Liberty is Freedom

Men have differed in opinion, and been divided into parties by these opinions, from the first origin of societies, and in all governments where they have been permitted freely to think and to speak.  The same political parties which now agitate the United States, have existed through all time.  Whether the power of the people or that of the aristoi should prevail, were questions which kept the States of Greece and Rome in eternal convulsions, as they now schismatize every people whose minds and mouths are not shut up by the gag of a despot.

Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, June 27, 1813

Liberty is freedom from governmental interference in the lives of individuals. 
The extent to which we are free to assemble, to criticize public officials, to acquire wealth and own property, and to limit the power and scope of government is the extent to which we enjoy political liberty.   

Libertarians want as little government as possible.  Progressives want virtually all aspects of life to be micromanaged and controlled by agents of the state.  Libertarians prefer a laissez faire, or live-and-let-live approach to government. 

Progressives want totalitarian government that rations speech, regulates thought, and eliminates private ownership through taxation and regulation.  Libertarians want to choose for themselves.  Progressives want the nanny state to limit choices only to the alternatives sanctioned by government.

This video is an encounter between a young Michael Moore—yes that one—and Milton Friedman.  Moore claims that it was wrong on principle for Ford Motor Company to use a cost-benefit analysis to decide whether to redesign Pinto automobiles that had faulty gas tanks.  Friedman points out that Moore’s reasoning is flawed, as it is today, and that everyone should be able to choose for ourselves how much risk to accept.

Friedman argues that government should provide courts of law in which consumers can sue business owners who knowingly hide potentially lethal defects in their products.  This is one aspect of market forces.  He also argues that if the defects are public knowledge, consumers should have the right to accept the risk knowingly if they choose to buy flawed products because they are relatively inexpensive.  Freedom to choose is an essential element of liberty.

O-tolitarians would have us believe that by government decree, we can have fuel efficient, completely safe, non-polluting motor vehicles that are also relatively inexpensive.  See me for some hurricane-proof real estate in Florida.  William F. Buckley often asked at what cost should we do this?  Progressives like to answer at any cost.  We could avoid many traffic fatalities by eliminating individually owned transportation; however, the O-bumites are far too beholden to the UAW for that. So, the at any cost argument is disingenuous.

Progressives hide their selfish, greedy, and controlling intentions with incrementalism.  They begin with seemingly innocuous programs, benefits, or subsidies such as WelfareHealthCare.  Then, citing costs, the nanny state’s totalitarian control takes away our freedom and makes all of our personal choices.  It is the Tony Soprano Rule.  The reason for the generosity is to muscle in on the operation until there is no one left but Big Nanny.

May your gods be with you.  

Voter Fraud and Intimidation Coming to Your Neighborhood Soon

It has been observed, here and elsewhere, that the political debate in this nation is no longer about ethics; rather, it is about economics.  At one time, lying about stealing was considered doubly immoral.  Theftocrats have tried to sidestep this issue by fabricating the cubic zirconia of making moral choices, situational or relative ethics.  However, this is not only amoral, it is a contradiction in terms.

Morals are simply unrelated to this semantical scam.  Any moral behavior associated with it happens strictly by accident.  Ethics is the science of making moral choices.  Therefore, ethics without morals is akin to water without oxygen; there is no such phenomenon.  Relativism requires no self-restraint in the presence of immoral opportunities.  It only mimics morality when it is cheap and easy, when there is little or no cost or personal sacrifice.  This fair weather moral feigning by ersatz ethicists is lying at the most base level.

Perhaps in no other area is the Theftocrats' fondness for slimy dealing more evident than in their penchant for voting fraud.  Between 2007-08, ACORN's thoroughly exposed hucksters claim to have registered over 1.3 million legal voters in 18 states.  That ACORN is allowed to register voters at all is an affront to decency; that they have been funded with taxpayer dollars is appalling. 

In an article that exposes some of the most blatant of Corruptocrats' lying and stealing, author Ed Barnes interviewed poll watcher Catherine Englebrecht.  She is one of the founders of True the Vote, a Houston, Texas, "citizen based grassroots organization that began collecting publicly available voting data to prove that what they saw in their day at the polls was, indeed happening--and it was happening everywhere."

Englebrecht relates that the "first thing we started to do was look at houses with more than six voters in them."  Englebrecht found that most "voting districts had 1,800 of them if they were Republican and 2400 of these houses if they were Democratic."  During further examination, "we found one with 24,000, and that is where we started looking."  True the Vote found shocking evidence; this voting district had the highest amount of permanent welfare recipients of any Houston district.

Most of the irregularities were focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Sean Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union (suppliers of Town Hall Meeting thugs).  Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid.  Caddle's excuse was that there "had been mistakes made."

The voter registrar there claimed that the voting rolls had been under an "organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name Houston Votes."  The extent of this sleaziness became apparent when the day after the registrar turned over his report to authorities, an unexplained fire magically erupted and destroyed almost all of Harris County's voting machines.

This typifies Corruptocrats' underhanded tactics.  Unable to win in a one-on-one stand up political fight, they slink away with their collective tail between their legs and steal the election.

Golly gee, who could have committed this treachery?  With US Attorney General BumHolder responsible for prosecuting voting fraud, the feds are certain to sit on their hands until well after the November election.  After all, Team O-buma's law enforcement is only for protected minorities.  Voter fraud stabs democracy in the heart.  The will of the majority is thwarted.  Little wonder that the Obomunistas are subverting the Constitution in favor of Sharia law.

Like their moral equivalents the Islamofascists, supporters of the Bum are moving to exert censorship by intimidating dialog on the Internet.  They are using their standard issue scheme of incrementalism to effect gradual control of the Web's content.  They already only prosecute hate speech crimes unilaterally in favor of their constituents who qualify for affirmative welfare.  The next step for them is construe criticism of their brand of government as seditious and prosecutable hate speech.

The eunuch government in Britain is O-buma's model of how to grovel properly to the leaders of his first religion.  Fortunately for the US, there is a prosecuting attorney in Michigan who, unlike Brick-a-Brack O-buma, still has his cojones.  The Muslim Brotherhood claims that it has a "God-given right to step forward and control the political authority so that it may establish the divine system on earth."  How very convenient for them that their version of God, with whom we cannot consult to verify their claims, has given them the privilege of determining how we must live.

Censorship of information that is "disadvantageous to Islam," and kow towing to Islamafascists' demands is now "enshrined in US national intelligence and security policy."  "There can be no successful national intelligence analysis or--appropriate national security strategy--where the underlying facts are barred."  The stable of geldings that is dismantling the nation is busy fashioning the lapdog media, the federal government's communication apparatus, and our intelligence community into its own image.  It is one of a nation of serially apologizing, self-effacing, and neutered house servants.

May your gods be with you.