LP's Iraq Exit Strategy

Read the Libertarian Iraq Exit Strategy [Adobe Reader required]. Click on the image below or here to sign and show your support for the adoption a common sense exit strategy for Iraq.


Photo courtesy of Tim West

Libertarian Billboard Contest

Here is my first submission for the "contest" over at Hammer of Truth.

LP needs to put out video

I created this DVD before the 2004 presidential election using a great program called DVDLab Pro, with the hopes of spreading Michael Badnarik’s name as much as the LP's. I sent out about 20-30 copies to people from the Badnarik blog at the time and got some decent responses. I’m still unsure whether or not it was passed on to others, or if duplicates were made for others to see. The majority of the clips are from CATO, and I wish there was more LP content to work with. In fact, there’s slim to none. Luckily I was able to throw in some videos of Michael Badnarik just prior to the election, in an attempt to make it a little more conducive to the LP rather than CATO.



Couple stories on the DVD:

• 1. I actually sent David Boaz a copy A WHILE back (pre-Badnarik clips) and he responded via email. He was short in his response, but definitely said that doing something with video should be higher on their agenda, as they currently only put out CATO audio. He did point out that there needed to be editing of the videos (I assume introductions, and post Q&A period), but I’m not too up to speed with video editing programs. Besides, I would have had to invest a lot more time than I was willing to at that point.
  
  2. Every so often, I’ll email the person in charge of events and bug them about whether or not the video from a CATO forum will be archived. I was particularly interested in seeing this Cato forum, which had Penn Jillette as one of their speakers. So I emailed the lady, and also purposefully included a link to the DVD I made. Well, I got a call at my job not too long thereafter. Yeah, I sent it from work, and yes, I had a signature line with my # on it. She was real nice about it, but she told me that the link needed to be taken down. Needless to say, I took it down…well, actually I just copied it to a different page, as posted above and here.

Anyways, it was a lot of fun making this, and I wish I can do something in the future strictly with LP content. I wonder if Joe Seehusen would consider throwing together a nice little video, with a nice backdrop/set, just to maybe give people an introduction to the party. That would go along nicely with the little membership drive their attempting. Forget about the “Send a friend a link” feature, we need to give them video! Tim West talks about what else needs to be done at the “revamped” LP.org in an older post. BTW, I recently bought the Plextor dual layer PX-716UF. I’m just waiting for the damn dual layer discs to drop down in price. This will allow for a lot more video, and a lot less compression.

FYI, if you're interested in a copy of the DVD, let me know in the comments section. I'm no longer altering anything on the DVD, as I'll be cleaning up the PC I created it on.

Sean Haugh: Reformed Anarchist?

Both of these quotes can be found in this gem of an article.

- "You can take the most hardcore Libertarian position on any issue and get the majority of people to agree with you, because you make them feel they always agreed with you. This is what successful politicians do."

- "We should recognize that many voters like us precisely because we *are* radical..."

I only point these out because I wonder if Sean truly says what he means by proclaiming he's no longer an anarchist. Sean I guess was highly offended by one of my prior blog entries. Read all the comments or pick up from my latest in that thread which I'll post here.

Rob, I have no longer have any hope of explaining anything to you, but I will respond for the benefit of anyone else reading.

How kind of you, but there's really nothing else to explain. You got called out on your contradictions and you're trying to justify it somehow now.

My reference to Grey and Brandon was in direct response to your accusation, Or maybe you forgot what you just said. There's medication for that, y'know.

No, I didn’t forget what I said Sean. I did ASSUME something by saying, "I only need to point to the types of candidates that you would back, vs. the Jim Grey's & Ben Brandon's who aren't wackos and ran on a moderate Libertarian platform." The fact that you told me you supported their campaigns, doesnt change anything though. Call me wrong for assuming that (for good reasons) in the first place, but now we have an even bigger problem for you to rectify Sean. Follow this reasoning everyone...

1. Sean said he backed candidates such as Grey and Brandon, who are MODERATE LP'ers.

2. You write an article titled "The Platform is not a Problem" and call those trying to clean up the unrealistic/extreme parts of the platform, "whiners".

3. Conclusion: So are you calling Jim Grey and Ben Brandon whiners too Sean? Because I certainly believe they wouldn’t have the knee-jerk reaction you had writing that article, if they were confronted by people wanting to make the platform truly representative of its constituency.

You keep calling me an anarchist. Not that I mind so much, but I'm not one and I don't see where you got that idea except from your own prejudice. It certainly didn't come from anything I said.

I know you don’t mind Sean, because I’m sure you find positive associations with that term. I don’t. You want to know where I got that idea, aside from the harsh tone in your own article? Here’s where I got that idea from Sean…, from your own comment on Tim West’s blog.

I used to be an anarchist, but I don’t think I could call myself one anymore since I am so busy trying to get people elected and change public policy. We would have to eliminate scarcity to truly consider it. I label my utopian view Star Trek Socialism. But politics doesn’t allow me much room for utopian philosophical discourse. In my article I devote a paragraph to my rules for incrementalism, not much different really from yours or Carl’s.

You admit you used to be an anarchist. Well, now that you’re reformed I suppose, why and how more importantly did you make that transition? What changes of opinion have you had? I personally doubt that you have, partially because of your demeaning article/tone to reformers. You state above that you’re not one anymore, or as you say “I don’t think I could call myself one anymore since I am so busy trying to get people elected and change public policy.” So is this the only reason? You talk about incrementalism, and I’m all for that. But incrementalism to what ends is the real question.

The truth is that while I don't want to water down the platform, I would like to see it be more inviting to self-described moderates. (I said as much in the original article.)

Taking out the extreme parts of the platform isn’t “watering down” anything. It’s getting done what needs to be done, so opponents can’t use our own platform to beat the hell out of our candidates. All this fear of the LP falling into a slippery slope should it take more moderate stances is bullcrap. My definition of what a libertarian is, is different from yours. Accept it and move on.

Another truth is that I love all my Libertarian candidates and consider anyone who wants more Liberty rather than less to be my friend and ally. Unless of course they begin the relationship with a stupid bigoted hate filled screed like you did with me. Let's go back to that for a moment. Not only is making fun of someone's appearance as a first line of argument about the surest sign of being a hate-filled moron, but in this case it shows just how astoundingly hypocritical you are. That headshot was professionally made by my local newspaper, and that's what you chose to attack. I would think that if you truly beleived the LP should be presentable, you'd recognize the attempt.

This is really what it all boils down to. You thought I was attacking you personally, but nothing could be further from the truth. All I did was say that you looked like the guy from Office Space, nothing more. How you perceived that as being hate-filled is beyond me. That’s what immediately popped into my head when I went over to Libertyforall.net and saw your article/picture. I never said anything bad about your appearance, so stop making it out to be a personal attack. Honestly, as a new blogger, all I was doing was trying to be a little creative and entertain whatever readers might come this way.

You say about your friends, "they love the ideas, UNTIL you start mentioning the more radical positions the LP seems to support." Well, why the hell would you do that?? I tell people if you want more Liberty rather than less, then you belong in the Libertarian Party. If they discover a plank that gives them pause, I tell them it's not a litmus test issue and introduce them to someone already in the party who agrees with them. Apparently you're the only one who is trying to shove this down people's throats here.

I’m honest about all of what the Libertarian Party stands for and what its platform says, should someone ask me. Why wouldn’t I be? It should be clear why I want to root out what I see as the bad parts of the platform. I don’t believe in them, and I don’t feel I should have to defend them. You’re on the money when you say, “I tell people if you want more Liberty rather than less, then you belong in the Libertarian Party.” The definition of what it means to be a libertarian, and/or a member of the party, should be more broad and open as in your example. This is all I and others want to see…an inclusion of all lovers of liberty, and a less condescending tone taken when confronted with those who challenge existing libertarian dogma.

Actually, I cahnged my mind. Please don't play again. Just give up.

Sorry, no can do.

"50 ways to lose your freedom"...

...is the title of a wonderful speech I came across via Catallarchy, given by Janice Rogers Brown in Aug. 2000.

Michael Bolton says LP platform is fine!

…No, not the singer you're thinking of. Do you all recognize this guy? He sang along to these lyrics in the movie Office Space.

“I've got my pistol pon cock / Ready to lick shots non-stop / Until I see your monkey-ass drop / And let your homies know who done it / Cause when it comes to this gangsta shit you muthafuckas know who run it”

*...continues after rolling up his car window in fear of being spotted as a whigger*

“I've got this killer up inside of me / I can't talk to my mother, so I talk to my diary”

Well alright, to be honest it’s a picture of Sean Haugh, Executive Director of LPNC and apparently he thinks it’s kosher to imitate the infamous David Herman who played Michael Bolton in Office Space. He’s PO’ed at the idea of people wanting to alter the LP platform, as he clearly vents his frustration here and here, ummm…I mean here.

I’ll just quote a snippet:

“There's a lot of whining going on these days about how the Libertarian Party Platform is somehow holding back or hurting our candidates. This is utter hogwash. It is an excuse made by people who want some easier way to win elections other than actually earning the respect of the voters, or by eggheads who will never understand how to win one.” [my emphasis added]

An excuse…, for what again? No Michael, I mean Sean, it’s an observation. And nobody in this camp ever suggested that cleaning up the platform, which IS needed, is some silver bullet. That’s ONE of the things that needs to be done. The rest of your article talking about the need for hard work when campaigning under the LP banner, is obvious in and of itself. Here’s what else needs to be done, credited to the newly engaged Mr. Tim West. Also, the content on Carl Milsted’s site here is invaluable. Matt Welch from Reason chimed in a while back with this also, courtesy of Christopher Monnier. So you're right, there is hard work to be done. And I truly believe changing the platform is a part of that.

Red pill or Blue pill?

I like to stir the pot every so often, so I decided to pretty much switch the discussion on the LP's latest blog post towards reforming the platform and pledge. My post to Libertarian TV, a proud Libertopian anarcho, is somewhere in this mess...

ME-pheous: Unfortunately, no one can be told what the LP should look like. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back Libertarian TV.

You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

You take the red pill and you leave Libertopia and I show you how big the LP can become. (Long pause) Remember -- all I am offering is some god damn success, nothing more.

Take the red pill !!

Dr. Wayne Dyer to Politicians

My fiancé is big into Wayne Dyer and sent me an article from his website today. It can be found here. I was pleasantly surprised. I was never really big into him myself, although I admire anyone who attempts to help people realize their true potential. FYI, he has a big following. Here’s part of what he had to say:

To Our Politicians From a Spiritual Working Stiff
I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. Frankly, I still have difficulty with the labels, conservative and liberal. Those who know me have never been able to pigeonhole me. I relate to Kierkegaard's observation: "Once you label me, you negate me." In truth, I am a working stiff.

I have worked all my life, paid my taxes, supported my family, and continue to "chop wood and carry water," while being totally perplexed by what I hear coming out of the mouths of our politicians. As a working stiff who has earned enough to be in that top 1 percent income bracket, here is what I would like you, the politicians, to hear as you go about the business of government. These are views shared by most of the people I speak to every day, in all income brackets.

YOU ARE NOT OUR LEADERS. No one that I know goes to sleep at night saying, "My leaders are in Washington, D.C." I fume when you refer to yourselves as our leaders. You may pass laws while sitting in committees and having Rose Garden ceremonies, but the laws come after the real leadership has been implemented.

No politician was responsible for leading us in the struggle for civil rights. Rosa Parks was a leader. Those who marched and ignored the racist laws passed by lawmakers were the leaders of the civil rights movement.

Who were the leaders of the Renaissance? The office holders? The politicians? No! The leaders were those who brought the world a new consciousness through their writing, art, music, and through challenging the entrenched ideologies of the office holders. These were the leaders.

When I hear you refer to yourselves as our leaders, I am always amused by such arrogance. We go to work and send up to 50 percent of our earnings to you. You use our earnings to make yourselves more privileged than we are, with unlimited medical care, overly generous retirement guarantees, and perks galore! All that you really do is write the rules using our funds to do so. This might be hard to accept, but try it on for size. We are not sheep who need to be led. We need servants who care. We are perfectly capable of leading ourselves; in fact, we do it every day.

YOU DO NOT CREATE JOBS. I have written 20 books, produced hundred of tapes, and given several thousand lectures over the past 25 years. When I sit down and create a book, I send it to an editor who I pay to edit the manuscript. The way I see it, I just created a job. My editor receives payment, sends in her taxes, and now two are working. The editing process involves a computer. A third job is created. The publisher copy-edits the manuscript, and a fourth job is created. This process continues through many levels, with job after job being created all because I decided to write a book. The printers, inspectors, typesetters, delivery people, booksellers, accountants, stock boys, and cashiers all have jobs that were created because working stiffs have the ingenuity, gumption, and desire to create and produce.

The woman who loves flowers and decides to open a floral shop creates jobs. Without her desire and sweat, we wouldn't need floral coolers, delivery trucks, or growers. Nor would we need people to grow food to feed those workers or design garments to clothe them. The money you use to fund job-producing legislation originates from those who produce. It is really quite simple. Politicians do not create jobs.

As I see it, through the eyes of a working stiff, politicians can pass laws that will ultimately determine whether anyone finds being productive worth the effort any longer. If you decide to punish me with tax rules, over-regulate me, or constantly make my life miserable with forms, rules, and regulations, I may decide that writing another book is no longer worth the effort. If I decide that, and you multiply me by the millions of us who produce wealth and jobs, you will see that you do not produce jobs or wealth with our policies.

You print money. You regulate. You pass laws. But we produce jobs. We create wealth by working and producing, not by sitting in committees and talking up our self-importance.

Wonderfully scathing...and this is only the first portion of the article. Make sure to read the rest of it, it's THAT good. I know he mentioned he doesn't like labels, but he sure sounds like a libertarian to me.

Libertarian government employee: Hypocrisy?

I recently landed a job doing Network/Desktop support for my local, county government. I was fairly confident going into the interview that my previous work experience would put me at the top of the list for serious consideration. After the interview was over, I was excited, nervous, and a little perplexed. Perplexed because I found myself needing to contemplate what this meant to me (if anything) when compared to my libertarian beliefs.

Was I being hypocritical for considering a position in government, even if that position was one of a low level techie? Clearly I wasn’t, but the mere history of what this party has been about has subjugated it to where it should be today by suppressing any reasonable voices that didn't toe the party line. Objectivity still must be used even with a guiding set of principles.

Good government comes about primarily through the local level. The LP needs to establish a more meaningful and broader definition of libertarianism that is palatable to the voters, and can do so without compromising its principles. It should be a proponent of good, small local governments VS. a strong federal, centralized & distant government. It should emphasize its strong support for state's rights and the value that comes along with being a pluralistic society (each state being able to experiment). It should simply distinguish itself from the D's and R's by what most matters, i.e. - that we are both socially liberal AND fiscally responsible. When you begin to show a complete disdain for ALL matters of government, then I think you really need to re-consider politics as a hobby. There is no libertopia, and there will never be one.

Getting back to my job...within my own group, I have to say that everyone is conscious that the taxpayers pay their salaries. The use of county vehicles, business phones, etc. are closely monitored for abuse, and overall the IT department is pretty much locked down. On the other hand, I have also had some conversations with my co-workers about some of the counties blatant inefficiencies and misuse of its funds. Of course, this is why we need LP'ers involved at the local level!

Procrastination is over…

…the indefinite vacation I was on now has a clear ending, and I finally decided it was time to either put up or shut up. I’ve wanted to start my own blog for the longest, and have settled in the past for commenting on other’s libertarian-politico blogs. The liberty movement needs strength in numbers, and I’ll gladly try to contribute what little I can to the libertarian blogging community.

Just a quick note on the blog name before I begin posting. Credit goes to my friend Vince in NJ who used to say that every so often when someone, or something, irked the hell out of him. So yeah, I’m ripping it from him. I can’t think of a better word to describe our intrusive and bloated federal government, and the politicians that give it life, ...than you got it boys and girls, Ridonkulous!