Well, John McCain gave up on blackmailing the country by refusing to debate unless he solved the financial crisis, and showed for the first presidential debate with Barack Obama. I got a souvenir photo. I had to lock myself in my room so the two republicans in the living room wouldn't get annoyed by my hooting at McCain's silliness, but they could hear it anyway. The best part was when Obama accidently called McCain "Tom" and McCain looked like he was going to blow a gasket, but was holding it in best he could.The most shocking part was when Jim Lehrer said, in asking the candidates a spontaneous question, what would the candidate do about some issue or other when "you rule the country."
Jim! Jim! Jim! King George was kicked out of the country once and for good in 1783 - that's 225 years ago!!! The President does NOT rule the country!! Oi! Oi! Oi!
But now my memory starts to perk up, like Sarah Palin when she can't answer a question, and I wikipedia up the List of United States federal executive orders. And I note that G.W. Bush’s orders of the last 7 years are more than all others put together in the past. And then memory stirs of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that let’s the president arrest, torture and execute me without a warrant, trial or even telling my family what happened to me. And then passed in July and so quickly forgotten, the Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq which lets Bush - or presidents McCain or Palin - take all my property and forbid anyone from ever hiring Iraq war protesters like me, or even letting people hire or rent to me -- assuming, of course, he hasn’t already tortured and executed me.
I take it back, Jim. You are right. The President DOES rule America - and all us poor peons, too. We can only hope that when Obama wins -- insufficient computer voting tampering willing -- he will turn out to be a closet libertarian, repeal all these fucking laws and FREE THE SLAVES! Or we can just secede from the union and free ourselves. Your decision!
2 comments:
Bless you, Carol, for keeping up the fight. I burned out a while back -- I haven't updated my website in nearly a decade; you shame me. But the problems haven't changed; only the symptoms.
I have to say, though, as a right libertarian to a left libertarian, that the dream of Obama repealing a bunch of laws is just that. Jimmy Carter, for example, came in with some genuinely good ideas and a sincere philosophy of government; he was immediately rolled by the DC Democratic establishment. Obama has neither, and Biden is as DC Establishment as it is possible to be and still walk upright.
Sometimes I'm comforted (slightly) by the reflection that Italy is one of the freest countries in Europe -- not because there are less totalitarian laws or power-mad politicians; government is the same in that respect everywhere. But simply because the Italian government is so profoundly, totally incompetent. Perhaps that's why, in spite of everything, I tend to prefer Republicans...
Craig
I don't like applying antiquated terms like left or right to libertarians. More specific ones like minarchist, anarchist, decentralist or gradualist vs. revolutionary or Republican or Democratic libertarian voter or whatever are much better.
In the Obama case it's just a fantasy he'll do anything good. More importantly, it's a hope he won't get us in a nuclear war, as opposed to raw fear of McCain. But I won't be voting for him!!
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