Libertarian Party
"Your Local Party of Principle" (Chairman)
The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dedicated to Creating a Civil Liberties Safe Zone in Nevada County, California. (Co-founder)
The Free School on the Internet
A developing effort to create a superior online K-12 school, with free attendance.
StopCarnivore.org
Stop the FBI Spy Tool Carnivore Now!"
GreenLiberty.org
Where Green values meet Libertarian principles.
Pictures of The Bill of Rights
Tips for Promoting a Campus Event
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
My (many) e-zine and list subscriptions
The History of Drug Prohibition in the U. S.
The Bill of Rights -- Full Text
Support freedom in our lifetime:
"I do not shrink from this responsibility, I welcome it."
A Little Worried About America
Boston Public: The Case Against Schools
The USA-PATRIOT Axe
The Nader 2004 "threat", and those poor, pitiful Democrats
Book Recommendation: Healing Our World
Taboos, skews, and contradictions
North Korea's Sensible Delusions
Lance on Regulation
June 08, 2004
Southerland: My observations on the National Convention(Trevor Southerland is a young and upcoming star in the Libertarian Party. I thought that before I read that's the word on the street. ;-)) A Place to Stand excerpt: I've been told that I'm a "young and upcoming" star of the Libertarian Party. First off, I'm not the only one. I urge you to look to Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, California, Ohio, Maine, Missouri, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and probably right in your own neighborhood... There are young Libertarians everywhere, a new generation of Libertarians, a generation that was born Libertarian and as Mark Mosley said, a generation that became Libertarian before we had our driver's licenses. It's easy to feel all alone... I hope you'll help make sure that those young Libertarians know there's more people like them... And every two years around a thousand of us get together in a hotel, I call it a family reunion. |
Sarrecchia on the 2004 Libertarian Party Convention
Libertarians At the Gate: The 2004 Libertarian Party Convention
byTony Sarrecchia
June 04, 2004
Libertarian Woman Displaying Anti-War Poster Says She Was Taken From Airport
ABQjournal: Albuquerque Woman Displaying Anti-War Poster Says She Was Taken From Airport
DALLAS — An Albuquerque woman says she was ejected from a Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport terminal after showing military recruits an anti-war campaign poster.
Carole Ward, 57, showed the recruits an 8 1/2- by 11-inch poster of a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq. It bore the title "Faces of Death."
Some people found the poster offensive and the woman became belligerent with an American Airlines gate agent, said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline.
...
June 02, 2004
Candidate stakes race on legalizing pot
sacbee.com -- Nation -- Candidate stakes race on legalizing pot
NEWPORT BEACH - If any other U.S. Senate candidate proposed legalizing marijuana, voters might question what that politician had been smoking.
But the California hopeful making that pitch doesn't get those questions - at least not very often.
He is Jim Gray, a Republican-appointed Superior Court judge from conservative Orange County who said he's never used illegal drugs. The 59-year-old former Republican became a Libertarian last year and is now that party's nominee to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.
...
May 28, 2004
LP News Online: Libertarian national convention kicks off in Atlanta
LP News Online: Libertarian national convention kicks off in Atlanta
The atmosphere was electric, the rooms were abuzz, and the crowd was steadily growing at the Atlanta, Ga., Marriott Marquis on Thursday, May 26 as the Libertarian National Convention got ready to begin.
The lobby and halls began early in the day to teem with delegates to the convention, as candidates for the LP's nomination for president -- and for internal party offices -- began working the crowd.
...
May 25, 2004
Judge Takes Leave From Bench to Join Senate Race
Judge Takes Leave From Bench to Join Senate Race
UKIAH, Calif. — Jim Gray, rigid as a judge's gavel, stood at the front of a high-ceilinged tavern here and ran through a list of political positions he hoped would appeal to Mendocino County's famously idiosyncratic voters. Pot should be legal. Genetically modified foods should be labeled. The Patriot Act should be gutted.
"We are galloping, racing toward a police state," said Gray, his voice curt and direct. "This Patriot Act is the most recent, but our civil liberties are in jeopardy."
These are not political views normally associated with a 59-year-old Orange County Superior Court judge, a self-described "conservative dude" who left the Republican Party less than two years ago over its stances backing the war on drugs and the Patriot Act, and joined the more doctrinaire Libertarians. But in a life marked by anomalies — Gray once led an anti-Vietnam War protest while enrolled in USC's Navy ROTC program — the judge is engaged in yet another incongruous act: a yearlong leave of absence from the bench to challenge two-term Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer for the U.S. Senate.
...
May 21, 2004
Hooper and Henderson: The Top One Percent Includes You
Charley Hooper is a friend of mine who helps with our local Libertarian Party activities quite a lot. David Henderson is a friend and former teacher of Charley's who came here for a talk a while back.
In other words, I know these guys. :-)
TCS: Tech Central Station - The Top One Percent Includes You
Presidential aspirant John Kerry likes to discuss "the wealthiest one percent". In this he is following in the footsteps of Al Gore who, when running for president, excoriated the one percenters to drive a wedge between them and the rest of us, hoping that enough of the rest of us would vote for him. Fellow demagogue Paul Krugman also often attacks the top 1 percent.
Whom do you picture as the wealthiest one percent? Many of us think of the famous athletes and entertainers earning $10 million a year, trial lawyers wearing expensive suits, and heads of multinational corporations making important decisions in exquisite wood-paneled boardrooms. To be in the top one percent in 2001, the most recent year for which the Internal Revenue Service has released statistics, you had to have an adjusted gross income of $292,913 or more.
But if you take a wider and longer view, you reach a striking conclusion: virtually every American who has heard John Kerry or Al Gore speeches is in the top one percent. This includes the middle-class family from Indiana, the barber in Florida, the K-mart clerk in Oregon, and the Virginia junkyard worker.
Here's why. Carl Haub, senior demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., has estimated that 106 billion humans have been born since Homo sapiens appeared about 50,000 years ago. That means that the richest one percent in history includes 1.06 billion people. There are currently 6.2 billion humans alive, leaving approximately 100 billion who have died. Who among the dead was rich by today's standards? Not many. Royalty, popes, presidents, dictators, large landholders, and the occasional wealthy industrialist, such as Andrew Carnegie and Leland Stanford, were certainly rich. All told, it is difficult to imagine more than 20 million of these people since ancient Egyptian times. This leaves 1.04 billion wealthy alive today, or 17% of the world's population....
LFA Interviews LNC Candidates
The LFA Interview: Libertarian National Committee
This is the third in a series of interviews with the announced candidates for various offices, to be selected at the Libertarian Party national convention in Atlanta, May 27-31, 2004.
This time, we hear from candidates for the Libertarian National Committee. ...
May 14, 2004
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
PATRICK LASTRAPES 13.MAY.04
Keynote speaker Jeff Daiell, chairman of the Harris County Libertarian Party and 2002 gubernatorial nominee, addressed the Houston Property Rights Association during last Friday’s luncheon at the Courtyard Restaurant.
Daiell spoke passionately on the merits of the Fourth Amendment.
Following a discussion of how property is protected under Articles I and IV of the Constitution of the United States, he turned his attention to the Bill of Rights.
“But the real story of how respect for private property protects our freedoms is found in the Bill of Rights,” he says. “Did you ever wonder why the First Amendment forbids the establishment of religion, (yet guarantees) the free exercise thereof? Especially since there were countries in Europe that had official churches but still respected the right to attend others? It’s because the Founders knew it was wrong to force individuals to subsidize beliefs they found objectionable with their money — with their property.”
Daiell contrasts that same notion with present-day political practices.
“Unfortunately, many state legislatures don’t understand that the same objection should apply when it comes to politics,” he says. “Unlike federal campaign financing, which comes only from those individuals who choose to participate, some states subsidize political campaigns from the taxes of all of their citizens. You thus have individuals forced to finance ideologies and political parties they find repugnant.”
However, according to Daiell, the clouds are forming inside the Beltway.
...
May 08, 2004
Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
San Luis Obispo Tribune | 05/05/2004 | Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
April 27, 2004
Juanita Ramirez: The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
by Juanita Ramirez
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I (LP candidates)
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President [select LP candidates]
April 24, 2004
The LNC Gravy Train
by George Squyres
Excerpt:
The difference is that Congress actually does ride on that gravy train and the LNC does not. I explained that he was mistaken in his understanding of how expenses at the LNC worked, and that I paid all my expenses out of my own pocket, and that there was no reimbursement by the national office or the party for the expenses incurred by LNC members going to the quarterly meetings. Zip! Nada! It costs me about $2500 a year, not including meals at a restaurant, to go to the four quarterly LNC meetings around the country, and it comes out of my own pocket. It is one of the donations that I make to the LP along with the time I spend. That time spent in my shop would earn me about $1500 per weekend, or about $6000 annually.
April 23, 2004
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, April 18, 2004
Thomas Jefferson’s influence on libertarian thought served as a backdrop for Libertarian candidates seeking to build momentum for state and national campaigns at a social gathering yesterday in Cosmopolitan Park.
"People who don’t like Jefferson don’t like small government, and people who do like Jefferson favor small government," said Lloyd Sloan, a St. Louis radio talk-show host who argued Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, was a libertarian.
...
April 19, 2004
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
April 17, 2004
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
Libertarian Woman Displaying Anti-War Poster Says She Was Taken From Airport
ABQjournal: Albuquerque Woman Displaying Anti-War Poster Says She Was Taken From Airport
DALLAS — An Albuquerque woman says she was ejected from a Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport terminal after showing military recruits an anti-war campaign poster.
Carole Ward, 57, showed the recruits an 8 1/2- by 11-inch poster of a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq. It bore the title "Faces of Death."
Some people found the poster offensive and the woman became belligerent with an American Airlines gate agent, said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline.
...
Candidate stakes race on legalizing pot
sacbee.com -- Nation -- Candidate stakes race on legalizing pot
NEWPORT BEACH - If any other U.S. Senate candidate proposed legalizing marijuana, voters might question what that politician had been smoking.
But the California hopeful making that pitch doesn't get those questions - at least not very often.
He is Jim Gray, a Republican-appointed Superior Court judge from conservative Orange County who said he's never used illegal drugs. The 59-year-old former Republican became a Libertarian last year and is now that party's nominee to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.
...
May 28, 2004
LP News Online: Libertarian national convention kicks off in Atlanta
LP News Online: Libertarian national convention kicks off in Atlanta
The atmosphere was electric, the rooms were abuzz, and the crowd was steadily growing at the Atlanta, Ga., Marriott Marquis on Thursday, May 26 as the Libertarian National Convention got ready to begin.
The lobby and halls began early in the day to teem with delegates to the convention, as candidates for the LP's nomination for president -- and for internal party offices -- began working the crowd.
...
May 25, 2004
Judge Takes Leave From Bench to Join Senate Race
Judge Takes Leave From Bench to Join Senate Race
UKIAH, Calif. — Jim Gray, rigid as a judge's gavel, stood at the front of a high-ceilinged tavern here and ran through a list of political positions he hoped would appeal to Mendocino County's famously idiosyncratic voters. Pot should be legal. Genetically modified foods should be labeled. The Patriot Act should be gutted.
"We are galloping, racing toward a police state," said Gray, his voice curt and direct. "This Patriot Act is the most recent, but our civil liberties are in jeopardy."
These are not political views normally associated with a 59-year-old Orange County Superior Court judge, a self-described "conservative dude" who left the Republican Party less than two years ago over its stances backing the war on drugs and the Patriot Act, and joined the more doctrinaire Libertarians. But in a life marked by anomalies — Gray once led an anti-Vietnam War protest while enrolled in USC's Navy ROTC program — the judge is engaged in yet another incongruous act: a yearlong leave of absence from the bench to challenge two-term Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer for the U.S. Senate.
...
May 21, 2004
Hooper and Henderson: The Top One Percent Includes You
Charley Hooper is a friend of mine who helps with our local Libertarian Party activities quite a lot. David Henderson is a friend and former teacher of Charley's who came here for a talk a while back.
In other words, I know these guys. :-)
TCS: Tech Central Station - The Top One Percent Includes You
Presidential aspirant John Kerry likes to discuss "the wealthiest one percent". In this he is following in the footsteps of Al Gore who, when running for president, excoriated the one percenters to drive a wedge between them and the rest of us, hoping that enough of the rest of us would vote for him. Fellow demagogue Paul Krugman also often attacks the top 1 percent.
Whom do you picture as the wealthiest one percent? Many of us think of the famous athletes and entertainers earning $10 million a year, trial lawyers wearing expensive suits, and heads of multinational corporations making important decisions in exquisite wood-paneled boardrooms. To be in the top one percent in 2001, the most recent year for which the Internal Revenue Service has released statistics, you had to have an adjusted gross income of $292,913 or more.
But if you take a wider and longer view, you reach a striking conclusion: virtually every American who has heard John Kerry or Al Gore speeches is in the top one percent. This includes the middle-class family from Indiana, the barber in Florida, the K-mart clerk in Oregon, and the Virginia junkyard worker.
Here's why. Carl Haub, senior demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., has estimated that 106 billion humans have been born since Homo sapiens appeared about 50,000 years ago. That means that the richest one percent in history includes 1.06 billion people. There are currently 6.2 billion humans alive, leaving approximately 100 billion who have died. Who among the dead was rich by today's standards? Not many. Royalty, popes, presidents, dictators, large landholders, and the occasional wealthy industrialist, such as Andrew Carnegie and Leland Stanford, were certainly rich. All told, it is difficult to imagine more than 20 million of these people since ancient Egyptian times. This leaves 1.04 billion wealthy alive today, or 17% of the world's population....
LFA Interviews LNC Candidates
The LFA Interview: Libertarian National Committee
This is the third in a series of interviews with the announced candidates for various offices, to be selected at the Libertarian Party national convention in Atlanta, May 27-31, 2004.
This time, we hear from candidates for the Libertarian National Committee. ...
May 14, 2004
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
PATRICK LASTRAPES 13.MAY.04
Keynote speaker Jeff Daiell, chairman of the Harris County Libertarian Party and 2002 gubernatorial nominee, addressed the Houston Property Rights Association during last Friday’s luncheon at the Courtyard Restaurant.
Daiell spoke passionately on the merits of the Fourth Amendment.
Following a discussion of how property is protected under Articles I and IV of the Constitution of the United States, he turned his attention to the Bill of Rights.
“But the real story of how respect for private property protects our freedoms is found in the Bill of Rights,” he says. “Did you ever wonder why the First Amendment forbids the establishment of religion, (yet guarantees) the free exercise thereof? Especially since there were countries in Europe that had official churches but still respected the right to attend others? It’s because the Founders knew it was wrong to force individuals to subsidize beliefs they found objectionable with their money — with their property.”
Daiell contrasts that same notion with present-day political practices.
“Unfortunately, many state legislatures don’t understand that the same objection should apply when it comes to politics,” he says. “Unlike federal campaign financing, which comes only from those individuals who choose to participate, some states subsidize political campaigns from the taxes of all of their citizens. You thus have individuals forced to finance ideologies and political parties they find repugnant.”
However, according to Daiell, the clouds are forming inside the Beltway.
...
May 08, 2004
Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
San Luis Obispo Tribune | 05/05/2004 | Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
April 27, 2004
Juanita Ramirez: The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
by Juanita Ramirez
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I (LP candidates)
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President [select LP candidates]
April 24, 2004
The LNC Gravy Train
by George Squyres
Excerpt:
The difference is that Congress actually does ride on that gravy train and the LNC does not. I explained that he was mistaken in his understanding of how expenses at the LNC worked, and that I paid all my expenses out of my own pocket, and that there was no reimbursement by the national office or the party for the expenses incurred by LNC members going to the quarterly meetings. Zip! Nada! It costs me about $2500 a year, not including meals at a restaurant, to go to the four quarterly LNC meetings around the country, and it comes out of my own pocket. It is one of the donations that I make to the LP along with the time I spend. That time spent in my shop would earn me about $1500 per weekend, or about $6000 annually.
April 23, 2004
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, April 18, 2004
Thomas Jefferson’s influence on libertarian thought served as a backdrop for Libertarian candidates seeking to build momentum for state and national campaigns at a social gathering yesterday in Cosmopolitan Park.
"People who don’t like Jefferson don’t like small government, and people who do like Jefferson favor small government," said Lloyd Sloan, a St. Louis radio talk-show host who argued Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, was a libertarian.
...
April 19, 2004
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
April 17, 2004
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
LP News Online: Libertarian national convention kicks off in Atlanta
LP News Online: Libertarian national convention kicks off in Atlanta
The atmosphere was electric, the rooms were abuzz, and the crowd was steadily growing at the Atlanta, Ga., Marriott Marquis on Thursday, May 26 as the Libertarian National Convention got ready to begin.
The lobby and halls began early in the day to teem with delegates to the convention, as candidates for the LP's nomination for president -- and for internal party offices -- began working the crowd.
...
Judge Takes Leave From Bench to Join Senate Race
Judge Takes Leave From Bench to Join Senate Race
UKIAH, Calif. — Jim Gray, rigid as a judge's gavel, stood at the front of a high-ceilinged tavern here and ran through a list of political positions he hoped would appeal to Mendocino County's famously idiosyncratic voters. Pot should be legal. Genetically modified foods should be labeled. The Patriot Act should be gutted.
"We are galloping, racing toward a police state," said Gray, his voice curt and direct. "This Patriot Act is the most recent, but our civil liberties are in jeopardy."
These are not political views normally associated with a 59-year-old Orange County Superior Court judge, a self-described "conservative dude" who left the Republican Party less than two years ago over its stances backing the war on drugs and the Patriot Act, and joined the more doctrinaire Libertarians. But in a life marked by anomalies — Gray once led an anti-Vietnam War protest while enrolled in USC's Navy ROTC program — the judge is engaged in yet another incongruous act: a yearlong leave of absence from the bench to challenge two-term Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer for the U.S. Senate.
...
May 21, 2004
Hooper and Henderson: The Top One Percent Includes You
Charley Hooper is a friend of mine who helps with our local Libertarian Party activities quite a lot. David Henderson is a friend and former teacher of Charley's who came here for a talk a while back.
In other words, I know these guys. :-)
TCS: Tech Central Station - The Top One Percent Includes You
Presidential aspirant John Kerry likes to discuss "the wealthiest one percent". In this he is following in the footsteps of Al Gore who, when running for president, excoriated the one percenters to drive a wedge between them and the rest of us, hoping that enough of the rest of us would vote for him. Fellow demagogue Paul Krugman also often attacks the top 1 percent.
Whom do you picture as the wealthiest one percent? Many of us think of the famous athletes and entertainers earning $10 million a year, trial lawyers wearing expensive suits, and heads of multinational corporations making important decisions in exquisite wood-paneled boardrooms. To be in the top one percent in 2001, the most recent year for which the Internal Revenue Service has released statistics, you had to have an adjusted gross income of $292,913 or more.
But if you take a wider and longer view, you reach a striking conclusion: virtually every American who has heard John Kerry or Al Gore speeches is in the top one percent. This includes the middle-class family from Indiana, the barber in Florida, the K-mart clerk in Oregon, and the Virginia junkyard worker.
Here's why. Carl Haub, senior demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., has estimated that 106 billion humans have been born since Homo sapiens appeared about 50,000 years ago. That means that the richest one percent in history includes 1.06 billion people. There are currently 6.2 billion humans alive, leaving approximately 100 billion who have died. Who among the dead was rich by today's standards? Not many. Royalty, popes, presidents, dictators, large landholders, and the occasional wealthy industrialist, such as Andrew Carnegie and Leland Stanford, were certainly rich. All told, it is difficult to imagine more than 20 million of these people since ancient Egyptian times. This leaves 1.04 billion wealthy alive today, or 17% of the world's population....
LFA Interviews LNC Candidates
The LFA Interview: Libertarian National Committee
This is the third in a series of interviews with the announced candidates for various offices, to be selected at the Libertarian Party national convention in Atlanta, May 27-31, 2004.
This time, we hear from candidates for the Libertarian National Committee. ...
May 14, 2004
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
PATRICK LASTRAPES 13.MAY.04
Keynote speaker Jeff Daiell, chairman of the Harris County Libertarian Party and 2002 gubernatorial nominee, addressed the Houston Property Rights Association during last Friday’s luncheon at the Courtyard Restaurant.
Daiell spoke passionately on the merits of the Fourth Amendment.
Following a discussion of how property is protected under Articles I and IV of the Constitution of the United States, he turned his attention to the Bill of Rights.
“But the real story of how respect for private property protects our freedoms is found in the Bill of Rights,” he says. “Did you ever wonder why the First Amendment forbids the establishment of religion, (yet guarantees) the free exercise thereof? Especially since there were countries in Europe that had official churches but still respected the right to attend others? It’s because the Founders knew it was wrong to force individuals to subsidize beliefs they found objectionable with their money — with their property.”
Daiell contrasts that same notion with present-day political practices.
“Unfortunately, many state legislatures don’t understand that the same objection should apply when it comes to politics,” he says. “Unlike federal campaign financing, which comes only from those individuals who choose to participate, some states subsidize political campaigns from the taxes of all of their citizens. You thus have individuals forced to finance ideologies and political parties they find repugnant.”
However, according to Daiell, the clouds are forming inside the Beltway.
...
May 08, 2004
Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
San Luis Obispo Tribune | 05/05/2004 | Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
April 27, 2004
Juanita Ramirez: The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
by Juanita Ramirez
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I (LP candidates)
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President [select LP candidates]
April 24, 2004
The LNC Gravy Train
by George Squyres
Excerpt:
The difference is that Congress actually does ride on that gravy train and the LNC does not. I explained that he was mistaken in his understanding of how expenses at the LNC worked, and that I paid all my expenses out of my own pocket, and that there was no reimbursement by the national office or the party for the expenses incurred by LNC members going to the quarterly meetings. Zip! Nada! It costs me about $2500 a year, not including meals at a restaurant, to go to the four quarterly LNC meetings around the country, and it comes out of my own pocket. It is one of the donations that I make to the LP along with the time I spend. That time spent in my shop would earn me about $1500 per weekend, or about $6000 annually.
April 23, 2004
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, April 18, 2004
Thomas Jefferson’s influence on libertarian thought served as a backdrop for Libertarian candidates seeking to build momentum for state and national campaigns at a social gathering yesterday in Cosmopolitan Park.
"People who don’t like Jefferson don’t like small government, and people who do like Jefferson favor small government," said Lloyd Sloan, a St. Louis radio talk-show host who argued Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, was a libertarian.
...
April 19, 2004
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
April 17, 2004
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
Hooper and Henderson: The Top One Percent Includes You
Charley Hooper is a friend of mine who helps with our local Libertarian Party activities quite a lot. David Henderson is a friend and former teacher of Charley's who came here for a talk a while back.
In other words, I know these guys. :-)
TCS: Tech Central Station - The Top One Percent Includes You
Presidential aspirant John Kerry likes to discuss "the wealthiest one percent". In this he is following in the footsteps of Al Gore who, when running for president, excoriated the one percenters to drive a wedge between them and the rest of us, hoping that enough of the rest of us would vote for him. Fellow demagogue Paul Krugman also often attacks the top 1 percent.
Whom do you picture as the wealthiest one percent? Many of us think of the famous athletes and entertainers earning $10 million a year, trial lawyers wearing expensive suits, and heads of multinational corporations making important decisions in exquisite wood-paneled boardrooms. To be in the top one percent in 2001, the most recent year for which the Internal Revenue Service has released statistics, you had to have an adjusted gross income of $292,913 or more.
But if you take a wider and longer view, you reach a striking conclusion: virtually every American who has heard John Kerry or Al Gore speeches is in the top one percent. This includes the middle-class family from Indiana, the barber in Florida, the K-mart clerk in Oregon, and the Virginia junkyard worker.
Here's why. Carl Haub, senior demographer at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C., has estimated that 106 billion humans have been born since Homo sapiens appeared about 50,000 years ago. That means that the richest one percent in history includes 1.06 billion people. There are currently 6.2 billion humans alive, leaving approximately 100 billion who have died. Who among the dead was rich by today's standards? Not many. Royalty, popes, presidents, dictators, large landholders, and the occasional wealthy industrialist, such as Andrew Carnegie and Leland Stanford, were certainly rich. All told, it is difficult to imagine more than 20 million of these people since ancient Egyptian times. This leaves 1.04 billion wealthy alive today, or 17% of the world's population....
LFA Interviews LNC Candidates
The LFA Interview: Libertarian National Committee
This is the third in a series of interviews with the announced candidates for various offices, to be selected at the Libertarian Party national convention in Atlanta, May 27-31, 2004.
This time, we hear from candidates for the Libertarian National Committee. ...
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
Bill of Rights’ ‘no trespassing’ overlooked, Libertarian says
PATRICK LASTRAPES 13.MAY.04
Keynote speaker Jeff Daiell, chairman of the Harris County Libertarian Party and 2002 gubernatorial nominee, addressed the Houston Property Rights Association during last Friday’s luncheon at the Courtyard Restaurant.
Daiell spoke passionately on the merits of the Fourth Amendment.
Following a discussion of how property is protected under Articles I and IV of the Constitution of the United States, he turned his attention to the Bill of Rights.
“But the real story of how respect for private property protects our freedoms is found in the Bill of Rights,” he says. “Did you ever wonder why the First Amendment forbids the establishment of religion, (yet guarantees) the free exercise thereof? Especially since there were countries in Europe that had official churches but still respected the right to attend others? It’s because the Founders knew it was wrong to force individuals to subsidize beliefs they found objectionable with their money — with their property.”
Daiell contrasts that same notion with present-day political practices.
“Unfortunately, many state legislatures don’t understand that the same objection should apply when it comes to politics,” he says. “Unlike federal campaign financing, which comes only from those individuals who choose to participate, some states subsidize political campaigns from the taxes of all of their citizens. You thus have individuals forced to finance ideologies and political parties they find repugnant.”
However, according to Daiell, the clouds are forming inside the Beltway.
...
May 08, 2004
Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
San Luis Obispo Tribune | 05/05/2004 | Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
April 27, 2004
Juanita Ramirez: The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
by Juanita Ramirez
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I (LP candidates)
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President [select LP candidates]
April 24, 2004
The LNC Gravy Train
by George Squyres
Excerpt:
The difference is that Congress actually does ride on that gravy train and the LNC does not. I explained that he was mistaken in his understanding of how expenses at the LNC worked, and that I paid all my expenses out of my own pocket, and that there was no reimbursement by the national office or the party for the expenses incurred by LNC members going to the quarterly meetings. Zip! Nada! It costs me about $2500 a year, not including meals at a restaurant, to go to the four quarterly LNC meetings around the country, and it comes out of my own pocket. It is one of the donations that I make to the LP along with the time I spend. That time spent in my shop would earn me about $1500 per weekend, or about $6000 annually.
April 23, 2004
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, April 18, 2004
Thomas Jefferson’s influence on libertarian thought served as a backdrop for Libertarian candidates seeking to build momentum for state and national campaigns at a social gathering yesterday in Cosmopolitan Park.
"People who don’t like Jefferson don’t like small government, and people who do like Jefferson favor small government," said Lloyd Sloan, a St. Louis radio talk-show host who argued Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, was a libertarian.
...
April 19, 2004
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
April 17, 2004
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
San Luis Obispo Tribune | 05/05/2004 | Libertarian Senate candidate Jim Gray visits SLO
Juanita Ramirez: The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
The California Libertarian Party State Convention…My Impressions
by Juanita Ramirez
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President I (LP candidates)
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President
The LFA Interview: President and Vice President [select LP candidates]
April 24, 2004
The LNC Gravy Train
by George Squyres
Excerpt:
The difference is that Congress actually does ride on that gravy train and the LNC does not. I explained that he was mistaken in his understanding of how expenses at the LNC worked, and that I paid all my expenses out of my own pocket, and that there was no reimbursement by the national office or the party for the expenses incurred by LNC members going to the quarterly meetings. Zip! Nada! It costs me about $2500 a year, not including meals at a restaurant, to go to the four quarterly LNC meetings around the country, and it comes out of my own pocket. It is one of the donations that I make to the LP along with the time I spend. That time spent in my shop would earn me about $1500 per weekend, or about $6000 annually.
April 23, 2004
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, April 18, 2004
Thomas Jefferson’s influence on libertarian thought served as a backdrop for Libertarian candidates seeking to build momentum for state and national campaigns at a social gathering yesterday in Cosmopolitan Park.
"People who don’t like Jefferson don’t like small government, and people who do like Jefferson favor small government," said Lloyd Sloan, a St. Louis radio talk-show host who argued Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, was a libertarian.
...
April 19, 2004
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
April 17, 2004
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
The LNC Gravy Train
by George Squyres
Excerpt:
The difference is that Congress actually does ride on that gravy train and the LNC does not. I explained that he was mistaken in his understanding of how expenses at the LNC worked, and that I paid all my expenses out of my own pocket, and that there was no reimbursement by the national office or the party for the expenses incurred by LNC members going to the quarterly meetings. Zip! Nada! It costs me about $2500 a year, not including meals at a restaurant, to go to the four quarterly LNC meetings around the country, and it comes out of my own pocket. It is one of the donations that I make to the LP along with the time I spend. That time spent in my shop would earn me about $1500 per weekend, or about $6000 annually.
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
Libertarians reflect on Jefferson's influence
By JOHN SULLIVAN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, April 18, 2004
Thomas Jefferson’s influence on libertarian thought served as a backdrop for Libertarian candidates seeking to build momentum for state and national campaigns at a social gathering yesterday in Cosmopolitan Park.
"People who don’t like Jefferson don’t like small government, and people who do like Jefferson favor small government," said Lloyd Sloan, a St. Louis radio talk-show host who argued Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, was a libertarian.
...
April 19, 2004
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
April 17, 2004
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms
Libertarian Party candidates outline campaign platforms - Columbia Missourian
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
2 local Libertarians lead charge to earn respect for Missouri party
Student survives 100-foot fall
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Student survives 100-foot fall
'For me to be alive shows God has a purpose for my life'
By Michael J. Thompson
Assistant State & Local Editor
April 15, 2004
Standing on the 100-foot Wildcat Falls in Northern Greenville County, SC, Dick Clark flashed a peace sign as his brother, Trevor, took a picture.
Moments later, the Auburn senior lost his footing and fell the equivalent of a 10-story building, landing at the bottom of the falls. On his head.
"The last thing I remember was looking at an American flag graffito on a rock at the top of the fall as I stood on the edge of the precipice," Dick said.
...
April 10, 2004
March 23, 2004
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
Knapp on Muth and Dondero
Pleas and carrots
The Life of the Party, part 18
by Thomas L. Knapp
Since the 2000 election, when the Libertarian Party "spoiler factor" began to penetrate the consciousness of Republican political operatives, the GOP reaction has been primarily hostile.
"We are now at a state of all-out war with the LP," said Republican Liberty Caucus activist Eric Dondero in 2001. "We must deal the Libertarian Party a fatal blow. They are the enemy. Much more so than the Democrats or moderate Republicans."
Chuck Muth, late of the RLC himself and now head of another "conservative" organization, took a similar tack. "Libertarian candidates have historically been nothing but spoilers who effectively elect the WORST possible candidate for the pro-liberty cause in a close race," he said in a National Review interview. In various installments, Muth likewise declared a fatwah on the LP and its candidates.
To the extent that Dondero and Muth are agents of a political party opposing the LP, these seem like natural positions to take, especially given the fact that the LP has proven that it can hold the GOP's feet to the fire by preventing anti-liberty Republicans from being elected or re-elected. Of course, to the extent that Dondero and Muth claim to value libertarian ideas above partisan concerns, one would think that they'd be more appreciative.
Dondero and Muth are back, bearing a carrot called "strategic voting." The idea is that the LP's presidential candidate will go after voters in states where George W. Bush is a clear, unambiguous winner or loser; and that in "close" states, the LP will lay off and Libertarians will vote for Bush.
That way, they say, the LP can pick up enough votes to "make itself heard" without being "responsible" for the removal of George W. Bush from office. Dondero is even flirting with seeking the LP's vice-presidential nomination.
Color me suspicious, but when a couple of guys who have spent the last four years screaming "the LP must die" come around trying to tell us what's in our best interest, I'm not inclined to just jump on the bandwagon.
Dondero and Muth have switched from threatening the LP with a (non-existent) stick to offering it an arsenic-laced carrot. "Strategic voting" is a really bad idea in two ways.
...
March 18, 2004
March 16, 2004
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
reviewjournal.com -- Opinion: VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Repeal every law enacted since 1912
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger
The Federal War on Immigrants: Jacob Hornberger Speaks at the Tower Club
The Federal War on Immigrants
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Just about everything the federal government has done for the past 40 years is today in crisis — Social Security, healthcare, the drug war, foreign policy, the dollar — you name it, it’s in crisis. Unfortunately, the response of Washington policymakers to all these crises has been to move our nation even more in the direction of the socialism of the Soviet Union than the principles of freedom of our Founding Fathers. A good example of this phenomenon is the 40-year-old federal war on immigrants, which, not surprisingly, is also in crisis!
For example, there’s nothing the anti-immigrant crowd in Washington would love more than to build a new Berlin Wall along the southern border of the United States. They might not call it that because they’re embarrassed but make no mistake about it — that’s their ideal. And there are even people in Congress who have called for sending U.S. military forces onto the farms and ranches and communities in the Southwest in order to “seal” the border … just like in the Soviet Union.
...
Vote count worries Libertarians
Mercury News | 03/12/2004 | Vote count worries Libertarians
MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME CLOSE IN STATE SENATE RACE
By Dan Stober
Mercury News
Personal liberties are the hallmark of the Libertarian Party, but party leaders are fretting that a Mountain View man convicted of a sex-related crime is just a few votes from becoming their candidate for a state Senate seat this fall.
With absentee ballots still being counted nine days after the primary, perennial candidate John Webster -- who told the Mercury News he believes it's beneficial for children to have sex with adults -- is two votes behind software engineer Mike Laursen.
...
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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.
...
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.
February 25, 2004
February 24, 2004
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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.
February 23, 2004
February 22, 2004
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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
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
February 19, 2004
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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
Sky Dayton - Libertarian
Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education: Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink
February 16, 2004
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 14, 2004
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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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 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.
...
February 09, 2004
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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.
...
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 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.
February 05, 2004
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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.
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?
February 03, 2004
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
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004
Posted by Lance Brown at 02:19 AM
| Comments (0)
|
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.
...
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.
...
Carol Moore: Reply to Neal Boortz
Reply to Neal Boortz by Carol Moore - January 1, 2004