You looking for Opinions HERE?
>Do you support the Libertarian Party nominating a Celebrity or high-
>profile public officeholder for President in 2008?
Possibly.
>If yes, who would be your first choice:
>20. Other_____________________
Clint Eastwood
Kurt Russell
Would prefer a Candidate(*) that is a quick thinking, good debater
who would have access to the D/R Canned Statement Regurgitations.
Would you rather see the Libertarian Party nominate a minor
>celebrity or public officeholder who has much stronger ties to the
>Libertarian Party?
If they fit * above.
>Would you prefer that the Libertarian Party nominate a non-celebrity
>candidate or someone who has never held public office before who is
>a trusted Party insider?
If they fit * above.
>Who would be your first choice for the LP's VP slot?
>
>
>
>Write in_____________________________
>
>(Feel free to choose from any names mentioned above)
>Would you consider voting for a Republican if the Libertarian Party
>fails to nominate a top-level candidate for President in 2008?
Probably not.
"Maybe you voted Republican because you hated the
way the Democrats always inch in the general direction of
socialism. The joke's on you! The Republicans start a war
and simultaneously accelerate the drive toward socialism."
WE THE SHEEP
by Joe Sobran
Am I dreaming, or what? The Republicans are on the
ropes, and everyone is surprised that the Democrats can't
seem to take advantage of the situation.
But isn't this in the nature of a two-party system
when both parties have already failed to give
satisfaction? When you're tired of dysentery, does that
mean you should prefer to go back to the nausea that
preceded it?
Suppose the two big parties were the Prohibition
Party and the Vegetarian Party, even though most people
like both meat and drink. Are you with me so far? Okay,
so the Prohibition Party rules for a while, but
prohibiting the consumption of alcohol turns out to be a
dubious idea in practice. The voters decide that
prohibiting the consumption of meat couldn't be any
worse, so they put the Vegetarians in power.
Still with me? Now it's illegal to eat meat, but the
Vegetarians leave all the laws against alcohol in effect.
This comes as an unhappy surprise to the people who
thought that either party would at least offer relief
from the other one.
Civics for Suckers, Lesson One: In a two-party
system, you can get the evils of both parties at the same
time. Maybe you voted Republican because you hated the
way the Democrats always inch in the general direction of
socialism. The joke's on you! The Republicans start a war
and simultaneously accelerate the drive toward socialism.
Have you learned anything? If you are a typical
American, probably not. So you buy a ticket to BROKEBACK
MOUNTAIN and try to forget. At least in the movie the
world makes some sort of crazy sense for a couple of
hours. It's a world where you know right from wrong and
the scenery is gorgeous. The men can choose between women
like Anne Hathaway or any of thousands of sheep, so,
given the alternatives, they choose each other. Did I
mention the great soundtrack music?
Back in the real world, as it is affectionately
nicknamed, the war in Iraq is steadily losing favor. Even
Bill Buckley, the retired founder of a pro-war magazine,
says it's time to admit defeat. This causes the
magazine's current editors, who favor nuking Mecca, to
write that Buckley's opinion is "premature." After all,
the war is not yet three years old, and you have to give
these cakewalks at least a decade to work.
Politics is actually a lot of fun, if you observe it
with a sense of humor and don't get your hopes up. After
all, politicians are basically just like the rest of us,
and they behave just the way you or I might behave if we
had the power to jail or shoot our creditors. In a
democracy, the creditors are called "citizens" and the
really gullible ones are called "voters." Look in the
mirror and ask yourself -- honestly, now -- which
category you fall into. Keep the number of your local
suicide hotline at hand.
It's bad enough being a "citizen," so I decided some
time ago not to compound my troubles by being a "voter"
too. This enabled me to see the world with an
exhilarating clarity. Suddenly all the politicians
bidding for my vote became comical little butts, like the
figures in a Bruegel painting. At least I didn't feel I
was their butt anymore. Their slave, maybe, but no longer
their butt.
Not that politicians really laugh at us. Humor isn't
their long suit. Does the wolf laugh at the sheep? In the
movie I just mentioned, the sheep are protected by guys
who shoot at the wolf. These guys are called "shepherds,"
though in the so-called real world they are called
"assassins" or even "terrorists." And the wolf can shoot
back, which brings us to Lesson Two: Don't even think
about shooting that wolf.
So when the wolf pounces on your lamb, just ignore
the pitiful bleating and remind yourself that this is a
democracy, where every sheep can freely express its
preference for which kind of wolf it wants to be eaten
by. Many sheep, perhaps understandably, prefer a wolf in
sheep's clothing, which is after all the basic idea of
democracy. So far it has worked pretty well. The wolves
all agree on that, and they want to spread democracy
everywhere.
Read this column on-line at
"http://www.sobran.com/columns/2006/060307.shtml
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