[Mini-podcast] TrumpCareis Proof the GOP is Socialist

Repeal TrumpCare! This ObamaCare Lite bill is all the evidence conservatives should need that the GOP is socialist and the GOP's leaders and elected officials are betraying America AGAIN. Also, libertarians who support the Trump administration in its growing government faster than marijuana grows in Humboldt need to seriously rethink their worldview.

#RepealTrumpCare

Stream or download at Soundcloud

Is the Left Really More Evil Than the Right?

The question needs asking: is the Left really more evil than the Right?

Anyone who's slightly right-of-center has likely watched black-clad anarchists with hammer and sickle flags smashing up store fronts, starting bonfires in the streets, and brawling with the cops.  It's probably sent a chill down their spines.  I see an increasing ideological problem arising in libertarian circles: conservatives and libertarians are buying into the us-versus-them mentality to vilify the left, at the expense of giving conservatives a free pass on violent hypocrisy.  

People on the Right are rightfully concerned about violent neo-Communists, but they're ignoring the neo-Nazis.  Revolutionary and institutional fascism alike are equally willing to end lives and expropriate private property for the sake of the state, and always has, no matter how vehemently conservatives, the alt-right, and the far-right libertarian wannabes (anyone who does the "Roman" salute).  Soviet Socialism was certainly a plague on humanity, especially in the developing world, but so were the CIA and DEA. Remember, when Mises and Hayek fled Europe, it wasn't Communism they were fleeing for their lives.  So concern over militant leftism but not militant rightism is willful blindness.

Besides, the Right will always be the real evil, in my honest opinion. Liberals are all about high taxes and abortion. The radical leftists will take to the streets and break things when they don't get their way.  It was the same in Berkeley in 1968, and it was the same in Petrograd in 1917 and 1905. What else is new?  Republicans seem to have amnesia over the excessive force that was applied to Ron Paul supporters in 2012.

The police colluded with the GOP to assault and arrest Ron Paul supporters after they won the majority of delegates at the Louisiana GOP Convention.  Fingers were broken.

The police were in cahoots with the GOP to arrest Ron Paul supporters at the Missouri GOP Caucus.  When Ron Paul was winning the delegate race, the Missouri GOP revoked their credentials and had them physically removed.

Republicans in Orlando stomped on the feet of a Ron Paul supporter wearing flip flops for the high crime of holding a Ron Paul sign outside the National Convention.  

Ron Paul delegates in Orlando had their credentials stripped in mass.  I also met and spoke with a delegate who was kidnapped on Orlando's infamous Bus to Nowhere that unfortunately didn't arrive at the Convention Center in time for the Paul delegates to vote.  In addition, I've met others who claim marijuana was planted in their hotel rooms--this was back in 2012 when possession in the South was more than a slap on the wrist.

So while the Left breaks windows and blocks on-ramps, and every once in a while beats up a Donald Trump supporter, Republicans and a few libertarians with GOP Stockholm Syndrome play into the partisan game.  Libertarians and Republicans seem to find some common ground in denigrating the Left together, but all the libertarians in this situation do is buy into the statists' us-versus-them game.  

In their growing hatred of the Left, the embers of resentment fanned by hatemongers like Chris "I say cuck way too damn much" Cantwell and wackos like Alex "Cocaine tantrums" Jones.  There is no outcry from these people over the vandalized mosques and synagogues, the statistical increase in attacks against immigrants and minorities in this country,

But conservatives are the ones who were supposed to lower taxes, reign in federal spending, protect unborn life, maintain a humble foreign policy, preserve the rights of states from federal overreach according to the Bill of Rights. And what have we gotten? Boots on the ground in Syria, TrumpCare with the individual mandate intact, an Attorney General who has said on more than one occasion that he plans to prosecute legal recreational marijuana (because, according to Spicer and Sessions, when the Trump campaign said 'states rights', they only meant medical marijuana), and abortion still happens on the daily in Trump's America.

The leaders of the Right betrayed America, and most ordinary conservatives supported them the whole way.  Republicans are still making excuses to support Donald Trump, even though he's doing variations of the same crap the Obama Administration did.  This goes to show that a majority of Trump's supporters aren't really as married to their principles as they think they are.  They're not really as dedicated to the practice of conservative values as they think they are, or else they'd already have tarred and feathered 90% of the Republicans in Washington D.C. (both in the Legislative and Executive Branches).

We know the Left is "bad."  They're too wishy-washy on civil liberties and plain awful on property rights, and that leaves room for huge problems down the road. That's always been obvious.  But the Right are the snakes in the grass, who will talk in your face about 'principles over party' while they raise your taxes, fund abortion clinics, and drop more bombs on brown people (because WWJD don't matter to the "Christian" Right anymore).

So yes. The Right is evil. Perhaps the true evil, more so than the Left.  The Left is at least honest about their big government SJW utopian drivel. I can easily point to 3 books: Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto, Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, and Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, and feel comfortable saying these 3 books pretty accurately summarize the Left.  We know exactly what the different Left factions believe and what they want to accomplish.

But the Right... we get volumes of propaganda from the Right about their moral superiority to liberals, even though conservatives are at this very moment giving America more of the same that we already had under Obama.they are the snakes.  The Right is the greater evil.  They're still lying to America.  Mexico's going to pay for that wall, not the American taxpayer, right?!

Yeah yeah yeah, the Left is "bad."  The Right is "worse."  Let's just break the Left-Right paradigm and focus on minimum versus maximum state presence, and maximum versus minimum individual liberty.

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Images courtesy of Old American Century.

[Mini-podcast] GOP and Pot: What Happened to States' Rights?!

From 'My LPeeps! Libertarian Mini-podcast'

Sean Spicer warned that the Feds are coming after recreational marijuana and the DOJ threatened the Moapa Paiute Nation over the 2017 High Times Cannabis Cup, even though the Moapa Paiutes are a sovereign nation AND marijuana is legal in Nevada... Republicans, WHAT happened to states' rights?!

So far:

1. Mexico is NOT paying for the wall, but maybe will someday through... tariffs?
2. The GOP's ObamaCare Lite still has an individual mandate
3. The meaning of states' rights has suddenly changed to what's convenient for Jeff Sessions

With Republican policies like these, who needs Democrats?!

Listen on Soundcloud

Open Borders: Lesser Threat to Life and Property than the Trump State

President Trump was the target for sharp criticism after enacting a temporary but ongoing ban on immigration from predominantly Muslim countries.  While President Trump has certainly earned his share of criticism for hostility to immigration, Americans shouldn’t forget that the Democrat Party plantation hardly cares for immigrants either.  Both parties want a central strong state and naturally oppose the libertarian concept of open borders.  It’s still a hardly-spoken of secret on the Left that President Obama’s administration deported 29% more undocumented immigrants than George W. Bush’s administration.

Democrats will oppose open borders just as easily as the most conservative Republican.  Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006.  Democrat Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren just recently introduced a bill that removes the per-country cap on H1-B visa applicants, but it also more-than-doubles the minimum salary of applicants to $130,000.  If passed, the only other way applicants can get their H1-B visa is for the company hiring them to pay the government an extortion fee of 200% the applicant’s annual salary.  Therefore, companies would be paying three times for the value of one highly skilled worker.  This economy-killing legislation could have been pulled straight from a chapter of Atlas Shrugged.

Physicist Michio Kaku claims that the ongoing Information Revolution has a weakness, and that weakness is America’s educational system.  “If the stupid index of America keeps rising every year… how come the scientific establishment in the United States doesn’t collapse?

Read more at The Libertarian Republic

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A Message to the Libertarian Party from Uncle Ruckus

"Now now now, I don't wanna hear no talk ‘bout making liberal America sane again from any of y’all dang ol' America hatin' Wesley Snipes tax rebels!  Donald Trump is the most libertarian public soyvant since White Jesus! 

Only reason any of y’all Murray Rothbard peace-on-earth dope-smokin’ hippie types hate this great man is ‘cause he wants to make America great again!  He’s actually filled out in his life what y’all unemployable Freedom! t-shirt-wearin’ basement-of-yo-momma’s-house podcast-blogging Libertarian delegates fear most: a job application. 

Well guess what: ain’t no Libertarians gonna get elected, so ya might as well work with the Grandest Old Party and other great libertarian men like Paul Ryan and Steve Bannon so we can get somethin’ done around here.

I thank God and His divine messenger Ronald Reagan for bringing us this incredible libertarian man who don’t give no damn 'bout cultural Marxist beta-cuck issues like savin’ the black man from going to jail for the rest of his life over weed.  He shoulda thought about that befo’ he broke the law!

Y’all wicked little godless reason-loving atheist commies better hope the greatest libertarian on the planet don’t use Immigration and Customs Enforcement to physically remove yo’ black-and-yellow asses back to Ancapistan, Mexico where y’all came from.  It’d soyve you right, and y’all 420 canna-bunnies can have all the gay Jew Nazi cakes you want!

All y’all Fedora neckbeard anarchists leave these nice Republicans alone, now, you hear?  Now git off muh roads!" 

--The Reverend Father Uncle Ruckus, no relation

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Uncle Ruckus is the property of Aaron McGruder and Sony Pictures Television.  Image from YouTube.  In case you hadn't figured it out, this post is satire.

Why Austin Petersen Should Run for US Senate as a Republican

Published by Liberty Hangout

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Austin Petersen is publicly exploring the prospect of running for U.S. Senate in Missouri on the Republican ticket.  This has caused quite the uproar in the ranks of the Libertarian Party.  Frankly, and I say this simultaneously as a pragmatist, a radical sympathizer, and somewhat of a party loyalist (only because I won’t sit quietly while it’s taken over by weed snitches and progress-anchors), I think we should let the whole AP crowd go with our blessings.

They obviously don’t feel at home in the party.  They obviously don’t feel welcome in its ranks.  Like many party members outside the AP camp, they feel disappointed and that their party could have done better in 2016.  I get it.  All I ask of them is that, if this experiment doesn’t work and they come back to the LP, that they try it someone else’s way.

In my opinion, we needed to... (Read more)

2 out of 3 are Liberty Candidates!

This article makes the assumption that Rand Paul will remain the frontrunner in the presidential race and be the Republican Party’s nominee on the November 2016 ballot.  No other Republican candidate will be good enough for a stalwart libertarian like me.

2016 will be a much better election year for the liberty movement than 2012.  Back then, Ron Paul had to claw and scrape his way to getting two minutes of speaking time out of two-hour-long debates.  Moderators and major networks never took him seriously, except for the times they’d briefly mention him to drive home how ‘crazy’ he was, or to remind themselves that he was ‘unelectable’.  Worst of all, the libertarian ideas Ron advocated were deeply misunderstood. 2012 wasn’t our year.

This time, our libertarian ideas actually have a shot at being heard and accepted.  Rand Paul is being taken much more seriously than Ron was.  This is due in no small part to Ron blitzing America like a kamikaze in 2012, with ideas like “end the Fed,” “end foreign aid,” and “legalize drugs”.  Because Ron took the full blast of heat in 2012, America in 2016 can find it more palatable when Rand pushes ideas like “let’s fully audit the Fed,” “we can start cutting aid to this list of countries,” and “let’s end the War on Drugs, which is really a war on the black community.”

To make a long story short, Rand Paul’s candidacy excites me.  Sure, he isn’t a pure libertarian like his father, but making that constant comparison is getting silly.  ‘Conservatarian’ Rand Paul will take mainstream America MUCH closer to libertarianism than Hillary Clinton, that’s for damn sure!

I’m also excited that Gary Johnson will be running for president again on the Libertarian Party ticket.  Though I’ve long-since agreed to actually cast my general election vote for Rand, I can see the importance of Gary’s candidacy.  Many in the liberty movement are concerned that Gary running against Rand will ‘divide’ the libertarian vote in America.

I disagree.

If there exists any 'division' within the liberty movement, it runs along these lines:

1. Most libertarians will ultimately swallow their pride and support Rand. They realize that, despite his ‘impurities’ he’s worlds above the other rabble playing the Ronald Reagan name card.
2. Libertarian Party members will vote for Gary Johnson because the Party needs to run candidates in order to function as a Party and not as a weekly tea social.  For some of these folks, Rand might not be ‘good enough’.  They have every right then to run a candidate that better represents them.
3.  Libertarians and libertarian sympathizers who don’t much care for either Rand or Gary will stay home and find creative life hacks that defy government regulations.  Their focus is on advancing liberty through action, not politics.

Judge Napolitano recently said, "I want Rand to win."

Frankly, the liberty movement needs all three groups of people.  We NEED Rand, we NEED Gary, and we even NEED a liberty-advancing alternative for those who are sick of politics.  In the long-run, people are already aligned for what they’ll do or who they’ll support in 2016.  Because libertarians are notorious for sticking to their principles, there'll simply be no arguing with these three groups.

I’m still incredibly excited just to know that I could be seeing Rand Paul and Gary Johnson both on the general election ballot.  Though the Libertarian Party is a smaller party, it’s still the third largest party in the United States.  This means that, of the three biggest American political parties on the November ballot, two out of three candidates will be liberty candidates.

I say again, two out of three general election candidates will be representing libertarian ideas and policy objectives.

Only the Democrat candidate, probably Darth Hillary, will be the candidate representing corruption, government surveillance, and corporate fascism.  The other two candidates will starkly contrast; their platforms will differ from tyranny and instead offer a mostly-libertarian option (Rand) and a super-libertarian option (Gary).

Absolutely nothing about the 2012 election looked like this, and I count all of our lucky stars that years of hard work and activism are finally starting to pay off.  I can only imagine one day in the future when libertarian ideas will have so deeply infiltrated politics, that all three parties’ candidates will be different shades of libertarian.

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ENTER the Rand Paul writing contest!

Images courtesy of aLibertarianFuture.com

Five Libertarian Ideas #29 - Capitalism, Race, and Humanity

Free market legacies

It inspires me to think of a lasting legacy that productive people can leave in a free market. Think of some of America's breweries that have continuously been in business for two hundred years. Think of some of your favorite bestselling authors today. Long after they're dead, their books will still be selling on Amazon and in major bookstores. -10/26

Future historians debating about humans

Someday intelligent beings from other universes will be debating over human history, possibly even the way humans regarded the sanctity of human life. The leftist aliens will call us racist for only regarding human life instead of extraterrestrial life as well. As we today regard the Roman Empire or the Southern States, the conservative aliens will argue that it was a different time and they should regard us in that context. Then a very small faction of aliens will know that humans who believed in the sanctity of human life showed much more compassion and tolerance for living things than most of their own species. -10/29

Race and martyrdom

The easiest way for a person to be immortalized and lionized in this country is to be murdered by someone of a different race. Then the people will protest and march in the thousands, chanting your name and holding up your photo. However, don't screw it up by getting offed by someone of the same race as you. Sure, that murderer hated you--or maybe it was 'just business'--but he hated you as an individual, not as a member of a group. Only your family and friends will mourn you. There will be no rallies, no candlelight vigils, because Charlatans posing as leaders will make no money off you in their deceptive crusade to keep racism alive. -11/3

The GOP in the 2014 midterm elections

My heartfelt hopes and prayers go to Arturo Alas, Jack Orswell, and Joe Gardner in Southern California, and to Curtis Ayotte in Maine. With the exception of the libertarian faction, I hope the Republican Party loses as much as possible today. I want them to hurt. It gives me nothing but joy to see the GOP reaping its due harvest from the seeds of corruption and neoconservatism. The Right needs more pain before they truly learn their lesson. -11/4

Diversity and liberty

I love the diversity you see in the liberty movement, in race, culture, and counterculture. All these different people from various walks of life come together at conferences, plotting to leave you the hell alone. -11/8

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South wall of a mural depicting Detroit industry, painted by Diego Rivera. Image courtesy of Fine Art America and used via Fair Use.

Art Alas and the war refugees

One of the things that sickened me most recently about the "Grand" Old Party was the way they spoke of the Central American child refugees, as if they were trash. Say what you want about adult immigrants who come here illegally, but the God I believe in will hold people accountable for the way they treated these children. Art Alas is a different kind of Republican.

Make no mistake, the Central American children are war refugees fleeing from a vicious criminal insurgency. The violence in Central America is an extension of the Mexican Drug War, which is actually a multi-sided civil war created in part by the Obama Administration's policies and constant meddling in foreign affairs.

The Mexican drug lords are warlords ruling over large territories. The cartels are paramilitary insurgent armies mixing guerrilla warfare with crime and terrorism. The main culprits of violence in Central America are the transnational gangs MS-13 and M-18, or 18th Street. MS-13 are auxiliaries working/fighting for the Sinaloa Cartel while M-18 work/fight for the Zetas Cartel. Theirs is the violence the immigrant children are escaping.

Art, being a man of integrity, acted with leadership and compassion.

Art said,"We need to put politics aside and do something to help these kids. We need to help them NOW." He organized a relief effort with Hearts for Humanity to gather vital supplies (food, toiletries, etc.) for these kids who are alone in a strange country, their fates completely out of their hands. Charity by choice!

It baffles me how members of Congress in both parties could be so eager to make war in the Middle East, yet they could so easily ignore child war refugees on our own doorstep. They may as well have turned their backs on Jesus in His final suffering.

Art believes that we need to secure our borders to keep criminals and terrorists out of our country. I agree with this. I also agree with Art that "Jesus said, Suffer [the] little children, and forbid them not to come unto me" and "Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 19:14, 25:40).  Therefore, Art and his dedicated corps of volunteers put politics aside to do something for the children.

This is the kind of integrity virtually nonexistent on Capitol Hill. Art Alas is the kind of man I want representing me in Washington.

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Art Alas campaign photo courtesy of ElectAlas.com.

Arturo Alas for Congress

Let me start by saying that I hate political commercials and I hope you do too. This isn't a commercial; it's information you need to know.

After the painful 2012 election cycle I'm largely inactive in electoral politics. I'm making an exception for Arturo Alas (Art, as I know him).

I got in trouble a lot on the campaign trail for my brutal honesty. After a few minutes of speaking with someone, I can tell if they're full of it or not (and I often let them know). I've met and spoken with Art multiple times and he's genuine.

One of the reasons I detest most politicians is twofold. First, too many of them skip the real world. They go from university to a political internship to running for office (and usually paid for by special interests). Second, these professional bureaucrats are so arrogant to tell us that THEY know how to create jobs.

Art, on the other hand, is the son of immigrants and a self-made businessman. He knows firsthand how jobs are (and aren't) created.

"As long as taxes are high and regulations are literally written by corporate lobbyists, small businesses will never be able to grow and employ more people." Art also says, "As long as government is creating jobs when private business can't, taxes will continue to go up and lobbyists will write more regulations."

Art Alas is right on the money with his pro-free market, pro-liberty, and international-non-interventionist ideas.  Art represents a libertarian-leaning platform that, when applied, will be an excellent starting point for scaling back big government and government-made oppression.  These are practical avenues for political solutions.

Better yet, I believe in Art and what he stands for. I left the Republican Party months ago but I've always placed principles over personality. I share Art's principles and so I'll support this Republican because I believe he represents me during a time when most "leaders" don't deserve to represent you and I.

I'm Zach Foster, and I'm backing Art Alas for Congress in 2014.

Five Libertarian Ideas #3

World War I

World War I be damned! The Fed inflated currency for an Allied victory. WWI gave us the Armenian genocide. It gave us the rise of the Bolsheviks and a charming country called the Soviet Union. The lines in Africa and the Middle East were re-drawn with no regard for ethnic/religious rivalries. Worst of all, WWI and the lopsided Versailles Treaty gave us the Nazi Party and eventually World War II. Mr. Wilson, the war DID NOT make the world safe for democracy! —12/09

Private drones

I'm not a fan of Amazon.com having its private fleet of drones. Private drones can violate our right to privacy just as easily as government models. Better yet, any developments Amazon funds in drone technology can easily be taken over by the government in a time of war. —12/10

Rand Paul 2016

I highly respect the Libertarian Party. Hell, I even voted for Gary Johnson in November 2012. Still, I must say this: let's not split up the liberty vote in the 2016 presidential election. If Rand Paul is good enough for Ron Paul, then he's good enough for me. Rand's presidency will be a big step up for liberty if he's able to do even half of what he's been lobbying for in the Senate. —12/11

Balancing the right to life

A woman in Michigan nearly died because the Catholic hospital she was a patient at refused to perform an emergency abortion of a stillborn baby. This is disturbing! Private institutions have every right to not perform certain procedures per freedom of religion, but it's their responsibility to provide timely options for treatments at other hospitals so their patents' lives aren't jeopardized. If institutions don't regulate themselves, the American people will regulate them through big government liberalism. —12/12

GOP/Libertarian Party partnerships

Talking with many liberty activists, I see an EXCELLENT tactic on the rise. In Republican-controlled and swing districts, we run libertarians for Congress and state legislatures on the Republican ticket while the Libertarian Party runs candidates for city council and school board. In leftist districts where the GOP has no chance, the LP runs candidates for major office as dialogue changers while the LP and GOP partner on local races. The liberty movement will eventually dominate American politics as long as we continue putting principles before party. —12/13

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Drone image courtesy of AGX Technologia via CC BY-SA 3.0 license.  LP UK image courtesy of T.D. Fleming via CC BY-SA 3.0 license.  Both images obtained via Wikimedia Commons.

Libertarians, Don’t Get Too Excited About the Shutdown

Furloughed workers pissed off at us

While Republicans have been nearly giddy about the government shutdown—hailing this as a victory over the Obama Administration—the libertarian crowd has been all kinds of excited about the debacle for different reasons.

The primary reason libertarians have been happy is the seeming anarchy ensuing from the shutdown.  By no means has this been a chaotic anarchy, but rather an orderly one.  While state and local police continue their regular law enforcement duties, the overwhelming majority of federal agents—of all departments and agencies—have been on an indefinite furlough.  Yet the market economy has shown that life goes on.

Most of American society has been running quite smoothly, and after a week-long dip from the shock of the shutdown, the Dow Jones has actually consistently risen.  Libertarians and conservatives alike are also glad that the furlough of nonessential employees has shown us exactly where the federal government can be cut in the future in order to lower national spending.

This is all fine and dandy, but there are reasons for libertarians and conservatives alike to beware the shutdown and not to jump on the excitement bandwagon.  Frankly speaking, this government shutdown will have negative consequences for the liberty movement.  One example:

It’s most unfortunate that Senator Ted Cruz has been painted as the mastermind of the shutdown, since it was really the brainchild of eighty Republicans from the House Neo-Fascist Caucus.  Nonetheless, Cruz is getting massive heat following his filibuster to prevent the passage of the Affordable Care Act, so affectionately known as ObamaCare (which Mitt Romney actually invented).  This is a perfect example of how the liberty movement is to be seen.

The LIBERTY Republican blamed for this unpopular mess

Many from the left gave Senator Rand Paul a nod of approval when he pulled his thirteen-hour filibuster over the drones subject.  The same was not so for Cruz’s filibuster.  Remember, the left is the left for a reason; there’s a huge difference between protesting so the government will stop assassinating its own citizens, and protesting so the poor won’t be offered cheap health insurance.

Yes, I know the Affordable Care Act is a bad idea.  I know it will destroy jobs and businesses, ultimately make health insurance more expensive, and lower the overall quality of health care.  Trust me people, you’re preaching to the choir.  It still doesn’t change the reality of the present situation.

The whole idea of shutting down the government—at this time, in the way it was done—was stupid.  No other word can describe such a hair-brained scheme by House Republicans.

The truth is that a lot of people are hurting. The government created a situation where 800,000 public workers are directly dependent on government for their livelihood. Much as I believe we should cut those jobs in the near future (with enough notice for the workers to find another job), we have to face the here and now.

As a libertarian, I'm all for limiting government and doing it fast, but we can't just bury our heads in libertarian economic theory. We have to face the reality: shutting down the government the way it was done this time means 800,000 families are getting no income for making ends meet.  They’re going to blame someone for their stopped income, and I doubt they’ll magically turn libertarian and blame their source of income—government.

I'm libertarian through and through, but this government shutdown was a BAD idea. Let's face it: the GOP made this shutdown happen and the shutdown's been incredibly unpopular.  That means it's discredited the entire party, which now makes it 100 times harder for libertarian Republicans to run for office in 2014.

We’re no longer the crowd who passionately fought against two dictatorial administrations to preserve everyone’s civil liberties.  We’re now the bullies who prevented poor people from getting health insurance and who put 800,000 people out of work with no warning.

Many who have fallen under the spell of the Democrat Plantation and the promises of the Affordable Care Act honestly can’t distinguish between a neoconservative and a Constitutional conservative/libertarian.  Simply having an R after one’s last name on the ballot will cost a great many votes in the 2014 midterm elections.  Even worse, if the liberty movement doesn’t go into overdrive NOW to distinguish between our movement and the neo-fascist Republicans, this shutdown will cost Rand Paul a LOT of votes in 2016.

Face it, Obama won the election and his party controls the Senate and the Supreme Court.  ObamaCare is happening whether we like it or not.  If Congressional Republicans wanted to score a victory, it would have been wise to argue from the beginning only to remove the individual mandate.  They should have just let ObamaCare happen so it would take effect and be a total disaster.  THEN they could have said "We were right all along!"

Unfortunately, the economy further tanking from excessive government intervention will now be blamed on the GOP for shutting the government down.

In review, the shutdown did show which jobs can be cut in the future, but it also resulted in the following:

--It failed to prevent ObamaCare from launching

--It failed to repeal the individual mandate

--It severely weakened Republicans’ collective bargaining power in Congress

--It made the Republican Party severely unpopular, strengthening statist Democrats by default

--It will make 2016 elections incredibly difficult and 2014 elections a suicide mission for the liberty movement

The inevitable increase of seats won by statist Democrats in upcoming elections will result in more government, a national economy further harmed, and more of our liberties stripped away.

So, are you still happy about the shutdown?

The great leader whose presidential candidacy just got 100x harder

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Protest photo by Congressman Keith Ellison (CC BY 2.0 license). Ted Cruz photo by Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0 license). Rand Paul photo by Allison Stillwell (public domain).

Celebrating Blue Republican’s 2nd Birthday

Principles before Party, always.

Today, July 7^th, is the second anniversary of the launching of Blue Republican.  This non-partisan organization emerged from its founding to be a driving force in winning multiple county primaries and caucuses for Ron Paul.  How did they do this?  Quite easily: they reached out to voters on the left of the spectrum, moving them with Ron Paul’s message of peace, tolerance, and the beauty that’s possible in a libertarian society.  These voters were willing to register Republican to vote for Ron Paul.

Rarely has one man ever inspired people to completely cross the political spectrum, motivated by exciting new ideas.  Nonetheless, this is what Ron Paul accomplished.  Even in its infancy, the Blue Republican organization played a valuable part in the 2012 campaign cycle.  Unfortunately, Dr. Paul didn’t win the Republican nomination, but he did succeed in permanently injecting pillars of libertarianism into the Republican Party and in changing the course of the national dialogue.

Among the people advocating for the changes urged by Ron Paul—lower taxes, integrity of civil liberties, an end to government-corporate cronyism, and a humble foreign policy—was one tireless activist, Robin Koerner.  A writer by trade, his work featured in the Huffington Post, Koerner exemplifies the American Dream in progress.  Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Koerner is currently a legal resident living in Seattle.  He’s not a U.S. citizen and cannot yet vote, but he’s sure as hell displayed more patriotism than your average born-in-the-USA John Doe.

Most of us are American patriots by circumstance; we were born in this country, were taught the Pledge of Allegiance and the obligatory patriotic songs in elementary school, and grew up learning to love America.  It’s the immigrant who redefines patriotism, as the immigrant consciously chooses to come to this country, to live here, and learns to love America and its ways.  Most of us are Americans by luck; Koerner is an American by choice and by action.  Furthermore, Koerner doesn’t consign himself to the typical behavior of the American voter: watching MSNBC or Fox News to be told by demagogues what to think, deciding which candidate looks better on TV, and then voting.  Koerner, while himself unable to vote, remains involved and gets out the vote.  When I’m not mercilessly teasing this limey with Revolutionary War jokes, it’s an honor to work with Robin Koerner in Blue Republican.

Today, Blue Republican is experiencing a renaissance.  New chapters are forming nationwide, including my native California.  California will perhaps be among the most vital states in this organization.  We realize California is a solid blue state, but this could be turned to our advantage in the 2014 midterm elections and especially the 2016 presidential election.  We would love to bring as many Blue State voters into our organization as possible.  They’d be joining the Republican Party, but would identify chiefly with the libertarian faction and not the voter-fraud warlords in the RNC.

California has many independents, moderate Democrats, and disillusioned liberals unhappy with the Democrat Party.  For example, let’s take the gay community (all of whom are most welcome into the GOP and the liberty movement through Blue Republican).  For decades, the Democrat Party has had a solid majority in both houses of the state legislature.  If they truly gave a damn about the gay community, gay marriage would have been fully legalized in California years ago.

Let’s also approach the War on Drugs.  Most Blue Republicans stalwartly believe that marijuana should be legalized on a state-by-state basis per the 10^th Amendment.  We believe no one should be jailed for having marijuana, much less giving a puff to a friend (this is legally considered to be “distribution”), and that other drugs should be decriminalized and regulated just like alcohol.  Most Democrats profess to believe this too.  However, if the Democrats truly gave a damn about the many blacks, Hispanics, and working-class whites rotting away in prison for drug offenses, they would have fully legalized marijuana—like Washington and Colorado—and decriminalized other drugs.  Yet to this day, two consenting adults are told they can’t be fully married (even though it was none of the government’s business in the first place), and our economically disadvantaged brothers and sisters continue to be sentenced to prison for drugs.

To add insult to injury, the Democrat Party tells these victims not to blame the party in power, but to blame the “backward hicks” from the other party that isn’t in power in California.

On the national level, the Obama Administration continues the Afghanistan War and the War on Drugs.  Even Democrat idol Hillary Clinton still stands by her decision to support the invasion of Iraq, supports continuing the Afghanistan War, supported intervention in Libya, and today supports intervening on behalf of the Syrian rebels (despite their ranks being rampant with jihadists).

Many Americans on the left of the spectrum see this, and they are so incredibly frustrated at knowing they’ve been strung along by their party.  They’re willing to give the libertarian faction of the GOP a try.  They’re willing to join us in supporting candidates who are against unconstitutional war, against crony capitalism and corporate bailouts, against the Orwellian NSA spying on law-abiding citizens, and against sending people to prison for marijuana.

Many are willing to join us for one year in 2014 to see what we can accomplish together.  Many more will be willing to join us in 2016.  Everyone reading this is also invited to join us, to become one of us.  Be a Blue Republican for one year and see what we’re able to accomplish when we stand united.

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For more information on Blue Republican, visit www.BlueRepublican.org

To connect with the national organization,  visit the Blue Republican Facebook page

Connect with Blue Republican in California at www.facebook.com/BlueRepublicanCalifornia

Also, follow us on Twitter @Blue_Rep_CA

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