The Druidic Candidate: Can California deal with a Druid for governor?

The Orange County Weekly ^ | March 28, 2002 | Victor D. Infante

[Mark Bahner]

Here's one small l-libertarian who would like to apologize in advance for this publicity-seeking kook.

Here's one big L-Libertarian that doesn't have a clue what you're talking about. Why in the world do you feel any need to "apologize" for someone who isn't even in your Party?

What business is it of yours, anyway? If he said he was a Zorastrianist*, would you "apologize in advance" "as a small l-libertarian"?

*For those who don't have a clue what a Zorastrianist is (*I* didn't, until I looked here):

Zorastraianism...followers of Zarathustra

I assume the whole issue of what his religion was came up because there was some box on a California Voter's Guide marked "religion." If he is indeed a Druid, it seems only logical to write that in.

The modern Druid religion seems benign. (Just like the modern Christian religion...now that Christians no longer have the Inquisition or witch trials.) Here's information about it, for people (like me) who didn't know much about it:

Druid religion explained

In short, I don't see anything to "apologize" for.

Mark (capital L-Libertarian)

[CARepubGal]

That was Governor Moonbeam aka Jerry Brown! He was a nutjob for sure! Thankfully Simon is a very squared away gentleman. :-) Grayout is alienating the lib's in the worst way! Even Kalifornia can have a few of us with common sense.

[FormerLib]

"Old" religions have had 1000's of years to prove their claims -- and have failed miserably to do so.

Sorry, but the Christian faith proved its claims with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Atheism, however, has shown itself capable of incredible acts of brutality in the former Soviet Union, Communist China, etc.

I see pride still goes before the fall.

[FormerLib]

And you can read all the facts that you need on the topic here.

[thmiley]

It really pisses me off when I see this kind of crap from my own party. Maybe flake boy should go be a greenie or Natural Law party candidate. He'd fit in better.

[Mark Bahner]

Sorry, but the Christian faith proved its claims with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Show me the Ark! ;-) Better yet, build me a boat, and put two of all the animals on earth on that boat, for 40 days and 40 nights. If you can't do that, I say that the Flood (that killed ALL the animals and ALL the people on earth, less than 6000 years ago) was just a, "fabrication churned up by fanciful, over-imaginative individuals"!

And after you get done doing all that...answer the question that I've never gotten a fundamentalist friend of mine to answer: What were the races of the people on the Ark? Was Noah oriental, and his wife black? Who was the Scandanavian?

[Cable225]

In short, I don't see anything to "apologize" for.

Keep that in mind while your party is busy NOT getting elected to anything.

And by anything, I mean in towns with populations over 325. Drugs, prostitution, and nutjobs. How do you ever expect to be taken seriously?

[Mark Bahner]

It really pisses me off when I see this kind of crap from my own party. Maybe flake boy should go be a greenie or Natural Law party candidate. He'd fit in better.

1) Have YOU ever gone to the trouble (and, almost certainly, "expense") of ever running for office as a Libertarian? If not, it somewhat pisses ME off, when I see members of my own party trashing other members of my own party...especially when those OTHER members are out in the streets, fighting the good battle.

2) As for him "fitting in better" with the Greens or Natural Law Party, let's look at a debate between Mr. Copeland, the Libertarian, and the Green Party candidate (who used to be--I kid you not--the Socialist Worker's Party candidate for President).

Mr. Copeland, the Libertarian, called Libertarians "warriors of liberty" (very nice! the man's got some slogan talent!). According to the San Diego Union Tribune, "Copeland said government should exist only to protect property, public safety and national security. He called for guarding personal freedom, ending the drug war and dismantling the public education system."

Now, how exactly does THAT fit in with the Green Party or Natural Law Party? ;-)

Here's what the Green Party candidate advocated, "Camejo called for using renewable energy sources, boosting the minimum wage, ending the death penalty, universal health care and campaign finance reform."

San Diego Union Tribune account of Libertarian/Green debate

Gary Copeland sounds like a Libertarian to me. And considering that he's going to the effort and expense of representing the Libertarian Party, he deserves and gets my respect. (Though I wouldn't support him for President...or even necessarily Governor of North Carolina...unless no other Libertarian was interested.)

Mark (Libertarian, North Carolina)

[Ditter]

Any family history on this ........uh............... nutjob? He could be a cousin of mine.......... but I don't want him to know.

[Mark Bahner]

Drugs, prostitution, and nutjobs. How do you ever expect to be taken seriously?

Larry Elder (the Sage of South Central) takes us seriously. He also says (correctly) in his book, "The 10 Things You Can't Say in America": "Republicans and Democrats...not a dime's worth of difference." As Mr. Elder perceptively recognized, Libertarian Harry Browne was by FAR the best candidate for President in 2000. (In fact, the ONLY candidate who would have followed the Constitution.)

Economist Thomas Sowell (Hoover Institute) describes himself as not a conservative, but a libertarian. (Though he disagrees with the Libertarian Party on the size of military.)

In fact, quite a number of economists are libertarians: Sowell, Walter Williams, Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman...

In short, quite a number of people take us seriously. The question is, when Republicans make the completely laughable claim that they support limited government or the Constitution, who in the world would be ignorant enough to take THEM seriously?

Mark (Libertarian Party...accept no substitutes!)

[jlogajan]

the Christian faith proved its claims with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Proved it to who?

[jlogajan]

Republicans make the completely laughable claim that they support limited government

Yeah, funny how when they get power, government just keeps getting bigger. You might think that they only differentiate themselves enough to get elected, and then start hauling home the pork to stay elected. That seems to be the Republican ideology -- stay in office, to hell with principle.

[afuturegovernor]

Can't see how this is even as bad as the party that refused to admit evidence against clinton during the impeachment trial.

Hmmm....one party's Senators vote 50 out of 55 members in the Senate vote to convict and remove Clinton from office and the other party has a candidate for governor that runs around in the woods wearing a white hooded robe.

[metesky]

Libertarian Harry Browne was by FAR the best candidate for President in 2000.

Liberty Magazine says that a lot of money donated to Browne's '96 and 2000 campaigns went for the enrichment of Mr. Browne.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Most of Marin County would go for the Druid.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Why is disproving so important. If you are not a believer, ok. I don't bash Druids just because they can't tell me if the lady of the lake really kept the sword for Arthur. I really don't care what other's beliefs are as long as they are not out to kill me.

[BluesDuke]

Why? Where are you planning to go? What Party do you advocate?

I'm leaning toward the Surprise Party myself.

[BluesDuke]

Liberty Magazine says that a lot of money donated to Browne's '96 and 2000 campaigns went for the enrichment of Mr. Browne.

Very true. The magazine has been following that one for months. So was Jacob Hornberger, a writer with the Future of Freedom Foundation who is also a longtime LP official and activist. But the money issue, while certainly impossible to ignore (I was unaware of it myself until well enough after the 2000 elections), is matched even-up by an even more disturbing point: that Harry Browne violated the Libertarian Party's explicit enough rules against engaging members of the party's national office or various party-employed workers to work on behalf of a specific candidate before the candidate has the final LP endorsement for office. It was because of these issues, Mr. Browne's rather disingenuous attempts to duck giving straight answers to questions about them, and the party's national office apparently not giving a rat's derriere about either it or the fact that Mr. Browne's shenanigans have actually driven LP vote totals down - while Mr. Browne, interestingly, engages practically unchallenged in Clintonesque spin about falling numbers equaling unseen or unseeable victories - that I began cooling on the Libertarian Party. This nation may well need a libertarian party yet, but the incumbent Libertarian Party, I fear, is not quite it.

[TopQuark]

The Druids? Didn't they build Stonehenge? Yes. And not much since then.

[metesky]

Whatever libertarian positions I take (and I take many) have always been of the small "l" type.

Hard for me to take that crap about not initiating violence seriously. I mean if someone threatens me, I'm a firm believer in a pre-emptive first strike.