RedStateEclectic

The rEVOLution Continues?

The RLC blog has a great post today, written by Jay Bailey, dealing with the potential for infighting between the Paul and Johnson camps.  Much food for thought in this Part 1 of what will be a 2 part article (I think):

So let us put this behind us. I thought this was a revolution. I’ve been seeing much more hate than love recently.

This is not the Ron Paul movement. It is not the Gary Johnson movement. This is the libertarian movement, and the more soldiers for liberty we have the more successful our fight will be.

I’m looking forward to Part 2.

People Are Cows

Jeffry Goldberg at The Atlantic has a two part series on his experience with the TSA scanners.

"People are cows," I say.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean they'll do whatever the federal government tells them to do," I say.
"How come you don't go through the machine?" he asks me.
I give him several more answers than he expected:
1) I prefer to limit my exposure to radiation, which the back-scatter imager produces;
2) I don't think this new technology will stop terrorism;
3) I find the idea of the government taking pictures of my genitalia a discomfiting invasion of privacy;
4) I find the specific pose a person is forced to take inside the machine -- hands up, as in a mugging -- particularly debasing.
"Okay," he says, "have a nice flight."

I think people may start to say “enough is enough.”  But maybe not soon enough.

 

LLE

The Fun Half

Reason Blog has a quick post on the nature of the Tea Party:

If the Tea Party seems schizo—what with all of the "Get Government Out of My Medicare" business—that's because it's a house divided. Or at least a lean-to partitioned by a sheet strung on a clothesline. The traditional conservatism of half the crowd is easier for outsiders to grasp, and easier to capture in polls. But buried in the crowd are findings like this one, which reveal something else is going on in the ranks besides the same old conservative Republican ticked-offness:

When asked whether the Republican or Democratic Party has the best ideas to fix government, 80 percent of tea party libertarians said “neither can be trusted,” compared to 64 percent of conservatives.

Targeting Small Businesses

Cute way to bring awareness of a stupid law.

HT: Eric Larson’s Facebook page!

Where do libertarians Belong?

 

Discussions worth having, I think.

Judge Nap: Bush and Cheney Should Have Been Indicted

Ralph Nader and Judge Andrew Napolitano chat about the Constitution and “Lies the Government Told You” (Napolitano’s great book). 

“Couldn’t Sell Ice Water in a Desert”

Michael Badnarik’s speech to the libertarian Party this year.

“Rude ad hominem attacks.”  “Libertarians are lazy.”  “There is no silver bullet.” 

  Same guy’s video, Part 2.

The Real Right

The Southern Avenger strikes again!

Stop Debating!

A brilliant lesson from Michael Badnarik:

Sherriff, I’m Obliged To Ye’

The Colorado State University Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to place students at both of its campuses in harm’s way with a sweeping weapons ban law-abiding citizens will obey and criminals will ignore.

Larimer County Sheriff James Alderden, outraged by the ban, told The Gazette’s opinion department he will undermine it in the interest of student safety.

CSU-Fort Collins Police Chief Wendy Rich-Goldsmith, a relative newcomer to the campus, supports the ban.

“I have told the CSU police chief I will not support this in any way,” Sheriff Alderden told The Gazette. “If anyone with one of my permits gets arrested for concealed carry at CSU, I will refuse to book that person into my jail. Furthermore, I will show up at court and testify on that person’s behalf, and I will do whatever I can to discourage a conviction. I will not be a party to this very poor decision.”

Though each CSU campus has its own police department, Alderden issues all cops on the Fort Collins campus a deputy sheriff’s commission card. He also runs the county’s jail, which campus police use after making arrests.

Alderden said ban advocates have been unable to cite a single study or statistic to show that students will be safer as a result of a weapons ban. He’s convinced they will be much less safe as a result of the ban, which will leave most students defenseless. The ban establishes the campuses as “soft targets,” meaning armed criminals will have a reasonable expectation their intended victims aren’t armed.