Today’s Democrats and neo-conservatives are all cut from the same whole cloth: Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler. The nanny state is a direct descendant of those things that horrified us all so much in the middle of the last century.
And don’t let George Bush and his ilk fool you with claims of conservative values. He’s as far from those as Queen Hillary.
Weep for the future.
Libertarian candidate (former Republican, enthusiastic Patriot Act pusher, and notorious about-facer) Bob Barr spoke before Netroots Nation this past week (spiritual successor to Yearly Kos), and uttered words which caused InDecision2008’s Cubby Chaser to wonder…
“What the fuck is wrong with the world when it turns out that the Libertarian candidate says the smartest thing of the past seven weeks?”
There’s a lot wrong with the world right now, a smattering of it found all over my infrequently updated blog here.
But perhaps a better question is “what the fuck is wrong with the world when the Libertarian candidate has been saying a lot of smart things over the last few months and no one is listening?”
“Good thing Barr is getting no press whatsoever.”
You can also add the legions of folk in this once-great nation who long ago lost the ability for critical thinking if they ever possessed it. I could blame TV and various other forms of info-tainment, but it’s easy enough for many people to still view those and retain their faculties. No, pure mental, philosophical, and political laziness are at the heart of it all.
As for those “smart” words of Barr? Here is a smattering:
“I’m not sure. The term ‘conservative values’ means so many different things to so many different people. To me, what has utterly failed in the traditional conservative movement is any understanding of or respect for true individual liberty and our constitutional system of government, which was designed expressly to provide protection for individual liberty.
“We now have a government which calls itself conservative, yet believes it’s okay to spy on American citizens within their own country without a court order. We now have an administration which calls itself conservative and supports conservative values that believes it’s okay to detain a citizen or non-citizen in this country and never give them access to courts to determine under habeas corpus if they are being held properly.
“So if in fact respect for individual liberty, respect for the Constitution are conservative values, we certainly don’t have that in Washington nowadays.”
And a few more words to ruminate upon:
“For example, if the citizens of a particular state wish to legalize medicinal marijuana, or to change the definition of marriage in their state, why should the Federal government have any right, if in fact if it respects individual liberty and individual conservative values, have any power have any power to come in and override the position of the people of the state. Yet that’s what we have in Washington. That’s not conservatism. That’s big government.”
How many folks out there do you think would find the above words eminently reasonable, should they even bother to listen or look for them? I would wager the same majority that opposes the destruction of reason and waste of human life that is our invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Those still tied to the notion that the answers lie only with the “Demogogue” and “Republicrat” parties should look at the lessons of the last half century, and especially the last two decades. There are no longer any answers coming from the big two, only a continually-accelerating descent into a singularity.
Seize the birthright so many fought for 230+ years ago. If you want to retain your individual rights, don’t stand anymore for others trying to take them from you, allegedly in your name.
Mr. Barr again:
“The value that is most important to me, is that which is most important, for example, to the great 20th Century philosopher Ayn Rand, and that is the value of individual privacy. As Ayn Rand said, the value of privacy, the notion of a person being freed from the interference of other people, is the essence of civilization.”
Ayn Rand is not a demon, merely another flawed human being, as we all are. She said things those in power fear, some of them wrong to myself and others, but she was able to say them. It is our choice whether or not we’ll bother to listen.
Thanks to a few pointed words from my brother, but especially with the example set by the steady exit of dopers from this year’s Tour de France—Ricardo (I actually cheered when I heard the news) Ricco only the latest in what is sure to be a nice little conga line—I am starting to come around to the ASO side of things.
McQuaid can sit in his ivory UCI tower and hurl insults at the Spaniards, but no one at this point can believe that doping isn’t anything but rampant and endemic throughout the sport no matter your nationality. As certain folks have pointed out, the UCI let these shenanigans go on for years with a nod and a wink and the occasional sacrificial lamb to the pretense of doing something about the doping.
Bob Roll and Paul Sherwen keep mentioning, during the pre-race chat on Versus’ live Tour coverage, that these “random” tests are everything but random, and are in fact targeted at riders whose pre-Tour blood tests were a bit…quirky. That may be, but still it seems to me as if even more could be done to weed out the cheats. Still waiting to see the first French rider get caught too, as I still don’t trust the ASO/French Cycling Federation combo’s other motives.
But even wider, constant testing may not have the desired effect of actually putting the fear of god into the dopers. For that some have put forth other suggestions. I am especially fond of Patrick O’Grady’s latest screed on VeloNews.
Well, we could bring back the guillotine — a few beheadings after the podium ceremonies just might open a few eyes (those that it did not close permanently) while bringing Versus’ bull-riding audience over to our side of the cultural divide.
There is a certain attraction to this solution, for as O’Grady says at the end of his article, Madame Guillotine is “the podium girl to end all podium girls.” It has a certain sense of ironic closure.
A more measured response I heard bandied about was no more two-year bans but instead permanent pariah status. At this point, that seems to be the least that should be done.
But something must be done. It’s come to the point where I cannot believe in the skill or will or any rider, nor can anyone else. Mark Cavendish appears to be too good to be true. I am waiting for the hammer to fall upon him too, while at the same time hoping that he’s the real thing. The hope is small, however.
Thanks, dopers.
