The Lone Libertarian

I have got to say, the live feed that the Democrats at broadcasting via the web of the Democratic National Convention is pretty nice.  It’s not that I really want to participate in the hopechangefreehealthcaresocialism love fest, but I’d rather get a raw feed without the news networks’ comments or dilution.

I’m not going to link the actual site that the feed is on (because I don’t want to pimp the Democrats more than I already am), however it is easy to find.  The feed is pretty impressive with a “TV Guide like” schedule and previously recorded video that you can watch as well as live video, and looks to be HD.  You have to have Windows with Silverlight installed to watch (Mac users can too), however no love for the Linux crowd.

Here is where I rib the Tennessee and US Libertatian Party.  You guys should take a look at this technology and take note.  A live feed on CSPAN occasionaly, or prerecorded speech is not enough.  A live internet feed insures that people can get the entire event unabridged and untainted by biased opinion.  Virtually speaking it gives “new media” (bloggers, podcasters, vloggers, etc) a press pass to event without having to travel.

Cost-wise, it is relatively inexpensive to broadcast via the Internet.  The more eyes that are on Libertarian events, the better for the party and the movement as a whole.

If nothing else, I would like the state and national parties to sell convention DVDs with the highlights and speeches, or place them on YouTube.

The technology is there to reach a larger audience, it just needs to be leveraged, and soon.

I know I’m way late on this one, but I had to stay away from politics for a few weeks, blood pressure problems and all.  I have got to say, Joe Biden as Obama’s nomination for Vice President may be the nail in the coffin of his campaign.

All that hope, change, and challenging the “establishment” is really eclipsed by the fact that Biden, a 30-yearer in the hallowed halls, IS the establishment.  This guy worked in the public sector for 4 years after graduating college and then was elected Senator of Delaware at the tender age of 29, and has sat in that seat until the present.

Lets take a look at some of the gems of Biden’s career, shall we?

You cannot go to a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian Accent.

Ah yes, all the tolerance you’d expect from a liberal, in a crusty, white-haired package.

I think I have a much higher IQ than you do.

And folks said Obama had an elitist attitude.  By the way, whats up with VPs seeming to have short-man’s syndrome, ever since the Clinton era?

The McCain campaign is running with this gem.

I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is.  The Presidency is not something that lends itself to on the job training.

I would be honored to run with or against John McCain.

I guess it also doesn’t help that Biden is a liar.

Hope.

Change.

Rubbish.

She’d beat them both if she was serious, I think.

I don’t know if having Ludacris on your side is necessarily a good thing.  I heard this rubbish on the radio this morning.  Seems to be sweeping the Internet as well.

Here are some nuggets from the lyrics:

Will give Luda a special pardon if I’m ever in the slammer
Better yet put him in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant

the first black president is destined and it’s meant to be
the threats ain’t fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
so get off your ass, black people, it’s time to get out and vote!
paint the White House black and I’m sure that’s got ‘em terrified

McCain don’t belong in ANY chair unless he’s paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap
cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents
get out and vote or the end will be near
the world is ready for change because Obama is here!

Let me tell you I’m really digging the personal attacks and racist overtones.  Heh.

I overheard this being talked about at the office yesterday. I thought it was just a rumination, not actually based in fact. However, I was wrong.

Memphis’s own Congressman Steve Cohen (D-9^th) has performed the political grandstand of the century.

For those whom don’t live in Memphis, or Tennessee, Cohen is a white Jew, who represents a majority black district. He was denied membership to the Congressional Black Caucus. The CBC has donated $5,000 to his Democratic opponent Nikki Tinker (whom is black) during the primary cycle. Certain polls show that the primary season for Cohen is going to be very difficult.

Due to the 3-way split vote between the Democratic contenders last primary season, Cohen won the nomination by a razor thin 31%.

With all of those things against him, he performs the ultimate pander, and introduces HR194 “Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.”

Democratic opponent, Nikki Tinker has a great point:

“I find it very interesting that Mr. Cohen would call for a national apology during a heated election when he clearly needs African-American votes. For over 20 years while serving in the Tennessee General Assembly, he never thought to ask the State of Tennessee for an apology, not once.”

Someone remind me, how long has it been since the US allowed slavery? Are there any slaves still alive to be apologized to?

Hasn’t the US already apologized for this ad-infinitum via every civil rights bill and affirmative action bill?

Anyone else see this as a waste of time?

I think that Cohen has his jurisdictions confused as well. The federal government did not pass Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that were passed primarily in the southern states. As far as I know, every state that had enacted them has repealed and apologized for them.

How many more times will this nation apologize to the dead?

From the resolution text:

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;

(2) apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and

(3) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.

On Wednesday, Zogby released the results of a telephone poll that I find quite interesting.  Being from the south, I always find discussions surrounding secession fascinating.  The phone poll suggests that 22% of Americans believe that states have the right to peacefully secede from the union.  They made sure to mention that the south comprised the highest percentage of those whom agreed at 26%.

Of that number, hispanics overwhelmingly agreed at 43%, followed by blacks at 40%, and whites at 17%.  That’s a pretty darn interesting dynamic.  Kinda throws the whole “racist southern whites trying to revive the Confederacy” argument.

The poll states that 18% of those queried would support a sucessionist effort in their state.

For a cherry on top, 44% of Americans feel the US government is broken and cannot be fixed by the two-party system.

Who’s ready to see small independent republics in the US in our lifetime?

First and foremost, I find it highly curious and offensive that Obama was campaigning in Germany yesterday.  Unless Germany is going to become the 51st state, I see his visit as a threat to the soverignty of our nation.

Let me explain.  Ever since the Iraq war started, liberal-minded people have started to use “America’s image” as a reason to vote for Democrats.  To “restore the image” of the republic, in my opinion is an assinine objective, however many Americans have taken this issue to heart.

Obama’s visit to Berlin was clearly to display “world support” for him as a candidate for office.  I for one don’t want someone representing others opinions and values representing me.  I think this is a dangerous push into a globalized governing body, or at least a flirtation with the notion.  I’d rather not look to the Germans for support for a leader they cannot elect.

How quaint it was to see him give his speech in front of the Victory Column, a tribute to war.  It should also be known that the Victory Column was the inspiration for “sieg heil”, translation “hail victory.”  The Nazi salute of raising the arm and pointing upward is a salute to Lady Victory, whom sits atop the structure.

So the “anti-war” candidate gives a speech in front of a monument that was built to mock Europeans in the 1860’s and 1870’s when the Prussians decimated the Danish, Austrians, and the French.  The wars were nothing more than overglorified land grabs and expansionism.

Is this an omen?

From Presidential candidate Bob Barr (slightly edited by me):

Dear Friend,

This weekend, millions of Americans will celebrate our Independence Day.  They will gather in parks and on front lawns, fire up their grills and enjoy an evening of fireworks, family and friendship.

Children will wave sparklers in the air, tracing figure eights, while fathers will light seemingly endless fuses of fountains and firecrackers.

Most revel on the Fourth of July as a matter of tradition – and it is a good one.  I have celebrated this day throughout my life, even when I lived in nations that did not cherish freedom.

When I reflect on our Independence Day traditions, I am deeply grateful that Americans continue to celebrate this historic day, but I am also saddened by our combined failure to stop the continued encroachment upon our freedom.

Each July 4th, I look back at our year and can literally count the ways in which the path set forth by our forefathers has been distorted and, many times, betrayed.

We live in a nation bursting with people who love liberty but governed by men who lust for power.

For over 100 years, those designing men have been enabled by a political system that favors and protects the powerful.

Republicans and Democrats have maintained and significantly increased their hold on the reigns of our government regardless of the damage that has been done to the men, women and children who work, love, live and die in our great nation.

Today’s America does not resemble the intent clearly laid out within that document that was signed by patriots 232 years ago.

They put more than ink to paper when they signed the Declaration of Independence; they placed their lives, families, prosperity and honor on the line for liberty.

Our founders knew that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights.  They held no tolerance for the thought that we are granted rights by government.

Our rights, our decisions, our very lives are ours.  It is through individual responsibility by which we prosper or fail – not by state decree or legislation.

When Jefferson added the word “among” into the phrase, “among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” he was defiantly stating that our rights are self-defined, short of depriving another of their life or liberty.

Since the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed, we appear to have lost the meaning and intent of the words: independence, freedom and liberty.

Instead, those words have been echoed with abuse on campaign trails and government buildings by politicians who use them as Orwellian tools to mean just the opposite.

We now use “freedom” as an excuse to invade sovereign nations.

The protection of “liberty” is now an excuse to take it from us.

But today, during this election year, we have the opportunity to change the course of events.

We have a chance to send a message to Washington that will rock its foundation.

Together, we can make the word LIBERTY ring true with deafening accord.

My candidacy for President of the United States is not one of vanity or shallowness.  I, probably just like you, have had my eyes forced open by a government that wants to take all that it can from me and my family.

I am running for president to stand firm and demand a return of my liberty, my privacy, my labor and the peaceful heritage of my nation.

I ask you to stand with me.

Together we face the two-party behemoth that will do all that it can to silence us.

[…]

As important, over this coming weekend as you are spending times with friends and loved ones, take a minute and attempt to educate them as to the true meaning of liberty and how it has been lost in our nation and ask them to stand with us.

Respectfully,

Bob Barr

There are two conservative radio personalities in Memphis I am directing this post at, Mike Fleming and Ben Ferguson.  I know they probably wont answer in kind, but maybe a conservative that thinks like them can explain.

Yesterday, they both exploded over the “nationalization of oil” talk being espoused by House and Senate Democrats.  The talk show hosts went down the long list of reasons why nationalizing the domestic oil industry would introduce inefficiencies, price increases, and supply shortages.  Kudos to them for this, as I agree, government control over anything usually produces a sub-par product that is sometimes lower than even the least common denominator.

However, neither host was able to satisfactorily explain why the city of Memphis should not sell Memphis Light Gas and Water (the local public utility) to private industry.  Why say that one energy industry shouldn’t be nationalized, when you are fighting for a different energy company to stay public?  Kudos to the several liberal and ultra conservatives that called in, exposing this hypocrisy.  Listening to the respective hosts, they both floundered around and mostly let callers duke it out.  Some callers cited areas where public utilities went private and rates went up.  It was all a bunch of he-said, she-said.

I know that the sale of MLGW has been a pet project of Mayor Willie Herenton since he took office, and rears its head at least once a term, but what is so conservative about a government run power company, and not about a government run oil company?  For a Democrat, Mayor Herenton is pretty darn conservative on this issue.

MLGW has been in the news many times over the past several years due to public mishandling, scandal, and unqualified board members.  It would seem to me that removing politics from running a utility company would probably save people money on their energy bills starting on day one.

Someone please explain this “have your cake and eat it too”, unprincipled philosophy.

Fred Hobbs, an executive committee member of the Tennessee Democratic Party, seems to have spoken out of turn on behalf of superdelegate Lincoln Davis (D-US House 4th District).  Davis had not yet pledged his support for Obama.

When asked about the delay, Hobbs stated the following:

“I’m not sure we know enough about him. He’s got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.”

He also stated:

“[Obama] has associates who are connected to terrorism. It does throw a red flag up for me ….I certainly don’t think he’s a terrorist. I’ve just heard he has associates who might have those ties.”

Wow.  That’s pretty damning stuff if you have an executive of a state political party making wild accusations about the national party’s choice for President.

Davis, whom is rumored to be seeking the Governor’s seat in 2010 quickly ran interference.

Mr. Hobbs is neither a constituent, close friend nor political ally of mine,” Davis says. “His statements were wrong, outrageous and unacceptable.”

The Tennessee Democratic Party released a statement on Monday.

The Tennessee Democratic Party is united behind our party’s nominee, Senator Barack Obama. Mr. Hobbs is obviously misinformed, and his statement highlights the perpetual efforts of the Republican Party, especially here in Tennessee, to turn internet smears and highly offensive gossip into their party’s message against Senator Barack Obama as we head into the General Election. Instead of debating the issues, the Tennessee Republican Party continues to rely upon slanderous and salacious tall tales. They are borrowing from the playbook first written by Richard Nixon and employed in the race against Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Tennesseans of every political persuasion are tired of these tactics.

Hobbs then apologized on Tuesday.

I am writing to apologize for my recent remarks about Senator Barack Obama. My statements to various Nashville media were wrong and offensive. I apologize if my remarks in any way hurt any of our great Democratic candidates, including Senator Obama. Also, I apologize if my comments embarrassed our state or my friends at the Tennessee Democratic Party.

I was not as well prepared as I should have been when speaking with reporters, and I should have taken more time to research Senator Obama’s positions. My comments did reflect questions I had after what I had seen reported on Fox News, but I should have taken some time to check the accuracy of what I saw on television before speaking publicly. My statement that Senator Obama “may be terrorist-connected” was incorrect, and I apologize for making it.

As a lifelong Democrat, I believe in the values and ideals of the Democratic Party. I am honored to represent the 13th Senatorial District, and I look forward to working with Senator Obama, each of you, and every Democrat in the 13th District to elect Democrats this November.

Warmest Regards,

Fred Hobbs

As seen above, Hobbs told the Tennessean that his comment was derived based on coverage he had seen on Fox News.

Seriously?  A supposed party executive that hasn’t done his homework on the nominee, blames Fox News for his ineptitude?  I’m sure most liberal bloggers are asking why this guy was watching the “conservative news network” anyhow.

Also, way to deflect your leadership’s obvious lack of knowledge, tact, and interest in the current election by blaming this event on Nixon-era Republican tactics.  Kudos also goes to the party for roping Harold Ford Jr. into the fray as well.  I’m not exactly sure what the purpose was for that.  Maybe they are going for a racial slant?  I guess we’ll never know.

Furthermore, if the Tennessee Republican Party has supposedly peed in the proverbial pool so much that Democrat leaders can be swayed so easily, they may want to just retreat into bunkers underground until the election season is over.

Methinks Mr. Hobbs will be searching for a new job soon.

Furthermore, this incident calls to question; do we Tennesseans want a fence-sitter like Davis as a governor?  Why hasn’t this guy made up his mind yet?  No one is running against Obama now, so the choice is simple.  You either pledge for Obama, or you don’t.  The decision seems pretty simple to me.