The Libertarian Guy goes on the air!

Well, the internet air, that is...
Click here Tuesday, May 29th, 9:15 PM Central time. Fill your earholes with liberty.

And be gentle. This is a new frontier.

Chavez shuts down TV station. Pay attention, Americans.

Venezuela’s yawning political divide spilled into violence on the streets of Caracas last night as thousands of people rallied, some to protest and others to celebrate the shutdown of the country’s oldest and most watched private television station.Radio Caracas Television, an opposition-allied station, went off the air at midnight on Sunday after President Hugo Chavez withdrew its licence, accusing the network of “coup plotting.”But the move has fuelled accusations that Mr Chavez is moving towards an increasing authoritarian rule and quashing any dissent against his so-called “socialist revolution”.



Meanwhile, in America...


It is in that fine tradition that we have the "Fairness Doctrine," a warm, fuzzy-sounding bit of pap that's anything but fair.

The Fairness Doctrine is an old Federal Communications Commission regulation that required all political opinion broadcast on the public airwaves to be balanced with equal time for the opposing viewpoint. Originating in the 1940s, when radio and television stations were few and far between, it may have made sense to require balance, lest a region be inundated with unchallenged opinion presented as fact. ... But now the Democrats are in charge and bills to restore the Fairness Doctrine have been introduced in both chambers. Led by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), free speech, allegedly revered by the left, is under assault. ...


Now, I'm not directly comparing Hugo Chavez to Dennis Kucinich, but... Bernard Sanders IS a self-described socialist. Think about it.

Supremes fumble again. The losers: Us.

From our fellow liberty-hounds over at Reason Online, a sad tale:


Radley Balko | May 22, 2007, 8:06am

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the police can break into your home, rouse you from sleep, hold you naked at gunpoint, and—even if you're completely innocent—you have no recourse, so long as the warrant was valid....

So, basically... even if you're innocent, you still get shafted. Bets on how long it'll be until we're in full-bore police-state mode? Nah, me either. Too depressing.

Wonder how the Supreme Court sleeps at night after making shitheel decisions like this.

Ron Paul did not blame you or I for 9/11.

REP. PAUL: Well, I think the party has lost its way, because the conservative wing of the Republican Party always advocated a noninterventionist foreign policy.

Senator Robert Taft didn't even want to be in NATO. George Bush won the election in the year 2000 campaigning on a humble foreign policy -- no nation-building, no policing of the world. Republicans were elected to end the Korean War. The Republicans were elected to end the Vietnam War. There's a strong tradition of being anti-war in the Republican party. It is the constitutional position. It is the advice of the Founders to follow a non-interventionist foreign policy, stay out of entangling alliances, be friends with countries, negotiate and talk with them and trade with them.

...

MR. GIULIANI: Wendell, may I comment on that? That's really an extraordinary statement. That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I don't think I've heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th. (Applause, cheers.)

And I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn't really mean that. (Applause.)

MR. GOLER: Congressman?

REP. PAUL: I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the shah, yes, there was blowback. A reaction to that was the taking of our hostages and that persists. And if we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think that we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred, then we have a problem.

***

Okay... where, exactly, did Paul blame US for the World Trade Center attacks, again? And who put the hair on Rudy's chest the morning of the last debate?


Look, Ron Paul isn't a perfect candidate... because there is no such thing.

Ron Paul vs. Chris Matthews

If nothing else, this brief exchange proves what a hack Chris Matthews really is. The question was about changing the Constitution to allow people like Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for President:


MR. MATTHEWS:Congressman?

REP. PAUL: I'm "no" because I am a strong supporter of the original intent.

MR. MATTHEWS: Oh, God. Okay, Mayor Giuliani.

Right answer, wrong response. MSNBC has quite the asshat on their payroll.

Ron Paul: The dark horse candidate?

It's WAY too early to figure out who will be the RepubliCrat "choices" in 2008, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Ron Paul may be the most perplexing candidate for the media.

Here's the why: Ron Paul doesn't fit most media templates. CNN can't cover a guy who's anti-United Nations without exposing CNN for being a cheerleader for the UN. MSNBC can't cover Paul because... well, nobody watches MSNBC. Fox News won't touch the guy because he's not a Republican Team Player.

I'd like to see all that change. I hope tonights' Repub debate gave Paul a boost. It would be a far better thing, at least, to see him up on a debate podium than that schmuck John "Incumbent Politician Protection Act" McCain of McCain/Feingold fame, for instance.

If nothing else... Paul goes against the grain, of just about everyone. I likes that sorta thing.

But, the realist lurking in the depths of my soul tells me the GOP will nominate yet another big-government type, ditto the Dems plus a can of Red Bull for the big-government boost. And the real losers will be the American people, no matter who wins between, say, Hillary and whatever non-Paul candidate gets to be in the finals.

Candidates

Pro-Freedom Candidates Who Could Win
(Jake Porter's Opinion)

U.S. Congress
Bob Smither
State: Texas
Party: Libertarian

Michael Badnarik
State: Texas
Party: Libertarian

Frank J. Gonzalez
State: Flordia
Party: Democrat

Ron Paul
State: Texas
Party: Republican

State Senate
Rock Howard
State: Texas
Party: Libertarian

State Representative
Rick Jore
State: Montana
Party: Constitution