A collection of miscellany, as Gary Johnson courts pagans, pot smokers, and Paulistas

Endorsed by a former witch,
Christine O'Donnell, Mitt Romney
flip-flops again by pandering
at witch-fearing Liberty U.

. . . like the fact that while Mitt Romney was posturing his evangelical cred at Liberty University, where students can get fined, sentenced to community service, or even expelled for

Involvement with witchcraft, séances or other satanic or demonic activity

. . . Libertarian Gary Johnson actually courts the "pagan vote"--having attended a Pagan Town Hall media event a couple months ago:

I asked Johnson for his feelings about the Pagan Media Town Hall. He said, “It was a very positive experience. I’ve had the good fortune to see a bit of the world and there are other beliefs and the whole notion of doing unto others and you’d have done unto you is not just a Christian idea. That is an idea that is spiritual. The Pagan [Media] Town Hall was a spiritual experience and I enjoyed it.”

Gary Johnson at the Pagan Town
Hall in November 2011. Not kidding,
real screenshot from event.

Remember, those of you who prefer the Flying Spaghetti Monster to Skydad, Gary Johnson is the first serious contender (as in actually having a resume that qualifies him for the job) to run for President without flaunting his Christianity:

Johnson, who said he doesn’t go to church, made it clear he doesn’t think “religion should play a role in government.”

“I don’t seek the counsel of God,” Johnson said. “God doesn’t speak to me on what I should or shouldn’t do.”

Asked about his religious beliefs, Johnson said,“I haven’t gone to church since I finished my confirmation as a Lutheran.”

Gary Johnson favors marijuana
legalization. Note the "Big
Johnson" h/t for kavips.

Meanwhile, the Marijuana Policy Project is predicting (or at least hoping) that in light of President Obama's many broken promises about the "war on drugs," that there will be a significant protest for Gary.

I also picked up this little gem, as the ACLU's rating of Gary Johnson as being better on civil rights that Barack Obama even penetrated Democratic Underground a couple weeks ago:

This is the ACLU's comparison of this year's candidates' record on upholding civil liberties in this country. Of course, Obama beats out all the Republican candidates(though just barely beating out Ron Paul). However, the sad thing is Obama is ranked below Gary Johnson, a Republican candidate who switched to Libertarian. Johnson beats out Obama handily.

I'm not advocating that we vote for Johnson, but it is a sad day when a Democrat gets beaten out by a Libertarian on the issue of civil liberties.

And finally, in New Mexico, Gary continues to receive strong press coverage, which is critical to his best hopes of early breakthrough numbers as a "favorite son." Sunshine State News ran one story on Gary Johnson courting Ron Paul supporters, and another mention in the story covering Rasmussen's announcement that an independent Ron Paul run would garner 13% nationwide. (This is even more significant for the fact that the original Rasmussen posting made no reference to Johnson.)

A Libertarian Martin Luther King Jr. Day post

In which we travel into interesting waters . . . (for a fairly long trip, so be prepared) Dr. King's 1968 book, Where do we go from here: chaos or community? , is profound in that it criticizes anti-poverty programs for their piecemeal approach, as John Schlosberg of the Center for a Stateless Society [C4SS] observes: King noted that the antipoverty programs of the time “proceeded from a premise that poverty is a consequence of multiple evils,” with separate programs each dedicated to individual issues such as education and housing. Though in his view “none of these remedies in itself is unsound,” they “all have a fatal disadvantage” of being “piecemeal,” with their implementation having “fluctuated at the whims of legislative bodies” or been “entangled in bureaucratic stalling.” The result is that “fragmentary and spasmodic reforms have failed to reach down to the profoundest needs of the poor.” Such single-issue approaches also have “another common failing — ...

More of This, Please

Or perhaps I should say, "Less of this one, please." Or how about just, "None of them. Ever again. Please....For the Love of God." Sunshine State Poll: Grayson In Trouble The latest Sunshine State/VSS poll shows controversial Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson trailing former state Senator Dan Webster by seven points, 43 percent to 36 percent. A majority of respondents -- 51 percent -- disapprove of the job that Grayson is doing. Independents have an unfavorable view of him as well, by a 36/47 margin. Grayson has ignored the conventional wisdom that a freshman should be a quiet member who carefully tends to the home fires. The latest controversy involves his " Taliban Dan " advertisement, where he explicitly compares his opponent to the Taliban, and shows a clip of Webster paraphrasing Ephesians 5:22 -- "wives, submit to your husbands." An unedited version of the clip shows that Webster was actually suggesting that husba...

A reply to Salon's R. J. Eskrow, and his 11 stupid questions about Libertarians

Posts here have been in short supply as I have been living life and trying to get a campaign off the ground. But "11 questions to see if Libertarians are hypocrites" by R. J. Eskrow, picked up at Salon , was just so freaking lame that I spent half an hour answering them. In the end (but I'll leave it to your judgment), it is not that Libertarians or Libertarian theory looks hypocritical, but that the best that can be said for Mr. Eskrow is that he doesn't have the faintest clue what he's talking about. That's ok, because even ill-informed attacks by people like this make an important point: Libertarian ideas (as opposed to Conservative ideas, which are completely different) are making a comeback as the dynamic counterpoint to "politics as usual," and so every hack you can imagine must be dragged out to refute them. Ergo: Mr. Eskrow's 11 questions, with answers: 1. Are unions, political parties, elections, and ...

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