Gary Johnson is now seeking the Libertarian nomination for President of The United States !!!!

Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, has announced that he will seek the Libertarian Party's nomination for President of these United States !!

Heck yeah !!


The Republicrats only allowed Johnson to participate in only one or two of their debates this year, despite having polling numbers similar to establishment darling Jon Huntsman. 


Johnson is the only governor running who admits that he didn't create a single job as governor.  Why?  Because the government can't be a net-creator of jobs.  They don't produce things that people voluntarily purchase.  The government's funding is taken by force, from people who had rather use the money to create a job elsewhere. 


Lord have mercy, I'm pumped about this.  Gary Johnson gets it !!!


Here are Reason magazine's excerpts from Johnson's "coming out" speech:

"Libertarians talk about all the things they’re not going to do in office. I think my 750 vetoes as governor of New Mexico really gives me a unique voice as to all the things government should not do."

"As a libertarian president--as the candidate for the libertarian nomination--I’m going to talk ALL the time about balancing the federal budget. That means cutting 43% from the federal budget."

"Let’s enact the fair tax. When I talk about taxes, libertarians are anti-tax all the way across the board, and so am I. The fair tax is the best of the worst."

"Let’s reduce welfare. Let’s reduce warfare in this country. Let’s end corporate welfare now. Let’s have a constitutional affinity to gay rights, let’s have a constitutional affinity to gun rights, let's have constitutional affinity to property rights, let's have constitutional affinity to womens rights."

"We need a strong U.S. dollar, not a weak U.S. dollar. We need to end the war on tens of millions of American who happen to use drugs. As president of the united states I would end the war on marijuana. I would remove marijuana from schedule I. As president of the United States, I would pardon nonviolent drug offenders."

"We can secure the border without building a fence. What a waste of money. Let’s make it as easy as possible to come into this country and get a work visa--not a green card or citizenship--I just bang my head when I hear candidates complain about border violence without saying what the root is, which is the prohibition of drugs."

"I’m doing this today because I think this is an agenda that resonates with most Americans, and it's not being represented by either political party. I want to thank all of you for being here. You have no idea how much it means for me to have you here in support of this."

[On health care] "The solution to all our problems is free market approaches. In a free market system for health care, it would be competititve. I would have pay-as-you-go in a very competitive market. Health care in this country is about as removed from a free market system as you possibly could be, and we can thank both political parties for that."

[On Afghanistan] "I would withdraw from Afghanistan immediately. I initially thought it was warranted. After six months, I thought we had whiped out al Qaeda. That was 10 years ago."

"Meth and crack are the two biggest examples of prohibition drugs. Without prohibition, we wouldn't have meth and crack. Cheaper highs. It's cheap and easier to make, so consequences fall disparately on the poor."

"The only drug I'm advocating legalizing is marijuana." [On other drugs, decriminalization.]

I've been drifting away from church lately.  I'm now repenting of that decision.  I'm going to get Born Again so I can vote for Gary Johnson twice. 

Unh., you see, unh....all that unh...talk about Republican spending cuts was unhhh...sorta hypothetical

And so it begins....Here's The New York Holy Times:

WASHINGTON — Many people knowledgeable about the federal budget said House Republicans could not keep their campaign promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending in a single year. Now it appears that Republicans agree.


As they prepare to take power on Wednesday, Republican leaders are scaling back that number by as much as half, aides say, because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law.

While House Republicans were never expected to succeed in enacting cuts of that scale, given opposition in the Senate from the Democratic majority and some Republicans, and from President Obama, a House vote would put potentially vulnerable Republican lawmakers on record supporting deep reductions of up to 30 percent in education, research, law enforcement, transportation and more.

Now aides say that the $100 billion figure was hypothetical, and that the objective is to get annual spending for programs other than those for the military, veterans and domestic security back to the levels of 2008, before Democrats approved stimulus spending to end the recession.

The picture of Republican campaign promises came from here. 

The Weekly Radley - Libertarian Utopia Edition

The piece from New York magazine that I linked yesterday (The Trouble With Liberty) is getting kicked around The LibertySphere, and will probably continue getting kicked for a while. 
Here's part of Radley Balko's take on it, mostly about a statement that libertarians promise an unrealistic utopia just like every other political animal does:

No, they don’t. People use the utopia canard to make libertarianism seem creepy and cultish. Look, politics is a dirty, corrupt profession that rewards people who display the characteristics you least want in someone in whom you entrust important decisions about your life. The general premise of libertarianism is that people should be free to make their own decisions about their lives—that as much of our lives as possible should be kept within the sphere of civil, voluntary society, and out of the sphere of political society. There would still be problems in a libertarian society. There would still be crime, income inequality, acne, nu metal, and reality TV. Most libertarians merely believe that in a libertarian society, most people would be better off than they are now—that being free to make more of your own choices is preferable to having politicians make them for you. Most conservatives and liberals also believe that most people would be better off if their own policy preferences were implemented. That isn’t in the same ballpark as promising utopia. People will still make bad decisions. They should be free to do so.


If anything is utopian, it’s the idea that the world would be much better off if only we put more of society in the hands of a few very smart people who somehow know all the answers. And that somehow the political process will ensure that those all-knowing people always end up in a position to make all the decisions.

I wish I had said that. 

Harry Browne's Libertarian New Year's Resolutions

The other day, I mentioned to Stephen Smith (of A Beginner's Guide To Freedom) that I had been challenged by Harry Browne's Libertarian New Year's Resolutions. Stephen made a point of emailing me this version of the resolutions from The Adventures of Citizen X.

1. I resolve to sell liberty by appealing to the self-interest of each prospect, rather than preaching to people and expecting them to suddenly adopt my ideas of right and wrong.


2. I resolve to keep from being drawn into arguments or debates. My purpose is to inspire people to want liberty — not to prove that they're wrong.


3. I resolve to listen when people tell me of their wants and needs, so I can help them see how a free society will satisfy those needs.


4. I resolve to identify myself, when appropriate, with the social goals someone may seek — a cleaner environment, more help for the poor, a less divisive society — and try to show him that those goals can never be achieved by government, but will be well served in a free society.


5. I resolve to be compassionate and respectful of the beliefs and needs that lead people to seek government help. I don't have to approve of their subsidies or policies — but if I don't acknowledge their needs, I have no hope of helping them find a better way to solve their problems.


6. No matter what the issue, I resolve to keep returning to the central point: how much better off the individual will be in a free society.


7. I resolve to acknowledge my good fortune in having been born an American. Any plan for improvement must begin with a recognition of the good things we have. To speak only of America's defects will make me a tiresome crank.


8. I resolve to focus on the ways America could be so much better with a very small government — not to dwell on all the wrongs that exist today.


9. I resolve to cleanse myself of hate, resentment, and bitterness. Such things steal time and attention from the work that must be done.


10. I resolve to speak, dress, and act in a respectable manner. I may be the first libertarian someone has encountered, and it's important that he get a good first impression. No one will hear the message if the messenger is unattractive.


11. I resolve to remind myself that someone's"stupid" opinion may be an opinion I once held. If I can grow, why can't I help him grow?


12. I resolve not to raise my voice in any discussion. In a shouting match, no one wins, no one changes his mind, and no one will be inspired to join our quest for a free society.


13. I resolve not to adopt the tactics of Republicans and Democrats. They use character assassination, evasions, and intimidation because they have no real benefits to offer Americans. We, on the other hand, are offering to set people free — and so we can win simply by focusing on the better life our proposals will bring.


14. I resolve to be civil to my opponents and treat them with respect. However anyone chooses to treat me, it's important that I be a better person than my enemies.


Well said.
Harry Browne is one of Libertarianisms best evangelists, bringing new converts into the fold. I'm more of the church preacher type, telling the congregation what they want to hear, and confirming their existing prejudices.

But I'm going to start trying harder. When the national debt hits $12 trillion, dollars are being made worthless, and Crony Capitalism gives free markets a bad name, it just makes me nuts. Totally nuts.

I sit down and start releasing bile onto the internet, and I probably need to dial it back.

Stephen, John Jay Myers, and all my other freedom-loving friends who never go into attack mode - I hope you're grading on the curve. Please be patient.


Go here to see a great Photoshop of Obama as Satan.

Happy Guantanamo Closing Day ! ! !

I almost missed this one.
HAPPY GUANTANAMO CLOSING DAY ! ! !



Here's Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine, whose posts I've ripped off so many times I might as well just link to his stuff every morning:

In case you missed the nonevent, the military prison for suspected terrorists and other assorted "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, did not close today. It may be years before it does, assuming President Obama ultimately delivers on that promise. In any case, the policy of keeping people locked up indefinitely without trial will continue, supplemented by a policy of keeping them locked up even if they are tried and acquitted. The New York Times reports that "the Obama administration has decided to continue to imprison without trials nearly 50 detainees...because a high-level task force has concluded that they are too difficult to prosecute but too dangerous to release." The task force said about 40 other detainees "should be prosecuted for terrorism or related war crimes," but that does not mean they will be released if they are found not guilty. The remaining 110 or so detainees are supposed to be "repatriated or transferred to other countries for possible release," but it's not clear when they might happen.

Hit the link to read the whole thing.

I should also note that Obama has been Supreme Military Commander for the Iraq war for a year. Enjoy the widget to your immediate right.

Gay and lesbian marriage still ain't legal. Pot still ain't legal. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is still in place.

But on the other hand, military contractors and weapons manufacturers are still raking in money with both hands. The D.C. voucher program, which was phenomenally effective, has been sacrificed for the Teachers' Unions. The stimulus plan has rewarded almost every loyal democrat contributor. Wall Street has been allowed to gamble with house money. The people who are too big to fail haven't been allowed to fail. The evil, capitalistic, greedy insurance companies have a plan underway to get 30 million new customers added to their databases. Before long, they won't have to sell insurance policies to anyone but Congress, since Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn know exactly what I need.

Happy One Year Anniversary to Hope and Change ! ! !

The picture came from John Eli Shuey's Facebook page. Friend him. You'll be glad you did.