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I stumbled past a local news broadcast last night involving a women who had dropped her baby during an alcohol related incident. Aside from the information that one could drop off their baby for five days with no questions asked somewhere, what stuck me were the comments of the seventeen year old witness. Citing her account of the awful event off camera, she said the mother was basically a good person, but unless or until she attended some parenting classes or alcoholic anonymous she probably should wait to get the baby back.

Now it may be that the mother is overwhelmed or unsuited for the job. Certainly it was a bad situation. The length of the report and the sensationalism of flashing a baby's bloody head on screen over and over again is questionable. A lot a people may in fact identify with a similar situation that did not involve a 9-11 call and news report. But when a seventeen year old witness starts calling for classes for the errant mother, is it any wonder that certain college presidents are calling for a lowering of the drinking age ? At what point is the line crossed from childhood to adult ? While the state prohibits certain behavior, it also encourages opposite behaviors during a control freak bout of insistence and cool reassurance.

I would submit that biological age is not sufficient anymore and that a certification should be given to the presumptuous thirteen year old or the bumbling twenty-nine year old. Of course that range can be adjusted as we get data about the implementation and suitability of the test.

Ever since the maudlin meandering of NBC and the diminutive big headed Bob Costas took over Olympic coverage, who knows how many years ago now, I haven't been exactly glued to my seat watching. If you tune in at eight you get twenty five minutes of the American wunder story of the day and by nine you get the event itself, which if Googled, one knows or finds the results immediately before the superficial drama that helps sell the Venus Breeze.

While I kind of felt bad for Marion Jones when she was shackled by the self righteous State for simply lying to it, the whole gotta win attitude coupled with the worship my wholesomeness didn't have my tears caught rolling down a cheek. So when the two young men from Latvia beat the self-assured and spoiled American stars of "beach volleyball" that I happened to actually catch today, I found myself taunting my overly inoculated six year old patriot-USA(!) with chants of 'Latvia ! Latvia !

The chorus of derision John Edwards has provided fodder for in the lead up to the two 'National' conventions is quite extraordinary considering the obvious phoniness that the candidate has provided all along. The 'Two America's' theme lost any resonance for the politically savvy when the Play Station gaffe did it's rounds. Whatever spin Joe Trippi could counter with about the haircut fiasco it already set the tone with too many critics.

Whatever the reality of the MSM failure to accept or pursue this latest scandal of a revered figure in politics it is endemic of the general malaise that has confounded decent journalism since the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. If Joe Trippi had pushed his sense that they should have pursued the nomination right up to a brokered convention, we might an adulterous liar acting as kingmaker between Obama and Clinton. How do these schleps manage for so long ?

Mr. West speaks of us wayward anarchists as if we're conquering or occupying Romans who determine value or worth with the flick of a thumb . . . . except ours will always come down in rapacious negativism no matter any success crossing the Tiber.

What tripe indeed. I'll be the first to take my hat as a meal should the former Congressman take the ring. It would not change my perspective on the world nor the conclusions that I reach on any given day. But I have not denounced Barr or spoken ill of my former colleague on the LNC. I'd be honored to dine at the White House if the invitation was offered. But let's be real, please !

Dear Professor,

I recently had the opportunity of hearing one your commentaries on a local public radio station. I hope that the transcript, podcast, mp3 or whatever is available soon so I can better determine what you actually said as I drove to my next service call.

While I dropped out of formal education sometime after a bachelor's degree, I do pride myself on being somewhat aware of my surroundings and have managed to survive until the ripe age of forty. While that may not qualify me to take umbrage over issues of the world with someone like yourself, I do question your recent commentary about Al Gore's energy call in the next ten to twenty years.

You see, it's not that I don't believe the world is warming based on carbon emissions, it may in fact be doing so. It's the idea that we somehow have to act collectively to solve this problem. I'm somewhat partial to the school of Austrian Economics, the basis of which were many writings by Ludwig Von Mises. The basic idea is that centralized planning doesn't work and never will. They never taught me that back in seminary and I often resent it.

The best ones don't lie, they manufacture reality and produce perception. They conjure illusion and produce hope. Each has their own audience willing to pay. The grandest of these wizards of illusion draw the most. Once they draw you into their circle, their tricks may be simple, but the effects are grand.

Yet they are merely mortals as were the kings and emperors of the past. They too stand alone in the Universe and beg for meaning and clarity. Perhaps it is their yearning which pronounces itself so loudly, that amongst the normal or regular in the crowd, they stand out.

Despite whatever hold that they may not have on you, the crowd demands a show and then demands that you hold your attention and tongue while they perform. You may stand above or beyond it, but their draw is real. They sit in rapt attention and feed the energy of the illusionist. Invariably the disappoint my come or reveal itself, but while the magic (if it can be called that) remains for a brief moment on stage, it stays in the heart of the viewer far longer than it probably ever merits.

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.

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 . . .

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.