Andrew Ian Dodge is running for the Senate !!!

My good friend that I've never met, Andrew Ian Dodge, once wrote for this site while I was on vacation.  Go here. 

When Newsweek wanted to feature someone from the Tea Party grassroots, they picked Andrew.  Go here.  (If Newsweek continues to act in their new role as Obama's Palace Guard, I might have more readers than them by November.  Just wanted to point that out....) 

Andrew has written for Pajamas Media for a couple of years. 

We share a love of Southern Rock and Libertarian politics. 

We share an intense dislike of Maine's senator Olympia Snowe, the RINO who helped Obama pass the Porkulus Package. 

However, I didn't promise my father on his deathbed that I would do everything in my power to prevent Olympia Snowe from being reelected.  Damn.  Andrew really did that.  We don't have that in common, although I can imagine it happening if Daddy's timing had been different. 

Now Andrew is running for the U.S. Senate.  You can go here to see where he stands on the issues. 

Here's a whole mess o' videos. 

Here's where you can click to contribute. (I'm putting another one of these over there to your right.  If there's anyone running who deserves some Libertarian money, it's Andrew !!)



One other thing, something that's nothing but good ol' Damn Yankee fun....  Andrew has also written for a site called "Party On The Right".  Good stuff.  If I ever make it up to Maine, I want to hang out with these good folks and spend some time drinking, smoking, and cussing, and perhaps help them get rid of those ridiculous New England accents.  (Then I want to ride with them over to Stephen King's house in Bangor and explain to King that if he really, really, really wants to pay more taxes, the government has a website and an address where he can easily do so.  But now that he's filthy rich, he should allow the rest of us to have the same opportunity without having to listen to any self-righteous fits of democrat guilt.  When he got his first good book deal, I don't think he fell over himself trying to give more to The Chicago Mob.  In fact, I bet he still has a good tax attorney making sure he pays at little as possible.) 

One of the contributors to Party On The Right, Rob North, has written about how a convicted felon doing 17 years in jail took 40% of the Democrat Primary vote in West Virginia.  It's called "Obama Needs To Fear The Mullet".  The man has a good point. 

Andrew Ian Dodge is running for the U.S. Senate !!!!  Does it get any better??  Please send the man a donation. 

Andrew Ian Dodge has made it into Newsweek !!!

My online buddy Andrew Ian Dodge has made it into Newsweek !

Well done, sir !  Here's an excerpt:

The libertarian insurgents are currently gathered around Andrew Ian Dodge, a science-fiction writer and amateur rocker (with a penchant for writing lyrics about reducing the size of government), who serves as the unpaid coordinator for Maine’s Tea Party Patriots. Unlike folks on the Christian right, he and his allies aren’t tied in to a network of endowed think tanks, private universities, and broadcasting outlets that help to amplify their message. And Dodge is skeptical of groups like the Tea Party Express, which, he says, is “a Republican front run by Republican apparatchiks.” As an outsider, he’s enjoying having a chance at being on the inside, and he’s not going to give up his seat so easily. “Look at me: I’m a hairy guy with an earring. It’s a new environment on the American right where someone like me fits in, one driven not by an individual but by a core belief system.” A belief system that is made up of the nonreligious tenets of fiscal responsibility, free-market economics, and limited government, according to Dodge.

Yeah. 
What he said.

Andrew Ian Dodge on the first British Tea Party

Go here to read my buddy Andrew Ian Dodge on the first British Tea Party event. 

In both of these interviews, (Daniel) Hannan was keen to assure people that no tea would be harmed in any way. American observers found the fact that a tea party event in the UK was being planned both ironic and amusing. However, the problems discussed were as serious as the ones with which American tea party attendees are concerned: high taxes, bloated government, and fiscal irresponsibility.

I'll say it again....there is very little difference between what is screwed up here, and what is screwed up in Britain.  Ditto for what works well. 

Libertarians of the world unite !   You have nothing to lose but your unnecessary overhead ! ! 

Andrew Ian Dodge, Dodgeblogium, and The Augusta, Maine, Tea Party

Here's my online/blogging/Facebook friend Andrew Ian Dodge on the failure of the Republicans to co-opt the Maine Tea Parties. Andrew personally sponsored the Augusta event.
Here's Andrew with an honest to goodness Fife player:



One of my favorite musician jokes.... "What do you call two piccolo players playing in unison? A minor third."
You either get that one, or you don't.
Here's a highlight reel from Andrew's event:


In his free time, Andrew does things like write novels, play heavy metal guitar, and write for Pajamas Media.

Imagine getting a bill from Big Bird

If you're in the U.S., you might occasional contribute to Public Radio and Public Television pledge drives.

How would you feel if you got a bill in the mail, whether you wanted to contribute or not?

That's currently the largest burr under the saddle of the U.K.'s Andrew Ian Dodge, of Dodgeblogium and Pajamas Media. (To read more about Andrew's diverse media outlets, click here. We've also been corresponding about music and a few other topics, all of which will be published when I get back from vacation.)

Read this about a BBC and Channel 4 merger. Get back to us.....

Here's Andrew:

“John Whittingdale MP, the Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, criticized the plan for its knock-on effect on the BBC's funding.
"This is essentially a plan aimed at taking public money surreptitiously, because it takes profits away from the BBC, and forces the license fee to go up.
"Channel 4 is keen on it because it thinks that it would be difficult for it to justify taking public money directly."”

This quote will probably shock many people in the UK who care about their television service and the drreaded TV license fee. If someone were to poll British taxpayers a vast majority would have no idea that Channel 4 was not a private concern.

There is much discussion about the licence fee these days in the UK. There is even a strong movement to avoid paying it to either have it reformed or to end it all together. Their inflation beating rises in the tax on televisions and the Stasi-like behaviour of those tasked with collecting it annoy many Britons in the age of 500 channels most of which are not the BBC.

The most recent iteration of fiddling the taxpayers money for television is to combine Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, the part of the BBC that actually makes money. BBCW is the one that flogs their programs worldwide whether it means selling aged sit-coms to Public Television in the US, doing joint ventures with A&E or running the successful BBC America.

Needless to say the BBC is rather against this idea and will fight it tooth and nail. To counter this proposal this BBC is proposing a variety of arrangements with other parts of the public service broadcasting arena. They are clearly worried by all of this, no doubt partly stunkg by the variety of scandals of late whether it be the sacking/suspension of Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand for their behaviour or kicking rubbish but lovable John Sargeant off their “entertainment” program “Dancing with the Stars”.

The public mood is quite poor towards the BBC and the hyenas are circling in various guises. Many believe that the BBC will not retain its current form for much longer. The BBC is merely making its best efforts to keep the damage to a minimum.

And you thought the annual “donation drive” from public television was annoying. Imagine if you had no choice but to pony up every year.

Written by Andrew Ian Dodge with the help of Steve Bettison of the Adam Smith Institute.

Wow. The Adam Smith Institute. Thanks for contributing, guys ! Hope you enjoy contributing to government sponsored programming !