The Sayings of Candidate Badnarik

The Austin Chronicle ^ | June 11, 2004 | Michael King

[MikeJ75]

Recently nominated Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik, an Austin-based computer trainer and self-described "constitutional scholar," was on the stump this week, "addressing the G8 summit" – that is, speaking to a protest rally in Savannah, Ga., near the restricted Sea Island summit site – and making appearances leading up to the state Libertarian convention in College Station June 12. Last year he spoke at length to Austin writer Devin Greaney, declaring the following positions:

"The campaign occupies literally every moment of my time. ... I would rather be skydiving, drinking beer, and chasing beautiful women. I'm trying to rescue the Republic."

The Second Amendment is "not negotiable," and Badnarik refuses to get a Texas concealed-weapons permit – because "rights do not require permission."

The USA PATRIOT Act: It violates the Fourth and Sixth Amendments (against unreasonable searches and closed trials).

Affirmative action: "Either we are all created equal or we are not. ... Affirmative action does almost as much harm as slavery."

Opposes: federal subsidies for agriculture, mass transit, public education, foreign aid of any kind, and all nonconstitutionally specified programs. "We're going to stop taking their tax money [and] the people will become richer than their wildest dreams."

The military: He would bring home all U.S. troops now based in other countries. "The reason our country was attacked [on Sept. 11, 2001] was because we are an empire builder."

Campaign finance reform: an unconstitutional restriction on free speech as well as "stealth protection for incumbents."

The war on drugs: "The cure is worse than the disease. ... Your liberty allows you to make bad decisions."

Same-sex marriage: "The federal government has no business telling anyone what they can do in their bedrooms, and if someone else does not like it that's too damn bad."

Third-party candidates: "Not voting your conscience is a wasted vote. If you are in prison and there is a 50 percent chance you would get lethal injection, 45 percent chance you would get the electric chair, and five percent chance you could escape, would you vote for lethal injection because that is the one you are most likely to get?"

Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt: "Both dictators and evil. I rail against Roosevelt the most. He did what Hitler did, only Hitler said what he was doing."

Community: "Communities don't have rights. Only individuals in the community have rights. ... That idea of community rights is firmly rooted in the 'Communist Manifesto.'"

"If you expect the government to get better by itself, you are probably smoking something not currently legal." (The entire interview profile can viewed at Greaney's Web site, http://home.att.net/~devingreaney.)

[swilhelm73]

Ah, LP candidated are always good for a laugh.

Here's a hint though...if you believe the republic is in need of rescue, voting for the guy guaranteed to get no more then 1% is plain stupid.

Of course, this is why the real libertarians are all in the R party, and stoner college kids *are* the LP.

[GSlob]

He has a few points, doesn't he?

[RushLake]

"The military: He would bring home all U.S. troops now based in other countries. "The reason our country was attacked [on Sept. 11, 2001] was because we are an empire builder."

Yeah, that's the answer. We bring home all our troops, put flowers in the gun barrels, and give peace a chance. Then, we build a big wall around America, close all the ports to stop those pesky imports from coming in, put all the union labor to work making high cost products that everybody will be able to purchase. Then we call home all of our diplomatic missions right after we sign up to Kyoto. Then we give coffee anal and the UN oversight on how we live our lives and conduct our internal affairs. Everybody will like us, and the muslim terrorists won't attack us anymore. That will be made possible when we eliminate all Christian religions and the Eesrahailees so as not to pi$$ off the muslim terrorists. That should about do it.

[ActionNewsBill]

Ah, LP candidated are always good for a laugh.

The Second Amendment is "not negotiable," and Badnarik refuses to get a Texas concealed-weapons permit – because "rights do not require permission."

Agree wholeheartedly

The USA PATRIOT Act: It violates the Fourth and Sixth Amendments (against unreasonable searches and closed trials).

Agree

Affirmative action: "Either we are all created equal or we are not. ... Affirmative action does almost as much harm as slavery."

Agree

Opposes: federal subsidies for agriculture, mass transit, public education, foreign aid of any kind, and all nonconstitutionally specified programs. "We're going to stop taking their tax money [and] the people will become richer than their wildest dreams."

Agree

The military: He would bring home all U.S. troops now based in other countries. "The reason our country was attacked [on Sept. 11, 2001] was because we are an empire builder."

Agree, somewhat

Campaign finance reform: an unconstitutional restriction on free speech as well as "stealth protection for incumbents."

Agree wholeheartedly

The war on drugs: "The cure is worse than the disease. ... Your liberty allows you to make bad decisions."

Agree wholeheartedly

Same-sex marriage: "The federal government has no business telling anyone what they can do in their bedrooms, and if someone else does not like it that's too damn bad."

Agree...that decision should belong to the individual states.

Third-party candidates: "Not voting your conscience is a wasted vote. If you are in prison and there is a 50 percent chance you would get lethal injection, 45 percent chance you would get the electric chair, and five percent chance you could escape, would you vote for lethal injection because that is the one you are most likely to get?"

Agree

Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt: "Both dictators and evil. I rail against Roosevelt the most. He did what Hitler did, only Hitler said what he was doing."

Agree somewhat, although FDR wasn't quite as bad as Hitler.

Community: "Communities don't have rights. Only individuals in the community have rights. ... That idea of community rights is firmly rooted in the 'Communist Manifesto.'"

Agree absolutely.

"If you expect the government to get better by itself, you are probably smoking something not currently legal.

Quote of the day!

Gee, I guess that makes me a Libertarian.

[tdadams]

I would rather give an ear to a passionate candidate with some unconventional ideas than a cynic who offers nothing but denigration.

Grow up.

[ActionNewsBill]

Then we give coffee anal and the UN oversight on how we live our lives and conduct our internal affairs. Everybody will like us, and the muslim terrorists won't attack us anymore. That will be made possible when we eliminate all Christian religions and the Eesrahailees so as not to pi$$ off the muslim terrorists. That should about do it.

I must have missed that part of the LP platform.

[dighton]

Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt: "Both dictators and evil. I rail against Roosevelt the most. He did what Hitler did, only Hitler said what he was doing."

I missed class when they discussed Roosevelt's death camps.

Where do they find these lunatics?

[Poohbah]

Perhaps Mr. Badnarik engaged in too much recreational pharmacology...

[backhoe]

Well, while I don't agree with him on every issue, it's refreshing to hear from a man who bluntly states his positions- you know where he stands.

[BlueLancer]

"He has a few points, doesn't he?"

But so does a pencil ...
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[Catspaw]

At least candidate Badnarik isn't blue.

[Dane]

Where do they find these lunatics?

At head(marijuana paraphanalia) shops.

[hchutch]

And he probably was way over the recommended dosage...

[Know your rights]

"The reason our country was attacked [on Sept. 11, 2001] was because we are an empire builder."

Wrong.

Same-sex marriage: "The federal government has no business telling anyone what they can do in their bedrooms

Irrelevant to the issue at hand.

"Roosevelt [...] did what Hitler did

Wrong.

He's right about everything else.

[GSlob]

A broken pencil would have two points, and he has significantly more than two, I would say.

[Catspaw]

Stan Jones, the Blue Guy
	Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Stan Jones, speaks Sept. 23, during a debate in Great Falls, Mont. (John W. Liston, The Tribune/P Photo)	Big Blue Montana Senate Candidate Has Light Hue The Associated Press Oct. 3 — When it comes to Senate candidates, Stan Jones is a stand-out — he's blue. The 63-year-old Montana Libertarian has turned blue from drinking a silver solution that he made himself by electrically charging a couple of silver wires in a glass of water.

[bassmaner]

bump for later

[Know your rights]

Is that Michael Badnarik? If not, what's the relevance?

[Catspaw]

It's yet another standout Libertarian candidate for high office.

I didn't post pictures of the Spitter or the Quitter, now did I?