[nomad]

Do you guys still believe in the non-initiation of force when those same wahabist animals are planning to machine gun our kids in the backs?

[Robert A Cook PE]

What concrete action will the libertarians do to prevent double-registration, prevent double voting, prevent aliens from registering or voting, and prevent voter fraud and theft in minority precincts?

[Cultural Jihad]

"Tell me, Mr. Badnarik, which TV station would be self-marginalized enough to interview you for a full hour?"

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Is this the candidate with the purple face?

[Cultural Jihad]

"Tell me, Mr. Badnarik, why the ideology-addled L.P. believes that the supposed 'right' to choose evil (which results in an early death, slavery to vice, and the pursuit of unneeded suffering) is more sacrosanct than the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

[swilhelm73]

How about;

At best you will have no effect on the election, at worst you hand the contest to John Kerry who is opposed to any notion of libertarian thought.

So what exactly do you hope to gain from this run?

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I'd ask about tips on how to pass the time and look busy ;~D

[Huck]

Got any papers?

[Jim_Curtis]

A liberal is raised to hate conservatives ( Republicans ). The hatred for conservatives motivates them more than their love for Ratism.

When reason overcomes upbringing and the young rat realizes that it must leave its "ratism" behind, it will be disposed to become a Libertarian because it can't become a Republican.

Once you have a "reasoner" ( they tried to spoil the word with a CBS personality ), he will become a conservative eventually once brainwashed upbringing dissipates.

"Should your next door neighbor be able to run a "Crack House/Whore House"?

"Should Utah have the right to be a "dry state"?

"Should a state be able to legalize abortion while the child is born but still attached to the umbilical cord"?

[HighlyOpinionated]

Questions for Mr. Badnarik:

A- What kind of political history do you have that indicates you have the qualifications to garner support from the US Congress to support your platform?

B- If you are elected as President of the USofA, who will you choose to fill your Cabinet?

C- Have you run for a more 'local' office than the Texas House of Representatives? If not, why are you starting "at the top" rather than at at a more local level of politics? Besides the Libertarian Party, where is your voting support coming from? (What sector of the population?)

D- Who chose your Vice-President? The Libertarian Party or yourself? And why?

E- What are your thoughts about the Electoral College? Has it outlived its usefulness?

F- What are your views on supporting a Constitutional Amendment to change the way Vice-Presidents are chosen so that the Presidential Candidate with the most popular vote becomes President of the USofA and the Candidate with the second highest popular vote becomes Vice-President?

G- What is your position concerning term limits for Congress? Would you propose a Constitutional Amendment to limit Congressional terms similar to the term limits on a President? How would you get Congress to agree to such a dramatic change in their lifestyle?

H- What do you think is the most important plank in the Libertarian platform? If you are NOT elected President, do you have any plans to lobby Congress to support the Libertarian platform? And if not, why not?

I- It seems that the public only hears about the Libertarians during a Federal election year. How many Libertarians run for local offices? Can you name some Mayors, Commissioners, or other local political positions held by Libertarians? Are there any Governors who were voted in as Libertarians?

[Jaysun]

There's a few things about Badnarik that I take issue with. To be expedient, I'll just skip the small talk and list them below:

War in Iraq, Middle East: Badnarik seems to subscribe to the liberal notion that we've brought terrorism on ourselves. I've heard him note the sanctions against Iraq and our support of Israel as reasons why the terrorist want to murder us. He discounts the fact that their core beliefs justify killing anyone who isn't Muslim. He believes that if we'd simply change our ways the terrorist will follow suit. I think that's a dangerous stance. The terrorist are lunatics, and preemptive military action is one of the key ways to neutralize them. Overall, my gripe is that Badnarik seems to be weak on defense.

Gay Marriage: Mr. Badnarik is in favor of allowing homosexuals to marry, I am not. I see homosexuality as a sexual act. Indeed, to be a homosexual you must have sex with someone of the same sex. The homosexuals are a group of people whose entire identify is based on a sexual act. It's absurd to give recognition to groups of people based on their sexual behavior. We don't recognize any other sexual act (those that have sex in groups, those that abstain from sex, etc) as needing special recognition or protection. To start dividing the country into small groups that each compete for power or favor would detrimental to America. Let gays be gays, but remember that it's just a sexual act that deserves no more recognition than any other sexual act.

Law enforcement: This may stem from a lack of understanding on my part, but I think that Badnarik's crime prevention policies need some work. He advocates restitution to the victim, which is fine, but he only advocates prison for unreformed violent criminals or that refuse to pay restitution. There's a lot of holes there. When is someone unreformed? Who decides if the criminal is truly unable to pay or unwilling - and how do you curb abuse of that decision? If a criminal is behind bars it's impossible for him to commit more crime. That isn't so for a criminal that is simply made to pay restitution and is otherwise allowed to roam free.

Drugs: I'm not certain of Mr. Badnarik's stance on the drug issue. If it is to legalize drugs, I disagree. We all know that the "war on drugs" hasn't worked but we should try something other that simply legalization. Like anything else, if drugs are made more readily available the number of people that use them will increase. I just don't see how that can be good.

I'm tired of typing and my wife just walked by with a Victoria's Secret bag in her hand. Gotta go.

[null and void]

As a Libertarian, I signed an agreement that I do not advocate the initiation of force.

I didn't agree to not respond to force.

Nor did I sign a suicide pact.

Why is the party unable to recognize 9/11 as an initiation of force, and advocate responding appropriately, i.e. kill those who mean us ill first?

BTW, I'm no longer a "card carrying" Libertarian...

[TitansAFC]

Here are my questions:

Am I allowed to build a bomb if I make it clear that I "don't intend to use it?"

If my neighbor is building a cannon and pointing it at my house, but has never yet actually threatened me, what are my options?

Do parents have the right to fill their own house with marijuana smoke if they have infants in said house?

If a super-majority of citizens and politicians passed a Constitutional Amendment outlawing drugs and guns, would Libertarians cease owning guns and using drugs out of their deeply-rooted respect for strict Constitutional interpretation?

Does the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness actually mean that people have a right to life, or are you pro-choice? If the right to life is Constitutionally guaranteed, would you support the government enforcing such laws as you would support the government enforcing laws against illegal search and seizure?

[valkyrieanne]

Why does your party (and presumably its presidential candidate) support the legal killing of unborn children?

[Petronski]

If medical marijuana were permitted for use in palliative cases only, what would prevent abusive use in non-palliative, or non-chronic-pain, or non-pain, or non-clinical cases?

In other words, once a single floodgate on that dam is cracked just a bit, where is the limit on abuse, or worse yet, what is the logical/rhetorical limit on total legalization?

In simpler words, why should we believe that use of marijuana in traumatic, palliative medical cases is not just a trojan horse?

[Ruadh]

I would like to second "null and void's" request for a transcript of how the interview went. I don't have any questions for Badnarik, but I think I can fill you in on why the Libertarian Party runs Presidential candidates when they have little chance of winning.

The idea is twofold:
1) To get publicity for libertarian ideas.
2) Pull enough votes to deny election to any Republican who abandons freedom. For example, with Kerry as the alternative, my vote goes to Bush UNLESS he signs a new gun-control law. Having the only "swing" voters on the left means the Republicans will chase the leftward drift of the Democrat party, and the whole country will move left. An alternative, (or several) on the right is necessary as a corrective influence.

[Drammach]

What is your stand on Social Security? The SS "Trust Fund"? Social Security funds being held in the General Fund and being borrowed upon at short term rates of 1-2% ?

What is your stand on Medicare? Medicaid? Health care? Importation of Drugs from Canada? Ability of Medicare/Aid to negotiate pricing on drugs like any other private HMO?

What is your stand on Education? Segregation of schools? Private schools? Religious Schools? Should federal funding be available for any schools, or should the States be responsible? What is the Community's responsibility for school funding? Community's rights / responsibilities for deciding curriculum? Religion in schools? Recognition of religious holidays in schools?

What is your stand on the 2nd amendment?
Is it a "federal" prohibition on infringement? or a State prohibition? BOTH? Are "the people" prohibited from infringing on the RKBA?
If the 2nd amendment is a "federal" prohibition, but not a "State" prohibition, then will you work to invalidate the Brady Bill, 1968 Gun Control Act, 1934 Gun Tax Act ?
If the 2nd amendment also prohibits the States, then will you direct the Attorney General to file actions against the states for violating the 2nd amendment rights of the people?
Or will you "live and let live", and allow the 2nd amendment to continue being ignored, and the constitutional rights of the people to be trampled upon?

What are your thoughts concerning the term, Militia? Can you justify it's present liberal interpretation as to the National Guard? Reserves?
Would you promote the constitution's directive that the federal government provide for the equipping of the militia?
Organized at least, Unorganized at the best?

What is your opinion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ? ( Not sure if that's the correct title, but close..)
Does it interfere with "fair use" doctrine? Does it need to be (1) repealed? (2) amended?

What do you think of the Patriot Act?
Should it be (1) repealed? (2) amended?

Should be a few questions there, that could also be put to all the other candidates..
I didn't even get into the WOD, (War On Drugs) as that had been somewhat addressed, even if derisively..

Thanks for the chance to pose some questions, even if they never get asked...

[arnoldfwilliams]

Is it more important to make progress toward the goals of your party, or do you have to win it all in order to get anywhere?

If progress is OK, would George Bush or John Kerry move you closer to your goals?

If progress is not OK, you have to win it all -- why are you doing anything on the national level when you have done nothing to build local support to the point that you have even one statehouse?

[Drammach]

Arnold.. good point, and one of my afterthoughts...

If putting some of the more extreme views concerning party platform could be put on "the back burner", in order to garner a larger share of the voting population, would you do so?

Are the party platform principles more important than presenting a more publicly "palatable" platform?

[c-b 1]

When is your party going to start running good candidates for School Boards, City Councils, and County Boards, all across the country.