Just because my friends at Delawareliberal might miss this. . . .

. . . (and I am being utterly serious here).

In all the furor over Bob Barr's announcement yesterday that he is seeking the Libertarian presidential nomination, there is an aspect of this whole story that non-Libertarians might well have missed, and which Democrats in particular should be interested in.

Here's how far you can trust the loyalty of Bob Barr. While serving as a member of the Libertarian National Committee over the past two years, Barr has also headed a PAC that was simultaneously delivering thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Republican candidates around the country--even in races where the Libertarian Party was running candidates.

That, for my liberal friends, is not the key part (because, after all, which should jason, geek, cassandra, pandora, or dv care about the internal treacheries of opposing parties, major or minor?).

Here's my point. Among these contributions, the Barr PAC sent the following to support Georgia chickenshit ('scuse me, I meant chickenhawk) Republican Saxby Chambliss:

Georgia Senate race

Libertarian candidate: Allen Buckley

Bob Barr supported
05/08/07 Saxby Chambliss for Senate $ 500
06/22/07 Saxby Chambliss for Senate $1000
09/28/07 Saxby Chambliss for Senate $1000
01/07/08 Saxby Chambliss for Senate $1000

Total to Republican candidate [Saxby Chambliss] in George Senate race: $3,500

Total to Libertarian candidate in George Senate race: $ 0

I may never agree with my friends at DL about much, but on this we can smoke the pipe together:

Anyone who would actually raise money to support Saxby Chambliss has demonstrated that he lacks the judgment to run for President on anybody's ticket.

So, if knowing Barr co-wrote the Patriot Act, opposed civil unions and gay marriage, wants a hard-line immigration policy, supports the war on drugs, and can't seem to figure out whether to stay in Iraq or leave is not enough reason to realize he is not even a valid third-party candidate, then I guess the Saxby Chambliss litmus test will have to seal the deal.

Two interesting ironies to close out this post:

1) If you visit Allen Buckley's web site, you will actually find this reference: "See: Bob Barr's take on surveillance laws, with which I fully agree." Somebody really ought to tell the poor bastard that Barr is pumping cash into his opponent's campaign. (Moreover, if you take the time to read Buckley's take on the issues, you'll find that--aside from immigration, where he's indistinguishably different from Saxby's neolithic position--his positions are actually spelled out in detail and fairly rational. I don't agree with all of them, but I could sure go a lot further with him than with Chambliss.)

2) If you visit Saxby Chambliss's web site and click your way through the Issues, you'll be challenged to discover a single issue upon which good ole Saxhole presents an even vaguely Libertarian point of view.

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...

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...

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