That's 34 electoral votes for Barr

While the Democratic convention takes place this week and the Republicans prepare for theirs next week, both parties seem to be unconcerned that they've missed the ballot registration deadline in Texas. Texas requires political parties submit the certifications for their candidates 70 days before the general election--that was August 26. So, the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr, is the only official candidate on the ballot.

It should be interesting to see how this plays out. Let's see what slimy tactics the major parties attempt on this one.

Hypocrisy on parade at the DNC

I couldn't stand to waste my evenings sitting in front of the TV watching the Democratic National Convention. But I have been streaming it on my second monitor while I catch up on a few things with the computer. What a display of hypocrisy and nothingness! Person after person gets up and spews nonsense. How many of them actually believe what they say?

The theme that's bothered me the most is the push for universal healthcare. They start by bashing the Bush administration about fiscal irresponsibility. OK, sure, I certainly can't argue with that. But then the Democratic speakers go on to talk about how they will control spending and then they go on in the next sentences to tout their plans for universal healthcare and free education for everyone.

How the hell do they expect to pay for that?

Why do so few people seem to understand why national healthcare is such a bad idea? Don't they see it will mean more taxes? Don't they realize it will mean waiting longer to get care? Don't they know it will lower the quality of care available to us (getting the government involved always decreases quality and efficiency)? Don't they know it will consolidate federal power even more? Insanity!

I know it's tempting to think how great it would be if we all have free healthcare. But it's never free! You have to steal from everyone (taxation) to get it! And the system ends up being worse when you take out the free market influences and the incentives for people to act responsibility. They expect me to pay for people who refuse to take care of themselves? What gives them the right to expect the government (me) will save them no matter what?

Get over it. We certainly need reforms, but the answer is less government involvement, not more.

No more turn signals: are we that lazy?

I admit I have a bit of a road rage problem. But what do you expect--there are so many clueless, inconsiderate drivers. I would be fine if everyone would just drive right!

Over the past few years, I've been seeing fewer and fewer turn signals. Today on the way to work, people were turning all over the place, but I saw only two turn signals actually used.

Have we become that lazy that we can't even bother to use the turn signal any more?

I try to find other reasons why this is happening. Is it because everyone's hands are too busy fiddling with cell phones, radios, and GPSs? Was there a report I missed that claims using turn signals increases global warming?

If you're turning, let me know! That's all I'm asking. Otherwise, I get the impression you think the road is all yours and the rest of us are just in your way. And that's when I get the urge to start ramming you.

Do you use your turn signal reliably?

The real choice in November: Obama or Barr

It's pretty much a forgone conclusion, barring some major gaffe in the next few months, that Barack Obama will be our next President. McCain's pro-war stance puts him out of contention; besides, he'll never survive the debates--Obama's eloquent charisma will blow McCain off the stage.

Unless you are in favor of the USA continuing to build its empire by beating other countries into submission, you can't seriously consider voting for McCain. If you vote for him simply because you're Republican, stop and think for a few minutes about why you're a Republican. And "because I'm certainly not going to be a Democrat" is not a valid reason--there are other choices, you know. If you think you have a good reason for voting for McCain other than to promote war, please leave your comments below.

So, really, the serious choice for the election is Barack Obama or Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate.

Why would Bob Barr be worth voting for? After all, he's only slightly more likely to win than I am. Well, for one thing, consider this chart of how the candidates' fiscal policies would play out:

• McCain: bankrupt the country by military spending
• Obama: bankrupt the country by domestic spending
• Barr: save the country by reducing the size of government

Voting is not about picking who will win. It's about picking someone who represents your values.

And that's my real dilemma. Bob Barr represents my values really well: greatly reducing the size of federal government, restoring personal liberties, establishing a non-interventionist foreign policy, health care reform based on improving the industry rather than by implementing socialized medicine, and much more.

Barack Obama doesn't represent my values very well, but I do like him a lot. It's true--he's "presidential". There's a decent chance he will be really good for improving America's image throughout the world. He'll be fun to watch. We'll probably be proud to have him be our President (we're long overdue for that). But underneath, he'll likely be playing many of the same political games. He'll make most of the same mistakes big government politicians make. We'll probably end up with socialized medicine, even higher taxes, and a collapsed financial system. But if Obama is as cool as he seems, we won't blame him.

Barr is not as presidential, but his ideas are the ones that our country needs. In fact, I've become convinced that adopting libertarian principles is really our country's only hope for survival (and sadly, I don't think it will happen in time).

I'm looking forward to the debates. I am hoping by some miracle that Bob Barr is given the opportunity to participate.

Whom are you currently planning to vote for?

Why impeachment is imperative

On the evening of June 9, Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced a resolution in the House to impeach President Bush. The resolution cites 35 counts of high crimes and misdemeanors committed by President Bush stemming from his use of warrantless wiretaps and other violations of FISA, the illegal invasion of Iraq and the use of propaganda to promote the war, violations of the Constitution and Geneva Conventions in regards to detainment of his self-created category of "enemy combatants", involvement in the Plame Affair and subsequent commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence, and many others. The list is long.

In short, during his administration, President Bush has done egregious damage to our system of law. He has been arrogant in his flouting of the Constitution and other high laws. In fact, Bush himself has even admitted his unlawfulness on several occasions.

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And we should all be ashamed. Congress has done little to stop his abuses. We, the American citizenry, have largely gone on with our lives like this is just to be expected and there's nothing to worry about.

In reality, the system of government formed by our founders is in its death throes. The Constitution, already battered and bloody, is now struggling for its last breath. History will judge us all harshly for allowing it to happen. We are quick to blame the branches of our government, but ultimately, we, the members of this representative republic, hold the responsibility for holding our leaders to task. When we continue to vote the same types of leaders into office, term after term, we are giving our implicit approval of their actions.

The default response to Kucinich's call for impeachment is that it's a waste of time given the limited time remaining in Bush's presidency. But I strongly suggest that's irrelevant. Failing to hold Bush accountable is an implicit approval of what he's done. The reason our Constitution is in such bad shape today is because we've failed to stop those who've abused it. And this led to Bush and his cohorts to believe they also had excellent chances to extend the power of the Executive branch without getting caught. Well, now they've been caught. Will we let them get away with it?

Now that the abuses have become so egregious, a failure to impeach would mean we can expect much more of the same from the next administration. On the other hand, an impeachment would be a strong signal that we're done accepting this kind of abuse from our government. Representative Tammy Baldwin stated this excellently in her testimony to the House Judiciary Committee:

Representative Robert Wexler also had great testimony on the importance of impeachment:

Always remember: if we fail to hold Bush accountable for his abuses, we have failed our responsibility as citizens.

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New personal web site

I've decided to bring my personal home site back to life and am moving the contents of my blogspot blogs to that new site. I hope to see you there! This site will no longer be updated.