"As Rick Santorum has emerged to become Mitt Romney's leading opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, the American electorate said Monday it had slowly begun to realize that the former Pennsylvania senator sincerely believes every deranged word that exits his mouth." (03/05/12)
http://onion.com/z2Hrkn
Nolan Chart "There are legitimate concerns on both sides of the debate in relation to public health care. Libertarians like Ron Paul believe that if it is mandatory for everyone to be insured then people are going to be subject to state coercion which infringes upon their civil liberties. However, Progressive Liberals and Democrats like Barack Obama will argue that it's the 'free riders' who do not have insurance because they are either too cheap or too poor to afford it that contribute to the rise in health care and thus health insurance costs." (02/27/12)
http://bit.ly/AoTREW"One of the more distressing things for me concerning this 2012 campaign is the religious test being imposed on some of the candidates by the voters and encouraged by other candidates. There are at least some voters who will not support Mitt Romney under any circumstances because he is a Mormon. Once upon a time, the idea of a Catholic being president was just as much of a scandal but today very few non-Catholics would consider this a deal breaker. Ironically devout Catholic Rick Santorum, one candidate who benefits from fellow Catholic JFK’s election 52 years ago, says that when he heard JFK’s famous separation of church and state speech he 'almost threw up.'" (02/27/12)
http://bit.ly/z37QHA"There are 2,286 republican delegates. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republication nomination. With four candidates remaining, many are wondering about the likelihood of a brokered convention where no candidate wins in the first round. Conventional wisdom suggests there will not be a brokered convention. From where I sit, one is increasingly likely." (02/28/12)
http://lewrockwell.com/orig10/shedlock6.1.1.html"The way the media has covered the religious debate in God's Own Party (GOP) plays to Santorum's advantage. Now, I don't think it much matters if the Republicans win or the Democrats win. They both are in a race to see which disgusts me most. But, I do know most media employees tend to be Democrats and would rather see Obama win than any Republican. Given that I don't believe the bulk of independent voters will support someone as noxious as Santorum, media coverage of the GOP is helping Obama." (02/26/12)
http://bit.ly/yerXyx
Ideas "A number of political commenters have compared the current Republican contestants unfavorably with Barry Goldwater. The current crop, we are told, are religious nutcases, or possibly pretending to be. Goldwater, on the other hand, was an intelligent and reasonable man, even if not on the right side of every issue. I have been reading my parents' autobiography, and recently got to the Goldwater campaign. Their description fits my memory. What we were being told then ... was that he was a dangerous madman." (02/26/12)
http://bit.ly/yQTJn8
Authority! "My last post discussed the numerous reasons supporting my conclusion that Rick Santorum personifies the term 'religious bigot,' and why his criticism of President Obama for leading America based on a so-called theology different from that in the Bible, amounts to clear evidence of his own intent if elected president to govern us by his Catholic Biblical theology. Today, I will demonstrate once and for all, from the candidates own mouth, the fundamental irrationality within the mind of Rick Santorum, Mr. Biblical, and why, if nominated by the Republican Party, Barrack Obama is virtually certain to win the general election." (02/23/12)
http://bit.ly/wfhzbP
The American Conservative "Santorum is undeniably taking an immense gamble here. First, he is wagering that by emphasizing his moral, social and cultural conservatism, he can trump Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital job-creator card. Second, he is wagering that Obama, with his latest attempt to impose secular values on Catholic institutions, can be portrayed as possessed of an 'overt hostility to faith in America.' Third, he is wagering that he has the rhetorical and political skills to make this case to the nation through the prism of a hostile media." (02/20/12)
http://bit.ly/yvH1Jj
Reason "Michigan was supposed to be the state where Mitt Romney cakewalked his way to the Republican nomination. After all, he was born and brought up here by a father who served as a three-term governor. Instead, Romney is stumbling -- badly. But whether he recovers -- or falls into a political abyss, never to be heard from again -- might depend on his ability to do something that so far has completely eluded him: offer a vision." (02/21/12)
http://bit.ly/yWJy6I
Wrights 2012 "The Libertarian Party can make a difference in the 2012 presidential campaign. But the only way we can make a difference is by being different. We can only make a difference if the Libertarian candidate for president is not ashamed to present a clear, principled, unwavering and unequivocal libertarian message that offers Americans true choices and rational alternatives. We can only make a difference if we offer the American people a radically different answer to our nation’s problems, not variations or modifications of the false solutions promoted by Democrats and Republicans." (02/18/12)
http://tinyurl.com/739yo4c
Reason "Johnson is hoping to poll high enough to appear with President Barack Obama and the GOP nominee in a televised debate, and pull 5 percent in the general election. The former two-term governor of New Mexico, an experienced coalition-builder, is having a hard time coralling people who lean libertarian, but aren't quite. Take, for instance, his appeals to marijuana voters." (02/17/12)
http://bit.ly/zCTMvu
Disloyal Opposition "The list of presidential candidates over whom I’d prefer Barack Obama is a short one, indeed. I’ll admit that I never had high expectations for old Barry — honestly, how could anybody? ... But, even so, Obama remains ... less horrendous than some people who want to be president. I’m looking at you, Rick Santorum, you liberty-hating, authoritarian freak." (02/14/12)
http://bit.ly/wrM6aY
Antiwar.com "Paul’s decision to take the fight for peace and liberty into the GOP was the correct one. By challenging the War Party on their 'home turf,' so to speak, Paul and his movement have dealt them a major blow -- and made them exceedingly nervous. The neocons hate and fear him because he’s challenging their claim to the Republican trademark, and he’s winning the intellectual debate inside the conservative movement. ... Ron Paul’s achievement is undeniable and unassailable. The question is: where does his movement go from here?" (02/13/12)
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/02/12/what-now/ Liberty For All "War breeds war. That is all it can do. War does nothing but devour valuable resources and destroy precious lives for the sole purpose of perpetuating itself. As Randolph Bourne wrote, 'War is the health of the State.' War is a mechanism used by the ruling elites of the State to coerce and control the people, so it becomes essential that whenever one war is complete, another is instigated elsewhere so that the mechanism keeps running." (02/11/12)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7277"Though I supported Ron Paul in the caucus and encourage everyone to do likewise, I doubt he has a realistic chance of winning in 2012 (I hope I’m wrong). In the likely event that Paul does not win the nomination, my next move is to support the Libertarian Party nominee (who will probably be Gary Johnson, my preferred choice to begin with). IF a Santorum nomination lead to a purging of the socialcons, and a resurgence of libertarian, small government principles then I would say that in the long run Santorum’s nomination victory/general election defeat would be worth it." (02/09/12)
http://bit.ly/x2H0X3"In a Republican primary season frequently marked by these fierce collective efforts to destroy any presumed obstacle to Romney’s inevitability, the ongoing struggle of grassroots conservatives to promote an alternative has been both an enigma to the network anchors and a thorn in the side of the Republican establishment. Yet ultimately it is a shining hope for those on 'Main Street.' They soundly reject the notion that their nation’s future is forever subject to the whims of morally bankrupt power brokers from inside the Beltway." (02/10/12)
http://bit.ly/wDeFeM"Mitt Romney is supposed to be the only Republican who can defeat Barack Obama, a boast that is belied by his trailing of Obama in the polls. The assumption is that the muddled middle, those folks with less strident ideology who are more open to compromise, will be the deciding factor in November. As we used to say in the neighborhood, 'Oh yeah?'" (02/08/12)
http://bit.ly/Ay5rSP"Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum swept the nominating contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado Tuesday night, putting him back in contention for the GOP nomination. Santorum now has four victories under his belt in the GOP race, more than any other candidate. His new standing stalls Mitt Romney's earlier momentum and gives Santorum grounds to argue that he -- not Newt Gingrich -- is the best conservative alternative to Romney." (02/08/12)
http://bit.ly/xR7P7T"Your random bit of North Carolina election trivia today: there likely will be more Libertarian candidates for president on the North Carolina primary ballot than there will be Republicans and Democrats combined. The State Board of Elections has posted a PDF containing the nominations from the three state party chairmen." (02/07/12)
http://www.news-record.com/blog/53964/entry/137281"After the 2008 campaign there are a number of active libertarians who are burned out on the 'endorse someone famous' tactic, sacrificing someone who could effectively represent libertarian ideas to their fullest. The ticket of Bob Barr and Wayne Root was a mistake that the party is still trying to live down, and even though you are better than either of them you are still campaigning in their shadow." (02/04/12)
http://bit.ly/xxrsqF"I am thrilled that Mitt Romney seems to be well on his way to becoming the Republican presidential nominee. No, I’m not kidding. I think it is the best possible outcome, far better than Ron Paul winning. Now, as anyone who knows me can guess, it’s not because I think Romney is a great guy who will do great things. On the contrary, he is the quintessential political whore: a delusional, narcissistic, god-complex pathological liar who has no beliefs, values or substance of his own." (02/06/12)
http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7256
A Passion for Liberty "Seeing that it looks like Mitt Romney may well win the Republican nomination -- though it’s too early to be sure about that -- it has been a concern of freedom loving Americans whether the nod given to human individual liberty by the Tea Party back in 2010 will have staying power." (02/05/12)
http://bit.ly/ylrk6Q Wrights 2012 "The prison facility at Guantanamo Bay does more than just blur the line between the good guys and the bad guys; it erases the line entirely. Those who fought to establish American freedom and independence were intimately familiar with a despotic government that rendered the military 'independent of and superior to the Civil power,' which deprived people 'of the benefits of Trial by Jury,' or which transported them 'beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.' That was one of the causes of the American Revolution." (02/04/12)
http://wrights2012.com/2012/02/gitmos-gotta-go/ Antiwar.com "Smearing him hasn’t worked, mockery has just added to his fame, and ignoring him has seriously backfired on the mainstream media, which has made itself more hated by the Republican rank-and-file than it already is -- no mean feat. Their last hope is to co-opt him -- or, at least, co-opt his movement." (02/03/12)
http://bit.ly/zSOySu
The Ron Paul moment
by Brian Doherty
"For Ron Paul, a victory in 2012 doesn’t necessarily mean 270 electoral votes, or even 1144 delegates to the Republican convention. Unlike most candidates, Paul can succeed in a run for president without winning, by changing the establishment’s attitudes toward his libertarian stances. This unusual position provokes taunts from journalists and Republican establishmentarians alike. Don’t Paul and his delusional supporters know he can’t win?" (for publication 04/12)
http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/06/the-ron-paul-momentNo Comments »