RON PAUL

It seems clear to me that there is now a loosely organized email campaign directed against me from Ron Paul supporters. For the most part the messages are abusive, containing the usual childish incantation of "I'm never going to listen to you again" and various theories that I'm being paid off by some vaporous entity to deny the [non existent] weight of my personal support to the Ron Paul campaign.

Yesterday I had a very reasonable caller broach the Ron Paul issue. He was kept on the air for, I believe, close to 11 minutes. Not a short call. I told this caller I would do him the courtesy of looking into the Ron Paul campaign more thoroughly to see if there is something that I have wrong or if there is something I am missing.

At this point ... I must ask why you Ron Paul supporters are so upset that I'm not fully on your team? Didn't you see that list of the 100 most influential conservatives that the London Telegraph compiled? There were several names missing. Let's try former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, now a radio talk show host. Then there's Michael Steel from Maryland. How about Walter Williams? Dinesh D'Souza; Alan Keyes. Then, of course, there's me. If I'm not in the top 100, why waste your time ripping me over Ron Paul? Aren't there more influential (Top 100) fish to fry.

Back to the subject at hand.

Yes ... I'm a libertarian. I'm scary libertarian. I don't believe that doctors and lawyers ought to be licensed by the government. I believe that people should, if they choose to do so, rely on private accreditation agencies to make sure they're making good choices for legal representation or medical services. I also don't think that someone ought to have to acquire a license from the government before they file your nails, trim your hair, smear glop on your face, train you with weights, or tell you what color of drapes will go with that fugly couch you bought just last week. I think drugs should be legalized and a huge portion of the money we're wasting on the asinine war on drugs diverted to treatment of drug users. Bring them back from their drug addiction and they become useful tax-paying citizens. Slam them in jail and they become tax-absorbing life forms.

In short .. I don't believe that any government should make an activity a crime unless that activity violates or conspires to violate the rights of another person through force or fraud, or that activity is in violation of some contract freely entered into with the state.

Do I agree with all libertarian points? No, I don't. Right now several people for whom I have a great deal of respect are trying to talk me into being one of the featured speakers at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver. Would I love to do that? Yes! Do I think I would be listened to? Yeah .. by a few. By my appearance there would be more of an occasion to engage in a bit of name-calling and demonstrating than it would be an occasion to learn and discuss. Libertarians seem to have a problem with people who don't toe the ideological line from beginning to end.

Yes, Ron Paul is most definitely a Libertarian. He was once the Libertarian candidate for President. In truth, I've often thought that I might like to make a run for the Libertarian Party Nomination some day ... perhaps in 2012 ... but if that means that I have to accept the idea that we don't go overseas to find and stop the people who want to kill us before they reach our shores ... then it's a no-go.

And that brings us to the World War IV, the war against Islamic extremism. That war is being fought on several fronts; Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, S.E. Asia .. and here at home. It's not the "War in Iraq," it is the Iraqi front in the war against Islamic radicalism.

I firmly believe that the overpowering issue number one in this election is our response to these Islamic goon SOBs that brag of their desire to kill as many of us as they can and in the most spectacular manner possible. You may disagree. I just ask you to consider this question regarding the war. Don't dwell on the possible things that could have gone wrong, or did go wrong, when we deposed Saddam Hussein. Consider for just a few moments the things that might have gone wrong if we hadn't. Sometimes you have to make a difficult decision not on the basis of what's the worse that could happen if you DO act, but on what the worst possible scenario would be if you DIDN'T. Don't give me this nonsense about Saddam having no WMDs. He had them, and he used them .. .used them to kill hundreds of thousands of his own countrymen. Where are they now? Your guess is as good as mine! Syria? The technology to build that nuclear plant that the Israelis bombed came from somewhere, didn't it? The entire suspected Iraqi stockpile of weapons-grade anthrax could have been put in one regular sized suitcase. I don't know.. you tell me? Buried somewhere --- buried to be recovered when the Americans leave?

My main problem with Ron Paul lies in our differences of opinion as to what to do about Islamic radicalism. I believe that his position (as I perceive it) that if we just leave them alone and don't meddle in their affairs everything will be hunky dory is wrong - wrong enough to lead to grave consequences. It leads me to wonder if he's any relation to Britain's Neville Chamberlain.

So ... here's what I am going to do.

I have already signed up to receive Ron Paul campaign material via email. I'll spend time going over his positions, especially in areas where we disagree. If I come to the conclusion that Ron Paul in the White House would not weaken our country or our economy ... and if he is willing to give a fair and rational consideration of the FairTax ... then I'll be much more disposed to support him. There will be some key things I will be looking for .. the same key things other voters should look for. Just two:

1. Will Ron Paul do what I think is necessary to protect this nation from Islamic radicalism.
2. What will be the true ideological identity of the people who are sending me these emails, showing up to yell insults at events, and sending in those contributions on the internet.

In the meantime, here's an article you might want to read. "Could Ron Paul be the Ralph Nader of 2008?" Just who are those people who are making the Internet donations ... and who are those people sending me those emails?

THE POODLE ... BACK FOR ANOTHER TRY?

John Kerry says that if he tries to run for the presidency again, he'll be ready for the "swift boaters." Well, that's just fine. It gives us something to look forward to, I guess. One thing though. Just what would make the truths told by the swift boat veterans in the 2004 election a lie in 2012? How do you turn a 40-year-old scratch with a band-aid into a gaping, sucking chest wound? How do you turn a self inflicted wound into a wound suffered fighting of a vicious Viet Cong guerrilla? We can hardly wait.

WEAK DOLLAR

The Heritage Foundation has a reason for the weak dollar ... and some people aren't going to be very happy to hear it. It's the U.S. tax code. Heritage says that there are two failings that are causing the long-term weakness of the dollar. First, Americans don't save enough to meet capital investment requirements. And the fact that we consume more than we produce. Both of these exist because of our complicated and asinine tax code.

The Heritage Foundation says that Americans follow the example of government, when it comes to their own savings and spending. But when someone in American actually tries to save and invest ... he is punished with extra taxes. It is a fact that the government taxes income that is saved and invested far more heavily than income that is immediately spent.

Taxes on savings and investment weaken the dollar, but they also slow the growth of the private economy. This costs Americans $3 billion every year in lost income and jobs for every $1 billion of revenue yielded to the government. Get this ... the total cost of damages attributed to our hideous tax system is about $2.5 trillion per year. Trillion with a "t." And with Charlie Rangel's grand tax scheme, that number could be kicked up by another $2.9 trillion. That means $2,600 less for every American family every year for the next ten years.

And when it comes to U.S. companies basing their companies abroad, it's a complete no brainer, considering the heavy taxes on the exportation of American-made goods. U.S. companies abroad are more likely to reinvest in their foreign country's economy, because if they bring the money home to reinvest in America ... the government will pound them with taxes.

Is there a solution? I think I know of one ... Hmmmmmm, let me see.

MOST RIDICULOUS LAWS

These are always fun. And then when you stop to think about it, it becomes more infuriating ... because government actually took the time to create, vote, and enforce these absurd laws.

Here's a look at Britain's most ridiculous laws:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament
2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down
3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store
4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned
5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and asks to use your toilet, you are required to let them enter
6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet
7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen I like that. The King gets the head. That's as it should be. How about a little tail for the King too?
8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing
9. Please forgive me for Number 7 above.
10. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armor
11. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.

And the British also took the time to vote on their favorite asinine laws from other countries. I am proud to say that the US had 4 out of the 9 laws.

1. In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk
2. In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation. (Which head?)
3. A male doctor in Bahrain can only examine the genitals of a woman in the reflection of a mirror
4. In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm. I think this has something to do with leaving the seat up.
5. It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle in Alabama
6. In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on a Sunday could be jailed
7. Women in Vermont must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth
8. In Milan, it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits
9. In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon

LEFT LEANING MEDIA

Rosie O'Donnell? A prime-time show on MSNBC? Give me a break. Although I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. One option currently on the table is Rosie taking over the 9pm slot on MSNBC, which means she would be up against Larry King and Hannity and Colmes. Then again, maybe I would love to see her there ... and watch her ratings tank.

One of her fellow liberal moonbats Keith Olbermann had a little diatribe Monday night, where he called the Bush administration a "criminal conspiracy." He says, "The presidency has devolved into a criminal conspiracy only to cover the ass of George W. Bush." Olbermann says that Bush approved the legal torture (waterboarding) of prisoners (terrorists) being held in the name of our country (Gitmo). Looks like Rosie may have some competition.

FAIRNESS FOR PBS?

Clearly we know how I feel about the Fairness Doctrine. But I just want to point out the hypocrisy of the Democrats in their efforts to be "fair." If, god forbid, the Fairness Doctrine was ever established. We learn now that MoveOn Democrats are astounded that someone would even question the need to apply the Fairness Doctrine to PBS - that would be the Public Broadcasting Service, funded by your tax dollars.

Democrats see PBS as the most fair and balances piece of government propaganda that exists. That is because it supports their own bias ... so when it comes to the Fairness Doctrine and PBS, there is no point! It doesn't need that because it is above the Fairness Doctrine when it comes to fairness ... besides ...it is already run by the government!

NEW ORLEANS, ON THE WAY BACK?

This story from the Associated Press says that the population of New Orleans is continuing to rebound. Well, I guess that's good, in a sense. But it really all depends on who's coming back. If New Orleans is being repopulated by people with a work ethic; by the people who owned the businesses and provided the jobs; by the people who were dedicated to self-reliance, that's a good thing. But if the parasites that infested the welfare housing and made New Orleans a festering open sore of crime and government dependency are coming back ... good for the cities to which they evacuated, bad for New Orleans.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

I'm going to suggest that you think twice before taking your computer to this guy for repair. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

President Bush says that he will probably veto the farm bill, which authorizes over $288 billion in spending over the next five years. The White House says the bill is too expensive. Why the hell wasn't Bush vetoing bills like these six years ago? Discretionary spending went up by almost 50% during Bush's first year. Too little too late?

Walter Williams writes about Academic Cesspools. You have to click on this link if for no other reason than to see the protestor at the University of Las Vegas. It seems some MoveOn Democrat doesn't like his protest sign. I think it's fantastic.

This is ohhhhh so typical. Some papers relevant to Hillary's political career will not be made available until 2009. That would be after the 2008 elections.

Boy loses parent. Friend of boy who loses parent gives him a hug ... in school. Hugger punished by school authorities. Get your kids out of government schools. They're being damaged.

The House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (a Democrat from Maryland) says that he will block Dennis Kucinich's effort to impeach Cheney. Hoyer says that the Congress has more important issues to focus on.

Let's take a look at the Labor-HHS/ Military-Veterans Conference Report, into which lawmakers managed to insert earmarks after the House and Senate voted on the different spending bills included in this Conference Report. Ever heard of the Thomas Daschle Center for Public Service? Nope. But it will cost tax payers $1 million.

In Colorado, the US Army and the Pentagon want to seize 418,000 acres of private ranch land to triple the size of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. The environmentalists are also in an uproar.

Turkey is considering changing a law that bans perceived insults to Turkish identity or the country's institutions.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled his plans to force immigrants to be more "British." He plans to do this by making them learn English and British values. Does this mean they have to eschew dental care?

Were the voters in Illinois really this stupid? Their former governor could be going to prison for life ... and when they elected him into office they knew the man was a crook.

This is an interesting map that visually shows you where the 1,500 "earmarks" in the Defense appropriations bill are directed.

A man in Texas was arrested after telling police that 150 pounds of marijuana were stolen from his home. Police arrive to find 15 pounds of pot lying on the floor in the house. And when it couldn't get any worse, the man turns out to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Scientists say that they have found a gene that leads to children having higher IQs if they are breastfed. When is it too late?

A Nebraska school Christian group was banned after middle school students bobbed for live goldfish.

Imagine driving in your minivan, probably to soccer practice, and then a cow falls from the sky and onto the van.

I think the title of this last reading assignment speaks for itself: "Chainsaw-wielding mayor enrages museum board."

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