Today's political news briefs

The difference between Libertarians and Republicans: Gary Johnson wants to cut the defense budget by 43%. House Republicans just voted a half-billion more for war than President Obama requested.

Everybody talked about how W came into the White House already bent upon attacking Iraq. Apparently, the same was true of President Obama, but when your attacks are launched from cyber-space they don't count.

Reuters thinks that marijuana legalization on the Colorado ballot could be make-or-break for President Obama, but strangely omits mention of the only pro-legalization candidate out there, Gary Johnson.

Politico does not have the same blind-spot:

It's not clear, however, that Obama is in any real danger sharing a ballot with this initiative in Colorado. For all the disappointment in the marijuana reform community with Obama, it's hard to imagine pro-marijuana voters breaking for Mitt Romney either — who scolded a reporter for even asking about pot.

The real alternative for pro-marijuana reform voters is Gary Johnson — the Republican-turned-libertarian candidate and admitted medical marijuana user. But a recent New Mexico poll showed that when Johnson polls strong, he mostly hurts Romney. The latest New Mexico numbers (Johnson's home state) show the former two-term governor at 12 percent, with Romney trailing Obama 35 to 48 percent.

And while many are predicting doom, gloom, and destruction for third parties in California's new "top two" election system, Libertarian Gail Lightfoot is within two points of proving them wrong.

Comments

Anonymous said…

That story this week about the cyber attacks was stunning.

How little people seem to be upset about the matter is depressing.

John Galt

June 2, 2012 at 9:55 PM

Comment Rescue (?) and child-related gun violence in Delaware

In my post about the idiotic over-reaction to a New Jersey 10-year-old posing with his new squirrel rifle , Dana Garrett left me this response: One waits, apparently in vain, for you to post the annual rates of children who either shoot themselves or someone else with a gun. But then you Libertarians are notoriously ambivalent to and silent about data and facts and would rather talk abstract principles and fear monger (like the government will confiscate your guns). It doesn't require any degree of subtlety to see why you are data and fact adverse. The facts indicate we have a crisis with gun violence and accidents in the USA, and Libertarians offer nothing credible to address it. Lives, even the lives of children, get sacrificed to the fetishism of liberty. That's intellectual cowardice. OK, Dana, let's talk facts. According to the Children's Defense Fund , which is itself only querying the CDCP data base, fewer than 10 children/teens were killed per year in Delaw

The Obligatory Libertarian Tax Day Post

The most disturbing factoid that I learned on Tax Day was that the average American must now spend a full twenty-four hours filling out tax forms. That's three work days. Or, think of it this way: if you had to put in two hours per night after dinner to finish your taxes, that's two weeks (with Sundays off). I saw a talking head economics professor on some Philly TV channel pontificating about how Americans procrastinate. He was laughing. The IRS guy they interviewed actually said, "Tick, tick, tick." You have to wonder if Governor Ruth Ann Minner and her cohorts put in twenty-four hours pondering whether or not to give Kraft Foods $708,000 of our State taxes while demanding that school districts return $8-10 million each?

New Warfare: I started my posts with a discussion.....

.....on Unrestricted warfare . The US Air force Institute for National Security Studies have developed a reasonable systems approach to deter non-state violent actors who they label as NSVA's. It is an exceptionally important report if we want to deter violent extremism and other potential violent actors that could threaten this nation and its security. It is THE report our political officials should be listening to to shape policy so that we do not become excessive in using force against those who do not agree with policy and dispute it with reason and normal non-violent civil disobedience. This report, should be carefully read by everyone really concerned with protecting civil liberties while deterring violent terrorism and I recommend if you are a professional you send your recommendations via e-mail at the link above so that either 1.) additional safeguards to civil liberties are included, or 2.) additional viable strategies can be used. Finally, one can only hope that politici

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