john mccain

The Great Libertarian Opportunity, Palin-Paul 2012?

October 27th, 2008 9:02 am  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Activism, Bailouts, Big Government, Constitution, Election, Individual Responsibility, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Money, Neo-con, Obama, Philosophy, Politics, Ron Paul, Socialism, government spending, john mccain, sarah palin  |  6 Responses

The Libertarian candidate for President in 2000 was Harry Browne. That year he released a campaign book with the title, “The Great Libertarian Offer“. The positive libertarian sentiment in that book was both educational and inspiring to me and many other liberty seeking individuals. There has been quite a bit of talk in the past year about the demise of the Republican party to the delight of loyal and liberal Democrats everywhere. This demise represents a great opportunity for libertarian ideas to either reinforce the Libertarian Party itself or modify the Republican Party’s neo-conservatism into libertarian conservatism.

I say opportunity because the outlook for liberty at this point in our country’s history is quite bleak. The popular political culture pendulum is swinging far to the left with Barack Obama’s pending victory. Following 9/11 Neo-conservative Right ideals were in vogue. The question remains what happens when the rebound occurs from the current move to the left? This is where libertarians can capitalize if the cards are played properly.

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Police State Stomps on Iraq Veteran’s Face as McBama Sanctions Attack on Freedom of Speech: The Story of the Hempstead 15 (Part 1/2)

October 26th, 2008 1:50 am  |  by Jake Towne  |  Published in Big Government, Blowback, Foreign Policy, History, Liberty, Obama, Politics, War, john mccain  |  2 Responses

What? Yet another event the media completely missed? After multiple attempts to engage McBama to answer their questions, the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) led a peaceful march on the last McCain-Presidential Debate and were met with 30 mounted police and a horde of others in riot gear. The mounted police stamped on an Iraq war veteran’s face and attacked the crowd. Ron Paul supporter and veteran Adam Kokesh was arrested as well.
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution
Originally published October 25, 2008 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article5294.html

All Photos by Bill Perry. (Thanks!)

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States

HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK – At the gates of Hofstra University, a peaceful march by 400 members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and independent citizens was met by over 100 policemen who attacked on the protestors when they refused to retreat and stop exercising their freedom of speech on October 15.  The marchers were attempting to ask a couple questions of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain as they were debating.  Nick Morgan, Iraq war veteran, was trampled by a police horse on his ribs and face, breaking his orbital in three places, as shown in the photos. See this video, which is a must-see that I chose as the best at representing the events.

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Ron Paul Is Now An Official Write-In Ballot in California !!!

October 26th, 2008 1:41 am  |  by George Dewey  |  Published in Activism, Big Government, Bob Barr, Election, Liberty, Obama, Politics, Ron Paul, ballot access, john mccain  |  2 Responses

There are Four Official Write-In Candidates on the ballot in California:  Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party), James Harris (Socialist Workers Party), Frank Moore (independent), and, NOW, RON PAUL! If you write in EITHER of these Candidates, your votes WILL be counted, and the public and the politicians WILL see those numbers.

However, the fact that it is the very state of California has even greater significance.  There are 55 electors in California.  There are 3 electors in Montana, and 9 in Louisiana, the two states for which Ron Paul is on the ballot.  That is a total of 68 total electoral votes which he could potentially win.  In a close election, he could actually throw the election to the House of Representatives.

For anyone who has been dissatisfied with the two current choices, or who has been wanting to vote for a 3rd party candidate, but unable, LET EVERYONE YOU KNOW in those three states about their choices.  Let your vote count this election!

Ron Paul Says Obama Offers Nothing

October 25th, 2008 1:55 am  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Big Government, Economics, Election, Federal Reserve, Free Market, Liberty, Money, Obama, Ron Paul, Taxes, government spending, jobs, john mccain  |  0

Ron Paul had some choice words yesterday on Fox News for Barack Obama (and John McCain) when he spoke to Neil Cavuto again. Paul again rails against the government’s attempts to manage the economy and strikes a chord for true free market capitalism. Here are some choice quotes from the interview.

“[Obama] offers nothing.”

“Raising taxes would be a disaster.”

“We need to get back to the basics.”

“People in government aren’t smart enough [to control the economy].”

“We’ve been living way beyond our means.”

“The system that was set up in 1971 is going to end.”

“I don’t think more socialism is what we need.”

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Ron Paul on CNN, It’s Not The Regulation, It’s Flawed Policy

October 24th, 2008 8:36 am  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Activism, Bailouts, Debt, Economics, Election, Federal Reserve, Free Market, Liberty, Media, Money, Philosophy, Politics, Ron Paul, government spending, john mccain  |  1

Ron Paul appeared on CNN’s American Morning with John Roberts this morning. They discussed Alan Greenspan’s recent testimony and the state of the Republican “brand” as well as Paul being a potential spoiler in Montana where he is receiving 4% of the vote as reported yesterday.

“The Republican Party is really in a mess.”

“It took 20 years” (to rebuild the Republican majority in Congress from 1974)

“It’s not the regulation that caused the problems.”

“The person who’s name they pick [vote for] is the one doing the spoiling. I think it is the flawed policy of both candidates.”

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Ron Paul Fundamentals: The Role Of Government

October 23rd, 2008 3:04 pm  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Activism, Big Government, Constitution, Economics, Election, Free Market, Individual Responsibility, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Obama, Philosophy, Politics, Polling, Ron Paul, Taxes, government spending, john mccain  |  1

In May 2007 during the first primary Republican Presidential debate many were introduced to Ron Paul for the first time. One of the first answers he gave during that debate explained in a mere few sentences his philosophy regarding the role of government. It doesn’t really matter what the question was (it was a question about phasing out the IRS). It was his answer that was the springboard for understanding the more finer points of the quintessential Ron Paul.

“You can only do that [phase out the IRS] if you change our ideas about what the role of government ought to be. If you think that government has to take care of us from cradle to grave and if you think our government should police the world and spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a foreign policy that we cannot manage you can’t get rid of the IRS”. (see the video starting at the 1:45 mark)

There it is. It’s quite fundamental. If you truly want limited government the government can’t act as if there are no limits. This is an actual recipe for change in contrast to all of the new programs that Barack Obama and John McCain keep promoting from the campaign trail. Unfortunately, it seems the majority of Americans have answered the “role of government” question with “gimme more please!”

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More Ron Paul Vindication, Terrorist Supports John McCain

October 23rd, 2008 9:05 am  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Foreign Policy, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Philosophy, Ron Paul, War, john mccain, terrorism  |  2 Responses

Ron Paul is vindicated yet again on his foreign policy of non-intervention. Walk by any terrorist training camp and you just might see a bunch of McCain-Palin yard signs proudly posted. Recently a message of endorsement for McCain was discovered on a known Jihadist online message board. From Wired magazine:

The supposed McCain endorsement appeared Monday on a private Islamic extremist forum, al-Hesbah. The author — a longtime contributor going by the name Muhammad Haafid — suggests that al-Qaida should launch a terror attack against the United States before the election, so that Americans would vote for McCain. Haafid argued that McCain would continue the policies of President Bush and keep the country embroiled in costly overseas wars, aggravating America’s financial crisis.

“Al-Qaida will have to support McCain in the coming election,” wrote Haafid, adding that McCain would follow the “failing march of his predecessor.”

The McCain campaign convened a conference call Wednesday to address the extremist’s endorsement, and attack The Washington Post, which ran a story about the comments.

Of course the McCain campaign and the CIA are denouncing the story and vilifying the Washington Post for running it, saying the story is inaccurate, but given Ron Paul’s words of warning during his primary campaign why is it so difficult to believe this threat and the endorsement along with it to be real?

An independent analyst suggests that the words ring true.

But  Adam Raisman, a senior analyst at the SITE Intelligence Group in Bethesda, Maryland, which monitors terrorism websites and uncovered the statement, said the Post story had been entirely faithful to the substance of Haafid’s statement.

“I don’t believe the words were twisted — this is what the jihadist said, and he’s been writing since 2003 with more than 600 posts,” Raisman said. “And there have been other posts in this regard as well — there have been many individuals saying this since early 2008.”

He added that postings on extremist websites are important because the forums serve as social communities and grassroots think tanks, generating ideas for “jihadist enthusiasts.”

“I’m not going to extrapolate that what one member writes is going to translate into an attack, but some of the members of the forum are active in the field,” Raisman said.

It seems that Ron Paul’s words during the debates in 2007 are confirmed yet again. You remember them: “They attack us because we are over there!”. The other candidates and the audience laughed at Paul at the time. People don’t seem to be laughing at him any more.

Colin Powell Endorses The Greater Evil, Not Ron Paul or Bob Barr

October 20th, 2008 12:47 am  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Bob Barr, Election, Foreign Policy, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Obama, Politics, Ron Paul, john mccain  |  5 Responses

Famous and well liked Republican Colin Powell has endorsed liberal Democrat Barack Obama, or do I repeat myself? My “lefty” father was excited and quick to tell me the news yesterday. In return I retorted, “So now that Colin Powell is on your side he can be forgiven for pounding the Iraq war drum to the world five years ago?” Or perhaps I was off base. Maybe this endorsement tells us more about Obama than it does Powell.

There should be no question now about the nature of Obama’s foreign policy. He’s an interventionist. He always was an interventionist, but for some reason he was labeled the “peace” candidate. The only disagreement between McCain and Obama on foreign policy is which far off land gets a visit by the American military first.

In the endorsement Powell called Obama “a transformational” figure. It seems he forgot to put the word “fake” in there. Then again, the truth was never something Colin Powell worried too much about. If he wanted to endorse a truly “transformational” candidate he would have endorsed Ron Paul in the primaries and Bob Barr today. Obama is no more transformational than… well.. John McCain.

Suddenly it becomes a bit more difficult for the Obama camp to attack McCain with their “Bush twin” argument. It wouldn’t shock me to hear McCain use the Powell endorsement to help refute that argument. As in, “My friends, here is a little straight talk for ya, Obama likes to compare me to Bush, but I’m not the one who received the endorsement from Bush’s former Secretary of State! No, my friends, I’m a real maverick”. This tactic by McCain backfires easily if anyone looks at the list of his own endorsements. The McCain camp may not care though. After all McCain actually called himself a “federalist” during the last debate. I waited for the laugh track that never came.

At this point it looks like McCain may be an afterthought come January 20th, 2009. Powell’s endorsement may or may not have something to do with that future. I’ll leave talk of the effect of the endorsement to the pundits.

I view it as just further confirmation that we live in a country ruled by one party with two names.

New President Won’t Tame Executive Power

October 16th, 2008 11:50 am  |  by Mike Miller  |  Published in Big Government, Constitution, Election, Liberty, Obama, Politics, john mccain  |  0

An article by Gene Healy at the Cato Institute details how, if history is any guide, the next President of the United States is not very likely to yield back the executive power seized by the Bush Administration:

Joe Biden hardly brings the glamour and excitement to his ticket that
Sarah Palin does to hers, but he surely warmed civil libertarian
hearts at the vice-presidential debate when he forcefully denounced
‘dangerous’ theories designed to ‘aggrandize the power of a unitary
executive.’ After seven years of an administration that has recognized
few, if any, limits on executive power, it’s only natural that many
people look to the Obama-Biden ticket to put the presidency back in
its proper constitutional place. But there are good reasons to doubt
that an Obama administration would meaningfully de-imperialize the
presidency. From Truman and Johnson’s undeclared wars to the
warrantless wiretapping carried out by FDR, JFK, LBJ and Nixon, the
Imperial Presidency has long been a bipartisan phenomenon.

Read the article here.

Live Blogging The Final Debate Is Now Closed but…

October 15th, 2008 8:49 pm  |  by Marc Gallagher  |  Published in Debate, Election, Live Blog, Obama, john mccain  |  0

Check out our live blog transcript at the link below.

Check out the transcript in the live blog application at the bottom of this article.