Why Republicans (in general, and in Delaware) should vote Libertarian this year

George Dance makes the point at Nolan Chart that, in order to force the GOP into a more libertarian stance, voting for Gary Johnson is the only thing that makes sense.

But, in Delaware, there are even better reasons to vote Libertarian than Republican.

Let me count the ways:

1. If you vote Republican and you vote for any of the following candidates, your vote does not matter because those candidates are not going to come near enough to smell winning:

Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan

Jeff Cragg/Sher Valenzuela

Kevin Wade

Tom Kovach

Let's face it: they have no chance. There is an argument to be made for voting for Ben Mobley over Karin Weldin Stewart, and there are arguments in several districts that you might want to vote for Gregg Lavelle or Ernie Lopez (in the sense that your vote could actually help win the election), but on a statewide level the Republican Party is rapidly ceasing to be a contender. So there is no wasted vote syndrome to contend with here. The only way to truly waste your vote is with the DE GOP.

2. If you vote Libertarian, your vote can make a positive change in the national political landscape. If Gary Johnson/Jim Gray achieve 5% nationwide, the Libertarian Party achieves guaranteed ballot access in most states, and access to Federal matching funds next time around. We could actually break open the two-party system with 5%. But--to be bluntly honest--it will take a lot of libertarian-leaning Republican votes as well as independents and single-issue voters to do that. I'm predicting over 2% for Johnson/Gray, which would blow the doors off previous Libertarian candidacies, including that turncoat twit Bob Barr.

3. If you vote Libertarian, your vote can make a positive change in the political landscape in Delaware. Polling over 5% for Scott Gesty in statewide races, or at above 10% for James Christina, or Margaret Melson, or Johnny Machurek, or David Eisenhour, or Ronnie Fitzgerald, or Amy Merlino or a dozen other Libertarian candidates will not only contribute to the continued rise of a socially tolerant, fiscally conservative, peace-oriented Libertarian Party, but it will force the GOP in Delaware to become more Libertarian . . . or die.

(And by the way, if you live in the district like I do that has been besieged by endless Mike Katz and Greg Lavelle flyers, you should vote for Marcia DaVinci Groff just because she didn't send any out.)

Delaware Republicans, over the last several years, have been doing what the national party is doing, which is to say: going the way of the Whigs Which means out. If you are a socially moderate GOPer, they do not want you around. The Great Spaghetti Monster help you if you're LGBT, cause most of the Republicans in Delaware can't even stand to be in the same room with you.

This year, vote Libertarian, you Republicans. You own party left you standing there with your pockets hanging inside out. Thank them by not voting

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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