by Anthony Gucciardi

On any given day you can find a news story that focuses on the conflict between democrats and republicans, or Group A and Group B. These groups could be anything, but as long as they are toted as being the opposite of each other, they will clash. When one party supports a bill, the other tends to oppose it. This holds true for both sides, creating a never-ceasing battle over political parties, as opposed to policy.

The change in each party’s fundamental policies has been warped into an infinitesimally minute amount of distinction from one another. When one does not agree with the “Republican” stance, they generally lean towards a “Democratic” stance. The guise of the two parties creates a false sense of freedom and liberation from a structured ideal.

The Soviet Union’s single party system was a failure due to it’s inability to withstand a dissident attack. The United States two-party system is simply the post-beta form of the Soviet-style political spectrum, with the guise of liberty upon it’s aging fangs.

Holding Hands

The word paradigm (paradigma), compounded from it’s Greek root word “to show”, accurately describes the dimension between the left and right party. This paradigm requires a vice grip of social ideology held together for stability. A single party’s influence can break, without a backboard to cater towards any dissidence.

Two parties can stand up against one another to create both geometrically and intellectually a more powerful structure that can withstand intense dissidence from each party for one reason: the rebellion of the first party’s ideals are reciprocated by the second.

Real Issues

The war between left and right diminishes the focus on real issues. A frighteningly large number of people will make all their decisions based upon their party leaders. The debate turns into left verses right, instead of what is best for the country. The mainstream media loves to turn everything into a matter of “party wars”, instead of discussing the actual issue at it’s core.

Instead of thinking “left” or “right”, think about it from a human perspective. What will this do to our country? How will it affect me? How will it affect my neighbors?

Thinking for yourself

Imagine for a moment that your car has broken down. You go to a used car dealership and search around for a nice car. There are no price tags on the cars, but the place seems rather professional. You find a car you like, and it looks like it’s in pretty decent condition. You ask about the price, and the salesman says it will cost you $95,000.

In this case, most people would first investigate the true value of the car before purchasing it. While it seems completely logical to find the true value of the car, many do not take this metaphorical step when it comes down to left verses right. Placing blind trust in the leaders of a political party is just like trusting the used car salesman to give you the best price. Find out the truth for yourself, as it’s the only way to truly find out what’s going on.

Media Spins

The mainstream media loves to take legitimate topics and turn them into a battle between political parties. A perfect example is the Healthcare bill. Even though it has ridiculous policy changes, and a eugenics-based provision system, it is still turned into a left verses right issue by the media. Luckily people have begun to see through this false two party system, and are beginning to realize they are being played.

The mainstream media’s deception is wearing off quite rapidly, as the public begins to realize that they are being duped. The public is realizing that regardless of which party the current political figurehead (puppet) is affiliating himself with, he is still the same as the previous leader. It is a vicious cycle that continues to this day. The difference is that now the people are waking up to this cycle, and opposing it.

Ally yourself with humanity, not parties

You do not have time to waste on petty arguments that center around the false “party wars”. Use your time to get real information out, like the implications of the Healthcare bill, or the shocking dangers of vaccinations. True patriotism is to have thoughts that do not derive from the structured and targeting news media, or the most famous political puppet in your region.

by: Eric Dondero

Yesterday, our conservative friends at Jumping In Pools blog, reprinted my article in full, "RLC vs. LP," from Monday (scroll down a few articles). This is an excerpt from one of their writers, "Mr. K.":
Eric Dondero at the Libertarian Republican posted an interesting article last night, which deserves more attention, and a Conservative response.

The Libertarian Party serves almost no use, except to deprive Republicans of votes, and to serve as a soapbox for supposed Republicans, who just want to see the destruction of National defense from our platform.

In the end, it is best to go with Republicans, because Libertarians will never win, and voting or supporting such a lost cause, is not worth it.My Response:

Firstly, not all Libertarians are Anti-Defense. In fact, a very large segment of us are staunchly Pro-Defense, even within the Libertarian Party. For example, in 2003, at the start of the War in Iraq, then LP News Editor Bill Winter conducted an internal poll of Libertarian membership. He found fully 40% of LP members supported the invasion.

Yes, the LP is a lot less Pro-Defense than it once was, but that's only because the vast majority of Pro-Defense Libertarians have left the Party, and joined the Republican Liberty Caucus.

Secondly, to say that "Libertarians never win elections," is completely inaccurate. By some estimates 400 to 500 Libertarian Party members currently serve in public office nationwide. Just last week we here at LR reported on a Libertarian who won election to the Cedar Falls City Council in Iowa. Two weeks before that, in the off-year elections Nov. 3, 11 Libertarians won office nationwide, including Dan Halloran to the New York City Council. In fact, that's more elected officials than any other third party in the US.

Over the years, 10 Libertarians have been elected to State Legislators in Alaska, New Hampshire, and Vermont. And for the record, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is a Lifetime Member of the Libertarian Party, a dual Party Republican/Libertarian. (Sort of like Lieberman is both an Independent and a Democrat).

Yes, for practical purposes the RLC is best. But without the Libertarian Party, we Libertarian Republicans would have no "safety valve," nowheres to escape if the GOP were to become too statist like the Democrats. The LP serves as our insurance policy. And I for one, am very glad they're around.

by: Clifford F. Thies

"I am making a prediction right now that the Republican Party will take both houses of Congress" -- Dick Morris

Ten seats down, with the Vice President being a Democrat, it does not seem possible for the Republicans to take the U.S. in 2010. Yet, Dick Morris says they will.

Video of Morris on Hannity at FreedomsLighthouse.com

Morris names the seats he believes the GOP will take in the Senate: Six fairly easy pickups according to Morris - Dodd in Connecticut, Delaware, Reid in Nevada, Lincoln in Arkansas, Specter in Pennsylvania, and Colorado. He believes the Governor of North Dakota could run and beat Dorgan, and that Rudy Giuliani can run and beat Gillibrand in New York. Morris also thinks Kirk can win in Illinois to take that seat and that Fiorina can beat Boxer in California. That's a pickup of 10. He also mentioned three other seats that could be in play - Washington, New Jersey and Oregon.I have been looking at recent polling data for some of the contests, the tendency of the state in Presidential elections, and a summary of the opinions of the pundits (not including Morris).

I agree with Morris about the AR, CO, CT, DE, IL, NV, NY (if Giuliani runs), ND (if Hoeven runs) and PA. That's nine. More correctly, I should say 7 to 9, assuming Republicans win in every state in which they are at least a toss-up, including win in four states - KY, MO, NH and OH - where Republicans seats are in play.

So, how does Morris get to 11? First, he thinks Carly Fiorina can defeat Barbara Boxer in California. Second, he thinks Republicans could maybe win in one or more of: NJ, OR and WI. If we assume Morris meant to say OR, WA and WI, he would at least be making some sense. I think all four of these seats are a bit out of reach or, to use the expression Morris used, "second tier" opportunities. The difference between California and the other three states in this category is that we have a candidate with star power, who could maybe re-shuffle the deck.

On the other hand, winning the House and picking up at least 5 seats in the Senate would be a spectacular victory.

by: Matthew Avitabile

Especially in the wake of Ron Paul's 2008 bid for the Republican nomination for the Presidency, talk of the split between conservatives and libertarians has heated up. In fact, some libertarians voted for Libertarian Party Candidate Bob Barr and some even voted for Barack Obama himself.

But over a year since the election, it can be seen that this was faulty thinking.

The Libertarians who voted for Obama did so because they believed that he would end the war. In fact, he is sending more troops to Afghanistan and has kept troops in Iraq. This voting was a poor choice, seeing that the President will not only send in more troops, but is still dangerously ill-informed on foreign affairs.

Some voted for Obama because of privacy rights. Candidate Obama railed against Bush Administration policies of eavesdropping to catch terrorists. When actually in power, Obama has expanded these powers, while still talking against them.

Libertarians must remember what they have in common with the conservative movement. Both sides support gun rights and will likely work together to stop any potential efforts of the new Administration to restrict firearms.

Libertarians also believe in property rights. They believe that the right of a citizen to own and use their own property is absolute. Voting for a statist system is likely to restrict these rights. Even the most liberal Republicans support guns and property. Many in the DNC would like to restrict our rights.

We must make sure we set America right. Fighting each other will only strengthen Obama's hand and will assist in his bid for reelection. We must band together for our joint interests and against the hypocrisy of the modern statist Democratic Party.

by: The Humble Libertarian

I have a friend in Canada who sent me a message on Twitter asking about Mike Huckabee 2012. He said Huckabee was coming to his province for a speaking engagement and that he was being talked up really aggressively to libertarians there.

I'm glad he asked me so I can share the following information with you because a lot of people are asking and wondering: "Is Mike Huckabee a conservative? Is Mike Huckabee a progressive? Or could Mike Huckabee even be a libertarian??"

After following up with him very briefly to say that Huckabee is no friend to liberty, I sent him the following list of criticisms of Mike Huckabee based on his record as governor in Arkansas:

------------------------------
Here's a little more about Huckabee's record that worries me:

One of his first moves as governor of Arkansas in the 90s was to campaign hard for ballot Amendment 2 to increase the state sales tax to improve its park system, in essence, the destruction of private, productive capital to fund state projects.

He then moved to expand state spending by millions of dollars for medical entitlement programs and public schools, meanwhile signing a "faith-based initiatives"-style act that allowed religious organizations to contract to do social work for the state on the taxpayer's bill. While it may not be unconstitutional in a strict sense, I think such a policy is contrary to the principles of religious freedom.

Huckabee then made a highly politicized commutation of a convicted rapist's sentence, who then moved to Missouri and raped/killed a woman who lived near his home.

After being re-elected, he endorsed Lamar Alexander's exploratory bid for President in 1999 (a Republican Senator from my state who is extremely anti-Fed audit and who campaigned for Rand Paul's establishment opponent Trey Grayson at a DC fundraiser). Huckabee then changed his mind and endorsed George W. Bush- which I can forgive him for because at the time Bush was talking a lot like Ron Paul before going back on his word entirely as President.

Then Huckabee signed another tax increase on gasoline and diesel in 1999. He concurrently issued state bonds, which is just an IOU from the taxpayer to be paid in future taxes. At this time he also worked to establish a system of standardized state testing for students in Arkansas, and would remark years later during the Bush Administration that he strongly supported Bush's unprecedented and unconstitutional Federal takeover of education, No Child Left Behind.

In 2001, Hucakabee signed the Covenant Marriage Act, continuing the state's intrusion into the private institution of marriage, rather than working to reverse it.

In 2003, Huckabee mandated annual body mass index measurements for all public school children and tax increases on cigarettes and tobacco.

Then in 2005 Huckabee made illegal immigration a central issue, campaigning to make illegal immigrants eligible for state benefits like financial scholarships, calling opposition to his policy "un-Christian." He also apparently considers public drinking in entertainment districts un-Christian, because he vetoed a bill that would allow private citizens and businesses to make that decision for themselves.

The Club for Growth has called Mike Huckabee a "liberal" for fixing labor prices in Arkansas, opposing a repeal of the state sales tax on basic necessities like groceries, and being a tax hiker. And the libertarian Cato Institute gave Huckabee an F in its 2006 Fiscal Report Card. Perhaps the most telling endorsement Huckabee's received is being named one of the 5 best governors in 2005 by Time Magazine.

Huckabee is no friend to liberty!

by: Marc Gallagher

Republicans displaying their “Red State pride” following the results of Tuesday’s elections need to face reality. The two GOP gubernatorial election victories in Virginia and New Jersey were unsurprising and expected. Now if a true limited government conservative beat out Bloomberg in the New York mayoral race there would be a reason for celebration.

The reason Bob McDonnell beat out Creigh Deeds in Virginia was not because McDonnell represents some new style small government Republican. McDonnell won because Deeds made campaign mistakes. McDonnell made none. Deeds lost the race more than McDonnell won it.

The same is true for the New Jersey race. Corzine, a former chairman at Goldman Sachs, easily became a scapegoat for a failing economy and political corruption. So, he lost.

What Tuesday’s election results really demonstrated was a lack of conviction for either Democrats or Republicans. When the political spectrum shines red, then blue, then red, then blue, over and over again something tangible comes to light:

America is not rooting for either party to win. America is rooting for the underdog.

After 8 years of Clinton, George W. Bush was the underdog. In 2004, Bush was still the underdog largely due to his perceived strength (however false it was) in fighting “those who attacked us on 9/11″. That quickly soured so much that by 2006 the Democratic Party was the underdog so they won control of Congress. If Bush was up for re-election himself in 2006, he’d have lost.

The 2008 election cemented the underdog theory with America getting the chance to elect the first African American President. McCain, largely a Bush twin, had no chance.

Tuesday’s election results demonstrated that the Republicans are now, once again, the underdogs. This bodes well for them in the 2010 election and it could carry over to the 2012 Presidential contest. Of course, that depends on who has the perceived power at that time.

The point of this “underdog theory” is that we are not happy with the blue nor the red team. When the time comes we just want to take away power from whichever team has it.

For liberty champions this eternal game is growing extremely tiresome.

When everyone buys into the two team league yet no one wants either team to finish in first place, isn’t it time to expand the league?

It just so happens that there is a liberty-loving team already in place ready to be added to the league. Here are their names:

• Rand Paul
• David Hedrick
• Adam Kokesh
• Peter Schiff
• Ray McBerry
• Chris Simcox
• Debbie Medina
• Bill Hunt
• RJ Harris
• John Dennis
• David Ratowitz
• Jake Towne
• Randy Brogdon
• Robert Broadus
• Collins Bailey
• Jaynee Germond
• Bob Parker
• Bill Connor
• Peg Luksik

These are the candidates being celebrated today on the anniversary of Ron Paul’s 5th of November money bomb. To learn more about these candidates please check out ThisNovember5th.com. If you find a candidate you like, then please don’t hesitate to support that candidate with a generous donation.

These are the real underdogs and outcasts. Let’s help make them winners and keep them winning.

by Thomas Craig

The military has a saying, "Salute the rank, not the man".  The other night during the President's address to Congress, our Leadership and our Party were made to look like ignorant fools due to the disrespect shown to the President.  Congressman Wilson (R-SC) thankfully apologized after shouting out "You Lie!" during the President's address. 

We all remember the disrespect shown to President Bush.  We all believed in the prestige of the office and we thought of those who blatantly disrespected Bush as un-American.  Many in our Party feel that the GOP should simply show the same respect to Obama as the Democrats had shown to Bush.  The problem with this mentality is that people seem to forget that the pendulum always swings back.  When Republicans were in power, we felt confidant that we will hold on to that power.  Now, Democrats honestly think that they will hold on to the reins forever.  We didn't forget the actions of the minority when we were in charge and the Democrats won't forget our actions now when we take back Washington. 

Perhaps Congressman Wilson had a point.  Personally, I think he had a very valid point in his statement.  By doing what he did though, he cheapened the argument and emboldened the opposition.  We need to stop the hysterics and make our arguments loud and clear.  The time for baseless distractions are over, whether they are "Obama is a muslim", "Obama isn't a citizen", or "Obama is an alien".  They are ridiculous and they take away from our credibility. 

Healthcare needs to be reformed, plain and simple.  Instead of shouting down every idea the Democrats come up with, we should be using our voices to pitch our own ideas on reform.  This will not only be more productive but it will point out the misguided notions of Liberals who have good intentions but would bury this Nation in a mound of debt so large our grandchildren will be born with sore backs. 

Its time to cut the bs and get down to business!