Free Republic

“My government is my worst enemy. I’m going to fight them with any means at hand.” This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week. Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that’s the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year....

Bob Barr Implodes: Two weeks ago the Libertarian nominee pulled out of a press conference Ron Paul had called with the four leading third-party candidates (Barr, Baldwin, Nader, McKinney) to highlight their common ground. Barr decided to hold a press conference of his own down the hall. He also sent Paul a snide note — transmitted to Barr's e-mail list as well — suggesting that Paul ought to replace the hapless Wayne Allyn Root as Barr's running mate. This ploy could hardly have been more ham-handed: If Barr wanted to appear generous, he should have offered Paul, obviously by far...

"Congress has balked at the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Under this plan, the Treasury would have bought the "troubled assets" of financial institutions in an attempt to avoid economic meltdown. "This bailout was a terrible idea. Here's why. "The current mess would never have occurred in the absence of ill-conceived federal policies."

Dear Friends: The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived. We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and malinvestment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the malinvestment - and prevent the market’s attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets. Last night the...

Bob Barr has finally sensed his opening. With Senator McCain calling for Friday's debate to be postponed, the former Georgia congressman and Libertarian Party nominee says he is eager to fill in as a replacement. "Given Senator McCain's political stunt to avoid the debate, I ask that Friday's debate moves forward without him, as I am more than willing to step in to participate," Mr. Barr said in a statement this morning...

Is the Constitution Libertarian? by: Irene Warren, September 24, 2008 In honor of the 221st Constitutional Day, guest speaker Randy Barnett gave the Annual B. Kenneth Simon Lecture at the Cato Institute in an effort to set the record straight about whether the Constitution is libertarian. Randy Barnett, a professor of legal theory at Georgetown University Law Center, explained that the Constitution is a governing document which governs those who are in power and who govern others. However, he explained that the Constitution also defines the limit of powers on those who govern us. “As it turns out, this is...

AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline)-The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a petition to remove the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees from the statewide ballot. Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party of Texas argued that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain should not be on the ballot because their respective parties failed to file with the state by Aug. 26. The high court denied the petition without offering explanation.

There are no pictures for libs, so you'll have to listen. Before you go into Republican bashing mode, you might want to realize that the speaker in the video is a libertarian/conservative as I am who opposes the big government of the Bush administration just like most libertarian/conservatives. They abhor the kind of politics the Republicans resort to in the name of populism, like the housing bailouts. They also stand against socially conservative government, because it is just another form of socialism. However, the Left (progressives, liberal Dems, whatever you want to call yourselves), blind in its opposition to free...

Virtue Ethics & Broken Windows: Why I am not a Libertarian By Joe Carter Charles Murray almost had me. When I first read Murray’s What It Means To Be A Libertarian nearly ten years ago I was compelled by the thrust of his argument. “Freedom is first of all our birthright,” Murray claimed. “An adult making an honest living and minding his own business deserves to be left alone to live his life. He deserves to be free.” Libertarianism appeared to be an attractive political philosophy, yet something was missing. It reminded me of my high school days when after...

I was speaking to a close relative the other day. He expressed a suitably cynical opinion about our current crop of politicians and the "energy crisis." He said: "What I think is we just don't have enough energy, we're never going to have enough energy, so costs are going to continue going up and up, and they all know this, but they just won't say so." I said his comment was suitably cynical -- not that it's correct. In fact, I believe the opposite is true. There's no shortage of energy, there never has been and -- so long as...

A matter of "neighborliness." That's how Democratic presidential aspirant Barack Obama justified raising taxes. Obama compared the circumstances of a person who is "sitting pretty" with that of a waitress. The waitress struggles, said Obama, while the rich can, and should, pay more. Nothing more, really, than a standard soak-the-rich plan, redistributing the wealth from the haves to the have-nots. But does Obama practice his own "neighborliness"?

ormer federal prosecutor Bob Barr took a case last year defending sci-fi author and accused child molester Edward Kramer. Now he’s asked the judge to postpone the trial until after the November 4 election. Edward Kramer founded DragonCon, a sci-fi/fantasy and gaming convention held annually in Atlanta. He has been accused of molesting three teenage boys. Numerous delays have violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial, he says. Read the story at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Thanks to John C. Jackson for calling IPR’s attention to this story. Barr, who in 2007 penned an editorial lamenting support for Genarlow...

OUT IN the Pacific time zone, the nanny-statists have been busy. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a law banning restaurants from using trans fats when preparing food. In Seattle, city councilors passed a measure requiring shoppers to pay 20 cents for every plastic or paper bag they use in grocery, drug, or convenience stores. In Los Angeles, a new "moratorium" forbids new fast-food restaurants within a 32-square-mile section of the city that is home to 500,000 low-income residents. "Ultimately," the moratorium's sponsor declared, "this ordinance is about providing choices." In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed a...

Last week, just before Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) big speech, Tim Cavanaugh and I attended a small fundraiser for Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root. The chatty Vegas sports bettor, memorably profiled by David Weigel two months back, was in a mind to talk about a fellow classmate of his at Columbia University back in the early 1980s, a guy by the name of Barack Obama. Root is no fan of the Democratic nominee: "A vote for Obama is four years of Karl Marx, and no one should be happy about that," he told us and a few...

America is a nation of immigrants, but the process of assimilation has broken down. Although immigration provides economic benefits, it also affects America´s cultural and national identity. Immigration reform must begin with securing the border. Our primary obligation is to protect American citizens. The United States has been enriched by immigrants from around the world. Free immigration remains an attractive ideal, but is impossible with the expensive and expansive nanny state that we´ve created. What long made immigration work so well was America´s famed melting pot—and the absence of any welfare state. People who came to America wanted to become...

Last week, just before Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) big speech, Tim Cavanaugh and I attended a small fundraiser for Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root. The chatty Vegas sports bettor, memorably profiled by David Weigel two months back, was in a mind to talk about a fellow classmate of his at Columbia University back in the early 1980s, a guy by the name of Barack Obama. Root is no fan of the Democratic nominee: "A vote for Obama is four years of Karl Marx, and no one should be happy about that," he told us and a few...

That should be the headline in newspapers around the world this morning. A couple of weeks ago I took off my Vice Presidential hat to act as political commentator and pundit to critique Barack Obama's V.P. choice of Joe Biden. I called it a terrible choice, a bland choice, and strategically, a failure. As a matter of fact, strategically, BOTH parties blew it. If Obama picks Hillary (and her 18 million primary votes) he has a good chance of sitting in the White House. But Joe who? From Dela-where? The guy known for plagiarizing his speeches? After watching last night's...

TO REBRAND THE GOP THEY'VE PICKED THE RIGHT GUY By JOHN P. AVLON September 4, 2008 ST. PAUL John McCain is leading a party with a deeply unpop ular president in office. Eighty-one percent of the American people believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. But, against the odds, he's still very much in this race. Tonight's acceptance speech will be McCain's best chance to make his case for the presidency - and, in the process, to start rebranding his party for the post-Bush years. It'll be an uphill effort. Many conservative activists still can't believe that their...

David Harsanyi explains the Libertarian case for Sarah Palin. According to Harsanyi, Palin is ‘in contrast to any national candidate in recent memory… the one that exudes the economic and cultural sensibilities of a geniune Western-style libertarian.’ About Palin’s conservatism he writes: ‘Palin’s penchant for reform-minded conservatism is certainly at odds with the racket Washington Republicans have offered up the past 8 years.’ For example, Palin ‘vetoed 300 pork projects in Alaska in her first year in office. She made a habit of knocking out big-government Republicans in her brief political career.’ For this, she enjoys ‘a sterling approval rating...

The potential political consequences of Sarah Palin have been chewed over from every imaginable angle. Though there is plenty to ponder, one thing is certain: libertarian-inclined voters should be encouraged. No, I'm not suggesting that your little Molly will be bringing home "The Road to Serfdom" from her (distinctly non-public) elementary school. But in contrast to any national candidate in recent memory, Palin is the one that exudes the economic and cultural sensibilities of a geniune Western-style libertarian. Now, Palin's lack of experience has been framed as an impenetrable negative. One wire story helpfully noted that Palin had never ever...

ATLANTA – Bob Barr, a former Georgia congressman and the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president, responds to concerns that he’ll siphon votes from Republican John McCain. “The fact of the matter is the Republican Party has problems that go far deeper than Bob Barr,” he said. Barr is fundraising in Georgia over the weekend. “Our goal is to impede the chances to be president for both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama,” Barr added. Barr is one of two former Georgia congressional representatives running on third party tickets. Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party’s presidential nominee.

“The Saakashvili government in Georgia made a foolish mistake by initiating hostilities in its breakaway province of South Ossetia,� says Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr in a press release entitled No Foreign Aid for Georgian War. “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.� In response to the press release, Liberty Maven says: It is comforting to know that Barr is quick to point out...

LIBERTARIANS BACK ON BALLOT RALEIGH (May 22) -- The Libertarian Party is back on the ballot in North Carolina. The State Board of Elections formally certified the party today. North Carolina voters who so choose can now register Libertarian. "This was our eighth ballot access drive. Without a doubt, it was the most nerve-racking and exhausting one we've conducted," said Barbara Howe, state chair. "We are now back on the ballot, but we are out of funds, so we have no money to support candidates." Nevertheless, the Libertarians will field a slate of candidates in November, she said. At their...

History will be made September 9 in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, as two Libertarian candidates square off in the first Libertarian Congressional primary in the party’s history. Ben Olson III and Kevin Barrett are vying to become the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin’s candidate in this Congressional race. The winner will face Democrat incumbent Congressman Ron Kind and Republican challenger Paul Stark in November. Olson, from Wisconsin Dells, works as a builder, sawyer and bartender. He is running on the limited government and personal responsibility platform endorsed by the national Libertarian Party. Barrett, from Lone Rock, is a leader in the...

On Friday, August 15, the Bob Barr campaign attempted to have the Secretary of State authorize local clerks accept late filings of signatures. Don Cookson of the Secretary of State’s office indicated that there is no provision to authorize such a late filing. The signatures filed by the August 8 deadline amounted to 3,200, short of the 4,000 valid signatures required. The Libertarian Party is expected to go to court to force the state to accept the late signatures.

Freeper Eeevil Conservative host of the Madison Forum on Blog Talk radio inteviews Alan Buckley. Libertarian canidate for the US Senate from Georgia

Today we update North Carolina where there's a bit of a surprise. * North Carolina: Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole's leads Democratic challenger Kay Hagan 46 percent to 41 percent with Libertarian Chris Cole drawing 7 percent and 5 percent undecided in a SurveyUSA poll conducted Aug. 9-11. This is the first time SurveyUSA included Cole in its poll, and it observed: "Hagan is flat, Dole is down. Cole gets 11% of male votes today, siphoning key votes Dole needs to win. Cole gets 12% of young votes today, siphoning key votes Hagan needs to win. Cole gets 9% of the...

The Dennis Miller interview By JEFFREY RESSNER | 8/10/08 12:29 PM EST How would you describe your political beliefs: Republican? Independent? Libertarian? Well, I’d say it’s eclectic pragmatism at some point. I’m a moderate in some degree because I have wildly swinging opinions but through some sort of ideological feng shui they end up in the middle. Some swing far to the left, others to the far right. I’m for the war, but I’m also for gay marriage. I don’t care if two folks with the same genitalia want to get hitched, I just don’t want some a—hole from another...

In Texas June 2008 the Libertarian Party selected Yvonne Adams Schick as their candidate for the US Senate. Libertarian for US Senate against incumbent John Cornyn (R), & Rick Noriega (D). Yvonne Schick is a Scientologist who has reached the level of "Operating Thetan VI" in Scientology, and was once the head of Scientology's anti-income tax front group Citizens for an Alternative Tax System. Unsurprisingly, she has not openly stated that she is a Scientologist.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The head of Kentucky's Libertarian Party said party leaders are not ready to take action against U.S. Senate hopeful Sonny Landham for a series of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim remarks.

In fact, as much as he despised Clinton, Barr thinks President Bush is worse. "What George W. Bush has done to the fabric of our constitutional government, to separation of powers, to a government of limited powers is absolutely unforgivable," he said. That prospect is greatest in Barr's home state of Georgia. Obama is already running ads targeting an untapped pool of African Americans and younger voters. State polls suggest Barr's single-digit following pulls mostly from McCain. "If Barr can win 5 or 6 points of the total vote -- it's an if but it's conceivable -- then Obama could...

Washington (CNSNews.com) - Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr praised Al Gore, who challenged the United States Thursday to run on 100 percent zero-carbon electricity within 10 years. Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia who attended the former vice president’s Washington, D.C., speech Thursday, said Gore’s plan “makes sense.” “America responds well to challenges, if it is laid out, if it’s in terms that people can understand and relate to, if it makes sense – and what he’s laid out makes sense,” Barr said in an interview with Cybercast News Service after Gore spoke. In a speech at the Daughters...

If we had no armed central state to seize money from people against their will and fund the government schools, we'd have no tax-funded government schools. Which means your public school teacher had a fatal conflict of interest when he or she taught you "why we need to have a central state, with the power to shoot or jail people who don't pay up." I'll bet he or she never mentioned, as one of the reasons, "Because otherwise my paychecks would stop coming." Be deeply suspicious therefore of most of the reasons you've been given for "why we need a...

WASHINGTON -- Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned Washington's strict 32-year-old handgun ban, announced his candidacy on Thursday for the U.S. House of Representatives. Heller, 66, is seeking the seat currently held by Eleanor Holmes Norton. He is gathering signatures to run on the ballot as a libertarian candidate. Heller, an armed security guard, sued the District after it rejected his application to keep a handgun at his home for protection in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood as the court. "Mr. Heller's challenge to Ms. Norton is welcomed in the spirit of debate, and as...

Nanny-State Anyone? by: Daniel Smith, July 08, 2008 The August/September edition of Reason, a libertarian publication dedicated to Free Minds and Free Markets, ranks the 35 “worst nanny-state cities in America.” After the analysis was complete, Chicago remained the worst and Las Vegas the best. Scrutiny was based on a cities’ “exercising [for] personal freedom.” Under this broad umbrella of freedom, Reason researched eight categories: alcohol, tobacco, sex, guns, gambling, drugs, movement, and a “catch-all” of food and “other.” According to the article, “the higher a city’s score, the more restrictive it is.” Scoring for six of the categories were...

For conservatives unhappy with McCain as our candidate, I’ve heard a few mention Bob Barr as an alternative for their protest votes. Make sure you know who your voting for before you do so, and make sure if your protest is that of principle that you share the same principles with whom you pull the lever for. For some conservatives, Bob Barr’s teamwork with the ACLU to fight against the Patriot Act and the NSA’s terrorist surveillance program is enough to drop consideration. He has also sided with the ACLU on the immigration issue, opposing local law enforcement from helping...

All that is needed to stop the violence is to legalize drugs. How often do you hear this canard repeated by libertarians, George Soros' Open Society Institute acolytes, communists, and others who want to legalize marijuana and related substances? They would have you believe that the reason people are killing each other is not because they are mean-spirited, evil, ruthless, greedy people; no, they reserve such adjectives for oil company executives. They would have you believe that what causes the violence is that drugs are illegal. This is just sophistry. It is usually the type of speciousness one finds emanating...

Leftist ideology may be gaining ground in Latin America. But it will never set foot on the manicured lawns of Francisco Marroquin University. For nearly 40 years, this private college has been a citadel of laissez-faire economics. Here, banners quoting "The Wealth of Nations" author Adam Smith -- he of the powdered wig and invisible hand -- flutter over the campus food court. Every undergraduate, regardless of major, must study market economics and the philosophy of individual rights embraced by the U.S. founding fathers, including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." A sculpture commemorating Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is...

John McCain's trailing Barack Obama in new poll by quite a solid margin. Is the presence of libertarian candidate Bob Barr in the election only adding to that deficit? Watch tonight, 7 and 9 ET.

Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia has accepted a presidential nomination from the nation's third-largest political party and GOP officials say that could mean trouble for their party in the fall election. The Libertarian Party has selected Barr, also a former federal prosecutor, as their candidate, and Republicans think he could siphon off votes from their party's presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Though is bid is definitely a long shot, Barr - who made a name for himself in leading the U.S. House's impeachment of President Bill Clinton - could exploit unease felt by traditional conservatives leery...

While most Republicans are likely to consider Rep. Ron Paul of Texas a mere pest, his devoted followers could be a problem for Sen. John McCain in November. Paul, the GOP congressman with the squeaky voice but with a following of vocal supporters, will not go away. He's suspended his presidential campaign but his crusade goes on. Paul got into the presidential race with no chance of winning. But his opposition to the war in Iraq, his isolationist foreign policy, and his leave-us-alone views on the domestic front won him faithful supporters during the debates earlier this year. Based on...

In response to my recent piece on enforcing our established immigration laws (I did not mention the potential effectiveness of machine guns and land mines, which would be the first resort of any statesman or military commander who really wanted to "secure our borders"), some well-meaning souls have responded with the traditional Libertarian prescription that there's "no need to limit immigration; all we have to do is get rid of the welfare state." First, before anyone tries to insist that "most illegal aliens aren't on welfare," let's stipulate once again that the so-called "public schools" are one of our most...

Bob Barr appeared on Glenn Beck’s CNN/Headline News program last night for a discussion about energy independence [link to video in post #2]. Barr will be back tonight for an hour-long interview.

The circus is back in town. Every two years, as we roll around to another grand Olympics of federal, state and local elections, the hopper in Congress begins to fill up with dangerous and unnecessary amendments to our U.S. Constitution. Few, if any, are for "great or extraordinary occasions," the bar James Madison set for changing our Founding document. In fact, most are either one of two things: a cheap ploy to get votes or an attempt to steamroll through right- or left-wing social policies -- think gun control or marriage -- that have been unable to get any traction...

The political right and left in America share one unfortunate habit. When they don't get their way in courts of law or state legislatures they immediately seek to undercut all opposition by proposing an amendment to the Constitution. As they say, bad habits die hard. Apparently White House lawyers and the Senate Judiciary Committee are currently examining the merits of a constitutional amendment, pending in the House of Representatives, to deny any and all "legal incidents" of marriage (in layman's terms, any of the hundreds of legal benefits and obligations of the legal institution of marriage) to all unmarried couples,...

All part of his daring master plan to make his name as widely reviled among the right as Ralph Nader’s is among the left. Polls in Georgia and North Carolina over the last two weeks show Mr. Barr winning 8 percent and 6 percent respectively of the presidential vote, and in both cases helping keep likely Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama within striking distance of Mr. McCain in those states — which, taken together, account for more electoral votes than Florida, Pennsylvania or Ohio… [InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt] Towery said North Carolina and Georgia are exactly the places that Mr....

Watch for him on Wednesday, June 4, when he will appear on “The Colbert Report,” which airs at 11:30 EDT on Comedy Central. Thursday, June 5, he will appear on “The Glenn Beck Program” on CNN Headline at 7:00 EDT. Glenn Beck has had him on several times over the past few weeks and has devoted the full hour-long broadcast exclusively to Bob. He will also appear on “Night Talk” with Mike Schneider on Bloomberg Television later Thursday evening at 10:00.

Bob Barr's Libertarian presidential campaign is poised to play a serious role in this year's elections, with early polls showing him taking away enough votes from Sen. John McCain to give Democrats a chance to win states that should be safely Republican.

Hillary Clinton was for the war on terror including in Iraq, before she had to become against it to attract her Code Pink feminazi core for a White House bid. Barack Obama says he would have been against it from the start, had he been out of his political diapers at the time those tough decisions had to be made. Both are running on ideological hindsight and campaign rhetoric. But 300 million Americans expected President Bush alone to make certain that there would be no second 9/11. He has done just that, no matter how politically uncomfortable leftists have made...

Barr is in, his running mate Root is a man on fire, and this will hurt Obama. I hear my Republican and conservative friends’ jaws dropping. Come on guys. Get your chins off the floor and let me explain. ... Singe-issue Democrats will defect where as single-issue Republicans won't. Pair this draining of votes with the Nader factor, and the electoral shift hits the Obama fan.