The Humble Libertarian original

Happy New Year's Eve and Happy New Year to all of you reading this! Today I decided to round up twenty of my favorite articles from The Humble Libertarian in 2009. Enjoy! 1. Interview with Governor Gary Johnson 2. June 1st Rand Paul Moneybomb ( launched , planned , promoted , executed ( successfully !), and publicized here) 3. Top 100 Libertarian Websites and Blogs 4. 100 of Obama's Lies, Blunders, Gaffes, and Abuses of Liberty 5. 7 Arguments Against the Stimulus Package 6. The American Tea Party 2009: Goals, Principles, and Objectives 7. Ten Ways Barack Obama is just like George W. Bush 8. Libertarian wallpapers for your computer desktop 9. Earth Hour: Lights out for Freedom, Flourishing, and the Third World 10. A Republic, Not an Empire: A Radical Re-envisioning of US Military Policy 11. How We Caused the Mexico Drug War and How to Fix It 12. The Case for Rand Paul in 2010 13. The Abortion Debate: A Reasoned, Scientific, Pro-Life Argument 14. I...

After publishing my Harry Reid parody of " You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch ," I sent out an e-mail to a few of my friends to ask them to promote it. I shared the link to it and wrote: "Share this with everyone you know! We have got to take our country back and laugh these lunatics to scorn!" Well one of my friends forwarded the link and message to her cousin who responded: "Fortunately, we just accomplished taking our country back from the lunatics." That attitude is so prevalent among Democrats and Republicans alike (that the people in "that other" party are the clueless ones), even though the leadership of both parties over the past couple decades has been virtually indistinguishable, that I felt the need to share the comment with you along with my response. In truth my Harry Reid song , my e-mail accusation of lunacy at our highest levels of leadership, and this entire website as a whole are not partisan rants directed at the Democrats. I ...

Barack Obama's third grade photo: (H/T- Huffington Post | Star Bulletin ) I don't think too highly of the grown man - but what a cute eight-year-old! I wonder if he ran for president of his third grade class? Maybe on a platform of increased transparency about who really puts their mouth on the water fountain when they take a drink, no more picking on second graders, and more free checkups at the nurse's office? Too bad that if his third grade presidency went anything like his first year as President of the United States, Barack Obama not only didn't deliver, but did the opposite of what he promised and made things worse. Maybe it turned out that the class treasurer- Timmy - had been putting his mouth on the water fountain all along, little Barack assigned three more third graders to be hall monitors (and pick on second graders), and while there were more "free" checkups, it came at the cost of long lines , higher prices in the cafeteria to pay her overtim...

H/T to The Daily Paul

Health Insurance in the U.S. Sucks ! If you support a " public option ," single payer system , and/or the Democrats' health bills in Congress, you probably believe that health insurance companies have too much power and not enough competition to keep prices low and quality high. You are absolutely correct. Health insurance is too expensive, not enough people have access to it, and insurance companies bail on their customers and deny them the coverage they paid for at the worst possible times. Something has got to be done! But Why? But let's examine the root causes of these disorders in the market for health insurance to see if a public option is really the solution. It seems as if the health insurance companies can charge whatever they want, bully their customers around when they have legitimate claims, and set all the terms of insurance contracts. Why is that? The most important reason is that Americans cannot buy health insurance across state lines. St...

It is a project of mine and a couple of the other contributors here at T H L to justify libertarian conclusions about government and civil society from classical premises (as opposed to the framework of modernity where classical liberalism "was born"). Editor's note: Content related to this project will be forthcoming in future articles here at T H L . That's why the following article " The Philosopher-Theologian: St Thomas Aquinas " by Murray Rothbard really caught my eye when an abridgment thereof was recently published at Campaign for Liberty . Here's an excerpt I really enjoyed: "Finally, and most charmingly and crucially, Aquinas, in his great Summa, raised a question that had been discussed by Cicero. A merchant is carrying grain to a famine-stricken area. He knows that soon other merchants are following him with many more supplies of grain. Is the merchant obliged to tell the starving citizenry of the supplies coming soon and thereby suffer...

As a libertarian (or for that matter as someone with an iota of common sense), I certainly oppose the arbitrary and often bizarre restriction of our freedoms by the many strange and inappropriate laws on the books of nearly every jurisdiction in the world, including the freest ones. Sometimes legislators just have nothing better to do, it would seem, or are convinced that by micro-regulating every aspect of human behavior, they can produce better people and a better society. That's why I love (and had a good laugh here and there at) this list of 14 laws everyone believes are real, but aren't . Did you know in Michigan it's illegal to curse in public? In Minnesota it's illegal to have *ahem* "relations" with a live fish (but a dead fish is fair game, apparently). In Australia you can be fined for changing your own light bulb (only a licensed electrician can legally do the screwing and unscrewing). Yeah. Silly. Check out the details and the rest of the list here...

I could not have better articulated my thoughts for the 9-11 "Truthers" in the libertarian movement today. Please read all of this article by Jerry Salcido at the Campaign for Liberty . Philosophy vs. Conspiracy By Jerry Salcido View all 9 articles by Jerry Salcido Published 12/23/09 'Anyone who has worked in support of the liberty movement knows an unfortunate truth: it is all too often associated, rightly or wrongly, with "conspiracy theories" -- those all too often unsubstantiated, speculative viewpoints on various topics such as the assassination of JFK, the attempted assassination of Reagan, 9/11, the role of the Rockefellers and Rothschilds in modern world history, and the current doings of the Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations. The problem is that liberty's enemies are very aware of this association as well and they use it to their advantage. Too often freedom's detractors slander the liberty movement as ...

These words are taken from "The Gloria" in Luke's Gospel, wherein angels announce the Condescension of the Divine. As far as I see it, my work as a libertarian is to live these words as truly and as fully as I possibly can, and to encourage others to likewise do so. Peace and good will among men- there is little more I can think of that would make a more wonderful Christmas gift than to have peace and good will among men. It cannot and will not happen unless we acquire a spirit of peace and good will in our own hearts as individuals. We must love and respect others and their inherent dignity as human beings. We must never aggress, we must never coerce, and we must never be so arrogant or believe ourselves so infallible as to think that we have a legitimate claim on the coercion of another human life. Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year! Best wishes to all of you, my readers, friends, visitors, and fellow patriots in the fight against tyranny, injustice, war, corruption,...

From Politico : "At 7:16 a.m., the Senate passed on a 60-39 party line vote a sweeping health care bill that will tighten insurance regulations, provide insurance for 31 million more Americans and cost $871 billion over the next decade." (It will also do this .) Here's what Mitch McConnell, the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate had to say this morning: Those are some awfully tough words for a Senator who pulled his punches and allowed Harry Reid's healthcare bill to come to a vote this morning. Mitch McConnell Caves Instead of putting pressure on the Democrats and holding the vote off until this evening (which under procedural rules in the Senate, McConnell could have done), he moved the vote to this morning so he and his Republican colleagues could get home for Christmas. In an e-mail update I received from the Campaign for Liberty : "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell caved in on health care, rushing the bill through to an earlier vote so he and his ...

While the Senate Democrats are bound and determined to pass the Senate version of a healthcare "reform" bill by Christmas , there are still many Americans who are concerned that this bill isn't at all what we need. Instead, we need to take a step back, have a real dialogue about the problems with our system and how to solve them, and then carefully craft good legislation that will solve these problems without giant expenditures to buy off votes and reward corporate lobbying. That's the right thing to do. That's the statesmanlike thing to do. That's what Americans deserve. So today's your last chance to tell your Senator to vote against Harry Reid's monstrosity of a bill and support a careful, measured, sane, transparent, non-lobbying, non-corrupt, pragmatic approach to healthcare reform moving forward. Use the Campaign For Liberty 's simple tool to quickly find the Senators from your state, their contact info, their bio, and their voting history....

(Click here to enlarge) Song: "You're A Mean One, Harry Reid" Sung to the tune of: "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Dr. Seuss By: W. E. Messamore (The amazing thing is I didn't even have to change that many of the words!) You're a mean one , Harry Reid. You really are a heel . You're as cuddly as a cactus, But you love to cut a deal . Harry Reid. You're a greasy, bad Senator Who loves backroom deals . You're a monster , Harry Reid. You've spent us into a hole. Your healthcare bill will only, Put more people on the dole . Harry Reid. No wonder it's doing so bad At only 39% in the polls ! You're a vile one , Harry Reid. And the lobbyists love your smile. You make all our tender worthless, Printing dollars by the pile. Harry Reid. Given the choice between you and Danny Tarkanian , I'd take Danny by a mile! You're a foul one , Harry Reid. You're a nasty , wasty skunk. Your b...

Awe yeah! No spin. No partisanship. Just straight talking, sound logic, and compelling arguments. I love how matter-of-fact he is about it. Why on earth wouldn't we want to end the Fed ?

Heidi e-mailed me the above picture with the headline "Hundreds gather to protest global warming." Nice. I decided to repost it here for all of you and am sad that I couldn't find who originally produced it so that I could credit them. In the corner of the photo (click the image above to enlarge) there's a URL, but it doesn't seem to work when I type it into my browser. Google Image search turns up this same photo with this same headline here , here , and here . I thought this was very fitting considering all the snow we've had in Copenhagen . And it's not just Copenhagen- Mother Earth has dumped the cold stuff all over the place , including Washington D.C. at the most inconvenient possible time for climate alarmists. Mr. Boaz of the Cato Institue sums it up quite nicely: " True enough, as President Obama’s courtiers... remind us, one day’s weather doesn’t change the climate... Still, I think we know that if it were unseasonably warm this week, there...

After a successful blog makeover at The Left Coast Rebel last month, three new bloggers (who prefer to remain anonymous) commissioned me to build a brand for their new blog, and develop a very simple, clean, professional Blogger-based blog and layout. The result: The Independent Forum , " Your source for non-partisan, grassroots news, analysis, and policy solutions ." They've been plugging away for a month now and producing some great work, so I wanted to be sure and give them a plug here and also to advertise my very valuable, but imminently affordable blog consulting work to make your blog better! So go check out The Independent Forum , browse their fantastic articles (because they're so practical and reasonable, they often end up by espousing very libertarian positions), add them to your blogroll (then contact them so they'll add you to theirs ), and if you want to get featured on their website, they are delighted to take submissions for articles. I'...

An Open Letter To The Coca Cola Company Re: Hopenhagen Sponsorship Dear Coca-Cola Company, I have always loved your products and your brand. Some people are Coke people; others are Pepsi people. I have always been a Coke person. One of my favorite things about this time of year has always been drinking an ice cold Coca-Cola straight from the glass bottle, and seeing those endearing polar bears on television finding similar refreshment in your perfect, carbonated beverage. It is because of this intense brand loyalty that I was deeply saddened to hear about your corporate sponsorship of Hopenhagen, a project to persuade the parties at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen to enact substantial restrictions on the commercial and industrial activity of the world's people. To begin with, I am shocked to see your company so willing to jump into the fray of a polarizing and bitter controversy. Whether or not Coca-Cola's top executives and board of directors believe the question of an...

In an interview that aired earlier this week, President Obama told Oprah Winfrey that he gives himself " a good solid B-plus " grade for his presidency so far, noting that the only thing standing in the way of an A is no health care reform so far, and jobless rates. So I decided to put together a little report card of my own, and the President definitely didn't get a B-plus:

Earlier this week, I published a list of ten political and libertarian quizzes along with my ratings and commentary. Below are my own personal results for each of the ten political quizzes so that you'll know where The Humble Libertarian 's Editor stands on the issues (according to these quizzes). Enjoy! 1. The World's Smallest Political Quiz (take this libertarian quiz here ) My result: It also clarified the definition of "libertarian" as follows: "LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties." 2. Nolan Chart Survey (take this libertarian quiz here ) My result: "Your answers suggest that you are a libert...

Hat tip to The Huffington Post for this fantastic image! Wouldn't it be absurd and grossly inappropriate for TIME to announce the CEO of Goldman Sachs or AIG as its person of the year for 2009? Wouldn't it be a slap in the face to the rest of us Americans who were hurt by their irresponsibility? That's why I love the image above, because it captures exactly what TIME did with its selection of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for Person of the Year. If TIME wanted to pick one of the architects of America's economic woes, who operates in secret, behind closed doors, gambling with and using other people's money for who-knows-what purposes, then it may as well have nominated the CEO of Enron or Goldman Sachs. It is in this category of people and with this company that Ben Bernanke belongs and that is exactly how we should think of him- the leader of a giant, corrupt, disinterested, soulless corporation whose leaders and friends profited and lived nicely while har...

By: Daryl Luna at: In Defense of the Constitution Editor's Preface: It is a real thrill to publish the following article here at T H L . As events unfold in Washington, I have found my own thoughts turning more and more to nullification as a means to defend our liberties. Here, Daryl Luna, who blogs at In Defense of the Constitution , explains what nullification is and skillfully lays out the historical, Constitutional, and political case for nullification and the 10th Amendment assertion of states' rights against an ever-more-abusive Federal government. I'll let Daryl take it from here: Thomas Jefferson once proclaimed when referring to the checking of federal power, “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” In our current age it is rare to find anyone who reveres the rule of law, understands adherence to a standard, or seeks preservation of a covenant. Because of a def...

More and more I'm hearing from people who say things like "I always used to consider myself a conservative, but now I'm starting to wonder if I'm a libertarian ," or "I am a recovering liberal who understands government is more often the problem than not- I'm starting to lean libertarian ." With the relentless acceleration of government growth and abuses, there is a deep and growing interest in libertarianism in America today. So I've compiled a list of six libertarian political quizzes I found on the Internet, along with my ratings and commentary: 1. The World's Smallest Political Quiz (take this libertarian quiz here ) Rating: x x x x x This is perhaps the most popular and well-known libertarian political quiz on the Internet, a project of the libertarian Advocates for Self Government . Indeed, it's presently one of the top search results for " libertarian quiz " on Google. It is also self-billed as the "Worl...

Hey folks, sorry for the diminished posting frequency the past couple days (and no posts other than this one today). Between wrapping up my last set of undergraduate final exams ever(!) with my last one tomorrow afternoon, and coordinating three or four other hectic and wonderful aspects of my life at present, I have just not been able to deliver what you guys deserve. Stay tuned tomorrow for your regularly scheduled programming and a great post for people who are curious about libertarianism. UPDATE 12/15/09 5:09- Make that one more day (sorry)! Thanks for bearing with me! I hope you are all likewise bustling with joyful activity this Merry time of year! And here's a little somethin' somethin' for you:

An illuminating video by the Southern Avenger:

By: Chad Peace "In 2007, the modern tea party movement took shape , in a vastly different form than it now presents itself. Spurred by an impending recession, a government overrun by deception and corruption, and an unprecedented expansion of government under eight years of 'conservative' leadership, the first modern day tea partiers had positive causes of action: honesty, respect for the rule of law, and protection of the rights of the smallest minority; the individual. In late 2007, on the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party, positive protestors laid hope in a solution. In a 24 hours period, in concert with symbolic and peaceful re-enactments of the Boston Tea Party in over 50 cities across the country, energetic tea partiers dumped over 5.2 million dollars into a long-shot presidential campaign to support a candidate that embodied honesty, respect, and sincerity in the pursuit strict constitutional leadership. The goal: to entrust our highest office to ...

Last night's 2 hour show at Liberty Pulse Radio was fantastic! Give it a listen (podcast is at the bottom of the post here ) for some great interviews with two fantastic libertarian guests and to hear my take on things as I co-hosted the show with Liberty Pulse 's Kurt Wallace and Austin Seraphin.