The American Guesser

Call me a dirty neo-Libertarian, if you must. Supporters of pacifist Ron Paul also might object, considering how the war is illegal and all that. But, this story (hat tip to Kim) brought a crooked smile to my face. It’s about some Marines who found themselves outnumbered in Afghanistan.

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machine gun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

“I was in my own little world,” the young corporal said. “I wasn’t even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target.”

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies’ spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.

“I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us,” the corporal said. “It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured.”

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Now, I don’t usually post about how it’s this or that holiday. I figure my readers know it’s Thanksgiving, and they don’t need me telling them what I’m thankful for, or what they ought to be thankful for.

But I will say this: I am damn thankful for the men and women in uniform who are in harm’s war in foreign lands making it safe for “no-first-blow” libertarians spout off on their blogs.

It’s better we fight them over there rather then to wait for them to strike another blow here, then chase them around trying to arrest them.

So, kudos to Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan, and everyone like them in all branches of the military. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Be safe and come home soon.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

This is amazing:

The lawsuit that George William Roberts filed Thursday stems from a May 11 incident in which Roberts was charged with public intoxication. The charge was later dismissed in General District Court.

Melvin Williams, who is representing Roberts, said court testimony indicated that police were answering a call about someone disturbing the peace. After speaking to neighbors, they went to Roberts’ door in the 800 block of Peck Street [in Roakoke, VA].

According to the lawsuit, Roberts’ girlfriend answered and when asked if anyone else was home, she told them Roberts was getting dressed in a back room. As she spoke, Roberts walked into the living room where he could be seen from the door.

Officers pushed into the house, seized Roberts, dragged him outside and charged him with being drunk in public, the lawsuit says.

Naturally, he’s suing for $10 million, saying that police trespassed, committed assault and battery, and both the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition of unreasonable search and seizure and Virginia law by entering his home without a warrant.

Hey, I mean it’s not like they held him down and forced him to drink before they violated his privacy, committed assault and dragged him outside where they could claim he was drunk and in public.

Good luck with the lawsuit.

The Green Party is hoping one of their guys has a shot of getting into Congress out of Louisiana’s 2nd district :

The Republican is a Vietnamese American who almost never mentions his party affiliation when campaigning inside New Orleans. The Democrat is disgraced nine-term incumbent William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson, under indictment for bribery after the FBI discovered $90,000 stashed in the plastic containers of his home freezer. The Green Party candidate is longtime community organizer Malik Rahim, a co-founder of Common Ground Relief Network, a grassroots organization brought together in the wake of Katrina to open medical clinics, distribute flood relief supplies and repair and rebuild homes damaged by the flood. With a projected low turnout, it’s shaping up as a three way race that could go in a surprising direction. “We are shooting for 30,000 votes here,” a Rahim campaign spokesperson told BAR, “and we think we can win.”

I dunno. You can never underestimate the ability of people to rationalize away a candidates obviously criminal behavior because they think they need someone to bring home the bacon. After all, they’ve been told by the media, the schools and their churches for years that they cannot possibly service without assistance from the nanny state. The only reason for wanting the ability to vote is to be able to get stuff from the government.

And right now, you just bet that Bill Jefferson is pumping out that message. At least Malik Rahim has been rolling up his hands and working for the people. Jefferson has literally be rolling away the cash.

Reuters has an interesting story about powerful senators who really, really, really want to see the Fairness Doctrine come back. And yes, people, the article does state that President-elect Obama is on record as opposing a Fairness Doctrine comeback.

Several points:

He has not stated that he would veto a new Fairness Doctrine.

He might be willing to trade his opposition to the Fairness Doctrine for something else, or simply might not be opposed enough to fight to keep it from becoming law if it’s attached to another bill.

And as the article points out, there are other ways to skin a cat:

Obama has called on Henry Rivera, who was a commissioner in the 1980s when the Fairness Doctrine existed, to oversee the FCC transition process. Rivera is a supporter of bringing back the provisions. And heading Obama’s overall transition team is John Podesta, head of liberal think tank the Center for American Progress. Last year, the CAP issued a report called “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio.”

While the CAP stopped short of advocating a return of the Fairness Doctrine, it did support more stringent adherence to so-called localism, which critics consider a back door to requiring that stations ditch some of their conservative hosts.

The FCC is considering the matter now, weighing such questions as whether to require stations to create “community advisory boards” made up of “local officials and other community leaders.” The boards would tell radio executives whether the content they broadcast is adequately addressing the needs of the community, subject to the board’s interpretation.

In other words, Obama isn’t going to demand that stations like WMBD1470 gut their profitable programing by requiring the station to hand over free air time to anyone who disagrees with an opinion Rush Limbaugh states.

No, what Obama and his minions on the FCC are going to require that the station — ALL stations — let volunteers from the community decide what programing to air.

In other words, fairness and equity will be mandatory.

Here’s another idea: Just demand that the FCC finally free up those low-power FM licenses that they’ve kept on hold at the behest of Big Media for years. Let these new license holders — presumably members of the local community — compete in the free marketplaces of both commerce and ideas.

I mean, what’s next? A press release from the Green Party stating that they kinda suspect there are Democrats who really aren’t as anti-war and anti-corporation as they say they are.

Anyway, here’s the opening paragraphs of the paragraph posted in LP.org:

Following Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, and the support of the massive bailouts by Republican members of Congress, the Libertarian Party says it has replaced the GOP as the party of free market advocates.

“The Republican Party no longer represents advocates of capitalism and the free market,” says Libertarian Party Director of Communications Andrew Davis. “The GOP’s mindless support of regulatory economic policy indicates it no longer has any philosophical or pragmatic opposition to government intervention in the marketplace. This abandonment of free market principles makes the Republican Party no more opposed to big government than their Democratic counterparts.”

I know! You coulda knocked me over with a feather when I read that.

As I said in the previous post, I’m not a fan of Ron Paul. But a lot of libertarian-minded people are, having overlooked his history — via pal and partner Lew Rockwell — of promoting soft-core Confederate Heritage ideology). So here is a link to a IPR post with lots of yummy Ron Paul clips. Have a fun and be sure to wash your hands afterward.

Longtime readers of Peoria Pundit know that I do not think highly of Lew Rockwell or his business partner Ron Paul. Both of them spent decades building support for the Libertarian Party in the South by peddling the idea that the Confederacy was a victim of illegal government aggression. It’s as if freeing the slaves was somehow an act that set back the cause of freedom, instead of promoting it.

Feh. I was born and raised in the Land of Lincoln. Honest Abe was no tyrant, and I have no use for anyone who promotes the idea that he was. That kept me from supporting Paul at all.

So, I was king of amused with I saw an article on LewRockwell.com titled: “I’m a Bad Libertarian.” I wasn’t written by Lew or Congressman Ron, but it’s still ironic.

The other problem I have with the Libertarian Free Market is this. I loathe Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buys, MacDonald’s and even Piggly Wiggly. The problem there is corporations result when the market is totally free. With corporations we enjoy… offshore outsourcing of manufacturing. That means some guy in Asia who will work for next to nothing gets jobs that should go to Americans. It also means the death penalty to the mom and pop businesses. How can they compete? Usually they can’t. What happened to Uncle Bill’s hardware and Fishing Supplies? Oh, Home Depot and Sports Chalet replaced that. Bill now works the floor of the Lowe’s in the plumbing department at $9 per hour. He’s surly, doesn’t care and pounds down a six-pack a night. Joe the Plumber didn’t have any openings on his staff for Bill.

I guess I have trouble with the totally free market, not that I have a better solution. But I’m none too thrilled by the strip malls all looking the same and owned by nameless faceless corporations. They have destroyed the American dream and replaced service, adventure and good neighborly shops with Pop Tarts.

Here’s the thing: Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton WAS a mom & pop business owner. He was also a shrewd businessman. He risked his own money to expand his business. He didn’t do anything that any one of the people he competed out of business could not also have done.

Mr. Sam is dead now. Sure, some of his family members are still alive and have a role in the family business. But all them are short-term greed-heads. There is no doubt in my mind these idiots will nick and dime themselves to death and someone will come along and eat their lunch.

And as a free-market guy, I do the mom & pop thing as much as I can. That’s my choice.

One of the hardest things Libertarians face is that concept that’s been ingrained into the brains of Americans: It’s the government’s job to tweak the rules so the outcome benefits them. Or, benefits people they find more deserving.

In other words, when other people are allowed to make choices, sometimes it’s not the choices you would make. It’s price you pay for living in a free society that lets YOU make the choices YOU want to make.

I know it’s frightening, but that’s what being an adult is all about.

So grow up already.

The Schaumberg Freedom Coalition explains itself:

The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition is a group of concerned citizens who are keeping tabs on the government of the Village of Schaumburg to ensure that the people’s rights are protected from overreaching government. We focus on issues such as corporate welfare, tax policy, government transparency and eminent domain abuse.

And their “blog” is organized like a news organization Website. And the reporting on freedom-related issues is top notch, including this piece that provides evidence against the benefits of stop-light cameras.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

For God’s sake people. I am only one man.

I barely have the time to post the stuff I do already. I don’t have time for essays on politics and the issues.

But YOU can contribute your thoughts on all issues related to Third Parties and the issues that drive members. I’m looking for contributors. While I am a libertarian-minded fellow, I’m interesting in getting input from multiple perspectives.

So, if you want to contribute, send me a contact and tell me what you want to write about. Just a few rules: No dirty words, no racism, no libel. But be as radical as you can be without scaring the horses and chickens. A sense of humor is a plus, too. Just try to not be too boring.

I will even pay you. Each person who gets a post printing on The American Guesser will receive a hearty virtual handshake and a warm glow.

Found at Green Party Watch:

According to the Boston Globe, Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, a Green-Rainbow Party member and City Councilor since 2000, was arrested Nov. 21 and charged with accepting a bribe. The affidavit alleges that Turner accepted a $1,000 cash bribe on Aug. 3, 2007, in exchange for pushing for a liquor license for a local business.

I suppose this is a sign of progress for the Green Party. It’s one thing to have a member of your party actually holding public office somewhere, anywhere. But it’s quite another when that party member has enough clout and power that someone needing government permission to conduct business would invest some of their money with that candidate.

I mean, why should the Democrats and Republicans have a corner on the bribe acceptance market?

Kudos, Greens! Maybe one day, we’ll have third party members taking bribes and fixing things at Peoria City Hall.