A Post-Election Message from Bill Redpath, Libertarian Party's National Chairman

(H/T independentpoliticalreport.com)

As I recover from Election Day and my US Senate campaign that preceded it, it is time to take stock of where the Libertarian Party stands and what we accomplished in the election season just passed.

While I know that we are disappointed that more of our candidates did not win, and that the Barr/Root presidential ticket and our other candidates did not win as many votes as most of us thought they would get, there is much that we gained in 2008 and a lot to be proud of for the Libertarian Party.

First, I think Bob Barr and Wayne Allyn Root were outstanding candidates that represented the ideas of individual liberty in an exemplary manner.  There was not a single time that I saw them on television or looked at their Web sites where my reaction wasn’t, “Right on!”  They represented our message of individual liberty and responsibility in an outstanding fashion, and I want to thank them for that.  I also have personal knowledge of diligently the campaign staff worked—Russ Verney, Shane Cory, Mike Ferguson, Andrew Davis (on loan from LPHQ) and others.  Thank you for dedication to the effort in the face of many challenges that were outside the control of any of us.

Two of our candidates for office earned over 1,000,000 votes.  They were John Monds, who ran for Public Service Commission, District 1, in Georgia.  His was a two-way statewide race (even though he going to represent a particular district).  Also, William Bryan Strange polled a seven-digit number of votes for Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9, in Texas, in another two-way statewide election.

And, speaking of Georgia, our US Senate candidate in the Peach State, Allen Buckley, forced a nationally publicized runoff election between the two major party candidates.  Also, Brandon Givens, Public Service Commission, District 4 in Georgia, forced a runoff election for the major party candidates for that office.

We came out of the 2008 election with ballot access for the presidential ticket in 27 states—the same number as at the end of the 2004—and more than any other minor party.  However, one of those states that we gained was North Carolina, where Duke University professor Michael Munger earned nearly 3 percent of the vote for Governor, qualifying the Libertarian Party of North Carolina for the ballot for the next four years.  That alone will save the LP about $200,000 in ballot access expenses—not to mention that it will allow more LP candidates to run for office over that period.  We also achieved major party ballot status in Massachusetts, while we lost it in South Dakota.

Even though some people reregistered Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the presidential primaries, the number of voters registered LP nonetheless increased from 225,229 in February 2008 to 243,293 in October 2008.  (Those numbers are from the 23 states that allow voters to register Libertarian and that report those numbers.)

The sustaining membership (those giving at least $25 over the past year) of the LP also increased; it is up over 22 percent from this time last year.

There is indisputably much that was accomplished this year for which we can all be proud.

However, our victories in 2008 not withstanding, the work of the Libertarian Party never ends.  The battle for ballot access begins as soon as it ends, and we have no time to waste to keep the ball rolling.  With ballot access, we need to do as much as we can, as soon as we can—to get it done and to get it done as efficiently as possible.  Last minute fire drills greatly increase petitioning costs and risk not making the ballot at all.

How can you help with ballot access?  First, donate to the Libertarian Party. You can do this at https://www.lp.org/contribute, or mail your donation to the Libertarian Party at the address noted on the front page of this newspaper.  Your contribution of $25, $50, $100 or $1,000 will be used to begin the next cycle of ballot drives as absolutely soon as possible.

Also, please sign up for email announcements at LP.org to stay up to date on our ballot access projects.  Even if you cannot help fund our drives with a donation, we could use your volunteer help collecting signatures where these drives will occur.  Every volunteer signature means one less paid signature, and the savings add up.

Thank you for all your support of our candidates in 2008.  Because of your efforts, the candidates of the Libertarian Party received more than 13 million votes! This is a record for the Party, and it is all due to our wonderful donors, volunteers and candidates across the country.  I emphatically thank you all.

Sincerely,

William Redpath
National Chairman
Libertarian National Committee

A Video that every Conservative should watch!

Seen over at Taki’s Magazine:

A very well done video, I might add.

Airforce one in 2009?

Do I dare go there? Why hell yes I dare! 😛

I got this via e-mail… It’s wrong as hell, but it’s funnyI think anyhow…

It’s going to be one funny 4 years. 😀 😛

Memo to Kathleen Parker: Please, Find something to do!

I am really unsure what this feckless woman’s problem is, but she really needs to find something else to do. Like maybe get a real job? Instead of sitting behind a keyboard and trashing everything that does not meet her quite flawed ideas, as to what the Republican Party really is about.

This little feckless wretch publishes in her latest the following:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I’m bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Here’s the deal, ‘pubbies: Howard Dean was right.

It isn’t that culture doesn’t matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party — and conservatism with it — eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one’s heart where it belongs.

Religious conservatives become defensive at any suggestion that they’ve had something to do with the GOP’s erosion. And, though the recent Democratic sweep can be attributed in large part to a referendum on Bush and the failing economy, three long-term trends identified by Emory University’s Alan Abramowitz have been devastating to the Republican Party: increasing racial diversity, declining marriage rates and changes in religious beliefs.

Suffice it to say, the Republican Party is largely comprised of white, married Christians. Anyone watching the two conventions last summer can’t have missed the stark differences: One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.

With the exception of Miss Alaska, of course.

Even Sarah Palin has blamed Bush policies for the GOP loss. She’s not entirely wrong, but she’s also part of the problem. Her recent conjecture about whether to run for president in 2012 (does anyone really doubt she will?) speaks for itself:

“I’m like, okay, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is…. And if there is an open door in (20)12 or four years later, and if it’s something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I’ll plow through that door.”

Let’s do pray that God shows Alaska’s governor the door.

Meanwhile, it isn’t necessary to evict the Creator from the public square, surrender Judeo-Christian values or diminish the value of faith in America. Belief in something greater than oneself has much to recommend it, including most of the world’s architectural treasures, our universities and even our founding documents.

But, like it or not, we are a diverse nation, no longer predominantly white and Christian. The change Barack Obama promised has already occurred, which is why he won.

Among Jewish voters, 78 percent went for Obama. Sixty-six percent of under-30 voters did likewise. Forty-five percent of voters ages 18-29 are Democrats compared to just 26 percent Republican; in 2000, party affiliation was split almost evenly.

The young will get older, of course. Most eventually will marry, and some will become their parents. But nonwhites won’t get whiter. And the nonreligious won’t get religion through external conversion. It doesn’t work that way.

Given those facts, the future of the GOP looks dim and dimmer if it stays the present course. Either the Republican Party needs a new base — or the nation may need a new party.

Yeah, I published it all here, because I want to show just how ignorant this woman really is. This is coming from someone who is a advocate of Separation of Church and State! Okay, as much as I feel that the Church should not be meddling in the affairs of the State and such; I also know where the term Conservative originates and I also know where those Conservative values originate from, that would be the Holy Bible, which is the cornerstone of Christianity and the values it represents.

What Kathleen Parker is suggesting here is nothing less then Political treason, making the Republican Party into a Atheistic Party or in other words — Liberal-Lite or Democrat-Lite.  To do this to the Republican Party would be like taking a hacksaw to someones leg, and that person being awake to watch it! It would be a disaster; not to mention painful for that person! 😛  What the hell good are Conservative Values, if you do not have the very reason for those values active within the Party? Telling the Christian Community that their services are no longer needed, would be a death sentence for the Republican Party. Senator Barry Goldwater Sr.; As much as I respected him for his stance on that unconstitutional civil rights bill; tried to kick the Conservative Christians to the curb, during his run for President in 1964, you see what that got him, don’t you? It him sent back to the Senate!  This is why Ronald Reagan won way back there in 1980, because he saw what Barry Goldwater did, and purposed that he would not try and alienate any one part of the Conservative Movement. I have to give Reagan credit, it worked quite well.

I’ve told the story here on this blog many times, it was relayed by Goldwater’s niece, Cee Cee; Some reporter asked Goldwater what Jerry Falwell and his “moral majority” could for him. Goldwater replied, “I don’t know; but I know what I’d like to do to him.” The Reported asked what that was, and Goldwater replied in some quite explicit terms, “I’d like to put my foot up his behind!”; of course, I deleted some rather nastier words and substituted a few! However, I think you get my point! In other words, he wanted to keep the Conservative Christians at bay and in the World of Conservative Politics you just cannot do that. Especially in THIS day and age of Democrats trying to target everyone!

Many people keep wondering, “Why did Obama win?” Well, I will tell you, for the one hundredth time why he won. Barack Obama, when he first started, was running as a Liberal Democrat, he was doing the talking points of the far left. That all lasted until the primaries started and the Media started paying attention, he stuck with the hard left stuff until the Media REALLY started paying attention. That was when Obama’s campaign people said, “Okay you’ve got America’s attention, now it’s time to start talking to the REST of America!” That was when he started all the Hope and Change business….. and it you know what? It worked. Obama came off to the Reagan Democrats and the White middle class Independent average Joe voter as a sane, reasoned alternative to the fear-mongering and “supposed” racism of the far right. It had zero to do with John McCain, it had to do with the dummies running his campaign.

Because of THAT, we now have a Democratic Party President.

Others: Townhall.com, The Corner,, Stop The ACLUEunomia, Don Surber and The Other McCain and more via Memeorandum

Zo continues the resistance to the Democrats

He’s back with a new video! and a cool looking Website too! 😀 (Language Warning!)

Zo’s New Website

Blogs 4 Borders is going on long term Hiatus!

It seems that my friends M.J. and Jake are going have to put Blogs for Borders on Long term hiatus, due to a personal financial situation. Hey, it’s tough everywhere right now, including in the world of border security. I know their pain, all too well, this is why I stick up for the middle class on this Blog.

Here’s their “final” Video:

I don’t know if they’ll be back, but until then, you can head on over to their Blog called “Freedom Folks” and check out the latest on the battle against illegal immigration.

Quote of the Day

To gain any understanding of Churchill, we must go beyond the heroic images propagated for over half a century. The conventional picture of Churchill, especially of his role in World War II, was first of all the work of Churchill himself, through the distorted histories he composed and rushed into print as soon as the war was over. In more recent decades, the Churchill legend has been adopted by an internationalist establishment for which it furnishes the perfect symbol and an inexhaustible vein of high-toned blather. Churchill has become, in Christopher Hitchens’s phrase, a “totem” of the American establishment, not only the scions of the New Deal, but the neo-conservative apparatus as well – politicians like Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle, corporate “knights” and other denizens of the Reagan and Bush Cabinets, the editors and writers of the Wall Street Journal, and a legion of “conservative” columnists led by William Safire and William Buckley. Churchill was, as Hitchens writes, “the human bridge across which the transition was made” between a noninterventionist and a globalist America. In the next century, it is not impossible that his bulldog likeness will feature in the logo of the New World Order.

Mitt Romney throws himself out of the running for President in 2012

(H/T to Liberal Values)

I saw this and I could not pass it up.

I’ve already Blogged about another Madison Avenue Conservative who thinks that the Detroit auto worker is a piece of shit. (Who, by the way, removed my trackback, like the little fat coward fuck that he is…) Strike that, it’s still there. My bad. Was looking in wrong place. 😀

Now have another Madison Avenue Conservative coming out against the American Auto worker. Mitt Romney, the idiotic Mormon Freak is now opening his mouth towards the Detroit Auto Worker.

Mormon freak boy writes:

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped to run American Motors when its president suddenly died. The company itself was on life support — banks were threatening to deal it a death blow. The stock collapsed. I watched Dad work to turn the company around — and years later at business school, they were still talking about it. From the lessons of that turnaround, and from my own experiences, I have several prescriptions for Detroit’s automakers.

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”

You don’t have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.

The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.

Investments must be made for the future. No more focus on quarterly earnings or the kind of short-term stock appreciation that means quick riches for executives with options. Manage with an eye on cash flow, balance sheets and long-term appreciation. Invest in truly competitive products and innovative technologies — especially fuel-saving designs — that may not arrive for years. Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.

Just as important to the future of American carmakers is the sales force. When sales are down, you don’t want to lose the only people who can get them to grow. So don’t fire the best dealers, and don’t crush them with new financial or performance demands they can’t meet.

It is not wrong to ask for government help, but the automakers should come up with a win-win proposition. I believe the federal government should invest substantially more in basic research — on new energy sources, fuel-economy technology, materials science and the like — that will ultimately benefit the automotive industry, along with many others. I believe Washington should raise energy research spending to $20 billion a year, from the $4 billion that is spent today. The research could be done at universities, at research labs and even through public-private collaboration. The federal government should also rectify the imbedded tax penalties that favor foreign carmakers.

But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

Hey, Mormon freak boy! Care to share how many workers your asshole father laid off, while he was the President of American Motors? Do you also care to share with the rest of the country of how much of a disaster your daddy’s term as Governor of the State of Michigan was? Especially with his aborted run for President of the United States?

I did agree with some of what he wrote like this:

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries.

[….]

The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.

However, when freak boy writes stuff like this here:

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

Yeah, let’s kick all the fucking retirees to the damned curb, let’s get rid of all the fucking unions and let the god damn workers work for minimum wages and not give the middle class to have a chance to have a piece of the American dream. All the while the big three make all the damn money and we the middle class American worker gets screwed. Two Words Romney; fuck you! 😡

Classic Madison Avenue, snobby nosed, fiscal Conservatism, the classic Republican attitude of, “I’ve got mine and screw you.”

That mother fucker Romney had better not run in fucking 2012, he wouldn’t get fucking vote one, at least not from this Moderate Libertarian Conservative, not at all. It just so happens that if the big three here in Detroit crash, the whole fucking area will collapse. But that mother fucking Madison Avenue asshole doesn’t care, he’s got his fucking millions. So, it will not affect him.

The State of Michigan has been in recession since around 2001 or so. unemployment is though damned roof, if we let these companies fail, which they will do, if we do not bail them out. If that happens, the economy will go into a full blown nose-dive and this area will become another damned Russia, people will leave in mass and there will be massive bread-lines, it will make for an horrific event.

But the fucking asshole Madison Avenue Conservatives could give a fuck less, they’ve got theirs. Which is why I could never, ever call myself a fucking Republican, Ever!

I am not a fan of Nationalizing of anything, but we’ll prop banks up, and keep the wealthy rich, but to hell with the middle class auto worker. What idiotic bullshit! 😡

Some people, like Mormon freak boy Mitt Romney ought to be seen and not heard. Period!

John McCain to run in 2010

Taegan Goddard Reports:

“After much speculation that his failed presidential bid would be his last campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has decided to run for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010,” according to Roll Call.

Said a GOP source close to the Arizona senator: “He’s ready to get back. He likes the game. He likes the deals.

This is a good thing. McCain is needed in the Senate. Even if it is to shine some of the Democrat’s shoes. 😉