Free Republic

LAS VEGAS — “My whole libertarian approach comes out of being just a nutty f'ing peacenik,” magician Penn Jillette confides backstage at his show, a few hours before he is set to perform.

"There comes a moment in nearly all post-apocalyptic stories when the characters are compelled to take to the road. In reality, if there is such a thing, people would do the exact opposite. They stay in familiar halls, linger on the same few streets that are most comfortable. The staples of the genre’s thought experiment would hold true in the real world: the breakdown of order, the need to rummage further and further from home... All of these events are the slow stripping away of the vestiges of the state, deriving step by step the hell that waits at the...

Addressing Planned Parenthood last week, President Obama made what must be one of the least self-aware statements of his tenure. "Forty years after the Supreme Court affirmed a woman's constitutional right to privacy, including the right to choose, we shouldn't have to remind people that when it comes to a woman's health, no politician should get to decide what's best for you," he said. "No insurer should get to decide what kind of care that you get. The only person who should get to make decisions about your health is you." It's no secret that

My thought is certain recreational drugs, such as marijuana, should remain off legal limits for the under 18 year olds, but become legally available when used in the proper environment. In many ways, pot is quite similar to alcohol, in that they should be used responsibly. My thought is to make the sale of marijuana less profitable by making it legal for home use. Personally, I don't smoke anything now, and do not want the smell of tobacco or pot on my clothes should I visit a public place, such as a shopping mall or bus stop. I know this...

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, is being pressured to stay out of the race for retiring Sen. Carl Levin's seat by libertarian power brokers Ron and Rand Paul. That's according to a National Journal article published Wednesday that examines the potential candidacies of Amash and fellow Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Howell. According to the article, rumors are flying that Amash — branded in several national media articles as the "next Ron Paul" — is being cautioned against a run by the elder Paul and Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator: But perhaps most illustrative of the tension...

ST. LOUIS - Marijuana, the most prevalent illicit drug in America, seems to be getting less illicit by the day. Among recent developments that would have been unfathomable during the “War on Drugs” begun under President Ronald Reagan: • The states of Colorado and Washington voted last fall to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the first states ever to do so. Though technically still a violation of federal law, the administration of President Barack Obama has responded with a shrug. • The Illinois House voted last week to join the 18 states that have already legalized marijuana for medical use....

Susan Sarandon: ‘War on Drugs’ Is ‘Completely Racist’ April 22, 2013 By Melanie Hunter (CNSNews.com) – Actress Susan Sarandon on Wednesday called the war on drugs “completely racist,” arguing that only lower level drug defendants get locked up – “mostly people of color.” “The war on drugs is ridiculous, because you’re only getting—you’re spending a huge amount of money. It’s completely racist. You’re picking up everybody at the lower level because mandatory minimum drug laws let you trade in to get off, so if you don’t have anyone to trade in, if you’re at the bottom, you’re going to jail,"...

I just saw a headline that made me think that libertarian fantasies somehow had turned into reality. As you can see, 24 IRS employees were just arrested for stealing. But what about the other 105,976 bureaucrats at the Internal Revenue Service who seize our money under the implied threat of violence? Shouldn’t they be arrested for stealing from us as well?

There's a new congressional push to end the federal War on Pot in the states – and it's being spearheaded by some of the most conservative members of the Republican conference. The "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act" introduced in the House last week would immunize anyone acting legally under state marijuana laws from federal prosecution under the Controlled Substances Act. Depending on the state, the legislation would cover both medical marijuana and recreational pot, and would protect not only the users of state-legal cannabis, but also the businesses that cultivate, process, distribute and sell marijuana in these states. The legislation...

Last year, the University of Colorado-Boulder made national headlines for its efforts to stamp out what has historically been one of the most popular days on campus — the 4/20 marijuana smokeout, which in the past has drawn up to 11,000 pot smokers who toke up on the university’s quad at 4:20 p.m. on April 20. Determined to see an end to the tradition, university officials took the unusual step of closing the campus to nonstudents and hosing down the lawn with a fish-based fertilizer that made the quad smell as appealing as an Alaskan pier. Activists were outraged, but...

Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. delivered an effective speech at Howard University, even though he rhetorically stumbled at points. The audience was mostly silent through Paul’s prepared speech, which highlighted traditional Republican policies such as school choice, free markets, and limited government. Paul’s more libertarian ideas, however, appeared to resonate with the audience, as they applauded for his views on reduced jail penalties for non-violent drug users and a more humble foreign policy. “Republicans are often miscast as uncaring or condemning of kids who make bad choices,” Paul said. “I, for one, plan to change that.” Paul admitted that Republicans had...

Glenn Beck says that proponents of marriage equality have won because they made the issue about freedom "and the principle of it is right."

[UK] Labour's liberalisation of the cannabis laws was a disaster that pushed up drug use and crime and doubled the number of drug victims in hospital beds, two major research studies said yesterday. They found that after police were told to go easy on cannabis smokers, there were increases in assaults, theft and car theft, burglaries, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. The chance that a young person who had never smoked cannabis would try the drug went up by a quarter after it became unlikely they would get more than a warning if caught by police, one project found. The likelihood...

On HuffPost Live today, actor Jeremy Irons (Reversal Of Fortune, Die Hard With A Vengeance) blasted New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg over the proposed restrictions on soda, along with the smoking ban, describing himself as a "complete libertarian" and likening Bloomberg's policies to a "nanny state." JEREMY IRONS: I'm a complete libertarian. I think it's very, very dangerous. I really mean that. I think the smoking ban is a tip of an iceberg of society -- the leaders of society telling us how to be. I think it's not their business. I think it is their business to tell...

I’ve never been a big Shakespeare fan, but that may need to change. It seems the Bard of Avon may be the world’s first libertarian. Some of you are probably shaking your heads and saying that this is wrong, that Thomas Jefferson or Adam Smith are more deserving of this honor.Others would argue we should go back even earlier in time and give that title to John Locke.But based on some new research reported in Tax-news.com, Shakespeare preceded them all.Uncertainty over the likely future success of his plays led William Shakespeare to do “all he could to avoid taxes,” new...

When I was a teenager and well into my 20s, Kurt Vonnegut was my favorite writer. I still appreciate his work, although now when I revisit it, I find things that bother me. One particular passage (I forget in which novel) found Vonnegut describing a porno shop. For those of you who are significantly younger than I and/or don’t read ancient history, this was a place that existed before the internet, when in order to acquire pornographic materials one had to go out in public and purchase them. With money. Dark, scary times. Anyway, Vonnegut described the shop as “a...

Former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr, an outspoken conservative who lost his seat more than a decade ago, thinks the time is right for a new run at political office. He announced a campaign for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Phil Gingrey, who’s running for Senate. Roll Call reports that Mr. Barr has already established a campaign team and has reached out to Capitol Hill politicians — including House leadership — for support.

"Most modern liberals, at their most consistent, want a situation in which as many individuals as possible can realize as many of their ends as possible, without assessment of the value of these ends as such, save in so far as they may frustrate the purposes of others. They wish the frontiers between individuals or groups of men to be drawn solely with a view to preventing collisions between human purposes, all of which must be considered to be equally ultimate, uncriticizable ends in themselves." — Isaiah Berlin I've written a lot lately about how conservatives lost the culture war....

Zo has strong words for neo-confederate libertarians, especially those who infiltrated the CPAC conference. He reminds viewers why some libertarians have no place in the conservative movement, and why Republicans should embrace the vision of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. (Video at link)

I have read the entirety of Rand Paul’s speech. I have spoken directly to the Senator. No where in his speech does he use the word “citizenship.” In fact, the word citizen is only used once, in reference to Rand Paul himself saying, “As a teenager, I was not always the model citizen that I am today.”

Even though I agreed with much of what Ron Paul had to say, all I could ever think is 'this isn't my guy' for president -too odd a demeanor/un-electable- not to mention foreign policy positions that were appalling to a peace-through-strength Republican like myself, particularly statements made re. Iran and Israel. But lo-and-behold, now we have fervent offspring Rand Paul who -while libertarian in his views- apparently saw wisdom in distancing himself from his father's take re. the volatile Muddled East.. and that's when I started listening to him. Maybe I've changed in my hawkishness too- I'd rather have not been involved...

Looking to the Jewish Passover to Understand American Dependency, Gun Control and Senator Rand Paul’s Filibuster From time to time events - current, past, and those of daily life will converge to shine light on something oft neglected but in frequent need of attention - FEAR. Sen. Rand Paul’s recent filibuster enthralling millions was such an event. It was David versus Goliath and Mr. Smith goes to Washington all rolled up, reminding us that uncontrolled government is a danger to our freedom. Sen. Ryan gently stirred our fears of being bullied and feeling helpless to do anything about it. However,...

As of this writing, Senator Rand Paul is still on his feet filibustering the nomination of John Brennan to be director of the CIA. But as he eventually made clear, his goal is not so much to actually stop Brennan, as it is to make a meal of the comments made this morning by Attorney General Eric Holder when he was pressed about U.S. policies on drone strikes on terrorists during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. When asked whether the government considered it had the right to use an armed drone on an American citizen within the borders...

Conservative talker Ann Coulter appeared Thursday on Fox Business Network’s “Stossel” to do battle with the show’s Libertarian host — and his 1,400+ Libertarian guests. Their biggest point of contention? Social Conservatism versus the Libertarian “Individuals Should Be Left Alone” approach. The evening began pleasantly enough, the two discussing whether the U.S. should’ve invaded Iraq following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Coulter believes military action was justified because Saddam Hussein was “definitely looking for uranium from Niger.” But then things became a little more heated when Stossel decided to shift gears and brought up legalizing drugs. “Libertarians and pot,” Coulter...

RON PAUL, Republican of Texas, has retired from the House, after winning more than two million presidential primary votes in 2012. He took the party’s libertarian wing from ignorable fringe to significant faction. His son, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, is angling to lead that faction, very possibly as a presidential candidate himself. The libertarian wing’s dissatisfaction with Mitt Romney led the Libertarian Party to earn 1.2 million votes in the presidential election for its candidate, the former New Mexico governor (and former Republican) Gary Johnson. That was its largest vote total ever. In at least seven national House...

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who looks more and more like he will pick up where his father left off and run for president in 2016, tried to create some separation between himself and his famous dad in a speech Wednesday. “I am a realist, not a neoconservative, nor an isolationist,” Paul began in his opening remarks at the Heritage Foundation. Paul called for a balanced approach to foreign policy that includes both significant action against radical Islam but also shunned the neoconservative and interventionist strains that dominated the Republican Party for the past decade and which his father, Ron...

Libertarianism has found tremendous success across our country over the last several years. Right now, that seems unlikely to change. At the crest of this political tidal wave has been the Campaign for Liberty. Founded by former U.S. Representative Ron Paul during the 2008 election cycle, it has grown into a formidable organization. With the guiding mission of informing Americans about Constitution-related issues, it has found a considerable degree of popularity among younger voters. In this first part of our discussion, John F. Tate, the Campaign’s president, explains how libertarianism came to find support among American voters, his opinion of...

The Republican Party needs to broaden its appeal by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war," U.S. Sen. Rand Paul told hundreds of Greater Cincinnati Republicans Saturday. "We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue," the Kentucky Republican said at the Northeast Hamilton County Republican Club's annual pancake breakfast at the Sharonville Convention Center. To help the party rebound from two successive losses in presidential races, Republicans must find...

I have a serious question for the "conservatives" on here. Why do you assume the GOP is conservative and why do you continue to support them? In he past 10 years the GOP has done nothing to prove they are a conservative alternative to the leftist democrats. They crow about fiscal restraint but GWB pushed the national debt to 10 trillion( don't throw out the Obama raised it 16, we know and it's not an answer). He started wars without congressional approval, gave us the TSA, Patriot act, warrantless wiretaps, drones flying over the country. Expanded medicare the list goes...

Dear Socially Liberal Fiscal Conservative Friend, That's pretty toothy, so I'm going to call you Bob. But whatever specific name you go by, Bob, you know who you are. You're the sort of person who says to his conservative friends or co-workers something like, "I would totally vote for Republicans if they could just give up on these crazy social issues." When you explain your votes for Barack Obama, you talk about how Republicans used to be much more moderate and focused on important things such as low taxes, fiscal discipline and balanced budgets. When Colin Powell was on "Meet...

I DON'T FALL IN LOVE with politicians – the last presidential candidate I voted for with ardor was Ronald Reagan in 1980 – and my heart doesn't break when those I support don't win. Nor am I a party loyalist. As a conservative I vote for Republicans more often than not; for those of us committed to free enterprise, limited government, military strength, and a healthy civil society, there is usually no better option. But the Republican Party isn't the conservative movement. And a GOP defeat doesn't mean conservatism – or the GOP, for that matter – is in crisis....

Glenn Beck announced plans Tuesday during his online television program to expand the news operation in his media company, The Blaze, and refocus it as a libertarian network, opening three foreign bureaus, debuting a nightly newsmagazine show, and relocating his New York staff to showy new offices. Beck introduced his ambitious plans by standing in front of a split screen with MSNBC´s Chris Matthews on one side and Fox News´s Sean Hannity on the other, and bemoaning the fact that cable news has devolved into the "far left [and] far right... yelling at each other." "We´re not gonna play

The USS Eisenhower...arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preperation for a potential ground intervention. ...

Campaign Spot reader Michael writes in, having examined the claim of the missing Republican voters — the drop off from McCain’s 2008 total to Romney’s 2012. Immediately after the election, many were left incredulous in response to the apparent news that Romney received 3 million fewer votes than McCain did. As more and more states have counted their absentees and reported 100 percent of precincts, the numbers are less shocking. Michael points to Dave Leip’s Atlas of US Presidential elections and calculates the drop off is now only 479,000.* Most intriguingly, many of those missing McCain voters may have voted...

The good news comes via instapundit: PEOPLE WILL LOVE THIS: Libertarians provided the margin for Democrats in at least nine elections. It’s particularly sad that libertarians didn’t back Mia Love. Really, you’re not going to vote for a candidate whose favorite economist is Bastiat? Apparently not. ________________________________________________________________________________ So thanks Paulbot idiots- it all went-down just like we told you it was going to. Any independent or Libertarian candidate running on the right is as much an enemy to American conservatives as are the progs: in our two-party system these people have zero chance of achieving real power or accomplishing anything meaningful, and are about...

WHITEHORSE, YK—Try to imagine a town where the government paid each of the residents a living income, regardless of who they were and what they did, and a Soviet hamlet in the early 1980s may come to mind. But this experiment happened much closer to home. For a four-year period in the '70s, the poorest families in Dauphin, Manitoba, were granted a guaranteed minimum income by the federal and provincial governments. Thirty-five years later all that remains of the experiment are 2,000 boxes of documents that have gathered dust in the Canadian archives building in Winnipeg. Until now little has...

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson says he's satisfied with his 2012 run, but he is keeping quiet on whether he'll take another shot at the White House or another elective office. "Ours is a mission accomplished,” Johnson told FoxNews.com. “We put a true small-government, individual-freedom option on the ballot in virtually every state and have assembled an organization that will carry that message forward.”

The only effect you're going to have -if any- is to hand  the election to Obama on a platter- unforgivable Randy Barnett @ Wall Street Journal (highlights mine): As a young libertarian, I was very enthusiastic about the formation of the Libertarian Party. I proudly cast my vote for Roger MacBride for president. I attended the 1975 national convention in New York that nominated him.  But, while I am as libertarian today as I was then, I have come to believe that the Libertarian Party was a mistake. The reason is simple. Unlike a parliamentary system in which governments are formed by coalitions of...

If you think an election that can't be won with your ideal candidate is an election not worth winning at all, think again.

Robocalls urge pro-drug legalization voters to support libertarian Gary Johnson, and could push the state to Romney The term “perfect storm” is so overused as to be a pathetic cliche — but alas, in politics, it is about the best phrase to describe Colorado in the upcoming election. The state could decide the outcome. And if it comes down to that, it will likely be messy, for we are watching an epic convergence of factors that seem poised to make the square state 2012′s version of Florida in 2000. Here in the center of the Intermountain West, we have polls...

The one that that stood out for me was the fact that even in the RNC primary we had at least 1 or 2 Libertarian questions a debate from the "peanut gallery". We never even got ONE question like: "What do you think the role of the Federal Government should be?" "What percentage of taxes on ANYONE is too much?" "If the question in tax policy is fairness, and the same percentage of a tax being mathmatically fair, why isn't a FLAT TAX an option in your opinion?" "We talk about the war on terror, what about the war on...

While some may roll their eyes at Libertarian Party presidential nominee and marijuana-legalization champion Gary Johnson, recent polling shows that his presence on the ballot could have an effect on the presidential race, at least in Nevada. A Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released Wednesday found President Barack Obama has a four-point lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney in Nevada (51-47 percent). But when Johnson is thrown into the mix, the former New Mexico governor garners three percent of the vote, largely pulling voters from Obama. “When Gary Johnson’s included he gets 3 percent and actually takes mostly from Obama,...

Presidential Candidate Governor Gary Johnson Survives Brutal Republican Ballot ChallengeCommonwealth Court Senior Judge James G. Colins ruled late today that the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania has filed nominating petitions containing more than the required 20,601 valid signatures and that the entire slate of statewide Libertarian candidates will remain on the November 6 general election ballot. The ruling was a stinging defeat for Republicans who waged a grueling and expensive 9-week battle to force their Libertarian Party competition off the November ballot... With little money and an army of dedicated volunteers, the LP stood up to the superior resources of the...

I wanted to get the current opinion of Freepers on whether or not they believe Gary Johnson will cost Mitt Romney the election? I am asking this because I have been seeing more and more polls as well as interest on Facebook and Twitter about Gary getting the Ron Paul voters and Independents to swing his way. A lot of them are from the legalize crowd and the others are from the Alex Jones wing. Recent polls in Montana show Johnson picking up 2% of the vote, in places like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada he is picking up around...

The prevailing wisdom is that Gary Johnson would pull votes away from Romney. But I disagree. Johnson's libertarian philosophy is, in reality, quite attractive to a lot of libs, especially younger ones. Johnson is strongly in favor of legalizing marijuana. I can see many college students, Occupy types, and gray-bearded aging 1960s hippies liking that message. And I think a lot of them, who you would normally expect to vote for Obama, will vote for Johnson. I think Johnson being in the race could be a significant positive for the GOP.

............my reaction to Mises' work underscores my particular problem with libertarianism in general: the fact that it has little to no soul,reducing man to a rational,pleasure-seeking animal. The central premise of Human Action, the basic theory of Mises' praxeology,is that all men are united by one logic,one universal bent toward happiness, which they seek in the most advantageous way possible. In short,man,though capable of making poor decisions,will even in failure choose the most logical poor decision known to him;he furthermore always desires one object more than everything else at any given moment,and the object of his desire is revealed only...

Before I introduce myself and tell you about the most important decision of my political life, let me first cut to the chase. If Obama is re-elected on November 6th, you haven’t seen anything yet. Because the first Obama term was just a small taste of things to come. Without ever having to answer to voters again, he will be free to be his REAL radical self. Without any need for restraint, Obama will throw caution to the wind, ignore Congress, and govern by Executive Order. He will be free to truly wreck this economy from sea to shining sea-...

Here is a better way to look at this ... the government should not be in the marriage business, and marriage is not a political issue. Gay people, for the most part, express a desire to get married for the benefits that are extended to married couple [rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children]. Government should allow people to engage in civil unions [this includes men and women], only. Marriage should be left to the churches. Then, any one can have...

Wayne Allyn Root, 2008 Libertarian Party’s Vice Presidential nominee and political commentator, resigned this morning from the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) to, according to his resignation letter, “elect good people and change the direction of this country outside of a third party.” In the letter to the LNC, which is available at Independent Political Report, Root explains that his decision much is not unlike those of previous Libertarian Party presidential candidates, including Ron Paul and David Koch; both of whom left the LP to become prominent Republicans. When I asked if he was now backing Mitt Romney, Root responded, “I...

San Francisco has Zynga and their politically correct cartoon games like Cityville. Libertarians now have City Federation launching now. I posted this months ago before they went public and got in trouble for it as I love the idea behind it all. Educating people through mass media. They had their press release today so I am allowed to talk about it. Basically they are a great city building and strategy game with graphics on Facebook that would amaze you. If you know anyone that plays Sim City or Cityville tell them to check this out and they will not go...