Let the scorn begin, huzzah!

I've seen a few very interesting articles in the last couple of days.

Restoring Reaganism by Deroy Murdock on National Review Online

Comrade George W. Bush has spearheaded the most aggressive federal expansion since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. As a delivery system for socialism, he has been the most effective Trojan Horse since that pine steed rolled into Troy.When Bush arrived, Washington consumed 18.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Uncle Sam now devours 22.5 percent of the economy, reported Jon Ward in the October 19 Washington Times. “The country has gone from a $128 billion budget surplus when Mr. Bush took office to a deficit of at least $732 billion in fiscal 2009,” Ward writes. “No president since FDR — who offered a New Deal to pull the nation out of the Great Depression and then fought World War II — has presided over as rapid a growth in government when measured as a percentage of the total economy.” While much of Bush’s spending has funded defense and the War on Terror, most of it vanished into the furnaces of No Child Left Behind, the 2002 Farm Bill, the 2003 Medicare drug entitlement, the 2005 highway bill, the 2006 ethanol mandate, at least 69,341 earmarks, and much, much more. In 2001, Bush launched federal embryonic stem-cell research. By 2008, he added the word “nationalization” to the American vocabulary, and underscored it with nearly $1 trillion in bailouts and Third World—-style government ownership stakes in banks and financial houses.

Wow! Somebody in National Review calling Bush a socialist? Are we that close to Armageddon? Perhaps over the next few years the big NR will start actually calling for small government and being serious. But don't hold your breath. Those of us with a brain know that even Reagan wasn't that good on spending. His administration accounts for two of the top-5 latest in the year "Freedom from Government" days, the day when the GDP effectively stops paying for government action.

American Thinker: Barack Obama, Legal Scholar

Nobody can deny that Barack Obama has an impressive list of titles to his name as a lawyer. But when it comes to actual substance as a lawyer and a scholar, very few accomplishments can be pointed to. The pattern of leaving no footprints when it comes to ideas should raise questions in the eyes of voters still trying to understand the man behind the public persona of Barack Obama.

So basically, Obama being a legal demi-god is a myth. LOL.

Peter Hitchens: The night we waved goodbye to America...our last best hope on Earth | Mail Online

The swooning frenzy over the choice of Barack Obama as President of the United States must be one of the most absurd waves of self-deception and swirling fantasy ever to sweep through an advanced civilisation. At least Mandela-worship – its nearest equivalent – is focused on a man who actually did something... Just look at his sermon by the shores of Lake Michigan. He really did talk about a ‘new dawn’, and a ‘timeless creed’ (which was ‘yes, we can’). He proclaimed that ‘change has come’. He revealed that, despite having edited the Harvard Law Review, he doesn’t know what ‘enormity’ means. He reached depths of oratorical drivel never even plumbed by our own Mr Blair, burbling about putting our hands on the arc of history (or was it the ark of history?) and bending it once more toward the hope of a better day (Don’t try this at home).I am not making this up. No wonder that awful old hack Jesse Jackson sobbed as he watched. How he must wish he, too, could get away with this sort of stuff.

This article comes from my dear friend Grant. The writing is excellent!

Who is to blame for Obamunism?

In a few hours, America -- even "real America" -- will have elected one of the worst conceivable presidents ever. That's saying something considering the criticism I've laid against presidents in general for some time now. Well, some so-called conservatives, many of whom I interact with regularly, will ask themselves: How did this happen? The answer is simple, my friends.

You did it.

Conservatism died under Bush and the Republican controlled house and Senate from 2000 to 2006. And all the while, conservatives, you kept capitulating to the demands of a tyrant. November 4th, 2008 is the burial.

I know why you did it, too. You were afraid. V knew it too.

"Truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look in to a mirror. I know why you did it, I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease, there were a myriad of problems that conspired to corrupt your reason and cut off your common sense. Fear got the best of you."

I hope you wake up someday. Maybe November 5th?

"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the annunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country."

V for Vendetta Televised Speech

UT Libertarians in the news

The Daily Texan - Libertarians unite in Texas

Armed with ideals and alternatives, Stutsman was one of six national and local Libertarian Party candidates at a forum held by the Libertarian Longhorns in the Engineering Teaching Center Monday. Stutsman, a Libertarian congressional candidate, was joined by congressional candidates Matt Finkel and Jim Strohm, senatorial candidate Yvonne Schick, Texas House candidate Allen Hacker and county commissioner candidate Wes Benedict.

and then... The Daily Texan - Voters often overlook local candidates

Norman Horn, a graduate student and member of Libertarian Longhorns, said the group is open to endorsing candidates of every political stripe but encourages individual members to make their own decisions when it comes to supporting candidates. “Libertarian Longhorns is not specifically a partisan group,” he said. “We support any and all candidates who are liberty-minded,” which Horn explained was “freedom for the individual.” Horn cited the group’s endorsement of Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, in the Republican primary earlier this year as the across-party-lines view of the Libertarian Longhorns. “The group as a whole represents a lot of different backgrounds,” he said. “We tend to withhold any endorsement unless we’re absolutely convinced of [a candidate’s] integrity.”

Pretty cool, eh?

I voted, praise me

I voted, praise me
I participated in the democratic process
Or is it democratic fleecing?
To take from one man to give to another man
To abscond with power in subtle ways
To continue setting life and death in their hands
Praise me, that’s what the sticker says

***
My poor attempt at free-form poetry…
My conscience is clear as to how I voted, but I was more pleased to explain the Sumerian symbol of freedom on my t-shirt to the poll-worker than to cast my ballot.

More Ron Paul goodness...

I follow the LRC blog closely, especially when GOP debates are happening and, of course, during the Ames Straw Poll.

Ron Paul placed 5th amongst Republicans yesterday. Sure, we could have hoped for better, but in reality this is quite good. Here's some comments from LRC...

Jay Roberts thinks that 5th place was a "stellar" result. I would tend to agree. All things considered, we must have shocked the establishment media by doing this well. Even as recently as six days ago Paul was predicted by the media to be no-show blip on the radar. Well, folks, we are here to stay. Get ready, because we're going to have a lot of fun doing good for this country.

Of course, there's always the jerks who intentionally exclude him from their reporting. If you weren't ticked off at Faux News before, now is the time.

On a side note, have you seen the new Bourne movie yet? I saw it on opening night (I'm a fan) and let me tell you -- it was awesome. Best of the series. Here's what Mark Thornton had to say about comparing the series to the Paul campaign.

Cross posted at Libertarian Longhorns.

Shame on you, HSLDA!

For shame, for shame, Homeschool Legal Defense Association, for shame!

You have endorsed pro-war, pro-police state, pro-welfare, and pro-Bush Mike Huckabee because you think he's principled, but have ignored the most principled Congressman in the race with the record to back it up - Ron Paul. You seem to think Governors make good candidates, but can you honestly say this considering the last two debacle governor-presidents? Come on, get a grip. Endorse Ron Paul while you still can and save face. I'm ashamed that my fellow homeschoolers would do such a thing as endorse a man who only wants the status quo. Pick someone who actually will do the thing that homeschoolers want most - work to get rid of state hegemony over education.

Townhall.com - One Mom - HSLDA Supports Mike Huckabee

Covenant - Why Ron Paul is the Ultimate Friend of Homeschoolers

Ron Paul can WIN

Ron Paul could easily take on the Democrats, what's going to keep him from becoming our next president is the simple fact that he must make it through the primary. Which means, my friends, we must do everything we can in order to promote ideas of liberty now - this is more important than ever before. Time to get to work...

Todd Seavey on Ron Paul on National Review Online: "But if we want a radically smaller government — precisely that thing that a Republican Congress neglected to do for the last twelve years, which has created the current mood of conservative frustration — we must support Ron Paul. Remember how small government was at the nation’s founding and consider how perhaps even conservatives have since then become de facto socialists, accepting the leviathan state as inevitable. But it’s not inevitable if they vote against it when history hands them that chance."

Ron Paul loves homeschoolers...

"Dr. Ron Paul has been a consistent supporter of home schooling and
educational freedom while serving in Congress. He has introduced
several pieces of legislation which would return to parents the freedom
to teach their children at home and in the manner they think best.
Additionally, he has introduced bills that would provide tax credits
for American families to help pay for education expenses. As President,
Ron Paul will continue to fight for the rights of parents to provide
their children with the knowledge and values they believe are most
important."

Congressman Ron Paul on Home Schooling