We introduced the Ron Paul Paul-O-Meter a few months ago. Since then the Presidential candidates have been rated more than 300 times on how close they are to Ron Paul on 20 predetermined criteria.
We have expanded the Paul-O-Meter to include current Senators and Congress persons. While we cannot rate 535 lawmakers maybe some of you can. Do you know how closely your own representative resembles Ron Paul on the issues? In the future we may also add the ability to submit for review current candidates for public office at all levels.
We will likely pick and choose a subset of current Senators and Congressional Representatives to rate ourselves. In the meantime feel free to rate your own lawmaker so others can see how far they have fallen from the liberty tree.
Penn Jillette (everyone’s favorite magician/comedian/juggler libertarian) appeared on Glenn Beck’s TV show last night. Beck discussed his lack of satisfaction with “either” of the choices for President. Jillette quickly corrected him regarding his incorrect assumption and mentioned Bob Barr and Ron Paul.
Beck then agreed with Jillette and said that he will “probably vote” for Barr. He went on to say that he wants to send someone to cover Ron Paul’s Rally For The Republic in Minneapolis and wants to hear what the speakers at the event have to say except for one thing: about 10% of Ron Paul supporters “scare the living bejeezus” out of him.
Penn Jillette replies with logic as he so often does arguing that 10% is not too bad. He argues that you are always going to have “nuts” in a group and some of those “nuts” may think Beck is nuts.
George Dance over at NolanChart.com wrote an article explaining why Ron Paul will not endorse Bob Barr for President (or Chuck Baldwin either, for that matter). The main reason is explained by Ron Paul himself, as quotes on Jason Rosenbaum’s Politics Blog:
“Well, ‘considering’ means the thought crosses your mind, and he has made inquiries as to what I might be able to do, and my answer is that I don’t plan to get involved, because Chuck Baldwin is a candidate for the Constitution Party, and he’s a good friend, and he also worked very hard on my campaign, so it’s pretty hard for me to endorse one or the other.”
This is a reminder to purchase your tickets for the Liberty Straw Poll. The big event is being held on September 17th and needs your participation. Help send Ron Paul a new friend or two to Congress. The word is that BJ Lawson, Ron Paul Republican candidate from North Carolina has put his name in the ring.
The description from the Straw Poll website:
Our purpose is to raise awareness and funding for liberty minded political candidates through the use of straw polls within the online community.
Our straw polls are centered around an internet broadcast where select candidates each get an equal turn to speak in order to compete for straw poll votes from those who made a donation to our sponsor PAC in exchange for a straw poll voting ticket. Voting takes place online and will conclude after all the candidates had their turn to speak, then the results are published. The winner(s) of the straw poll will then receive the value of the straw poll ticket revenue in campaign support. The broadcast will be available from any one of our media partners.
In 2005 Judge Andrew Napolitano gave an interview to Reason Magazine’s Nick Gillespie promoting his new book (at the time) “Constitutional Chaos“. In the interview he outlines the progression of liberty lost in America.
His explanation demonstrates the incremental steps taking us from freedom towards tyranny. The next time someone attempts to argue with you about having to sacrifice liberty for safety point them to this interview.
Reason: What’s your case against the USA PATRIOT Act?
Napolitano: Let’s put aside all of the procedural problems with enacting it. Forget about the fact that there was no debate. Forget about the fact that most members of Congress didn’t even have an opportunity to read it. It is a direct assault on at least three amendments to the Constitution: the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment. The PATRIOT Act legitimates the notion that if we give up certain freedoms, the government will keep us safer. I reject that notion from a moral and legal point of view. I also reject it from a practical point of view. It doesn’t work. The government doesn’t need our freedoms to keep us safer. No one–no lawyer, judge, or historian–can point to a single incident in American history where national security was impaired because someone insisted on their right to free speech or their right to privacy or their right to due process.
The PATRIOT Act encourages what the government calls “national security letters”–basically, self-written search warrants. It violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits self-written search warrants. The PATRIOT Act and two of its predecessors, the Foreign Intelligence Security Act of 1977 [FISA] and the Electronic Privacy Act of 1986, authorized the government to obtain search warrants by bypassing [longstanding tradition in] the courts. Today an FBI agent investigating a person need only satisfy her or himself that the person under investigation is a threat to national security. The agent doesn’t have to demonstrate evidence to a judge.
The Judge can authoritatively articulate our loss of liberty better than anyone and that includes Ron Paul. It is a shame he is beholden to FOX News and cannot show bias about candidates he supports. It is pretty obvious that he is a Ron Paul supporter after his rousing introduction of Ron Paul last year, calling him the “Thomas Jefferson of our day”.
He deserves a medal for doing his radio show along side neocon torture supporter and warmonger Brian Kilmeade without choking him.
Bob Barr appeared on FOX News yesterday with Neil Cavuto and discussed the Georgian conflict, his spoiler role (of course), and debate access. Once again Barr gets the libertarian message out there. It is a bit of wishful thinking on his part about getting access to the debates, but it is something that must be pursued no matter how unlikely it is to happen. Watch the interview below.
This morning Bob Barr appeared on CNN “American Morning” and discussed his attempts to get into the Saddleback Church’s Presidential forum last Saturday evening. The interviewer asks him some of the same questions. Barr doesn’t disappoint. He promotes the ideas of small government libertarian ideas with the best of them. Check out the 4+ minute video below.
In case you haven’t heard, Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty is having a rally on September 2nd. Today they made the announcement that country music star Sara Evans will be the music headliner for the show. Evans has many top 10 hits and has won many Country Music awards. Read more here.
I’m not a country music fan, but she could certainly bring in a huge crowd. This is a good move to increase the the spread of Ron Paul’s freedom message. Get your tickets today.
Andrew Bacevich is interviewed by Bill Moyers and you need to see this. Bacevich goes deeper than the “war for oil” argument. He touches on many topics related to the American foreign policy of empire. He is promoting his new book “The Limits Of Power: The End Of American Exceptionalism“.
Take some time and watch this compelling interview and spread it around to others. Don’t just ignore this please. Watch it. You need to see it. Everyone does.
In the latest press release from the Bob Barr campaign Barr minces no words in condemning the call by the Bush administration and others on Capitol Hill to send an expensive aid package to Georgia to help them rebuild after their hostilities with Russia.
“The Bush administration is talking about pumping aid into the damaged Georgian economy, after that nation’s short war with Russia,” says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. “The conflict between Georgia and Russia was tragic, but it’s time officials in Washington stopped treating the Treasury Department like an ATM for the world. The deficit rose last month after Uncle Sam had to bail out several failed banks and the total federal deficit this year is going to run about $400 billion. It’s time to say enough!”
“The U.S. spent $21 billion on foreign aid last year, not counting money for Iraq,” explains Barr. “Over the years Washington has shipped hundreds of billions of dollars overseas, with much of it wasted. The Third World remains poor, only with a larger debt. Indeed, U.S. aid programs often subsidized socialist and undemocratic regimes.”
“The Saakashvili government in Georgia made a foolish mistake by initiating hostilities in its breakaway province of South Ossetia,” notes Barr. “American taxpayers should not have to pay for that mistake. After all, they already are paying $10 billion a month for the administration’s mistaken invasion and occupation of Iraq. They cannot afford to pay the price for other people’s wars as well,” says Barr.
“Instead of increasing foreign aid, the U.S. government needs to cut the amount of taxpayer money that it sends overseas,” insists Barr. “Most important, it is time to start saying no more. No more international welfare clients. No more foreign governments treating America as a cash cow. We need to put our own fiscal house in order rather than constantly bail out irresponsible governments around the world.”
It is comforting to know that Barr is quick to point out what the press and the Bush administration seem to want to sweep under the rug: Georgia instigated this conflict. Even if the Russian response was disproportionate that fact remains.
Liberty Maven
“. In the interview he outlines the progression of liberty lost in America.
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