Interesting Thoughts on Ron Paul

Here.

That is all.

TomDispatch on the Surge

The other side (as opposed to that of O'Hanlon and Pollak).

I also find the implications that the "good news" reports come from those who are looking at Potemkin villages to be interesting.

That is all.

That About Sums it Up

The American people are not "defeatists" on Iraq: they realize that we could, if we wanted, station a million-man Army in Iraq, change the rules of engagement to permit much more "collateral damage" (i.e., war crimes), and pour half the Treasury into Bill Kristol's grand scheme to remake the Middle East. But you know what? They don't think it's worth it.

-Justin Raimondo

That is all.

McCarthy is at it Again

Once again, Andrew C. McCarthy attacks the notion that the Constitution limits the President's powers. Indeed, only the opther branches of government can overstep their authority.

While he distracts people from the larger issue later in the article by talking about foreign-to-foreign communications (which I agree the President needs no warrant to intercept), in the first half of the article he makes clear that he believes that merely by invoking "national security," or a "foreign threat," the President has the unquestioned authority to spy on anyone at any time.

Why does anyone publish this clown?

That is all.

"Micromanaging the War"

If there is any aspect of this war that is a mess, it is the militarily stifling mess created by the micro-managing politicians who think they know something about warfighting and the classic principles of war
-W. Thomas Smith Jr.

This phrase apparently refers to doing anything other than bowing before the Great God Dubya and letting him do whatever he wants.

That is all.

Scott Adams, GO TO HELL

Or to Mexico, if you think that Mexicans are so much better than us.

Thanx and a tip o' the hat to VDARE.

That is all.

More on the Lies About O'Hanlon and Pollack

Here.

Thanx and a tip o' the hat to Brad at Wendy McElroy.com.

I still like 'em, even though I disagree vehemently on the immigration issue.

That is all.

Wendy McElroy on Ron Paul and Immigration

Listen, I like her, and I respect her decision to oppose Ron Paul, but on immigration she either doesn't think or is one of those "let justice be done, though the world be destroyed" types.

Read this:

Immigration is another issue. Perfect world is one where state welfare doesn't exist. But it does exist. So until one violation of rights is erased (welfare) Paul supports another violation of rights (immigration controls). A measure that is good is abandoned because it is not perfect.

Translation: allowing millions of people into our country who will use our welfare system, and who will eventually get citizenship status and then vote to expand the welfare system, is more libertarian than preventing these people to come until we can get the welfare system revoked. The idea that somehow we are to destory the welfare state while importing more people who will use it and support its expansion is stupid.

Those are the choices: restrict immigration or let the welfare state expand erxponentially.

Wendy has chosen to let the welfare state expand exponentially.

That is all.

Chuch Baldwin on Prophecy, Christianity, and America

Christians have a duty to stand up for what's right, not just for whoever's in power, says the pastor.
That is all.

Executive Privilege? It's a Lie.

Kevin R. C. Gutzman explains that this supposed Presidential power is not legitimate.

That is all.

Commander-in-Chief Versus Military Dictator

Mario Cuomo on the imperial presidency.

That is all.

War Lies

Ken Pollack and Michael O'Hanlon were never antiwar, as Glenn Greenwald points out here and here. They were always on the side agitating to keep us in Iraq. So all of the talk about how they were "war critics" who were convinced in spite of themselves that Iraq was winnable because of how wonderful things were going duing their trip is so much B.S..

That is all.

Ron Paul and Abortion

One thing I'm not certain I understand are the libertarians who look at Paul's pro-life stance on abortion as a reason not to support his candidacy.

Yes, he probably would favor laws restricting abortion, but only at the state level, and that's not the level of office he is running for. Yes, he would want to appoint Supreme Court justics who would overturn Roe v. Wade, because he believes that abortion should not be an issue to be decided federally, but then again that was also the position of Harry Browne, the 2000 Libertarian Party nominee for the presidency. (The major difference is that Browne did not want state-level regulation of abortion either, but he didn't think it was within the federal government's legitimate power to restrict a state from doing so).

For those who did not support Browne in 2000, that would make sense, but for people who supported Browne in 2000 to use abortion as an argument against supporting Paul suggests at least that they need to articulate why they differentiate the candidates.

That is all.

Raimondo on Paul

Here, here, and here.

That is all.

...And The Biggest White Lie Is

Leftists will be happy with anything less than the total eradication of white people.

That is all.

Voter Fraud and the U.S. Attorney Firings

Two things come to mind when reading this piece by John Fund:

(1) If the Bush attorney firings were due to the attorneys not pursuing legitimate cases of voter fraud (as opposed to charges being dreamt up out of thin air and the attorneys pressured to pull a Nifong, as the Democrats have implied), then the Bush administration ought to come out and make its case more forcefully. If it were to go on the offensive rather than try to cover everything up and not answer quetions, it could turn this thing around.

(2) I can't help but notice that no voter fraud involving non-citizens voting was mentioned. This could mean that this was not a big issue, or that Bush did not pursue such cases, or that the Wall Street Open Borders Journal doesn't want to talk about it.

That is all.

G.O.P. YouTube Debate - Who Will Come?

Reading the LewRockwell Blog and Sully, I came across some links about the upcoming G.O.P. Debate on September 17.

Apparently there is a good chance the Giuliani and Romeny won't participate. Only McCain and Paul have said definitely that they will.

Here are some articles on it:

GOP: YouTube too Scary for Us
Running Scared
Scared, Stampeding Elephants
More articles at PrezVid

That is all.

Absolutely the Best Book Series About 23rd-Century Biocyborg Wizards There Is...

Has anyone who reads my blog read The Passing of the Techno-Mages trilogy by Jeanne Cavelos? (It's a Babylon 5 tie-in, by the way). It's apparently very difficult now for people to get their hands on the second book, but I got all the books and read them all when they first came out.

Anyone else know the series? Anyone else want to discuss it with me?

That is all.

From the Health Care Front

Illegal immigration - a victimless crime?

That is all.

Third-Party Candidate Endorses a Republican - if He Can Get the Nomination

Steve Kubby endorses Ron Paul for President.

Thanx and a tip o' the hat to Tex MacRae and to Lew Rockwell blog.

That is all.