Libertarian Girl

Girls Just Wanna Have Freedom

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I care for kids, families, the sick and the elderly, working class, middle class, and every American. To end poverty and advance the American Dream, I am Libertarian Girl.

Kent Snyder, RIP

July 1st, 2008

I was shocked to receive an email today regarding the death of Ron Paul’s campaign chairman, Kent Snyder. I met Snyder when I was in Iowa campaigning in January, and he was a very personable guy from what I could tell in the brief time we crossed paths. I’ve been waiting for the perfect piece of news to propel me into regular blogging again in a very negative political atmosphere, and more than anything this is it. We all have a limited time in this world, and we have to do what we can to make it better, you know?

Kent Snyder would understand that. He left a lucrative career to return to Congress when Ron Paul did in 1996, but that’s not his greatest accomplishment. That came in the twilight of his life last year, when he convinced Dr. Paul to run for president, leading to the “wildest libertarian campaign in American history.” In fact, it’s because of Kent Snyder that this blog exists, because I was inspired to begin it after getting excited about Ron Paul’s campaign and then realizing that someone actually had not yet taken the libertariangirl.com domain.

It’s terribly sad news. One of my favorite Ron Paul stories is one Kent told Texas Monthly last year. Working for Ron Paul’s 1988 Libertarian presidential campaign, Snyder was stopped in the halls of the capitol building by John McCain, who told him: “You’re working for the most honest man in Congress.” McCain isn’t really one to tell the truth, but he certainly was in that case.

If you never got to see Kent Snyder in action during his lifetime, here’s a long video of him discussing the campaign and issues that were close to his heart. In addition to working for Congressman Paul (who even served as the subject of Snyder’s master’s thesis), Snyder was the head of the Liberty Committee and against such government intervention as TeenScreen (”No Child Left Undrugged”), the subject of this video.

“This is more comprehensive than even Orwell’s creative mind could conceive.” — Kent Snyder on TeenScreen

I remember a few people commenting about Dr. Paul’s age during his campaign– not realizing that the person who would not live to see another year was his younger campaign manager and friend, Kent Snyder. He was 49 years old.

You can say whatever you like about Republicans– it’s certainly true that they chose a far superior animal symbol than the Democrats did. Can there be any question that elephants win out over donkeys, every time?

Tags: elephant, donkey, Republican, Democrat, elephant painting

Apple logos

I’ve always secretly disliked Apple, most likely because of its smug Mac apologists who think they’re so much better than everyone else just because of what computer they use and will take whatever junk Apple releases to maintain that feeling. Linux users don’t act like that, even though they would have every reason to because they actually ARE using better computers– and they’re doing it for free.

Anyway, Steve Jobs is now suing New York City over their trademark application for an apple logo (to emphasize the fact that New York City is the Big Apple). Either Jobs remembers when NYC was known as the Big Onion, or he’s reached a new level of madness. “Think Different,” indeed.

I’m not a Bill Gates fangirl, but at least he gives some of his money away and seems like he has a sense of humor– Jobs is just so serious and full of himself and he doesn’t even have a license plate. It’s distasteful. Microsoft also doesn’t name their entire product line “ISomething,” which gets them extra points from me. Bill Gates can also become the richest (or third-richest) man in the world without suspicious Jobs-like stock backdating.

Tags: Steve Jobs, Apple, smug Mac users, Bill Gates, Apple logo, trademark infringement

Pat Buchanan, Before Iraq

March 24th, 2008

Before the invasion of Iraq, Buchanan wrote:

“With our MacArthur Regency in Baghdad, Pax Americana will reach apogee. But then the tide recedes, for the one endeavor at which Islamic people excel is expelling imperial powers by terror or guerrilla war.

They drove the Brits out of Palestine and Aden, the French out of Algeria, the Russians out of Afghanistan, the Americans out of Somalia and Beirut, the Israelis out of Lebanon. We have started up the road to empire and over the next hill we will meet those who went before. The only lesson we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.”

Pat Buchanan can get it wrong. He can get it really, really wrong. I was always wary of him because of his views on gay people, but one of Buchanan’s most enthusiastic supporters has been Justin Raimondo, so if he can get over it, I certainly can. I’ve come to appreciate him recently, because most of the time Buchanan gets everything right, really, really right.

Pat Buchanan, Iraq War, Justin Raimondo, gay rights

Frank Serpico Likes Ron Paul

March 22nd, 2008

I recently watched the ’70s movie Serpico, which is not a Mafia movie as so many Pacino movies were then, but a true story about a New York City police officer named Frank Serpico who happened to be pretty much the only cop on the force not taking bribes from criminals– or at least the only one who would speak out.

“Frank Serpico - The first police officer not only in the history of the New York Police Department, but in the history of any police department in the whole United States, to step forward to report and subsequently testify openly about widespread, systematic cop corruption-payoffs amounting to millions of dollars.” — Peter Maas, author of the biography Serpico

For Serpico’s efforts, he was rewarded by his fellow police officers with the most difficult beat– the narcotics one– and shot in the face with some of his fellow police officers just standing by and refusing to help. Luckily, a civilian neighbor heard the gunshots and called for help. Serpico is a true American hero when it would have been much, much easier to just go along with the crowd. It was true then and it’s true now, people like this– especially in government– are rare.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Serpico has a blog and writes in one of his latest posts:
“I would vote Republican if Ron Paul was running.
At least we would get to the truth.”

Serpico

More than anyone, Serpico knows the truth when he sees it. This week is Sunshine Week, in which journalists focus attention on the importance of open public records and the laws protecting that freedom. Needless to say, open and honest government are completely necessary for a democracy to work. You can’t vote the bastards out if you don’t know what they’ve been up to.

I’ve heard many people this week say that government agencies that lose battles for open records should pay court costs if they lose. This would all be well and good if it was in fact the agencies’ fault. It’s usually not.

These cases almost always amount to one or two bureaucrats who are trying to protect themselves by using the taxpayers’ money to outspend and outlast citizen plaintiffs in these cases. I argue that not only do we need open records for democracy to work, we need individual accountability on the part of government employees. The taxpayers shouldn’t take the fall when some political appointee doesn’t want his emails to his mistress revealed publicly and wages battle in court for years. It’s that person’s fault, and it should be that person who pays, not you or me or anyone who had nothing to do with his own unprofessional behavior. Most of the time this involves public employees conducting personal business and affairs in government offices while being paid to do a government job, which is unacceptable and means they should be fired immediately anyway– isn’t it amazing that they’re not? Only the government would defend an employee’s right to have an affair and give preferential contracts during work.

We need open records because there are still a lot of 1970s-era NYC cops who have government jobs in all bureaus and agencies, at the federal, state and local level, and there are far, far too few Serpicos.

Tags: Sunshine Week, open records, open records laws, Frank Serpico, Ron Paul, honest government

Chris Tame, RIP

March 20th, 2008

Chris Tame, the founder of Britain’s Libertarian Alliance, died two years ago today. As is so often the case, Sean Gabb says it best.

“But he has now been dead two years. No one can possibly replace him as a centre of gravity for the British libertarian movement. At first or second hand, he inspired every libertarian alive in this country. When the history of British libertarianism is written, it will be seen that all the lines of continuity between the nineteenth and twenty first centuries run through Chris.

Chris is dead. But he is not forgotten; and as time goes by, his memory will be more cherished.”

Tags: Chris Tame, Libertarian Alliance, Sean Gabb

That was my favorite chant at the anti-war protest march I attended today for the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. The ironic thing is that the people chanting it happily give their vote to those very members of Congress who claim they’re anti-war and yet allocate more and more funding for it; when there are actual anti-war Republican members of Congress who are brave enough to vote against funding, there should be Democrats– yet there are very few.

Dove at UNC Anti-War March

One of today’s speakers said she also spoke to a protest march in DC on the first anniversary of “Shock and Awe,” and she would speak every year until it ends. The problem with this attitude is that you have to protest every day until you get something changed. You can’t just have a once-a-year event and expect that to make any type of difference at all.

Many of the speakers got it wrong, as well. One guy– who was actually one of the best speakers overall– asked if anyone in the audience was 18. Since it was a college campus, there were quite a few there who were. He said that we had been at war with Iraq for these people’s entire lifetime, from the Persian Gulf War to our many years of sanctions (under Clinton, although of course he didn’t mention that) to the current quagmire, in which we expected them to be happy to be liberated after we had sanctioned them. This version of events completely ignores the fact that they were ruled during that time by a mass murderer who delighted in terrorizing his constituents, and most Iraqis were actually very happy when we liberated them from Saddam Hussein’s regime– if not at first, within a few weeks– and then they wanted us to leave right away.

When someone acts like the Iraqis were just living idyllic lives in their desert paradise until we came along and ruined it for them, it gives less credence to anything else they might say. The Iraqis were glad to have us come and throw Saddam out; they just didn’t like what happened next, when their country (and its heritage) was looted under our watch, their army was disbanded and insurgents allowed to flourish, oil lines were repaired before their electricity and water supplies, al Qaeda franchises sprang up, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed, and the country divided itself along sectarian lines. While they were glad we came in the first place, they now want us to leave. They are now optimistic about the future, just as they were four years ago, but at the same time they don’t give us any credit for improving things.

That means that we’re either completely ineffective or that the Iraqis don’t appreciate or notice what we do for them; in either case, it means it’s time to let them rebuild their own country just as our own Founders once had to do. The French helped us, but they didn’t rebuild our country for us. That’s a much more powerful argument than simply claiming that America has been Iraq’s one and only oppressor for many years. It’s too bad that speakers at an event against something as obviously misguided as the Iraq War can’t make better arguments than this. One girl even claimed that one million Iraqi civilians had been killed, which is far above even the high estimates that I’ve heard. When people say outlandish things like that, it works against their cause, not for it.

Iraq Veterans Against the War

“We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities.” — George W. Bush, March 19, 2003

Bush said when the war began that he wanted to send the various branches of the military over there so that we wouldn’t have to fight “it” with our police here. The actual result is that our police and firefighters have been sent there, while crime becomes more of an issue over here. It’s something no one has touched on, but which I think is one of the most convincing arguments against the war. It’s causing safety problems in America. National Guard troops which would be guarding the border are sent overseas, which leaves the border wide open for any terrorist group that wants to walk right on over– or hire a poor Mexican to do it for them. The military competes directly with police departments for recruitment of men between the ages of 20 and 30– but the military can offer spectacular bonuses and seems to be winning that particular battle. This leaves some police departments so desperate for new officers that they want to employ non-citizens. Local police departments have a six- to 12-month wait for the ammunition they want, because soldiers in Iraq get first dibs.

“In the meantime,” I told Larry, “local crime goes up, local costs go up, and local police vacancies stay high.”

“All of which goes to show that the late, great Tip O’Neill had it almost right,” said Larry, paraphrasing the former speaker of the House. “All war is local.”

“Our investigation staff operates with not nearly enough personnel, and I’m discouraged by all issues regarding methamphetamine trafficking. These issues have not declined due to [our] lack of officers.” — Fargo, North Dakota police chief Keith Ternes

I don’t know about you, but personally I’m more worried about someone robbing or killing me as I walk down the street than I am about a terrorist attack, of which the chances are approximately nil in the scheme of things. Yet, we take away our police officers to send them to Iraq? I’m more likely to be struck by lightning and about a billion times more likely to be killed in a car crash, even if al Qaeda had the ability to even try to come over here and attack us. Even if you believe in this war for “security” reasons, you should not also be willing to sacrifice actual security in this country for security for a country half a world away.

Dove

Westboro Baptist Church is the unspeakably obnoxious group that protests at things like dead soldiers’ funerals (apparently more than 280 of them) and the funerals of college students. Their main gripe seems to be, of all things, homosexuality, and they hold signs saying things like “Thank God for IEDs.”

The disgusting behavior of these people is bad enough on its own merit. However, I was surprised to learn that the WBC requests in advance– and in most cases actually receives– police protection before all its protests. I can understand why the WBC members (who are all relatives of its founder, Fred Phelps) are scared of bodily harm, but I don’t personally see why the police should provide this type of service pre-emptively. I’m going to participate in a protest of my own tomorrow, but I don’t expect police protection, and I didn’t demand it beforehand just in case I might need it.

The fact that police officers in all these cities are protecting the scum of Westboro Baptist Church rather than conducting actual police activities (such as fighting and preventing actual crime, for a start) is also disgusting to me. Why would the local governments in these cities grant the WBC’s request?

If the WBC is so concerned for its own safety, it should have only two options: 1.) don’t conduct their ridiculous protests in the first place and stay home, or 2.) pay for their own private security. Imagine that! A group actually paying their own way rather than expecting everyone else in society to foot the bill for them. It’s rarer and rarer these days.

In my opinion, the cities which grant police protection to Westboro Baptist Church are subsidizing their despicable protests. Without the pre-emptive police protection, WBC would probably not protest at all. They might not find all that traveling so affordable anymore.

We don’t have to infringe free speech to stop these slime from protesting. Just stop giving them their own personal, taxpayer-supplied bodyguards.

He’s No Johnny Appleseed

March 17th, 2008

What’s the bigger threat to the environment, global warming or Ben Bernanke?

Exactly how many trees will have to be cut down for all the dollars Helicopter Ben’s been ordering lately from his well-used printing press?

Helicopter Ben

* Image courtesy of Don Luskin.

“Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

Why can’t libertarians “brainwash” kids, too?

We’re at a disadvantage. It’s clear that Democrats and Republicans have been actually brainwashing American kids for years, and kids often initially follow the political views of their parents (even Hillary Clinton was a Goldwater Girl!) Any brainwashing on our part is purely self-defense.

This is why I’m so happy to see this young adult/children’s book written by libertarian economics professor Ken Schoolland promoting the free market and detailing the unfortunate side effects of a more collectivist system. We’re certainly competing against indoctrination from all other political viewpoints, so it’s good to start early and often with lessons on the joys of the free market.

I recently saw an example of how this could work in Rolling Stone, in which Jack Johnson’s friends talked up his efforts on behalf of the environment.:

“Also high on Johnson’s priorities is his dedication to the environment, in particular to preserving the natural beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. In 2003, he and [wife] Kim founded the Kokua Hawaii Foundation to support environmental education in schools. When Johnson performs in school gymnasiums, armed with his songs for the 2006 Curious George soundtrack (which features green-friendly tracks such as “The 3 R’s,” about recycling), madness ensues. ‘We don’t even have a curbside recycling program in Hawaii,’ says Mark Cunningham, a North Shore lifeguard and longtime friend. ‘Convincing adults to lobby down at the state capital is an exercise in futility. So Jack and Kim say, “Hey, let’s brainwash the kids,” but in a sincere and logical way. It’s this incredible awareness they’re raising in a generation of school kids.’”

Why can’t libertarians do the exact same thing (especially since a truly successful environmental program requires a libertarian system)? Ken Schoolland is, coincidentally, also from Hawaii. Libertarians have the unique problem of competing with a mass indoctrination of most children from government workers (AKA teachers who would obviously like to keep their jobs)– and while many libertarians of course don’t want to get rid of public schooling tomorrow or even the next day, many of us would like to institute deep changes within the existing system, from outside it. I found out recently that a neighboring county which was pushing for a land transfer tax even sent home pro-tax literature with all county schoolchildren. That type of widespread government access is extremely difficult to compete with.

However, it would be a mistake on our part to not do this. Just as the humans who didn’t particularly care about reproducing have long since left the earth, it’s necessary for any movement that wants to continue in the future to work on building sustainability over time. I wouldn’t even feel bad about “indoctrinating” the kiddies, since we’d simply be letting them in on facts they should be learning in school– and we do have one definite advantage over the D’s and R’s. No libertarian can yet be accused of being a libertarian solely for the sake of gaining power, as many people seek to do within our current party duopoly.

How about it?

Tags: libertarian brainwashing, Democratic brainwashing, Republican brainwashing, brainwashing kids