Say what you will, but we now have a Libertarian as Speaker of the House.

Posted by Zero 9 years, 6 months ago to News
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Maybe I just have lower standards for politicians - but I'm kinda pleased about this.

Will it make any difference - I don't know - probably not. Seems its all bad news lately.

But I'll take what I can get.
We now have a person with strong free-market views 3rd in line for the Presidency!
Ha!


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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The the is the other way or the short version of putting . their was there.

    The outcome though is when you make public confession it's an admission of self-conviction as in convicted not as in having convictions.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    So what he studied libertarian principles. I studied Marx and Engels and that was a chore. Didn't stop me as a soldier from making appointments with Lenin for their followers. studying etc is one thing acting on it is another.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Get control first without it nothing else matters That means take action. No evidence of that yet. Compromise is not action it is a form of surrender.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Best and most well put leftist opinion and certainly the most honest and why the left endorsed him. After all the Republicans are only the right wing of the left and charades and games aside have yet to stray from the fold. Where's my puppy chow?:

    The rest is just would be could be should be with a large dose of dubious hope.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Objectivist is Practical. Means the conclusion must be tested and found useful. I'd say you nailed it!
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    SOS does not mean Save our Souls it means Stuff On a Shingle. He's already established his voting record. RINO disguised as a nice RINO.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    equivocating and waffling and making excuses does not make A = B. Pretty weak First I'll get a card for emergencies but then shoot it's almost Christmas and Ii really want to nice things for my family and OMG the card is maxed out now what. Now what welll. I can get a limit raise I'll only use it for emergencies. Right. Sure. Uh Huh. NOT.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Ahh but you misdefine such a person is not of the far right ...unless it's the far right wing OF the left. Judged with the Constitution as the Center your description sounds like someone who is one foot in the center and one foot supporting citizens control government. Ryan is not in that category which supposedly includes Libertarians. He is solidly in the right wing of the left. No doubt so does not 'vote that way' as you put it.

    Never use the definitions of the other side. Redefining is their major weapon against you.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    As compared to what? He was endorsed by the left and not as a libertarian but as a Conservative. Definition means moves slow within the law but will accept change or compromise. The phrase describes the people in power who are digging in a long haul defense system.

    Being endorsed by the left means they expect the deal making to continue which means they see no sacred ground beneath that individual. i would say the same in the other direction IF they had anything to defend. They used to but they all left us.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The only person that can answer that question is the only person that can absolve any guilt feeling you are having. If you are having no guilt feelings and ask me for peace of mind I won't grant it. Member of the secular devil's congregation get behind me.

    The key give away was "I don't think. Had you said I don't believe or I don't judge them or I am sure that....different store. I don't think is not a conclusion and most of the time is an escape hatch cop out. Judge yourself its conscience not mine.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You can't fail at all if you are an individual who makes an individual choice after having identified evil to support evil. The degree of evil is immaterial. Thus having turned your back on good and chosen evil you are a pragmatist and have just made a lie out of your first claim and your life. I didn't make the choice you made the choice to be an evil person. It's your mirror that judges not mine.The the was of putting your four point program is "I was only following orders Mein Herr." The Nuremberg Defense which is an open admission of guilt coupled with a plea for clemency or lighter sentence. I refuse to grant it if you are asking me I know their are other choices and refuse to join the secular devil's congregation. If you are asking yourself 'judge not less you have judged yourself."

    You get no peace of conscience from any other than your own conscience sounds like you are trying to justify your choice and failing badly. So get behind me. minus Zero you get no converts here;

    Moral Philosophy 101 is a great tool for those that have the balls to use it.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Thank you for the compliment, EM, very kind.

    But just to be clear - I don't equate voting-your-conscious with supporting the Socialist Left.
    I just think you are failing to oppose them.

    No candidate will ever be all your looking for. Does that mean you should never vote?

    Many OBJ's would have trouble voting for a Libertarian. Hell, some OBJ's would have serious trouble voting for some other OBJ's.

    But if a Libertarian had a real chance of winning I would enthusiastically support him/her.
    Even if I profoundly disagree with them on Foreign Policy.

    Does that mean I'm voting for evil?

    The more you think the two are the same - the more your argument makes sense.
    But I don't think Republicans and Democrats are "practically the same." I see a vast difference between the two.

    They're both politicians - hence liars and thieves - but only one seeks to actively enslave me.
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  • Posted by editormichael 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Sorry, but that is nonsense!
    The Tea Party movement has been around for many years, but coalesced somewhat starting about 2008 or 09.
    In its early form, it was very libertarian, but has since splintered and now has many groups using the name "Tea Party," and some of them are what is called "social conservative," meaning supporting restrictions on personal liberty even while inconsistently calling for "obeying the Constitution" and cutting taxes.
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  • Posted by editormichael 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Being a non-voter is NOT a vote for left-collectivists, and it is a shameful inaccuracy even coming from an essentially decent and correct person such as you, Zero.
    Voting for an alleged "lesser of two evils" is still voting for evil.
    If you want to help, how about endorsing Instant Runoff Voting? Thank you.
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  • Posted by editormichael 9 years, 6 months ago
    By the way, even if he were a * libertarian* -- which he isn't -- he wouldn't be a Libertarian. He is a Republican. A Libertarian is a member of the Libertarian Party. Them capital letters mean something.
    Wasn't it Milton Friedman who called himself "a small r republican"?
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  • Posted by editormichael 9 years, 6 months ago
    Your optimism is commendable, but I would like to see some evidence.
    Yes, I remember Ryan's saying, some years ago, that he had been influenced by Ayn Rand's writing, but Alan Greenspan also said that.
    I was asking at a library several weeks ago for some of her books and was told they were all checked out!
    The librarian told me every time there was a Republican debate, her name would come up and there would be a rush on her work.
    But even when Republicans win elections, we citizens and taxpayers keep losing.
    Taxes rise, governments grow, wars increase, and voters keep getting suckered.
    If you have any evidence Paul Ryan is pro-freedom or pro-free-market, I'd love to see it. Thank you.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I reject the accusation of "pragmatism" or worse.
    As an OBJ - a staunch advocate of reason - I am an idealist of the first order.

    One of my most basic beliefs is that
    "Whenever you figure something out you must act on it. Nothing will be OK until you do."
    Pretty Idealistic, no?

    Well, I figured out that:
    - my guy can't win right now, and
    - one of these other two guys WILL win, and
    - one of them is much worse than the other (at least in MY judgment), so...
    ...how can I fail to work against the greater evil?

    My responsibility as an Idealist is to resist oppression - not throw up my hands, take my ball and go home.

    But that's just my take on it.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Seems most smart people are misanthropes, KC.
    Just the frustration of dealing with "lesser" intellects, I guess.

    Not me.
    From what I've seen the Average Man is not average and extraordinary people are all around us.

    As for the freedoms of other countries, all I can say is Sweeeet.
    One is not diminished by another's success.

    But I also have to ask - who were the "banksters" and what was done to them?
    (Somehow I doubt there were many politicians among those brought to "justice.")

    A little voice says I should leave this alone, but I am so often wrong that I have to know - what personal liberties do they have in Peru and Iceland that we don't have here?
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I - am Tea Party. And proudly so.
    How can I not be? I can add to 18.4 Trillion!

    The propaganda is ascribing to the Tea Party any agenda beyond fiscal conservancy.
    It's all about the money.
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  • Posted by mdant 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "I prefer creeping up on Socialism to making a mad dash for it."

    I agree. It is true that, in the long run, the Republicans are taking deeper into socialism as well, but because they are trying to fool their conservative base they do not charge full speed into it like the Democrats are itching to do anytime they get a opening.
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  • Posted by JCLanier 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Herb: vhat vill be vill be.

    P.S. I was gifted a bottle of small batch 16 yr. Black Maple Hill ... This conversation calls for a drink.
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