I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past!
By far the story that amused me the most in today’s Times-Free Press is that State Rep. Joe McCord has admitted that he and other folks have been smoking in his state office in Nashville. Why is this so amusing to me? Well, because Mr. McCord voted for the 2006 bill that banned smoking in Tennessee government offices.
Oops.
Smoked out: McCord admits violating state law (linking to knoxnews.com because for some reason I can’t find the story on timesfreepress.com)
No, I’m not dead. Yes, I know it’s been over a month since I posted anything worthwhile. Hopefully that will change.
I am currently in the midst of making some major decisions about the direction of my business, so that has been occupying my time. I’m also now in charge of audio and computer stuff at church, which took an immense bite out of my time because I had to figure out on my own how all the sound stuff at church worked together because nobody else knew everything about the system. Finally, I’ve been trying to spent more time with my wife and daughter despite all of the above and all my other commitments. Fun times …
This month I did manage to find my way onto television. The Hamilton County Libertarian Party staged its annual tax protest here in town, and I got interviewed since I’m now the party chair. I didn’t do so hot on camera, but I got a small sound bite (and a quote on their web site) nontheless. It’s not what I would have preferred they quoted … but oh well.
On to basic complaining …
Yesterday on the radio I heard a GWB sound bite. It went something like “We’re not in a recession … [pregnant pause] … it’s just a slowdown.”
Um, George … I think “recession” and “slowdown” essentially mean the same thing. What you said is about as logical as saying “I don’t drive a car … I drive an automobile.” Or “We’re no sailing the ocean … we’re sailing the sea.”
Next gripe … there are advertisements on WGOW for the “First Annual Southside Blues Festival.” People, people … don’t call the first ANYTHING the “first annual (fill in blank).” You’ll just look stupid if the whole endeavor goes toes up and you don’t have a second one … and of course having the event for multiple subsequent years is a qualification for something to be “annual.” MAYBE after the first year you can call the next one the “Second Annual _______” but I’d wait until the third year.
It reminds me of when one of my former churches held their “first annual missions conference and dinner” … there was no “second annual missions conference and dinner.” Or, in another vein, it reminds me of when I was on the way to the Outer Banks in 1998 and saw a sign for a restaurant that was “famous since 1996.”
That being said, I hope the blues festival is a great success and we do have it regularly. I hope to be there … it sounds like it’s going to be good.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
– from George Washington’s Farewell Address (emphasis mine)
When Ron Paul makes a statement like the bolded bit above, he gets called an isolationist, dangerous, etc. Anybody care to level that accusation against George Washington too?
I’ll be waiting. Don’t be shy.
Tonight, while talking to my buddy Will Adair online, I came up a new idea for a political party, and I’m actually halfway serious about this.
If you’ve read my political rants over the past few months, you know that I think that the two-party system in the US is fundamentally broken and only serves to preserve the status quo of government that gradually increases in size, scope, and power … and that I believe that breaking the stranglehold of the Democratic and Republican parties and having a system with 4-5+ political parties would be preferable.
The problem, of course, is launching a party that has a clearly-defined platform that can attract enough people to be a serious challenge to the two parties we have today. The Libertarians, who are arguably the most successful third party in the last fifty years, haven’t even been able to do it. The problem is that a system with, say, five political parties ends up with each of the parties having an average of maybe 15% or so of the population, with the remaining folks being independent or perhaps in smaller minor parties.
Of course, any party that broadens their platform enough to seriously challenge the Democrats and Republicans ends up in the same position that they are in right now … they have a party that doesn’t really stand for anything but vagaries and reassuring platitudes about change, hope, and all that B.S.
So, I present to you my idea .. the “None of the Above” Party.
The NotA party will have one plank in its platform … that voters ought to be able to vote AGAINST all candidates in a particular race by voting for “None of the Above” … thus signaling to the establishment “we don’t like any of the bums you’ve sanctioned as candidates.”
Each candidate for the NotA party will simply say that he stands for a vote against the other candidates. He or she would promise that, upon election, he or she would either step down in such a way as to force a special election to replace him or work to disrupt the political process until such an election were held.
I feel relatively certain that the platform of the NotA party would be attractive enough to a large enough portion of the population that it could gain ballot access.
The NotA party would have no problem running candidates who had publicly affiliated themselves with other parties. In fact, the idea would be that the NotA party would disband when we had a multi-party system, and, upon disbanding, it would encourage anybody associated with it to seek out an existing party or form a new one.
Somebody out there is bound to complain that if in an election … let’s say the general presidential election this year … the NotA candidate gets elected, then it would mean that we essentially have elected a candidate that doesn’t intend to actually serve as president, and that if such a scenario were repeated all over the nation, the government would fail to function. Well … I say let’s go for it! If the government were unable to function normally because the major parties weren’t willing to let third parties in on their little ball game, or nominate people that were acceptable to the general population … then that’s exactly what we need. Besides … the last time the Federal Government shut down because it didn’t have a budget … do you remember missing it? I seem to have gotten along OK without it.
Note: My tongue is planted firmly in cheek here, if it’s not obvious.
I’ve lived in Chattanooga for around one year and nine months now. Not long, but long enough that I can see that Ron Littlefield doesn’t know what he’s doing as far as managing the weather goes.
This is my second winter here, and we’ve had no accumulation of snow and very little snowfall at all, at least down here in the valley. What kind of winter is that? Come on, Ron, give us some snow! I didn’t move from Raleigh, NC toward the mountains for nothin’! Back in Asheville, where I lived before Chattanooga, they’ve gotten over 12 inches in the last 24 hours! We’re a bigger city than them, with more resources … surely we can do better! Plus, think of all the people who are out of jobs … folks who make snowplows, folks who sell the salt and sand they scatter on the roadways when we have freezing weather. Think of the children, man!
As if that wasn’t bad enough, last summer we had a drought. We did fine down here by the river, but folks in the general area who weren’t so close ended up running out of water. Obviously Ron didn’t think of the welfare of everybody around and provide us with enough rain. Those Republicans never do think about the welfare of people who aren’t as well-off as they are.
One particular weather mis-management choice Mr. Littlefield has made that has affected me personally is that he hasn’t scheduled enough thunderstorms. I like ‘em. I like to sit on the porch and watch the lightning and hope it doesn’t strike something close enough to my house to make me jump out of the porch swing and bang my head on the roof. Any mayor worth his salt could give us more thunderstorms, and do it without the nasty stuff like high winds, hail, tornados, and direct lightning strikes that destroy property.
Most recently, anybody watching the weather who is honest would have to agree that it looks like Mr. Littlefield doesn’t know what the heck he’s doing as far as managing the temperature goes. Monday I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and then yesterday night it was below 30 and snowing (but not enough for any accumulation down here; shame on you, Ron!). Isn’t he a competent enough mayor to keep the temperature somewhat consistent from day to day? Can we have some gradual changes here, please?
Those are just a few examples that come to mind that demonstrate that Ron Littlefield has destroyed our local weather while in office. I fully expect that he won’t do enough to prevent a drought this coming summer either, which will probably mean that Georgia will invade and annex all of Nickajack Lake plus St. Elmo. If they do that, Atlanta will drain the entire Tennessee River dry within a week! To not do anything to prevent a drought now, like pre-scheduling enough rainfall for the summer, and giving us a wet spring, will certainly invite disaster!
So, we need somebody to run for mayor against Littlefield … somebody who can provide Hope ™ and offer real Change ™, especially in the weather.
P.S. I figure if folks blame the president for the economy, I can blame the mayor for the weather. Right?
P.P.S. Actually I think the mayor has more control over the weather than the president has over the economy …
The Republican Party is sending subtle and not-so-subtle messages to Mike Huckabee to pack his bags and go back to Arkansas (”Huckabee ignoring GOP’s hints to quit presidential race“). In the last week, McCain has picked up endorsements from both Romney and George H.W. Bush (huh?).
Huckabee, to his credit, is refusing to withdraw. You won’t find me defending or praising Huckabee too often, but in this case, the man is right. This is the primary, for cryin’ out loud. As I’ve stated before, I believe that every candidate should stay in the race during the primary for as long as is possible.
The votes that each candidate gets (so long as voters aren’t brain-dead morons who vote for the person they think will win instead of who they like) are a valuable barometer for the party as to where the party’s voters’ sympathies lie. For instance … I’m a Ron Paul supporter. Ron Paul seems to average about 5% of the vote from state to state. As a result, we know that the majority of rank-and-file Republicans don’t like Paul’s ideas, except for the drooling idiots who voted for somebody else even though they like Paul … but I doubt there are too many in that category.
Mitt Romney should take his cue from Huckabee and un-suspend his campaign. Too bad he’s already decided to endorse McCain.
Look, if having the votes split up leads to a brokered convention, so be it. Seriously, though, the chances of that happening now are slim, even if Romney was still in the race. What are you guys afraid of? Obama-Clinton ‘08? I’ve got news for you … even if McCain gets 99% of the votes at the convention, it’s still going to be ugly. So, Republicans, get a clue and encourage your candidates to stay in the primaries until the last ballot is cast.
My days of being largely inactive politically are over as of tonight. I’ve been voted chair of the Hamilton County Libertarian Party. In a few days (when I get a chance to catch my breath) the information there will be updated.
With the support of the Libertarian Party of Tennessee, we’ve set up a Meetup group to provide a point of contact with persons who are interested in Libertarian ideals. Meetup groups have worked well for the Ron Paul campaign, and we believe that we can effectively use them to grow the Libertarian Party as well.
My next goals as chair are to find persons willing to serve in the remaining open positions on the Executive Committee of the party, and to investigate ways we can promote the party locally.
It is my firm belief, as I have written before, that growing strong, viable parties to challenge the Democrats and Republicans is critical to effecting lasting change in our nation. The labels “Democrat” and “Republican” have become so generalized as to be ultimately useless in determining the overall political positions of any particular candidate. If you don’t believe me, think about the differences between Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel on the Democratic side and Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Alan Keyes, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Ron Paul on the Republican side. Sure, there is a common thread that joins many of the candidates in both sides, but a detailed survey of their positions would reveal more differences than similarities in many cases.
For political parties to be useful, they must represent a relatively narrow portion of the political spectrum. Then and only then will elections be most able to demonstrate the direction the citizens wish the government to move in.
My desire as chair is to raise the visibility of the LP locally, grow its membership, and elect Libertarians to office locally without compromising the key principles which differentiate the LP from other parties. We cannot afford to broaden our tent at the expense of maintaining a clear, consistent platform, or we will have started down a path that will ultimately see us in the same position that the Republicans and Democrats find themselves today.
If you suspect that you may be Libertarian, I encourage you to take the Nolan Chart quiz. If you are Libertarian, I encourage you to join us in our quest to change the face of government in Hamilton County, TN. Our next location will be Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. The location will be announced at a later date. When a location is chosen, it will be posted on our Meetup Group’s page.
I know I’m several days late on this … I blame the loss of my dearly beloved Powerbook and the business that accompanied the approaching primary election and my trying to catch up on work.
I’m no fan of Bob Corker. I did not vote for him when he ran for Senate. But … the man deserves recognition for doing the right thing and speaking out against the “stimulus” plan that has swept the government by storm, even though his opposition is unpopular.
Though he said he was happy Americans would get checks, he said he found “something inappropriate about a deficit-ridden federal government borrowing money from our grandchildren and sprinkling it across the country for a short-term fix that will do little, if anything to jump-start our troubled economy.” Hear, hear!
(From “A flawed stimulus plan,” an editorial in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press)
Sen. Corker … thanks for standing up and being willing to calling this exactly what it is … a political ploy.
For the time being, us folks who’ve been campaigning for Ron Paul get a break, since things are over here. I’m proud to report that in my district (Stuart Heights 1) Ron Paul got 38 votes out of 360, which is 10.5%. I don’t know how much of that was related to my talking to folks in the area before the election and my appearance at the polling location yesterday, but it’s good to see that we got that much of the vote.
I’ve made up my mind to run for the position of chairman of the Hamilton County Libertarian Party. I know a good number of local Paul supporters are planning on working within the Republican party to elect Ron Paul Republicans, and while I support them and will likely vote for them in the future, my convictions require me to remain with the Libertarians. I am absolutely convinced that it is imperative that we build up viable third parties to challenge the hegemony of the Republicans and Democrats.
The next big thing around here politically will likely be a special election to replace our disgraced Sheriff Long. I’ve heard rumors that a Ron Paul supporter is planning on running for that position … and if he does, he’s got my support.
Despite that long title, there’s nothing much exciting to say. This is my first time ever doing campaigning on an election day. Of course, then again, this is the first election where I’ve donated to a political campaign, put a bumper sticker on my car, or been involved in the campaign at all … although I might have put a Badnarik ‘04 sticker on my car had I had access to one. I just wasn’t involved enough at that time to seek one out, nor did I have enough income to spare to donate to a campaign.
I’ve been our here since a little before 10 a.m. this morning. When I got here, another guy from my precinct was already here with a banner and some signs. He left about 12:30 or so, and I’ve been out here alone ever since.
I’m a bit surprised that none of the other campaigns are represented out here today. There aren’t even many signs out. I count five Ron Paul signs (not counting the one I’m holding), two Hillary Clinton signs, and one Mike Huckabee sign … and that one only appeared while I was at Subway grabbing lunch around 2pm. I expected there to be at least a Huckabee supporter, and maybe an Obama supporter out.
The response has been lackluster to say the least. I’ve had a few people blow there horns and wave and/or give me a thumbs up. A few people gave me a thumbs down, and one curmudgeon rolled down his window and yelled “f___ you!”
I had expected there to be an influx of people around lunch time, but didn’t really observe much of an increase. Perhaps more people will start showing up around 5pm or so … if the rain holds off long enough for me to last that long.
Update: 4:06 p.m. - Traffic is starting to pick up now. I’ve had a couple more people drop by and give me the thumbs up gesture. One guy pulled in and asked when the polls closed, and said he and his wife would be back to vote for Ron Paul. I also was able to direct a non-RP voter to his proper polling location.
Update: 6:41 p.m. - Seeing lots of folks coming out now. People are telling me the wait inside is 15 minutes or so right now. I’ve seen a number of Ron Paul supporters, but I’ve also talked to a few folks who support other candidates. I know I’ve made my fair share of digs at Rudy Giuliani, but I talked to one fellow who had been a supporter who was glad to see I was out working at the polls, and was glad to see so many people voting. A few hours ago, I talked to a doctor who told me he’d voted for Obama, but really liked Ron Paul, because after all, they were both doctors. He really liked Ron Paul’s stance on immigration, though he disagreed with him on other issues. Another fellow told me that there are far more people out voting tonight than were here at the last presidential election.
It’s been a long day, but I’m glad I took the time to come out. This has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in a long time. Even if the majority of the people in my district don’t vote for Dr. Paul, it’s exciting to see how many of them care about the direction of the country that they do get out and vote.
Update: 8:24 p.m. - The crowd started to die down not too long after my last update. By 7:15 or so, the place was pretty much dead. By 8:00, I was ready to go home.
I’m sore and I’ve got blisters on my feet, and I’m dead tired. But … it was fun. I’m glad I was able to take the time to do this today, even though I wish I had been able to give more time to efforts prior to today. Now to sit back and relax … well, maybe not. I do have to catch up on some of the work I missed today.
Overall, I’m really, really surprised to have not seen supporters of any other candidate out. Several people who arrived to vote said the same thing. I’m pleased that the Ron Paul campaign was the only campaign to be represented at all at my polling place … and except for a few breaks to grab food and run home, he was represented all day! Woohoo!
You've stumbled upon my mixed bag of ramblings about economics, politics, news, human stupidity, programming, and geeky stuff in general ... all from the perspective of somebody who scored as a 100% libertarian on the Nolan Chart.
I'm a Chattanooga resident, Web developer, Mac user, and amateur photographer who really likes taking pictures at night. I'm a Krystal Lover! I (used to) drink too much Coke, and own a General Electric refrigerator from the late forties. I'm currently servinc as the Chair of the Hamilton County Libertarian Party, President of ChattaMac (our local Mac Users Group), and I organize a PHP Developer's Group locally.
To find out more about the refrigerator (or to chat about anything you read on here), email me at j.clifton@four-eight-four.org.
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