"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The problem with the Constitution is that a priesthood took it over about two hundred years ago. That order comes in two flavors, red & blue. While many on both sides of the 'guns' issue will have a field day of discontent and celebration, any cause for such has long been lost in a ghastly display of reason based on hierarchy and plain old power.

Seems to me that the average folk throughout the ages can easily interpret the second amendment as simply " Well, we had to take up arms against Britain, you never know. So let's not abridge the right to do so." That's now called 'originalism' (though its doubtful that any current justice in that camp would deign to come down to such prosaic and simple language or justification, they still have to hang out together), and while its often rendered quaint by the devious and cunning brutes who feel their relationship to power entitles them to decree, it has become the last weak stand by those who counter the blue players on the board near check mate time.

Your candidate sucks. Know this as you prepare your guy for the fight in the fall. He just flipped on FISA & matching funds. Things he pledged not to do. Who hired Samantha Power and James Johnson ? I have have to say as an atheist, it was hard to get worked up about the Reverend Wright. But I do get worked up about ballot access and candidate debates. Both of which your guy fails miserably about. Now I hear he's going to help bail out multi-millionaire Hillary Clinton and her campaign debt, go figure.

I suppose touchy feely crap is the stuff of modern political candidacies, but I'm still waiting for substance. I know the average Ivy League graduate in the MSM thinks those memoirs and books we're the right stuff, but I'm unswayed. But is he the darling that the disgruntled right would have us believe ? As far as I'm concerned the dude can't even bowl, so Harvard degrees in law are meaningless. There simply is no evidence that he understands economics or anything beyond the typical pandering of a main party politician. My vote for President of the United States has always been 'wasted', as a denizen of New York, there's no doubt that my fellow collectivist citizens and their deep desire to hope and have change will carry the day for Obama. This is just a quick protest note to goad your idealism a bit.

I can never understand why my fellow citizens run to their elected officials in order to enforce common sense and decency.

This last Monday I mentioned to my wife after going swimming with the kids, that I should go down to the Town meeting and see what my fellow citizens have in store for me. I regret not going now after copping out about heat, time and other previous wasted efforts of energy that is government and its muted participation. It seems like governmentis has creeped in the form of a 'noise' ordinance however and July 14th is on my calendar now.

Well it looks like Hillary has come home. At least to the extent that she carpet bagged into my own home and decided she could represent me in Washington. As there seems no limit to the capacity that New Yorkers will allow the Democratic Party to walk all over them (witness Hevesi and Spitzer), it is fun to reflect on the last two years. The naked and raw ambition of the Clintons has never been a question for little 'ol me who had to endure the embarrassment of the listening tour in 2000.

Even though I know they exist, I never found the ardent Hillary supporter willing to discuss the ideas or issues that she presumably represented for us. Rather it was always how horrible the Republicans were or some other equally vague bromide or premonition. So let's take a quick look at the highlights of the POTUS chase for our favorite daughter from, Illinois, Arkansas and DC.

While some in the minarchy camp are deriding the effort of Crispin Sartwell and his challenge to statists everywhere, I'm rather enjoying these YouTube spots. It's kind of like bite size packages of anarchy in University quality lectures, without having to get a parking permit. While we may be no closer to the pure Pennsylvania ticket (especially now that Kent has moved away) the challenge of the state as legitimate continues. Perhaps political posturing and pandering aren't the way as technology opens these new paths. But I do wonder what would have happened to Thoreau's soul had the Internet been available 150 years ago . . .

Despite all the ruminations about the LP and it's odd place in the Universe, one has to wonder if voters ever read articles about the sleazy activities of Democrats and Republicans and even care. I suspect that they do not.

But if they did and wanted to do anything about it on a meaningful level, could they ? After all, the either/or aspect of the process offers few choices in most races. As much as we may gripe or complain about third party choices/efforts for President, there are little to none in terms of choices in most Congressional and local races. While the smug anarchist may find delicious humor or satisfaction in this fate, the average person is left wanting. Not so much in terms of their own immediate benefit, but more in terms of meaning and hope. After all, hope and meaning are what the big players ply their craft in. Yet when it comes down to it, the background noise and real happenings are disgusting examples of cronyism and the pathetic need for attention amongst their fellow parasites as the rest suffer. Even the good anarchists couldn't avoid this if their intentions were noble and hearts pure and power to absolve the state absolute. Sleaze begets sleaze.

The irascible Francois Tremblay has issued an open letter to the Libertarians over on his site. I, of course, couldn't resist a response. While so many have sought to interpret and agonize over the recent results of the Libertarian National Convention, it does seem like all sides pile on without undergoing any of the pain or agony of the actual process that those of us on the inside the party feel when we look at the greater evils of the world.

Think tanks, pundits, theoreticians and general anonymous blog critics all have these great ideas and attitudes. But if they aren't implemented (or even attempted) in a certain way or done with the right intent, they tend to fall into the trap of blaming the political process which creates so many of these problems. Granted the LP is a small batch brewery in a world of Budweisers and Miller Lite, but why attack the people who at least try ? In my estimation the puerile responses seem quite immature and achieve no sense of unity that this obvious parody seems to imply.

Bruce Barlett has rendered another piece about the relevancy of the LP. This time it's not about whether the LP should exist, but whether it matters. I think the time before was about how we could matter. Bruce can be confused at times.

In that most of my fellow libertarians are making their way to Denver, I'll get back with Bruce a bit and explain why we matter. He says this time;

" The fact that such well-known, former establishment figures would seek a fringe party's presidential nomination demonstrates to many libertarians that their party has come of age. It's also created fear in Republican ranks that a viable LP candidate could throw a close election to the Democrats. "

Fringe ? . . . . Twinge.

Viva la resistance !

In house only post here folks, move along non Party folk . . . .

Several years ago I used to play over thirty hardball (I'm still pictured here as a Cardinal, back row second from right). Not softball mind you, there is a difference. The team had a mixture of aging athletes, jocular types and some average guys who enjoyed the game. But every once and a while you could tell when the young idiot jock was still inhabiting an old man's body. He became irate when a teammate screwed up. He was short with the otherwise duly embarrassed second baseman or outfielder whose own aging body just failed them as they remembered how much easier it was 20 years ago.

In a hurl of defiance and rage he would justify his obnoxious behavior as being a result of being 'competitive'. Maybe I remember the fact that I didn't make the team in high school because I had refused to cut my hair on demand. Even though I started as a 14 year old the summer before on the local all-star team with most of the guys on their way to Varsity, I didn't make the junior varsity team that fateful Monday because I didn't show up like a 'Yankee' on Friday. So I bark back occasionally too when I'm feeling the injustice twinge. In this case it was dressing down the pudgy idiot scraping his glory days off the back of a few guys who just wanna play ball on the weekend.

" You're not competitive, you're emotional " I responded one time . . . He hated that, but it was true.

The recent foray of the Reform Caucus in the LP is playing up a series of ads designed to rally the 'reform' troops in Denver this weekend. I truly hope it backfires on them, because I'm tired of playing with such kids in grownup situations.

Brian Holtz you're emotional at heart. Use for good if you can, perhaps as metered passion, but not petty bickering.

Late one Friday afternoon last Fall my father and I jumped into his van to get my car down at the dealership. It was a fairly decent week as far as business goes and we were happily discussing the weekend's plans and not paying very much attention when the State Trooper SUV flew by us around the Elk's club. Of course when he wheeled around and stopped us for simply not having our seat belts on, he had our undivided attention. While my Dad may be getting too old for the fight, I snarled back at the cop that " I don't believe in the law " for the reason I wasn't wearing mine. While I usually just buckle out of habit anymore, occasionally I do get stopped for forgetting. This might be due to the exponential growth of the police state in the northern part of our sleepy little county, but I still can't forgive Papa Cuomo for this horrible law.

This upcoming week New York has once again decided to sweep its citizenry with the insidious demand that they protect themselves from the potential medical costs the state might incur if they were injured in an accident because they were not wearing a seatbelt. Last year there were over fifty nine thousand tickets during this time. If at least fifty thousand were successfully prosecuted at a hundred bucks a pop, that's a cool five million in local and state coffers. The jury's still out whether it saves any lives.

But there has never been any question that this law was one of worst rationalizations to continue the machinations of the nanny state and so many others that have followed. Is saving a single life from itself worth the cost of abandoning the principles of individual rights and self ownership ? While this is the crux of libertarian values, few recognize it as such any more. What we did to the cop that day is kind of funny.