Gun Control.
“The problem is not that we have too many fools, it’s that the lightning isn’t distributed right.” Mark Twain.
H/T Bill Lee at Progressively Conservative Conversations.
The above site linked to a great article from the Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed called “40 Reasons For Gun Control.” This was in turn excerpted from an article by Michael Z. Williamson, called “It’s amazing what one has to believe to believe in gun control,” which unfortunately seems to have been deleted.
One of the most difficult things about arguing for gun ownership in modern times is the incredible naivety of many of the supporters of gun control fostered by those who seriously promote this idea. The core promoters are those who seem to believe that the state should be the sole armed entity in the nation and push the concept that we will all be safer if the police and military are the only armed people. Read more »
The Government bubble.
On a recent post, I received a comment from Jack McHugh that caught my attention stating:
”The grievance is chronic fiscal irresponsibility, now become acute fiscal extremism.
The target is an inbred, self-serving, self-perpetuating and bipartisan political class that no longer represents the will of the people.
The goal is to send that political class packing and restore genuine representative government, with whatever policy implications that entails. (I wish I’d said that no. 45,648.)
In following up I arrived at The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which in their own words “is a nonpartisan research and educational institution devoted to improving the quality of life for all Michigan citizens. The Center assists policy makers, business people, the media and the public by providing objective analysis of Michigan issues and by promoting sound solutions to state and local policy questions from a free market perspective.”
In their Blog I found an article; “The Government Bubble” by Joseph G. Lehman which reminded me of a post “Do you believe in bubbles,” by Terje, and another, “Herd instinct and Crowds,” by Ron Kitching, which is about a different book but a similar theme, (crowd mentality.) For this reason I thought it might be of interest.
The Government Bubble
(Note: The following commentary appears as the President’s Message in the Spring 2009 issue of “Impact,” the Mackinac Center’s newsletter.) . Read more »
But for the new media, this would have gone unnoticed.
Daniel Hannan a British Member of the European Parliament, made a speech last week in response to one made by British PM Gordon Brown, calling for a joint effort between the EU and America to provide world leadership in these troubled times. He tipped off the BBC and some newspaper correspondents but, they ignored him.
Over night the Youtube posting was picked up by bloggers, followed by Fox, and has become one of the hottest items on the net, currently having had 1.59 million views in five days.
Candidate pulled out over Free Speech.
In this weekends election the Labor Party in the seat of Gympie had no official candidate, owing to his resignation when a blog comment he made in late 2006 in support of free speech for Sydney Muslim cleric Sheik Hilaly. The comments by Hilaly were at the time highly controversial, and in the wake of the Sydney cases of pack rape by a Lebanese gang, showed about the same level of PR skills as the AIG bonus deals. At least the AIG people demonstrated the skills required to get the US government to hand them $250 billion, which is no small achievement. 
While the statements by Sheik Hilaly were pretty much over the top, especially given the context of the times, he was not advocating violence against women nor in my opinion attempting to inflame the situation. He struck me as out of touch with reality, probably through advancing age.
Australia has a long history of good relations with its Islamic community going back to the early 19th century, and it should remain this way.
The local paper “The Gympie Times” reported:
Labor candidate, Daniel Tabone chose to walk the plank at the weekend (and he insists he was not pushed) over his support for the free speech rights of the Sydney Muslim cleric who compared some scantily clad women to “uncovered meat”. Read more »
LDP and the media.
Some of you may be aware of the ongoing challenges to the name Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), by the Liberals, Democrats, and the Liberal National Parties, (the LNP is the bastard son of the Nationals and Liberals in Queensland.)
These parties have now appealed the decision by the AEC to accept our name, using the same grounds that were used before. We are of the opinion that this is vexatious and needs to be addressed, as it constitutes abuse of the system. For that reason we have put out the following release.
Media Release Issued Brisbane, Tuesday 10th March 2009
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is outraged at the vexatious attempt by the Liberal Party, Australian Democrats and newly formed Liberal National Party (LNP) to challenge its name being registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Read more »
John Stossel: Reason.tv interview.
A really good interview with Stossel giving his views on many of the important issues of our time. This is the first part which is close to ten minutes, and for those who have more time on their hands, the second part is great as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkkHt2s-0k
At around the seven minute mark, a point is made that I haven’t seen made in a long time, possibly since I read, (I think) “The Incredible Bread Machine,” back in the 70s:
Interviewer; … like you can pass a minimum wage law and go and interview the happy employee of Burger King who just had her wage boosted but you can’t interview the person that doesn’t know that he wasn’t going to get hired.
Stossel; That’s part of it, its certainly hard to show the people who are hurt by government programs that take two cents from everyone or prevents a job from being created, you can’t take a picture of that. But that’s not just television, I think intuitively its hard to get, intuitively the minimum wage makes sense, we want to help poor people raise the minimum wage, its hard for people to understand to understand how that hurts people. …
The art of spin doctoring.
Photo (Google Images): The hanging of Remus … (Take your pick from the list below.)
This is a (possibly) apocryphal story sent to me but I love it. The people that wrote this verbal slight of hand could do really well at writing speeches for politicians. After a little research to find out more about it I also found similar tales surrounding such characters as Remus Gore, Remus Bush, Remus Dunham, Remus Kerry, Remus Biden, Remus McCain, and Remus Reid.
It is a lighthearted look at one of the phenomena of our times still it is the sort of thing I would expect if the name Remus Rudd or Nelson were to come up.
“Judy Wallman” a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Hillary Clinton’s great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: Read more »
Free Enterprise Psychology.
One of my regular reads is Dr Sanity. The doctor who lists her occupation as an M.D. (Psychiatry/Aerospace medicine) has very pro-liberty views, and is very strongly opposed to the antics of the socialist left. What follows is an interesting argument (one of the best I have seen in a long time) for capitalism. This is quoted in her most recent post, but was originally from another post, “KARL MET SIGMUND AND THE REST IS POSTMODERN HISTORY.”
Capitalism allows the basic nature of man to creatively express itself by mastering the physical world. The instinctual energy Freud spoke of is directed away from the destructive pursuit of power over other people and sublimated toward acts of creation, which further both the individual’s life and all of civilization.
The Marxist intellectuals’ big mistake was in not recognizing the difference between repression and suppression. And in not understanding the way psychological defense mechanisms work (particularly the healthy or ‘mature’ defense mechanisms such as sublimation, anticipation, humor, altruism and supression.) Read more »
Nanny-State Government is like a bad road trip with an annoying back seat driver.
by Jeff Wartman
This is a post that appeared in Libertarian Republican recently as a précis of a longer article by Jeff on his own site. In view of our recent controversy, this might be timely in order to get the thinking back on track.
To illustrate my own philosophy of government, I’ve often used an analogy of a road trip. The route and destination are analogous to the choices you make in life and the level of freedom you possess.
Too many big government Democrats want to drive your car for you. They feel that if they know the route better, it’s in your own interest to just sit in the back and let them drive the car for you — they will be able to plan the best route and will be able to get to the destination according to the way they think is best. It doesn’t matter if you feel that a different route may be better, because they know how to get there better than you do.
Glen Beck, becoming a libertarian?
I generally have little time for ‘opinion makers’ and pundits, and the rightist or conservative ones are only slightly less irritating than the lefties. I would find a frontal lobotomy more stimulating than the morbid Allan Jones, and don’t fantasise over the generally histrionic Ann Coulter, (although, I’m a somewhat partial to Elisabeth Hasselbeck.) Keith Olbermann would delight the average masochist but lefties love to be talked down to by authoritarian figures, its part of what they stand for.
There is an article in the Miami Herald relating to Glen Beck, which I find interesting: -
Glenn Beck goes on the air with Fox News for the first time Monday afternoon, and he’s got a surprise for you: He’s not a conservative anymore. Read more »
NYT bailout? “They’re churching the old whore.”
The New York Times seems to be in serious trouble advertising revenues have fallen by 20% for the year and circulation has dropped as well as having its bond rating falling to the point according to some reports into junk territory. Now from 24/7 Wall St. –
The New York Times (NYT) has to repay $400 million in debt in the first half of 2009. It does not have the money. It plans to mortgage its headquarters, but it is uncertain what that will bring in an uncertain real estatemarket. The firm’s Boston Globe and regional newspaper operations lose money, so they will be hard to sell. NYT is controlled by the Sulzberger family, which has super-majority voting shares. That won’t matter much when the company runs out of money. Another big media operation, perhaps News Corp (NWS) which owns The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, will come in and auction off what it can and keep the flagship New York Times newspaper and NYTimes.com website. Read more »
“The Bird” hits the big time.
Our old mate Graeme Bird has Joined a distinguished list of Rightwingers, including Ace, Hugh Hewitt, NR’s Jonah Goldberg, Michelle Malkin, and World Net Daily’s Vox Day, as a Nominee for the 2008 Golden Winger Awards for Excellence in Wingnuttery.
Graeme’s nomination is for the prestigious Purple Teardrop with Clutched Pearls Cluster – for enduring the cruelest butthurt for his article “Cabin Fever,” which they list as “Americans Embrace Irrationalism.” The reason for the change of title is not clear.
From Hullabaloo:
Purple Teardrop with Clutched Pearls Cluster – for enduring the cruelest butthurt
1. Jonah Goldberg, “The White Man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism“
2. Michelle Malkin, “John McCain won’t return my calls!“
3. Michael Gerson, “Al Franken used bad words!“
4. KJ Lopez, On Republican Political Correctness
5. Libertarian Republican, “The Day America Died“
6. Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, “The Treatment of Bush Has Been A Disgrace“
7. Graeme Bird, “Americans Embrace Irrationalism“
8. Nice Doggie, “Wake Up, White People!“
9. Vox Day, “Welcome to the USSA”
Hullabaloo and Poorman are two longstanding liberal websites who do this annually and for ‘The Bird’ to be included with the likes of Malkin, Hewitt, WND, and Goldberg, is definitely a sign that he is getting noticed, although some of the nominees are from the left, such as demented moonbat Andrew Sullivan.
You can cast your vote for him at Poorman.net.
Fred Thompson; “Great news on the economy.”
Fred is still one of my favorite US politicians, or at least former politicians. The guy just has such a gravitas that you just have sit up to take notice. Fred is a self made man, having moved from college dropout, small town salesman, successful lawyer, moving into acting when asked to play himself in a movie about one of his cases, then a Senator.
In the following clip he really takes the piss out of the proposed solutions to the current economic mess.
A New Business Model.
Ron Kitching is the sort of guy it pays to take seriously on economic and business issues, having founded what was in its time one of the largest drilling companies in Australia, Glinderman and Kitching. G&K maintained its leadership by being at the technological cutting edge of innovation in the industry, driven by Ron. He is also the author of one of the best books on free market economics on the market, “Understanding Personal and Economic Liberty.”
Ronny tends to express his disgust with the way things are on some occasions with a cynical humor that really gets the message across. Ron drew my attention to an article in ‘portfolio.com,’ by Michael Lewis, who chronicled the excesses of Wall St in a book, “Liar’s Poker.” It is a long article but worth reading, as the author is a former insider who got out in the late 80s, and was convinced that it was all going to fall apart long before now.
So here is the take on the subject from the author of “Organic Nuclear Energy,”: – Read more »
Wayne Root; Battered Voter Syndrome.
Wayne Root has a way with words, and in this case has come up with a modern parable of our times. All members of all political parties can learn from this one, especially Republicans who tend to believe they are the major party standing for personal liberty, keeping the size of government down, and fiscal restraint.
Heres an extract of what Wayne has to say: -
”He lies to me all the time. He takes my money and tells me that I can’t spend it as well as he can. I’ve watched him spend us into financial ruin, giving money to his friends. Wasting money on irresponsible schemes. We’re so far in debt, we’ll never get out.”
”I work extra long hours to support him. I bring home all the money, yet he tells me what to do all day long. He winds up controlling almost every aspect of my life. He even tells me that I don’t know how to properly raise my own children.”
”When he needs me, he’s nice to me. He tells me how he wants the same things I do. After he gets what he wants, he goes back to his real personality. The truth is that he couldn’t care less about me. He couldn’t care less about anyone or anything. He only cares about himself. He uses the rest of us to get what he wants.”
”He keeps hurting me and I don’t know what to do. I’m really scared. But he has me convinced that anyone else would treat me worse. He’s probably right. So I stay.”
”It’s probably all my fault. I just need to show him that I support him 100%. Maybe than he’ll treat me better.” ……
…. the tale of woe you just read above is not from a battered spouse. This person is suffering from “battered voter syndrome.” Read more »
The Counter-productivity of Subsidies.
In one of our previous incarnations as the Progress Party, one of our office bearers circulated a document referring to it as ‘compulsory reading.’ While most of us understood what he meant, most of us felt obliged to send him letters pointing out the contradiction. Yep it was letters back in those days, “snail mail,” you youngsters don’t know how good you’ve got it.
If I hadn’t remembered this story, I would make this video compulsory viewing. This is one of the best demonstrations of the disastrous results of state interventionism, and a lesson in the law of unintended consequences.
Newsweek; “Economic meltdown made possible by libertarian ideas.”
Libertarians are on the liberal shit list this year, and the term libertarian is being used as a swearword. Huffington Post sees Sarah Palin as “the new ideological heir to Ayn Rand, Alan Greenspan, Milton Friedman and Ronald Reagan and their “selfish,” and “money-grabbing attitudes.” …
“What’s good for the country was irrelevant. It’s Me First, the idea made popular by Ayn Rand, Ronald Reagan, the Bush dynasty, Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, and the crowd of money-grubbing right wingnut media hacks in process of swinging enough to the center to keep working if the Hanoi Candidate and his Miss Wannabee Alaska go down as the mood of the country shifts away from selfishness.”
Boston Globe then slamed her for being a free market, pro-growth, anti-zoning “libertarian.”
“Palin’s property-rights agenda exploited a deep anger toward the expansion of local government, an attitude that had defined politics in the Matanuska Valley since its settlement 80 years earlier as a way station for gold miners heading north. She used opposition to land-use restrictions to tap that vein of frontier libertarianism and a conspicuous display of her social views to connect with the new middle-class families who had suburbanized the valley in the 1980s.”
Now Newsweek have an article, “The Libertarians’ Lament,”- “Their heroic view of capitalism makes it difficult for them to accept that financial systems without vigorous government oversight constitute a recipe for disaster.” Read more »
WARs comments on Palin Speech.
This is probably one of the most stunning articles I have seen in the whole of the campaign. While many candidates will pay lip service to an opponent this article in Libertarian Republican from Wayne Allyn Root really takes the cake.
There is a great deal of conjecture over Palins ‘libertarian credentials’ but she certainly appeals to many of them.
Below is a part of Waynes comments. For the full comments by Wayne click this link.
Hockey Mom and Hunter Leaves Two US Senators as Road kill!
By Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee Wayne Allyn Root
That should be the headline in newspapers around the world this morning. A couple of weeks ago I took off my Vice Presidential hat to act as political commentator and pundit to critique Barack Obama’s V.P. choice of Joe Biden. I called it a terrible choice, a bland choice, and strategically, a failure. As a matter of fact, strategically, BOTH parties blew it. If Obama picked Hillary (and her 18 million primary votes) he would have had a good chance of sitting in the White House. But Joe who? From Dela-where? The guy known for plagiarizing his speeches? Read more »
Zogby Poll has Bob Barr at 6% nationwide.
Some great news from the States via the latest Zogby poll.
UTICA, New York – As the race for President passes the Independence Day holiday and heads toward the dog days of summer, Sen. Barack Obama holds a 44% to 38% lead over Sen. John McCain in the horserace contest, but also leads by a substantial margin in a state-by-state Electoral College tally, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.
The extensive national poll of of 46,274 likely voters also shows Libertarian candidate and former Congressman Bob Barr wins 6% support, eating into McCain’s needed conservative base of support.
The online survey was conducted from June 11-30, 2008. It carries a margin of error of 0.5 percentage points. After nearly a decade in development, the Zogby Interactive survey on a state level was remarkably accurate in the 2006 midterm elections. In 18 U.S. Senate elections polled two years ago, the Zogby online survey correctly identified the winner of 17 of 18 races. ….
Pollster John Zogby: “Obama is in the driver’s seat right now, especially where it really counts – in the electoral votes. Bob Barr could really hurt McCain’s chances. McCain can’t afford the level of slippage to Barr we found among conservatives in this polling. While there has been plenty of talk about Obama’s recent emphasis on his centrist positions, he can get away with it during these dog days of the campaign as McCain finds himself still trying to shore up the conservative base. McCain will have to move to the center because right now Obama is clobbering him among independents. But there is the rub for McCain: Bob Barr has some juice among conservatives and is hurting him in several states. ”
Bob Barr receives the support of 7% of voters who identify themselves as conservative or very conservative voters. Barr gets 43% of libertarians and 11% of independents. McCain’s support among conservatives is 74%. On the left, Ralph Nader gets less than 2% nationally.
This indicates the possibility of up to 5-6 million votes, and there is time to improve on that as both Barr and Root are being taken seriously by a fair proportion of the media, a far cry from the norm.
The disappointing part of it is “Barr gets 43% of libertarians” which means the libertarian purity factor is worse than I predicted, although quite a few serious and dedicated Libertarians have swallowed their disappointment and are backing Barr/Root.
Regardless of the conservative origins of both members of the team, they appear to be bringing huge numbers of voters to pull the lever for Libertarian for the first time, after seriously considering LP policies for the first time. This has to be a positive.
The anti American Fashion.
I have been reading an excellent article from the Wall St Journal, “Anti-Americanism Is Mostly Hype,” By Foaud Ajami, who is a Bradley Prize recipient, and teaches at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of “The Foreigner’s Gift” (Free Press, 2006).
This article reminds me of the time just after Labor gained office in Queensland for the first time in a generation and Wayne Goss was premier. One of his less memorable statements was to the effect that the southerners liked us now. I wasn’t aware until then that anyone cared whether they liked us or not, but of course lefties just have to be loved, (or at least approved of.)
But of course I digress: -
So America is unloved in Istanbul and Cairo and Karachi: It is an annual ritual, the June release of the Pew global attitudes survey and the laments over the erosion of America’s standing in foreign lands.
We were once loved in Anatolia, but now a mere 12% of Turks have a “favorable view” of the U.S. Only 22% of Egyptians think well of us. Pakistan is crucial to the war on terror, but we can only count on the goodwill of 19% of Pakistanis. Read more »
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