index -- The Price of Liberty

From the point of view of a lover of liberty, it is clear that the first choice is a pox on both their houses. In so many things, there is little or nothing to chose between them. Both Obama and McCain are slimy, insider politicians, adept at turning every opportunity to power and wealth. Both of them have voted CONSISTENTLY to take away our freedoms and liberties, both have “shared the wealth” in the form of pork and other things for their constituencies. Neither is committed to basics that define (to American lovers of liberty in general) liberty: economic and personal liberties. Both are advocates of big government, neither is a constitutionalist to any degree or kind, and both are a continuation of the status quo in some way. Both will do more harm, more damage, to the fragile pieces of a free society and nation that we have left after the past century (or more) of decay and looting. Their differences are minor, in relation to everything else, but perhaps important: McCain appears much less likely to try and disarm us, a bit less likely to regulate us into bankruptcy by environmental regulations, and less likely to take FURTHER hacks at freedom of speech and religious expression. Obama appears to be less likely to sell us out more to big multinational corporations and less likely to reduce some personal freedoms.

What do leftists hate the most? Free speech. This is the very reason An American Carol has been panned by every pencil-necked, spiral-eyed, limp-wristed feelm crti-teek in the mainstream, pop-culture media. AAC skewers not only the core beliefs of liberals, but liberal icons themselves, thus the harsh criticism from the left. You see; the socialist lib’s can dish it out, but they can’t take it. One needs only to engage in conversation with one of Saint Barack Obama’s Blind Sheeple to get firsthand experience of the intolerance of the left. Want to have some fun with lefties? Next time you see a pasty-faced nerd wearing an “O” button, ask him if that’s for Oprah or Obama. Then tell him, “I saw An American Carol; it was hilarious!” Then stand back as their face turns purple, veins pop out of their necks and they wave their arms about wildly, sputtering unintelligibly and then they finally burst out with, “Rrrrraaaacismm!!” Like I said, they can dish it out, but they can’t take it. (Read the rest here)

Earlier this year, that took a very sinister turn. The thought police were out in force at both political circuses - pardon me - conventions, candidate homes or campaign stops and appearances. People were arrested and harmed by police and other government goons for what they said, wrote or even for what they MIGHT say or write, much less what they actually said or wrote. If it was critical, the boots were on their necks in record time. Those who engaged in actual destruction of private property were almost ignored while the jackboots worked hard to round up anyone foolish enough to stand in the wrong place or voice an opinion uncomplimentary to whichever dignitary they were guarding at the moment.

And then, early last month, all this started getting even more bizarre and scary. Here is the story of a woman who merely answered the phone and spoke her mind to a campaign worker! If this doesn't scare the pants off you, and get your butt off the couch to go clean your guns and count your cans of emergency supplies, then I'm afraid you have been dead for a while and just forgot to fall over. (Read the rest here)

One of the most amazing things about the present presidential campaign (which has been full of the amazing and improbable) is how historical amnesiacs like Barack Obama and his followers can speak of "The Lightworker" as Abraham Lincoln reincarnated without apparent irony.

"And as Lincoln called once upon the better angels of our nature, I believe that he is calling still, across the ages, to summon some measure of that character, the American character, in each of us today."

His acolytes, in the press and elsewhere, have proclaimed this second coming of Lincoln with great approval. See here and here, among many, many others. (Read the rest here)

The problem of societal violence is not with "America's gun culture."Just look at the defiant core of this group, the heavily armed gun activist members of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, etc. We form a society several million strong, and you will not find a lower violent crime rate anywhere on the planet than in this population. Do you doubt that you have a better chance of being hit by a meteorite or of winning the lottery jackpot than of being murdered by an NRA member?
(Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

More from David:
Do you have friends or family who aren't quite sure about this Second Amendment business? Of course you do, we all do. My friend Aaron Zelman at Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership has produced a wonderful video that is one of the best presentations on the right to keep and bear arms I've come across, and I've come across my share. You can read my review here.

But more importantly, watch it yourself--it's a free download. Then go out and share this great educational tool with those close to you. Let's all help spread the word.

It has become fashionable to speak of the impending bankruptcy of the American economic system. To so focus our attention, however, is to overlook the fragmented nature of what we have allowed ourselves to become. Economic bankruptcy does not arise independently of related factors. The seeds of such bankruptcy were planted long ago, and have been carefully tended to by subsequent generations. There is a more generalized bankruptcy whose disintegrative influences have combined to produce our impending collapse.

The first of such causal forces can be referred to as moral bankruptcy, a phrase intended to cut much deeper than the kinds of personal habits and lifestyle concerns that get conservatives agitated. I refer, instead, to the willingness of so many of us to rationalize the taking of the unearned from owners and bestowing it upon others, provided the process is stamped with the imprimatur of the state. This shortcoming also finds expression amongst those who sanction the conduct of wars, or who have no problem devoting their energies to designing or operating military weapons and other systems for monitoring or controlling the actions of people. (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

I can recall no time during my years on this planet when a presidential election has had less significance than this one. I know this statement flies in the face of the hyperbolic rhetoric engaged in, by Republocratic party drum-beaters, as they induce you to part company with your innate intelligence by joining the chuckleheads in a mad dash to the voting booths. The little stickers that read "I voted" – worn so proudly by those wishing to confirm their allegiance to the system that is destroying their lives – reminds me of the "kick me" signs teenagers used to tape onto the backs of their fellow students. (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

Why can’t we extend private property good sense to government? This is the fundamental problem – whether we are considering Congressional and Federal Reserve bailouts, partnerships, and nationalization of bad banks, uncompetitive car manufacturers, or underfunded insurance companies, or if we are trying to understand why the military pollutes at home and abroad with such impunity.

Good sense and personal responsibility simply cannot be extended to the collective. They cannot even be extended to an entire family, a fact George and Barbara Bush, and every other parent in the world, must periodically contemplate. Yet, government in general, and military organizations particularly, are collectives. They are defined by collective thought, collective action, and collective responsibility – which conspire to produce thoughtless action and zero accountability, in things large and small. (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

This question has been asked by many people many times but it might be appropriate to revisit it now: why is it a criminal act for a woman to trade sex for cash on the dresser top but perfectly acceptable to trade sex for a diamond ring, house, car, furniture, wardrobe and a husband with a job and a life insurance policy? That question, in the form of Proposition K, is being asked again, in the city of San Francisco. The measure technically won’t decriminalize the Biblically defined World’s Oldest Profession (would you do it for an apple?) since it’ll still be illegal under California state law. What it will do is prohibit the local LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) from arresting sex workers. (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

Isn’t it a little late for John McCain and the Republicans to start worrying about government redistribution of wealth? McCain claims to be alarmed by Barack Obama’s tax plan, which would tax upper-income people in order to provide tax cuts to lower- and middle-income people, many of whom don’t pay income taxes. McCain and running-mate Sarah Palin call this socialism.

But the criticism is odd considering all the redistribution McCain has proposed in his presidential campaign and has supported during his long career. His proposed reform of medical insurance includes a tax credit so people can buy their own insurance. That may sound like standard Republican fare, except this tax credit is “refundable.” (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

Barack Obama is campaigning for president under the slogan “Change We Need.” Unfortunately, many of his economic policy proposals would move us in exactly the wrong direction. As of this writing it appears that Senator Obama will be the next president of the United States. We can move forward by looking at the implications of some of his economic policy proposals.

Consider first the issue of trade. One of the fundamental principles of economics is that there are gains from exchange. During the third presidential debate, Senator Obama said that he believes in free trade but then proposed a slate of caveats and provisos that would undermine the principles of free trade. On the surface, environmental protection and labor standards sound noble, but they actually harm the desperately poor by artificially raising the cost of employing them and effectively legislating them out of the international marketplace. Restrictions on trade provide a short-run windfall for unionized American workers—a powerful Obama constituency—but this windfall comes at the expense of other Americans who have to pay higher prices and at the expense of poor people around the world who are then barred from the market. (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

Ask yourself this question: was the housing price bubble, which has burst, caused by (a) a Fed policy of too much liquidity, which caused artificially low interest rates, which in turn caused a great deal of malinvestment, or (b) a Fed policy of too little liquidity which caused high interest rates and a credit-starved economy? If you chose answer b, congratulations, you may have a future as a celebrated author, historian, and Wall Street Journal commentator. (Read the rest here) (Read the entire article at the source website. Use the back button to return.)

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