Shame On You, Eric Cantor!

Cantor with the President, Mitch McConnell, John Kyl, and Harry Reid

I’ve hardly before said a word about Republican Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia.  The House Majority Leader for the 112^th Congress posted today on Facebook: “It is an honor to serve with Speaker John Boehner. I look forward to continue working with my friend to help all Americans.”  My immediate response was “Are you freaking serious?!  Is this a joke?”  How I only wish it was…

Representative Cantor is clearly unaligned with the values that made America exceptional.  Cantor represents the typical careerist establishment politician.  Not only is he exacerbating the issues and completely out of touch with middle- and lower-class America, but he rushes to defend fellow sellout careerist buddies.  Let’s took a look at Boehner’s track record as a so-called conservative:

·         After voting NO on stimulus packages in 2008 and 2009, he called the behemoth TARP package a “crap sandwich” but voted for it anyway.

·         He voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent (so much for the Fourth and Sixth Amendments!).

·         He voted YES on federal funding for technology development and commercialization (thanks for the socialism).

·         He voted YES on increasing funding for the Mexican government to fight drugs (even though alcohol Prohibition was a total federal failure and the cartels own much of the Mexican government).

·         He voted YES on (and was a cheerleader) for No Child Left Behind.

·         His policy on funding democratic institutions differs between Afghanistan (yes) and Pakistan (no) even though the Taliban controls the wilderness in both countries. (Apparently he neither wants America to win nor lose in Afghanistan.)

·         He has repeatedly caved to the unbalanced fiscal agenda of President Obama and the Democrats (with more surrender in him than Vichy France).

Speaker Boehner

It’s no great surprise that Cantor would defend Boehner instead of allowing him to receive the type of roasting disgraced Communist Party cadre receive in China.  After all, Cantor voted for TARP and the Bush Stimulus while opposing the Obama Stimulus for partisan reasons.  It must be nice to be a member of Congress who can afford to enable partisan gridlock!

The treachery of out-of-touch career politicians continues.  Cantor posted on Facebook yesterday afternoon: “Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress. The House will vote Friday to direct needed resources to the National Flood Insurance Program.”  A bold announcement, yet I highly doubt this last-minute meeting would have been called had NJ Governor Chris Christie not blasted the entire Congress all over the press and the airwaves.  There’s simply no excuse for deliberation in the Republican-controlled House when it comes to disaster relief at home.  This public outcry is an indictment against the leadership of Boehner and Cantor—both Republicans—from one of their own (and a Romneyite no less!).

Let me also reach out to the members of Cantor’s “Advisory Council” and let them know they’re wasting their time.  Cantor doesn’t listen to them; he listens to Boehner and to his top campaign donors.  The whole concept of a citizens’ advisory committee is an age-old ploy used by politicians to condescendingly fool the constituency into believing the politician truly represents them in the legislature.  However, more often than not the case isn’t that of constituents telling the representative what he will do for them, but rather the career politician telling the constituents what they must settle for (because of some new crisis).

I can conclude with only one expression: Shame on you, Eric Cantor!

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Cantor and Obama (official White House photo by Pete Souza) image in the public domain. Boehner portrait in the public domain.  Both images were obtained from Wikimedia Commons.  Both make me lose my appetite, which really blows 'cause I was about to make a Taco Bell run.  Damn...

The Liberty Movement in Cinema

When I talk about the liberty movement in movies or television, I don’t refer to Ron Paul Flix or Rand Paul Flix (though those are both great venues and all Paul supporters should check them out on YouTube as soon as possible).  I’m talking about well-known and loved Hollywood movies where the conservative/libertarian viewer can draw clear parallels between the content of the film and a particular episode from his own time as an activist.  Once the viewer knows what themes, archetypes, and patterns in character and plot development to look for, there will be liberty movement parallels leaping at him from the screen.

I won’t include The Patriot in this rant, nor will I include Atlas Shrugged, Margin Call, The Social Network, or any of the other movies favorably reviewed by Jeffrey Tucker, Mark Thornton, and other Austrian economists.  Why?  Those movies show the glories of voluntary association and individual liberty while exposing the blatant evils of large, oppressive government, intellectual property, Keynesian economics, etc.  Basically, those movies all preach to the conservative/libertarian choir.

Since I’m feeling bitter and cynical, I want to have a good dark-humored laugh and make light of the more trying episodes in our movement’s recent history.  I want to be able to laugh at our failures.  Trust me, I’m not just some nihilist—nihilists rarely apply themselves—I just think it’s healthy for us in the liberty movement to be able to laugh at ourselves once in a while, otherwise we’ll go crazy from all the setbacks and disappointments.  Hence the popularity of the Ron Paul Problems blog.  Here’s a look at five movies with scenes that serve as perfect metaphors for epic fails in our recent history:

1.   Henry V.  Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of England’s King Henry the Fifth (according to William Shakespeare) is nothing short of excellent.  The film and story truly are epic (and enjoyable, despite the imperialistic overtones).  The best scene of the entire film takes place just after the Battle of Agincourt, where the English have defeated the French but at a painful cost.  Even the king’s own squire was killed.  The victors sing the religious chant “Non Nobis Domine” as they wade through mud, blood, and thousands of corpses to collect their own dead.  This scene reminds me of the day after the 2012 California Primary Election where Ron Paul and a great many liberty candidates were annihilated by neocons, yet we still managed to score a few victories for liberty candidates who would survive to see the general election.

2.    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  This movie is a classic for reasons I need not explain.  I’ll only mention that it’s a great underdog story.  Several of the men in the asylum remind me of my comrades in our movement.  Like them, people think we’re crazy but we’re only playing their game because it serves our purposes.  Unfortunately, the little rebellion in the mental hospital was crushed by the vindictive nurse.  At least the chief escaped!  Most of our candidates may have been evaporated in the 2012 election cycle, but some of them will live to fight another day.

Col. Claus von Stauffenberg

3.     Valkyrie.  The Germans who conspired to take out Hitler were by no means men of Ludwig von Mises’ caliber.  Many of them were dedicated socialists and more like rats on a sinking ship who saw how thinly stretched the Third Reich’s forces were.  Still, I have the highest admiration for Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg who was truly different from most of his co-conspirators in that he was never a member of the Nazi Party nor a supporter of Hitler.  Everyone knows the July 20^th plot to assassinate Hitler failed and Stauffenberg and company were executed.  This small group of dedicated reformers who dared hijack the state, the Nazi Party, and the German armed forces to enact instant change for the survival of their country remind me of the vastly outnumbered Ron Paul delegates at the 2012 Republican National Convention.  What advice would I have given the Paul delegates as they were being de-credentialed and swept aside at the RNC?  Stauffenberg’s words to General Olbricht: “Look them in the eyes.  That way they’ll remember you.”

4.   Richard III.  Shakespeare has led us to believe that England’s notorious king Richard the Third was a cruel and wicked despot whose overthrow meant the liberation of his people from tyranny.  Roy Morris Jr.’s editorial in the December 2012 issue of Military Heritage turns that historical theory upside down since Richard had a legitimate claim to the throne and the victorious Henry Tudor (Henry VII) was technically the usurper who strong-armed his way to the throne in a bloody coup.  Since Queen Elizabeth was a Tudor, Shakespeare probably had to kiss ass in order to obtain the Queen’s political favor by demonizing Richard III while making Henry VII look way more awesome than even Ron Paul.  Unfortunately, Morris’ probably-true account doesn’t make good drama and Shakespeare’s douchebag king does.  Ian McKellen does the role justice in the 1995 film paralleling the York regime with the Third Reich.  When the despot finally commits suicide at Bosworth Field (with musical accompaniment by Al Jolson) the viewer is left incredibly frustrated.  Sure, it’s great and dandy that the despot is dead, but everyone knows Henry should have dealt the death blow!  Picture the 2012 General Election: We’re all happy Romney got the crippling defeat he deserved, especially after the millions he spent to sabotage Ron Paul, but it still sucks that Paul wasn’t the victor in this election (and that we still have another four years of Obama waiting for us).

5.     The Empire Strikes Back.  If anyone’s actually thinking of correcting me for not writing the Star Wars Episode V prefix, go punch yourself and bathe in cold water now.  What happens in the Empire Strikes Back?  Just to name a few: the Rebel Alliance get their asses handed to them in the Battle of Hoth, the Alliance only narrowly survives after a fighting retreat, Luke Skywalker quits his Jedi training early (and loses his arm in close combat), and Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite and hauled away by Boba Fett.  The gleeful days following the destruction of the first Death Star are long gone, the Empire has regained the initiative, and the Rebel Alliance is losing the war.  Welcome to the liberty movement today!  Ron Paul didn’t get the nomination, he’s now retired from Congress, a great many liberty candidates didn’t get elected in 2012, Justin Amash and other fiscal conservatives have been kicked off of key committees, and freaking Jim DeMint left the Senate to go write fairy tales at the Heritage Foundation.  What the hell, man!  But not all is lost.  Rand Paul and Mike Lee are still the liberty movement’s Dynamic Duo of the Senate; Amash, Bentivolio, Massey, and other pillars of conservative/libertarian thought are still raising hell in the House, and Judge Napolitano still hasn’t shut up.

Furthermore, the final scene of The Empire Strikes Back where Luke holds Leia is bittersweet but with a shade of optimism.  Sure, it seems like the good guys are up shit creek without a paddle, but the fact stands that Luke and Leia will live to fight another day.  The fact that members of the liberty movement are reading this and agreeing with some of it means that we will live to fight another day in the political process.  Rand may even run for President in 2016!  Together, you and I will push forward for liberty and Constitutional government for as long as fifteen or twenty years if we have to.  (Because I’m also missing my right arm, I get to be Luke Skywalker. No discussions.)  The statists may have won this round but the fight ain’t over.  I don’t know about all of you, but I don’t intend to go quietly.

For liberty!

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Film festival photo by "Borislavkf" and used via CC BY-SA 3.0 license.  No copyrights were given or implied for the Stauffenberg photo.  Both images were obtained from Wikimedia Commons.  YouTube videos are not the property of Zach Foster but are used according to the Standard YouTube License.  Intellectual Property can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.  If it weren't I'd have used photo stills from Star Wars.  Oh well.  Add that to the list of things to bellyache about.

The Hell With 2012 Already

Paul supporters protesting at the GOP National Convention

I remember exactly where I was a year ago when the ball dropped to ring in 2012.  I was sitting in the common room of the lodge at the YMCA camp in Bluegrass, Iowa.  New Years itself was more boring than a Ben Stein lecture on hygiene, and I was incredibly pissed that a few pricks hadn’t invited me to go clubbing with them at the Iowa City college bars.  Even still, I was surrounded by the company of Matt Pagano, Cory Chenard, and a bunch of other good people.

We were all working together to usher in Ron Paul’s victory in the Iowa Republican Caucuses and start the momentum that would bring him victory after victory and then the Republican Party nomination for the Presidency.  2012 quickly brought us a major disappointment as we watched how Fox News was quickly able to hijack his leading momentum with propaganda.  January 3 was a disappointing night for us.  We’d worked incredibly hard and we were defeated.  What a way to start the year off!

I continued with school, work, and local activism.  In May I happened to meet one of the most beautiful people I’ll ever know—beautiful on the inside and out—who was able to change me for the better in just a short amount of time.  We dated, we decided we would be exclusive, and that the long distance wouldn’t deter us.  Perhaps she wasn’t ever serious about it.  Perhaps I was too naïve to expect large bumps in the road.  Maybe I even realized subconsciously that it wouldn’t work, but my desire to live in the idealized “Zach’s world” made me blindly overlook her faults.

Somewhere along the way our relationship turned from a mutually loving give-and-take experiment to my mission to rescue her from hard times.  I became her white knight, and in doing so I focused exclusively on solving her problems while allowing my own issues to pile up on the back burner.  The sons of bitches would eventually jump off the stove and catch up to me.

We’ve since gone our separate ways and now there is only a white knight standing alone in a field, sword and shield in hand but no one to rescue.  There are no townspeople calling for me in the distance.  Frankly, I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.  For the first time in a while I’ve had ample free time to seriously think back on the last eight months.  I can be honest with myself about the mistakes I made, and even more honest in admitting exactly the ways she did me wrong.  Basically, every free pass I gave her when she screwed up was like Neville Chamberlain letting Hitler keep Czechoslovakia.  Then I was actually surprised when I got the blitzkrieg!  It’s a bitch, but hindsight’s always 20/20.

Frankly, there are two things I can carry with me and walk tall like a man.  First, I honestly tried my absolute best to make it work.  Hell, I even tried my best to get Ron Paul elected, but that didn’t work either.  To top it all off, every single other liberty candidate I worked hard for and campaigned for individually got their asses handed to them, thanks to gerrymandering.  Damn!

There are just times when you lose and the outcome is beyond your control.  But damn it, I did my best and I have no regrets!  I worked hard for what I believe in.  Furthermore, I was able to love a human being unconditionally.  Every time she said “I love you back” I knew I was looking into the face of God.  I wouldn’t trade that experience for all the gold in the world.

Some of you reading this may ask, “Why the hell is he sharing this with everybody?”  The answer is simple.  I figure if I can be completely honest with the world, then I can be completely honest with myself and not make the same mistakes, neither in political work, the workplace, nor—especially—in my personal life.

It’s hard to deal with, but all the while I’ve stayed completely away from the bottle.  These are the kinds of disappointments I would have got wasted over just a few months ago.  But booze doesn’t make problems go away; it only makes you forget for a few hours, and then those problems come back tenfold in the morning.  The hell with that; I’m not drinking.

So here I am, sitting at a computer in southern California, with not even a vague idea of what the future holds.  I’m staying away from booze, hitting the books on Austrian economics and libertarian theory, getting back to the Bible, and going back to church.  These aren’t New Year’s resolutions; they’re already part of my new routine.  Better yet, I’ve been going on incredibly long hikes to feel empowered, and I’ve also been getting more creative with my writing and also in the kitchen. 

It’s incredibly satisfying to feel both empowered and creative.  I would recommend this in a heartbeat to other people in the liberty movement.  Too many of us waste lots of time behind a computer screen, either toiling away over a lengthy economic treatise that four people will glance at or endlessly reposting on Facebook some link exposing Monsanto.  Pretty soon my buddy Havoc and I will do a straight twenty-mile hike beginning at my doorstep and ending in Mt. Baldy Village.  How excited I am!

One thing I can proclaim is “The hell with 2012 already!”  Honestly, I’m over this year.  I learned a lot and grew a lot.  Ron Paul will always be my President and a young lady from Indiana knows I’ll always love her with all my heart, but it’s time for everyone to move forward.  Dwelling in the past is dangerous; Jay Gatsby tried it and it got him killed.

There’s a lot of work to be done in 2013.  People in the liberty movement need to learn to walk away from Facebook and do some real activism for real liberty candidates.  We also need to soften our rhetoric so our ideas can appeal to non-libertarians, especially neoconservatives and disillusioned Democrats.  2014 and 2016 will soon be upon us.  Most importantly, we all need to look inside ourselves, be honest with ourselves, and takes steps to improve ourselves as human beings.

I’ll tell you what though, if Rick Santorum runs for President again, I’m just going to mail giant sad face posters to everyone who endorses him.  Honestly, were it not for Ani DeGroot’s hard work, I would have lost complete faith in Iowa simply for the Santorum caucus victory. Double-you tee eff and never again!

2012 may not have been what we wanted it to be.  Just think of it as a rehearsal for better times.  I’d like to extend a big thank you to all my brothers and sisters in the liberty movement.

Happy New Year.

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Ron Paul supporters photo courtesy of Jayel Aheram, used via CC BY 2.0 license.  "Knights" painting by Viktor Vasnetsov is in the public domain.  Both images wre obtained from Wikimedia Commons.  Rand Paul 2016 artwork courtesy of Iowa News Liter blog with no rights given or implied.