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I was a Libertarian from 1972, (my first voting election) until September 15, 2001. That was the day I heard Harry Brown say on O'Rielly's show that we should deal with OBL by way of the institutions of international law. And that was the end of the LP for me. Badnarik is even worse. Frankly, I had no problem taking the LP pledge that "One must never initiate the aggressive use of force," but it appears that too many L(l)ibertarians have forgotten that when Ayn Rand laid down that law, it had two parts to it, the second of which is, "and when aggressive force is used against one, he must never fail to respond."

There is a difference between Democrats and Republicans. For all of GWB's many faults, and his many failures as a (compassionate) conservative, only a fool could support the LP in this election.

Frankly, I had no problem taking the LP pledge that "One must never initiate the aggressive use of force," but it appears that too many L(l)ibertarians have forgotten that when Ayn Rand laid down that law, it had two parts to it, the second of which is, "and when aggressive force is used against one, he must never fail to respond."

Ayn Rand on the use of force:

"Dictatorship nations are outlaws. Any free nation had the right to invade Nazi Germany and, today, has the right to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba or any other slave pen. Whether a free nation chooses to do so or not is a matter of its own self-interest, not of respect for the non-existent "rights" of gang rulers. It is not a free nation's duty to liberate other nations at the price of self-sacrifice, but a free nation has the right to do it, when and if it so chooses."

"A slave nation has no national rights, but the individual rights of its citizens remain valid, even if unrecognized, and the conqueror has no right to violate them. Therefore, the invasion of an enslaved country is morally justified only when and if the conquerors establish a free social system, that is, a system based on the recognition of individual rights."

'Collectivized "Rights"', June 1963, The Virtue of Selfishness.

That was the day I heard Harry Brown say on O'Rielly's show that we should deal with OBL by way of the institutions of international law.

I like the other libertarian idea of giving $1 billion to the person who brings us UBL's head. It would have saved a lot of trouble.