Audioscrobbler Stats [past 3 months]

1		Michael Schenker Group			74
2		Queensrÿche			60
3		Pentagram			53
4		Rush			47
5		UFO			46
5		Skyforger			46
7		Voivod			39
7		Raven			39
9		Trailer Park Boys			30
10		Guided by Voices			29
11		High on Fire			28
12		The Beatles			27
13		Yes			25
14		Armored Saint			23
15		Iron Maiden			22

Keep The Oil, Give Me Hemp

Just Go Away

Is The Federal Government Hopelessly Lost?

Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)

Mini Blitzer

Girl Raised From Birth By Wolf Blitzer Taken Into Protective Custody

Wassup With The Superfriends

This American Government

"[This American Government] never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.…

Trade and commerce, if they were not made of india-rubber, would never manage to bounce over obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievious persons who put obstructions on the railroads."

Henry David Thoreau

The State Commands It

"the interests of the State and those of the individual differ fundamentally and are antagonistic. The State and the political and economic institutions it supports can exist only by fashioning the individual to their particular purpose; training him to respect "law and order;" teaching him obedience, submission and unquestioning faith in the wisdom and justice of government; above all, loyal service and complete self-sacrifice when the State commands it, as in war."

Emma Goldman

Lee Wrights Explores 2012 Presidential Run

WRIGHTS FOR PRESIDENT 2012 EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE

For more information:
Thomas Hill
Phone: (704) 621-8621
E-mail: thomasbhill@msn.com

Wrights forms presidential exploratory committee

BURNET, Texas (July 4) – R. Lee Wrights, a former Libertarian Party national vice chair and the editor and co-founder of Liberty for All online magazine, announced today he is forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for a possible bid to seek the Libertarian nomination for president in 2012.

“The Libertarian Party faces a critical test in 2012 and I want to make sure that we’re up to the challenge,” Wrights said. “The Libertarian message in 2012 must be loud and clear – Stop the Wars! Stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop the war on drugs and alternative lifestyles, stop the war on civil liberties.”

Wrights said that it’s time to stop supporting politicians, regardless of party, who don’t even come close to fulfilling their campaign promises.

“President Obama was elected on a platform of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Wrights said. “Instead of supporting the troops by bringing them home, he has sent thousands more young men and women to die needlessly to prop up a corrupt government in Afghanistan.”

“Now he’s wavering on his promise to bring the troops home by July 2011,” Wrights said. “He calls the war in Afghanistan a ‘war of necessity.’ It is no such thing. It is unnecessary, irresponsible and a dishonor to the founding principles of our republic.”

The president has also reneged on his promise to reverse the trampling of civil liberties which began under the Bush Administration. “He’s done just the opposite,” Wrights said. “He’s expanded federal power to invade our privacy and curtail our rights. He might not call it the ‘war on terror,’ but President Obama still uses 9/11 as an excuse to justify voiding the Bill of Rights.”

Wrights said he is most appalled by the way the president turns every issue he faces into a war by labeling anyone who opposes him as an enemy.

“Not content with just warring with the Republicans in Congress, the president has turned the Gulf oil spill into a war on oil companies. He’s used the financial crisis, which was largely caused by government regulation, interference and incompetence, to continue waging war on banks and financial institutions,” Wrights said.

“Even after his major victory in ramming through a massive health care bill which imposes federal government bureaucrats into our most intimate and personal health care decisions, President Obama continues to wage war on insurance companies and health care providers,” Wrights said. “Now, he’s opened a new front in Arizona over that state’s attempt to deal with an illegal immigrant situation his administration has failed to address.”

“Where will it end?” Wrights asked. “Is anything or anyone safe from being labeled an ‘enemy of the state’ and incurring the wrath of the federal government’s war-making power?”

Wrights pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be given to the LP for ballot access. “Whoever is the 2012 Libertarian nominee for president, we must take our message to all 50 states and our message must be clear and unequivocal – Stop the Wars,” Wrights says.

Nullification Confuses Zombies

Government Euphemisms

Transformer Top Ten

Let My Music Do The Talking

Antiwar.com's Week In Review (June 4th)

Antiwar.com's Week in Review | June 4, 2010

Israel, Gaza

On Sunday night, Antiwar.com covered news of Israel’s deadly raid on the Gaza aid flotilla hours before the MSM. By Monday, Jason Ditz refuted claims of self-defense by Israeli soldiers, adding that – whether it carried metal sticks or not – the Mavi Marmara was "violating no international laws in trying to deliver medicine and food to civilian victims of an Israeli blockade. Israel, on the other hand, was most assuredly violating international law in attacking an unarmed aid ship on the open sea."

If indeed these facts check out, according to Philip Giraldi, "then Tel Aviv is guilty of piracy, kidnapping, and murder, while the armed attack on a Turkish flagged vessel might be construed as inviting a military response from NATO."

While Obama has said little, members of Congress have since come out in favor of Israel, and Vice President Joe Biden stated that Israel "had a right to know." Filing from Israel exclusively for Antiwar.com, Ran HaCohen found the local outrage conspicuously absent. "How can you turn millions of fairly educated citizens into silent lambs, or worse, into supporters of their own state’s terrorism?" HaCohen looked for answers in the press.

Ultimately, if "the only way we can make the Israelis feel ‘secure’ is by allowing them to engage in international piracy on the high seas," said Justin Raimondo, "then perhaps this is the sort of high-maintenance relationship we can no longer afford."

For more on the Gaza aid raid:

• Antiwar.com Founder Eric Garris on Antiwar Radio
• Raimondo: An American among the nine
• Eight Turkish citizens slain, yet Turkey is the villain?
• Israel: Burden, not asset to U.S.?
• Ivan Eland: there is a silver lining
• Can Israeli spin machine overcome international fallout?

Terrorism: Cause and Effect

If the government does anything well, fomenting fear is high on the list. The Bush rhetoric of "terrorism 24/7" – inherited with open arms by Obama – has done a great deal to keep people afraid, but has it done anything to keep them safe?

In "Terrorism – Cause and Effect," Jack Smith argued that U.S. intervention abroad is often the cause of terrorist action, not the solution to it. He discussed five major policy decisions made in the last "65 years that turned public opinion in the Middle East against the United States and largely generated the conditions that led to the creation of al-Qaeda, jihadist warriors, and suicide bombers."

If the U.S. is more interested in perpetuating war than in defeating terrorism, perhaps Washington is the real enemy worth fearing.

Milestones Not Worth Celebrating

This week we officially passed the $1 trillion dollar mark for the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only does the U.S. lead the world in "defense" spending – a whopping 800 percent more than runner-up Russia – but we account for 44.32 percent of the total global tab.

And no sooner could AP tally the 1,000th U.S. military death in Afghanistan than Pentagon officials dismissed exit strategy timetables, saying that our eight-and-a-half-year long war could continue "way beyond July 2011."

Amid a devastating economic recession and despite warnings from the Congressional Budget Office that across-the-board cuts will need to be made, it seems that no amount of blood or money can deter the War Party.

Antiwar Radio

Antiwar Radio is expanding! As of June 7^th, Liberty Radio Network will carry Scott’s show Monday through Friday from 12–3 p.m. ET. It will also continue to air on KAOS Radio 95.9 FM in Austin, KPFK Pacifica Radio 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, KUCR 88.3 FM in Riverside, and of course on Antiwar.com.

This week’s guests included:

• Winslow T. Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project, questioned Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ halfhearted fight against Pentagon waste and wondered why our always increasing Pentagon budget paradoxically results in the worst-equipped military in a generation.
• Flynt Leverett, former senior director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council, discussed WMD myths and Iran’s nuclear program with guest host Gareth Porter. "Iran is a critically important country … and at this point, given the relative decline in American standing and influence and the relative increase in Iranian standing and influence, [we’d] argue that the United States …can’t achieve its own objectives" without improving relations.
• Thomas Woods, co-editor of We Who Dared to Say No to War, reviewed the propaganda behind U.S. foreign policy and the slaughter of Iraqis. "If this government is run by liars and thieves and killers and I don’t trust a word they say on anything else, then I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their monopoly on the use of military force. I’m just not going to do it ,and I don’t believe that that’s anti-American."

Listen to all of this week’s guests here, and don’t forget you can chat with other listeners during the show at the Stress Blog.

We Make It Easy to Support Peace

Have you applied for your Antiwar.com Capital One credit card yet? A percentage of everything you buy on the card comes straight back to us! Not only will we receive $50 after your initial purchase, but Capital One will send you a quarterly statement of your contributions.

Also, bookmark this link and use it when you buy books and other merchandise on Amazon.com. Questions? Contact Angela at akeaton@antiwar.com or call 323-512-7095.

Meet Our New Communications Director

In an effort to raise awareness in the press and reach more people with the message of peace, Antiwar.com has hired Communications Director Wendy Honett. Honett formerly served as the publicity director at the Independent Institute and holds a bachelor of arts degree in both political science and mass communications from the University of California at Berkeley. She will be working closely with Antiwar.com Founder and Managing Editor Eric Garris, Executive Director Alexia Gilmore, and Development Director Angela Keaton to implement several strategic initiatives for Antiwar.com.

Connect With Us!

You know about our Web site, of course, but are you following us on Twitter? Check out @Antiwarcom, @Antiwarnews, and @Antiwar2 for updates. Or friend Justin, Scott, and Angela on Facebook and drop by our causes page.

Thank You!

Thank you to our loyal readers for your words of encouragement during the fund drive and, of course, for your generous contributions. We made it to $70,000, and we at Antiwar.com send our utmost appreciation. For information on donating, please contact Development Director Angela Keaton at akeaton@antiwar.com.

Beyond The Lighted Stage

Never Soft - Peddle The Truth

"Never soft-peddle the truth. It’s seldom self-evident and almost never sells itself, because there’s less sales resistance to a glib and comforting lie."

L. Neil Smith

"What Is A Reagan Libertarian" by R. Lee Wrights

The original article was published at Liberty For All...

“Don’t write so that you can be understood, write so that you can’t be misunderstood.”

- William Howard Taft

The first time someone asked me, “What is a Reagan Libertarian?”, was in an e-mail from a person new to the Libertarian Party. I was contacted in my capacity as one of the At-large Representatives to the Libertarian National Committee. That particular question was one of several that this constituent asked for clarification. When I got to the question of what is a Reagan Libertarian, I felt it was a no-brainer and simply answered, “There is no such thing.”

I explained that Ronald Reagan had been a Democrat who, at some point, switched to the Republican Party where he eventually served two terms as President of the United States. I further explained that the term they probably meant, and I thought they were misquoting at the time, was the ever-popular “Reagan conservative,” which has been adopted by many disenfranchised Republicans who have become discouraged with the direction their party has taken in the years following the Reagan administrations.

Imagine my amazement when this constituent replied to me that it was I who was mistaken. He explained that there was, in fact, at least one prominent Libertarian out there calling himself a Reagan Libertarian. That person turned out to be former Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root.

Of course, I still couldn’t believe it and thought surely this new member was mistaken somehow. But in the e-mail was a link to Mr. Root’s Facebook page where, sure enough, there it was as big as life. WAR, as Mr. Root likes to refer to himself, proudly calling himself a Reagan Libertarian. Frankly, I was offended that our most recent VP nominee would so brazenly and blatantly misrepresent the LP brand in such a manner. I also realized that now we had a problem on our hands.

After reading Mr. Root’s book, I saw the problem more clearly than before. You see, Ronald Reagan is WAR’s hero. He loves the man. So much so in fact, he named his youngest son after the former Republican president. He idolizes Mr. Reagan even though he admits that once he gained the White House, after making promises to the contrary, he grew government spending to greater proportions than ever before. Apparently to Mr. Root, this is just a small boo-boo that can be all too easily forgiven, if not forgotten.

That’s right, Mr. Root’s idol is a politician who said whatever he had to say in order to get elected, only to turn around and do what he said he would not do once he was elected. In other words, just another pandering politician who would tell voters whatever they wanted to hear to gain the White House. Not a very good example for any member of the “Party of Principle” that has been calling for less government and more freedom for almost four decades now. So one has to wonder, just what does Wayne Allyn Root mean when he calls himself a Reagan Libertarian?

Now Mr. Root is the only person I have ever known in all my many years in the LP who refers to himself in this manner. Therefore, we can only use his own words to answer the question, “What is a Reagan Libertarian?” So let’s examine how WAR defines himself. He does so in his most-recent book, The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts.

Mr. Root is very upfront about who he is and what he is politically in his book. In fact, in the very first paragraph of the book’s introduction entitled “Citizen Politician - Citizen Revolution” he writes, “Politically, I’m a combination of Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Ron Paul - a Libertarian conservative, supercharged, and on steroids!” (Emphasis is his, not mine.) There you have it in a nutshell, in Wayne Allyn Root’s own words. Let’s take a close look at what he is saying.

The first half of his self-description reads, “Politically, I’m a combination of Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Ron Paul…” Do the math with me here. Senator Goldwater was a Republican. President Reagan was a Democrat turned Republican. Dr. Paul is a Republican turned Libertarian turned Republican. All three men were/are elected Republicans. Mr. Root claims to be a combination of all three men. So, Republican + Republican + Republican can only equal Republican! There is no other way for the “combination” to add up.

Mr. Root seems to try to clarify himself in the second half of his self-description by claiming the title “Libertarian conservative,” but that doesn’t jive with the first half of his statement. The inference is that all three men were/are also Libertarian conservatives, yet we know for a fact that they were/are all Republicans. Seems misleading to me, but that is just my opinion, of course. Honestly, the majority of Libertarians I know just call themselves Libertarians. We see no need for qualifiers. In fact, since being Libertarian covers such a wide political spectrum, many of us believe using qualifiers to describe Libertarians can be misleading.

WAR brings his self-description home with the big finale, “…supercharged and on steroids!” (Please remember, the emphasis is his not mine.) Well, I have seen what steroids can do to people. I had to take care of some of them in the military hospital where I worked years ago. I know what steroids do to the body and the mind when they have been abused. Not a pretty sight, believe me. Steroids will definitely “supercharge” you, but they can also destroy you if you are not careful. Sadly, they can also cause you to destroy those around you. In fact, the danger you pose to others when using steroids is perhaps the most damaging part of this whole equation. I’m afraid by being too reckless with his words Mr. Root has put all of us in the Libertarian Party in a position where we now must do damage control.

President Taft provided us with some sage advice when he wrote, “Don’t write so that you can be understood, write so that you can’t be misunderstood.” It is doubly important for Libertarians to heed this advice since we have spent the better part of forty years trying to distance ourselves from the two major political parties in the United States. We realize we must set ourselves apart from the status quo in order to be perceived as a viable alternative for voters who have become fed up with the shenanigans of the Democrats and Republicans. Unfortunately, whenever Mr. Root tells anyone he is a Reagan Libertarian, the first thing that comes to mind is - Republican. He sets us back decades, intentionally or unintentionally, with this one careless statement, because what it says to far too many of us is, “I am still a Republican.”

We Libertarians have enough trouble with Democrats and Republicans who constantly try to brand us as something we are not. Both parties go out of their way to smear us as being everything from anarchists to un-American zealots. The last thing we need right now is one of our own providing them with extra ammunition for the political war in which we find ourselves.

In just a couple of weeks, Libertarians from all across the country will gather in St. Louis for our national convention. There we will be asked to decide who will be our next chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, an office for which Wayne Allyn Root is currently running, along with four other men. As I see it, we are faced with a choice between four Libertarians and one “Reagan Libertarian.” For the good of my party I will be voting for a Libertarian. If you are a delegate to the Libertarian national convention, I hope you will too.

R. Lee Wrights is a writer and political activist living in Texas. He is the co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Contact Lee at rleewrights@gmail.com.

Should His Conscience Be Your Guide? by Mary Ruwart

The original article was published at Liberty For All.


The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling, and Tax Cuts by Wayne Allyn Root. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

This book might be more honestly titled “Conscience of a Conservative II” or even “Conscience of a Constitutionalist.” Chapter 2, “The Libertarian Model,” opens with Ronald Reagan’s quote “Libertarianism is the very heart and soul of conservatism.” The author then describes the history of the New York State Conservative Party which his parents supported; he tells us that he wants to reintroduce the principles espoused by Republican conservative Barry Goldwater. No mention is made of any libertarian economist or Libertarian Party (LP) member. The uninformed reader cannot help but come away with the impression that “libertarian” is another name for “conservative.”

On page 24, Mr. Root goes on to say “As a Libertarian, I believe that social and personal freedom issues are quite simply States’ Rights’ issues. … Voters should decide these issues on the state and local level.” Root’s position is that of a Constitutionalist, not a Libertarian. Libertarians believe that social and personal freedom issues are individual rights. However, since Mr. Root never refers to the non-aggression principle anywhere in his book, naïve readers are unlikely to learn of this distinction.

Liberals will almost certainly come away with the impression that they are unwelcome in the Libertarian Party. While the author criticizes both Democrats and Republicans, he has nothing but praise for conservatives and offensive comments, almost to the level of “hate speech,” for liberals.

Indeed, Root chokes on the popular slogan “Libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal.” He insists on saying that libertarians are “socially tolerant” instead. Since Conscience was originally conceived as a campaign book, why would the author, the LP’s 2008 Libertarian VP nominee, insist on alienating liberals, who constitute almost half of the voting populace, especially when the LP has the solutions to poverty, pollution, and health care that they seek?

The answer to this question may lie in how the author apparently sees himself: as a conservative first, and Libertarian second. He usually styles himself as a “Libertarian conservative” (page 60), even though libertarianism is generally considered “beyond right and left.” Mr. Root apparently wants to redefine what it means to be a libertarian.

Indeed, Mr. Root can’t seem to get the words out when stating standard LP positions, like ending the Drug War. He tells us that we must “reposition” the war on drugs instead (page 225).

Similarly, although telling readers he wants smaller government, the author’s proposed solutions often do just the opposite. He wants to increase the number of Congressional representatives from 435 members to almost 3,000 (pages 201-203). Mr. Root also wants to pay this gargantuan Congress CEO-level salaries ($500,000-$1,000,000 per year) “so they do not feel desperate to sell out their constituents in order to support their families” (page 202). Will paying more to those who steal our liberties and our money really stop them—or encourage them?

Why not simply make it illegal for Congress to pass laws favoring one group over another, like taking from Peter to give to Paul? That would be the Libertarian solution, but our former VP candidate shows little awareness of it.

Mr. Root continues: “The people who make our laws are very important people. We should try to pay them enough to attract the best and brightest (page 202).” Since virtually every law Congress passes violates our individual rights—and will continue to do so unless we place some truly libertarian restrictions on them—do we really want them to do it smarter and better?

The author is undaunted by those who point out that the LP hasn’t yet elected anyone to major national office. Mr. Root counters that the LP has a great message, “but the missing ingredient up until now has been heart. I am Stella Root’s son. I am relentless. I have a bigger heart than a thousand candidates. More heart than all the others that came before me—combined… We have had plenty of intellect, plenty of brainpower, plenty of good ideas, but up until now, not enough heart” (page 347, emphasis in original).

Judging from my three decades of observation, I would say that the LP has heart far beyond what any single person can bring to it. The Natural Law Party, with better funding and more political connections than the LP, threw in the towel years ago. The Reform Party, with taxpayer money and a more mainstream message, has self-destructed. Recently, when National Chair Bill Redpath approached the Constitution and the Green Parties for ballot access help, he learned that both of these groups could barely keep their doors open.

Unlike the Greens, we receive no special interest funding. Unlike the Reform Party, we’ve never accepted matching funds. Unlike the Natural Law Party, we don’t have donors with deep pockets. Unlike the Constitution Party, we didn’t get Ron Paul’s endorsement. How is it that the LP, with the most radical message of all, is the only third party that is a recognized threat to the establishment, standing tall when other Parties are on their way to oblivion?

The dedication of thousands of LP members make up the Party’s heart, which beats more powerfully than that of any individual. Many of our seasoned activists forgo the high pay they could get in the private sector to volunteer their time to gather ballot access signatures, run full-time campaigns, staff our state and national organizations, or spread the good news of liberty through their writing. Others donate their hard-earned money to help support the national office or their state parties. Many of our members have given, not just for a single year or two like the author has, but for decades, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The dedication and relentlessness of thousands of LP supporters have created the pulpit on which Mr. Root now stands; he abuses it when he belittles their contributions with grandiose and unsupported self-aggrandizement.

Mr. Root’s dismissal of his LP predecessors is apparent in statements like “I’m the only politician in history who wants to make my office less important” (page xxviii). Every LP presidential ticket has vowed to shrink the power of their offices, but the author appears oblivious. He also claims to be “… the first candidate to run for president who has the same worries of a typical U.S. voter and taxpayer” (page 99), a patently false statement given his LP predecessors. On page 64, the author claims that he and Barr “attracted a record number of new LP members,” when that honor belongs to two-time presidential nominee, Harry Browne.

Truth may not be that important to Root, though. On p. 249, he states “I understand that in the end, all that matters is winning. All the principles in the world gain you nothing, if you’re not in power to institute them. So winning really is everything…” We’ve heard this argument from the mouth of tyrants everywhere: the ends justify the means.

Is this the conscience of a libertarian?

Dr. Mary Ruwart currently serves as an At-large Representative of the Libertarian National Committee. You can contact Dr. Ruwart at mary@ruwart.com.

3 Month Rundown...

My most played artists of the past three months...

1		Trapeze			56
2		Diamond Head			54
3		Black Flag			52
4		Coheed and Cambria			50
5		Black Breath			44
6		Raven			40
7		HORSE the band			39
8		Deep Purple			37
9		Thin Lizzy			34
10		High on Fire			33
11		Massive Attack			30
12		Halford			27
13		Armored Saint			26
13		Whitesnake			26
15		Uriah Heep			24