100 Years: Woodrow Wilson and Counter Thinking -- A Libertarian Rebuttal

Thanks to Tom Woods for these insights:

We've heard a lot about all the great people who died in 2016. To my mind, though, by far the most important is someone mainstream America has never heard of.

The man I have in mind was probably the most knowledgeable living historian in the libertarian tradition, and a man who influenced me greatly.

I am referring, of course, to Ralph Raico.

Professor Raico had a vast knowledge of the history of liberty, from the ancient world through the maligned Middle Ages, and on through the Industrial Revolution to the present. He refuted myth after statist myth in his iconoclastic work, and left the establishment view in shambles.

The year 2017 marks 100 years since Woodrow Wilson's horrific decision to intervene in World War I. Professor Raico was an expert on the contested question of war guilt in that war, and he was withering on Wilson's foreign policy.

As we recall Wilson's decision this year, we ought to revisit Professor Raico's treatment.

If you are unfamiliar with Professor Raico's work, I'm linking you to a free copy of his excellent book Great Wars and Great Leaders: A Libertarian Rebuttal. It's been made available to the entire world at no cost, thanks to the heroic Mises Institute:

https://mises.org/library/great-wars-and-great-leaders-libertarian-rebuttal

Orlando showdown with a judge and an old man with his one-page handouts

Julian, who was just in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago, is getting set for a Florida trip and visit to the area around the courthouse in Orlando. When most of us travel to Orlando, we know when we are going to check in and check out. An extended stay, "on the house," is generally not a bargain we are excited about. Here is his email. Time will tell as to who blinks. Could be Judge, Law Enforcement Officers, Governor, Homeland Security, -- or -- Liberty.

MOMENT OF DECISION

Our country’s moment of decision has occurred. I will be distributing one-page flyers regarding the Bill of Rights requirements for criminal trials. This will occur from 11:30 am-1;30 PM, or until arrested on December 5, 2016 at the Orange County courthouse on 425 Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL. The information on the flyers will be about “Nullification by Jury” and “Duty of a Witness.”

On 3 separate previous occasions, Mark Schmidter, I, and a 3rd person whose name I have lost, have been arrested by courthouse guards for doing this distribution. The content of the material was not at issue. The previous Chief Judge had established free-speech zones where distribution of these flyers was permitted. However it just happened that the free-speech zones were in locations that had no pedestrian traffic. Mark served 144 days in jail and I served 2 weeks in jail. I have written to the Department of Homeland Security and to the Florida governor for protection. Copies of my letters were sent to the Clerk of Court. A similar letter had been sent by me to the Florida militia.

I received no reply from any of the “so-called” freedom protection organizations. I did receive a written reply from the Chief Judge of the Orlando Court informing me that if I appeared I would be arrested. The information that I distribute is a one-page flyer passed out by one person on the public sidewalk connecting a parking lot to the courthouse. There is no hindrance of public traffic. Others are passing newspapers, business cards, and court documents at the same location. None of the others are even approached by court guards.

I have requested all Tyranny Fighters and others to appear at that courthouse with weapons to protect me from arrest in order to save our country. It is your option to appear or not to appear. If you do not appear now, you will appear within 2 years at the gas chambers. The future of our country is yours to decide. The choice is yours, but it must be made before next Monday.

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE

Fwd: As we know . . . Super Syria Tutorial in Video Lecture

---------- Forwarded message from John H. ----------

As we know that fateful day of destiny is fast approaching when one or the other of the two worst candidates for president in American history will assume the mantle of the presidency.  Perhaps it is time we start thinking about just how this all came about and what, if anything, can be done to prevent a similar situation four years hence – assuming, of course, that we manage to avoid thermonuclear war in the interim. 

Nothing we have done up until now has managed to move the nation away from the status quo; and with the prospect of another four years of neocon incited war and neoliberal economic and political machinations it is more than likely that the prospects for most Americans (and much of the rest of the world) will be significantly diminished.  So, if we don't commence now to develop some alternative options it may be too late for all of us.  Read the attachments and watch the lengthy video about the war in Syria (it's worth it) by a very conservative Virginia state senator and retired Marine officer who went there to investigate and see what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0753SEMZiM&feature=youtu.be&t=3m26s

John

• Don't think it is over when Trump loses.

• Needed Now, a Peace Movement against the Clinton Wars to come.

• United States as Destroyer of Nations

 

Fwd: Preparing for 2017 . . . and beyond

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Hemington
Date: Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 7:55 PM

Well, we'd better be getting prepared for Hillary to ascend to the throne of the Empire next January.  Her neocon allies are already hitting the pavement pushing for the removal of Putin as President of Russia – if not a direct military attack on Russia (see second attachment).  Hillary has pretty much indicated that this sort of policy is right in her wheelhouse.  She'll likely begin with the establishment of a " no-fly zone" in Syria.  This will almost certainly bring the U.S. or one of our surrogates in direct conflict with Russia.  The U.S. propaganda ministry has been operating overtime to convince our citizens and the rest of the world that Russia is the criminal aggressor in Syria.  And we should all be aware that, no matter how we may feel about the Assad regime, it is still the internationally recognized government of Syria; and, as such, has invited Russia to lawfully be in the country fighting the so-called rebel forces sponsored by the U.S. and NATO countries (see first attachment).  Thus, the U.S. and all of the rest are in the position of being international war criminals operating in clear violation of international law such as it is these days.

In Syria as in other areas of the Middle East the U.S. has been operating in an effective alliance – supplying arms, ammunition and other support to al Qaeda and its various offshoot organizations such as the al Nusra front in an illegal effort to overthrow the Assad regime all the while claiming that we are fighting against ISIS.  This is a proxy war that does not bode well for either the U.S. or for the world.  There are now multiple high ranking military officers, up to and perhaps including the Secretary of Defense, strongly advocating a direct assault on Russia.  This would, of course be the height of folly and might well result in the termination of human life on earth – although perhaps quicker and less painful than waiting for climate change to play out in a century or two. 

In this the collective hubris of the neocon crowd is beyond measure and belief, but that has never stopped them before.  They were, after all, the primary force behind the illegal war on Iraq in 2003 and continuing, as well as Libya and now Syria.  The fact that it also generates vast wealth from government coffers to the defense industry and multitudes of private contractors taking advantage of the virtually bottomless pit of welfare being dispensed provides political momentum.  It is also enabled by very fact of a volunteer military which is also incentivized by endless war in which promotions are frequent and, for senior officers, lucrative positions with contractors, lobbyists and as "color commentators" for cable TV are sure to follow. 

Unfortunately little attention is given in the media or otherwise to the massive death, destruction, displacement and terror which is imposed on those in the countries we choose to assault in the name of freeing them from terrible dictators and imposing democracy – whether or not anything like democracy ever follows.  Nor is any real thought given to those American volunteers sacrificed to the Empire's war machine.  The only time casualties really seem to matter is when they can be blamed – whether true or not – on the supposed enemy whoever it might be this week.  The important condition is that the wars must go on.  Too much is a stake for peace to be permitted to break out; too much wealth to be forfeited. 

This is the price of Empire.  The boundaries must always be expanded and defended; and the enemies are always at hand.  More importantly, if there are no convenient enemies some must be found or created otherwise the populace might become restive and revolt.  In this empire, just like many in the past, the real fruits gradually fail to be distributed to the masses at home as the oligarchs and plutocrats hoard the spoils to themselves.  But this Empire is even more different from most past empires in that there don't really appear to be many spoils from battlefields and conquered provinces.  The wealth that is accumulated is mainly taken from the citizens of the "homeland" and therein lies a potential fatal flaw.  Once the mass of the people figure out just how they are being scammed and abused by their leaders they are likely to refuse to cooperate – and empires, no matter how powerful do not survive forever.

We are, I believe, now seeing the beginnings of such anger arising in the current election cycle.  Most of those long frustrated at being left behind still haven't come to realize why exactly their situation is as it is, but they at least recognize that the deck is stacked against them by their putative leaders and they don't want more of the same.  Most of us still remain victims of the Empire's propaganda machine which incessantly inveighs us to blame and fight one another.  Still, there is just a glimmer of recognition beginning to develop that the real problem is not down here among the "little people", as our politicians are fond of terming the rest of us, but up there among those who serve the masters of the machine as well as the masters themselves. 

Unfortunately the neocon space cadets, none of whom have ever served their nation in the military, may manage to get us all annihilated before there is enough sentiment aroused to take down the Empire and return the nation to the people.  But, until that time, we must work to resist and overcome these forces of death and destruction.  It is not much hope, but it is all there is.

John

Summer Reading for a LONG ROAD to the future

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Hemington

Many of us, myself included, are searching for some way of changing the destructive neoliberal domination of much of the world.  It is now crystal clear that whomever is elected president in November will continue these neoliberal/ neoconservative policies which have devastated so much of the Middle East and Southeast Asia and wreaked havoc on non-elites in the U.S. and Europe.

This will mean that playing the game as structured by the dominant political parties in the U.S. will no longer be an option.  Bernie Sanders demonstrated this by cravenly submitting to endorsing Hillary Clinton on her terms.  It will mean that serious local community organizing will become an essential focus of any alternative strategy.  If change is to come it will come from the bottom up and not from assaulting the powers-that-be directly on their turf.  It will be a radical alternative to what is.

This is and will not be a simple quick fix for the multitude of systemic issues we face.  It will require serious, hard-fought, slogging victories at local, state and regional level in order to succeed.  Fortunately there is a model which can be followed, that of the religious right and the Tea Party operatives.  It will take dedication and commitment on the part of all involved – and it will take time.  But I can see no other alternative.

To succeed we need to work to elect committed folks to the "basement" offices at the local and state levels of government and, where possible, national representatives.  Because of the difficulty of establishing working third-parties in this nation some of it may have to take place within the dominant political party structure.  The key, however, is to find and elect people who will not sellout when elected – and, if they do, immediate defeat them at the next opportunity.

I believe that anyone seriously considering such an effort should first be well-grounded in the history and development of the current neoliberal/neoconservative worldview.  I have just finished an excellent, informative and, in my opinion, essential book in coming to grips not only with the ideological precepts involved; but also the methodology utilized in converting large swaths of the American public into blind supporters of this ideological trap.  The book is The Age of Acquiescence:  The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power.  Steve Fraser traces these developments from the end of the Civil War until the present.    Whether you are familiar with this history or not this is an exceptionally revealing historical and current analysis of where we are and how we got here.  It is the best source I have yet encountered explaining the existing divisions within our society and the reasons behind them.  Following is some information about and a couple of reviews of the book:

A groundbreaking investigation of how and why, from the 18^th century to the present day, American resistance to our ruling elites has vanished.

From the American Revolution through the Civil Rights movement, Americans have long mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. Hierarchies based on inheritance, wealth, and political preferment were treated as obnoxious and a threat to democracy. Mass movements envisioned a new world supplanting dog-eat-dog capitalism. But over the last half-century that political will and cultural imagination have vanished. Why?

THE AGE OF ACQUIESCENCE seeks to solve that mystery. Steve Fraser's account of national transformation brilliantly examines the rise of American capitalism, the visionary attempts to protect the democratic commonwealth, and the great surrender to today's delusional fables of freedom and the politics of fear. Effervescent and razor-sharp, THE AGE OF ACQUIESCENCE will be one of the most provocative and talked-about books of the year.

"Steve Fraser is that rare writer who combines a deep knowledge of history with a penetrating analysis of our current political and social condition. Here, in the lively prose that marks all his writing, he probes the similarities and differences between America's two gilded ages – the late nineteenth-century and today – offering provocative observations about why the first produced massive popular resistance and the second resigned acquiescence."―Eric Foner, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery

"Over the last few years, there's been a wealth of books describing our new Gilded Age and bemoaning the extreme economic inequality that now defines modern America. Steve Fraser's fascinating The Age of Acquiescence is indispensable because it explains how that happened, how America's long standing opposition to concentrated wealth was defeated. Steve Fraser, in other words, is Thomas Piketty with politics, providing a crucial guide in helping the ninety-nine percent understand the terms of their defeat and, more importantly, how it can once again go on the offensive."―Greg Grandin, author of The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World and Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

"A splendid and illuminating book. Fraser's writing is clear-headed and free of cant. I know of no better an accounting for the division of America over the last forty years into a minority of the terrified rich and a majority of the humiliated poor."―Lewis Lapham, editor of Lapham's Quarterly and author of Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration

"Steve Fraser has given us a sweeping account of the economic and cultural changes in American society that combined to create an earlier era of working class struggle and hope, and then in our present moment have generated quiescence and despair.  Read this book for its synoptic account of the ways that cultural manipulation have accompanied intensifying economic exploitation.  But read it also to snatch glimmers of a better future from the past."―Frances Fox Piven, author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America

About the Author

Steve Fraser is the author of Every Man a Speculator, Wall Street, and Labor Will Rule, which won the Philip Taft Award for the best book in labor history.  He also is the co-editor of The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order.  His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Nation, The American Prospect, Raritan, and the London Review of Books.  He has written for the online site Tomdispatch.com, and his work has appeared on the Huffington Post, Salon, Truthout, and Alternet, among others.  He lives in New York City.

 

John

 

 

Great news on ballot access in PA

The ballot access struggles have become something that is able to be managed in Pennsylvania.

http://www.post-gazette.com/early-returns/erstate/2016/07/01/Federal-judge-gives-third-parties-a-helping-hand-on-PA-ballot/stories/201607010174

Welcome changes. Thank goodness. 

I had first hand experiences with the crazy requirements that have been part of the landscape in PA. Let's hope for sanity in the future.

----

By Chris Potter / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A federal judge has made it easier for third-party candidates to appear on the state ballot this November, possibly adding a new variable into an already dizzying presidential election.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an order asserting that presidential candidates in three minor parties — the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and the Constitution Party — will need only 5,000 voters to sign their nominating petitions. That's roughly a quarter of the 21,775 signatures they would have needed under the old rules.

The order "restores voter choice to Pennsylvania elections, which has been absent other than the major parties," said Oliver Hall, an attorney who represented the minor parties. "Now people can decide if they want to vote for someone else entirely, and that's how our elections should work."

Major-party candidates need only 2,000 signatures to get on the primary ballot — where a win ensures a space in November. But previously, minor-party statewide candidates were obliged to meet a threshold equal to 2 percent of the previous statewide vote-count. In past years, that has required candidates to obtain up to 67,000 signatures.

Mr. Hall said that even under the old rules, it was “close to a certainty” that the third-party contenders would have won spots on the 2016 ballot. But Thursday’s ruling also makes it harder to remove them.

Previously, if the legitimacy of a candidate’s signatures was successfully challenged in court, the winner could recoup the legal costs of doing so. In 2004, for example, Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader was billed over $80,000 -- a crippling sum for smaller political parties.

Judge Stengel's ruling restricts the ability to assess such costs. That was "absolutely a load off our minds," said Shawn Patrick House, who chairs the state Libertarian Party.

Signature requirements for other races are also lower. Candidates for auditor general, treasurer, and attorney general — all of which are on this year’s ballot — must procure 2,500 signatures. Senate candidates must also produce 5,000 signatures. But the ruling may have the greatest impact on the race for president.

Pennsylvania is a potentially key battleground, and polling shows many voters discontented with both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

“Usually I discount third-party candidates,” said Muhlenberg College pollster Christopher Borick. “But the polls in Pennsylvania show the race as fairly close. Put that together with the high unfavorable ratings of both candidates, and a third-party candidate or two could be pivotal.”

A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed Ms. Clinton leading Mr. Trump by 39 percent to 36 percent, with Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson garnering 9 percent and the Green Party’s Jill Stein with 4 percent. Mr. Borick said that while Ms. Stein would likely appeal to “disenchanted progressives” who might otherwise back Ms. Clinton, Mr. Johnson’s impact was harder to gauge: “Nationally, it seems like he draws marginally from both candidates.”

The legal dispute over the requirements dates back years. In 2015, Judge Stengel ruled that the high signature requirements, combined with the threat of financial penalties, meant "the ability of the minor parties to ... voice their views has been decimated.” Gov. Tom Wolf's administration appealed, saying it had no power to change election rules set by the courts and the legislature.

Judge Stengel’s order bridged that impasse, and in fact incorporated the administration’s own proposed signature requirements. “Governor Wolf ... wants to ensure greater ballot access for minor parties,” said Mr. Wolf’s office in a statement, “and he is pleased with Judge Stengel’s ruling.”

The state Republican Party sounded less pleased. "These are decisions that we believe are best left to the General Assembly,” it said in a statement.

In fact, Judge Stengel’s order applies “until ... the Pennsylvania Legislature enacts a permanent measure amending or modifying the process to place [minor parties] on the general election ballot.” A measure to do so, House Bill 342, was passed by the House, amended by the Senate last month, and is pending in the House again. The bill sets out petition requirements consistent with those in Judge Stengel’s order.

But for the time being, as Mr. House put it, "We have more than Coke and Pepsi candidates.”

The crazy ones who thing they can change the world are the ones that do.

For the ages! The water does not know how old you are.

Swimming, What a Wonderful Sport to Learn - SwimEasy Ltd. UK

Tosd@s, tod@s amamos nadar... Discover more here: www.swimeasy.co.uk

Posted by Natación on Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Debt video

Economics: How Big is the U.S. Debt?

(New Video) Economics: How Big is the U.S. Debt?Sound familiar? We’ve revamped Learn Liberty’s very first video in celebration of our 5th birthday!

Posted by Learn Liberty on Friday, February 12, 2016

Hillary and Bernie

I do not agree with the root message in the article about Hillary finding her HOME RUN MESSAGE against Bernie. But, there is a difference in there between the 2 D candidates. Hillary is far reaching, broad, doing UNIONS in one breath and working for INDIVIDUALS in the next. She wants to help kids in Flint. Rush to help the person who got fired on Monday after that Saturday wedding. She is bouncing around all over the place fighting nose to nose. The problem for Hillary, is that there is only ONE of her. She can't be everywhere. She can't be a 1,000 points of Hillary and help all the ones that need the help.

Meanwhile, I think Sanders is going to wage an attack on a system level. He wasn't on the dang bridge in Selma. Perhaps the Clinton's were able to show their faces in the South. But, when Sanders is President, his JUSTICE REFORM is going to be in the minds of all in the POLICE DEPARTMENT when those marchers cross the next bridge.
Sanders is not going to rush to help a bunch of folks with new pink slips at the factory, and I expect Hillary would be there. But, Sanders trade policies is going to be attacking so that those factories are re-opening and jobs are not going to evaporate as many have done.

In the harbor of life, Hillary is an over-reaching couple of strokes with a paddle as she bounces from deck to deck on many boats. Bernie is a mega tide that lifts all boats. Or, if you want that "protective feeling" -- Bernie Sanders is the break-wall that protects the whole harbor from the storms.

Some are going to be really mad when Rand Paul wins Iowa

Rand in Iowa

How the US Government Works, sorta

Power. Privacy.

What if.... 2016 was a happy New Year.

Judge Napolitano got fired from Fox News after this 5-minute video, so says some post on the internet. Regardless, it is must see video.

The greatest hour of danger is now!

Rand Paul in show with plenty of topics

New movie: Poverty, Inc.

Safe Sport

2 Political Junkies should think about doing a Kickstarter and getting a couple of these publications

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review seems to be downsizing some of its remote publications with sales looming, as reported in its own pages.

http://triblive.com/business/headlines/8994304-74/trib-media-total#axzz3k9SAfE4v

Perhaps Dave, a blogger at 2 Political Junkies, should do a crowd source campaign and buy one or two of these papers. Dave just loves to read the various opinions found in the pages of the Trib, especially by editorial pundits, and lampoon them for less than truthful statements and conclusions.

Tune! Or more like an anthem.

https://youtu.be/5Ug_vpIk1jc