The Humble Libertarian original

" Resentment toward government " -that's the search term that alternate media source InfoWars.com encouraged its users to start searching en masse Thursday in order to push the term to the top of Google's trends page . The goal was to draw attention to a recent article on InfoWars , reporting that over a hundred law enforcement personnel and federal agents gathered at Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York to attend a presentation on new biometric computer technology that developers claim can detect signs of resentment toward government in the decibels and crescendos of telephone users. The man behind InfoWars.com is Alex Jones, a radio show host and conspiracy theorist whose beliefs and methods I have strongly criticized here in the past, criticisms I still stand by today. Accordingly, I am not a regular reader of his websites, but when I see an InfoWars article from time to time like today, I am careful to fact check it because I believe most 9-11 Truthers

Not so long ago I was on the road and discovered a delightful product called Peace Tea . It seemed interesting and the art was nice, so I tried all four flavors. Each can has messages of peace on them, and it just so happened that one of them was very libertarian. On the Razzleberry flavor can the messages are emblazoned: "Don't tread on me." "We are all in this together." "True freedom comes with great responsibility" and of course: "We must think for ourselves." Let's give some thought to this, just as the Peace Tea creators would desire . "Don't tread on me" is a statement of the utmost power. It is in fact the most rational and complete statement of peace one can make. To say this is to say that so long as you do not tread on my life, liberty, or property, then I will make no aggression toward you. What could be more peaceful? This exemplifies the libertarian non-aggression axiom . Paired with the above statement is, &qu

A video tribute to Ron Paul, one of the few honest men left in Washington, and one of the few who ever seems to speak out in the halls of Congress against the destructive policies that our government is enforcing. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

I'll be hosting the Rand Paul money bomb telethon today from 2 - 4 pm Central Time and interviewing Jake Towne , Clint Didier , and Gary Johnson . To stream the show live to your computer, visit OneInTheSenate.com . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Hey Patriots! Tomorrow is the start of a two-day money bomb for U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul . Accompanying the money bomb is a live-streaming telethon (with video!) from 8 am to 4 pm Central Time (9 - 5 Eastern). Hosts will include Kurt Wallace , Jack Hunter , Robert Scott Bell , and Yours Truly (I'll be on from 2 - 4 pm Central Time). Confirmed guests will include many luminaries and big names in the libertarian, conservative, and Tea Party movements. Check out the money bomb page for more details. Also please dig deep and pledge to give. With one month to go, it is essential that we get Rand Paul past the finish line. We've never been closer! Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

The government is using $662 million from the 2009 " Stimulus Bill " to create "Regional Extension Centers" or RECs. These organizations are mandated to help 100,000 health care providers implement electronic health records in 24 months. There are fundamental flaws with this program and taxpayers dollars are at stake. To learn more about RECs, visit the Software Advice blog at: Five Reasons We Think RECs are RECkless .

It is rare that I would advocate anyone following the example of The San Francisco Chronicle , but their editorial board's refusal to endorse in California's senate race commands our consideration. Claiming that "Californians are left with a deeply unsatisfying choice for the U.S. Senate this year," The Chronicle on Sunday refused to throw their support behind Barbara Boxer or Carly Fiorina, claiming that Boxer lacks the effectiveness in advocating the liberal causes the editors advocate and Fiorina stands in the way of those very causes. While the paper reasons from flawed premises which differ greatly from my own, they are right to notice that it is unwise to throw support behind candidates that do not share or cannot effectively implement one's values. Too often we are told to choose the lesser of two evils and support one of the major party candidates even if neither represent the values we desire in a candidate, but this urging is misguided and d

"With polls reflecting such a close race, we can only guess that it will be whichever party successfully convinces a key swath of Independent voters that its candidates will affect real change in the three areas that make voters most anxious: Transparency, Accountability, and Fiscal Responsibility." Read my entire article at CAIVN . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

"In the end, Republicans who cheerfully recall 1994 and say that history is repeating itself, might be disappointed to learn just how right they are." Read my entire article at CAIVN . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

'The Tea Partiers and conservative / libertarians are not buying the farce that is the Republican Party "Pledge To America". Why not? Well first off the GOP has proposed their big-government version of healthcare takeover by actually including elements of ObamaCare in the "Pledge"!!!' Read the rest of my article at Campaign for Liberty . Matt Collins , Regular Columnist Articles | Author's Page

"Like Clinton in the ’90s, Bush in the last decade and Obama in this one, when it comes to foreign policy our government has always posed more of a threat to the American people than any of the near–mythical foes it likes to scare us about." Read Jack Hunter's entire op-ed at The American Conservative . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Weekend thread: Is there such a thing as left libertarianism and right libertarianism ? Why or why not? And if there is, what are they and how are they distinct (and is one better than the other, and why?). This discussion is important to defining libertarianism itself. Have at it!

I had an unsuccessful conversion experience this past weekend. A Canadian man sat down next to me at a baseball game and started talking about how great socialized "everything" was in Canada, and how much everything here sucked. And let me admit...I was excited. I was delighted for the opportunity to persuade him. Honestly, I was thrilled for the opportunity to intellectually crush him. And he left that night unchanged. And I left that night realizing I don't exactly know how to make people open to the idea that government doesn't need to be in charge of things. Hanging out here, I feel like I'm learning all the talking points. I'm absolutely convinced in both the moral and effectual benefits of freedom. And yet, I am only currently able to persuade already-conservatives to move toward a more consistent and holistic view of freedom. For those who believe solely in the benevolent arm of the federal government to right the wrongs of an uncharitable populace, my

Today The Humble Libertarian hit an important milestone with over 500 subscribers now reading its daily posts about news, current events, and politics from a libertarian perspective! What an incredible honor and pleasure it is for me and my contributors. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen, especially this website's sponsors who have made it possible for me to grow the site by launching promotional contests and using their contributions to get targeted, paid advertising to the website during these contests and offer the chance to win prizes as an incentive for new visitors to stick around and see what we have to say here. Here's to the next 500 and to the eventual dominance of the political blogosphere by liberty websites like The Humble Libertarian ! Cheers! Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L

The House Republicans' Pledge to America might just be too little, too late. I have marveled for a year now at how easily the Republicans have let Democrats get away with calling them "obstructionists" and accusing them of having no ideas or solutions of their own, only criticisms of the Democratic agenda. Some of the best, most practical, most obvious, most necessary, least extreme, least partisan, and least ideological ideas there are over the last two years have been coming from the Tea Party movement brewing in the "center-right" of the country's political divide. But for two years now, the House Leadership has preferred to ignore them, and is now plagiarizing and betraying them at the same time with its " Pledge to America " ( M ) . This article was featured at The Daily Caller . A Real Pledge to America The Republicans' rising star, U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul has said repeatedly on the campaign trail that we need a balanced b

The following are the winners of the Silver Circle Contest : Mike of Virginia won the 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin! Randy of Texas won a Silver Circle comic book! Adam of California won a Silver Circle comic book! There's one winner I still haven't heard from, so I may end up drawing a second time from the pool of entries for the third comic book winner. An announcement will be forthcoming. It's worth noting that once again , two of the winners (Mike and Randy) were the ones who had the most entries in the contest. All they did was take a minute and e-mail five of their friends to let them know about the contest. Next time a piece of fine silver or other great prize is up for grabs here, you absolutely can increase your chances of winning by participating more! If you want to take a look at the prizes again, visit the contest page here , and don't forget to take a look at our sponsor's website: SilverCircleMovie.com PS: Thanks to you we are on the cusp of 500

President Obama's rationing czar, who controls the health care of 1 in 3 Americans and has a budget larger than the freaking Pentagon's refuses to answer questions, grant interviews, or testify before Congress. Transparency? I think not. Hat tip to Michelle Malkin for the video below: W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

I work at a private university. And I recently heard a student complaining about the red tape and lack of communication surrounding our financial aid process. A fellow employee aware of my political beliefs said, "Even at a private business, things don't always go right, do they, Eric?" Now, there is an important lesson here. Because yes, private businesses can still suck. Just because they're private doesn't make them benevolent. It simply forces them (in most cases) to respond to the market. But, the FAFSA process at a "private" institution has nothing to do with a private business. A private business will struggle with any horrendously managed, government-run bureaucracy. It's the same reason I want people to stop complaining to me about Boeing. It's not a private company, by any means. Those of you who have watched the film "Why We Fight" or seen Eisenhower's Farewell Address warning us about the "military industrial comple

Hey Patriots! After almost doing this on Sunday and then canceling it at the last minute due to a concussion, I will now be doing a live radio show, streaming straight to your computer on Wednesday 22 September 2010 at 8:00 PM Central Time. The purpose will be to catch up with all you fine people, have a good time talking, and share some of my stories and experiences as an intern in Washington DC for the summer. You can listen to the show live during the appointed time at this link . The call in number is 646.929.2657 Peace! Wes Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L

"I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now." That's what President Obama heard from a middle class, African-American woman at a townhall meeting Monday, who identified herself as a wife, mother, veteran, CFO for a veteran's services organization, and middle class American. Read the rest of her statement at my CAIVN article . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

"House leaders are considering adjourning as early as the end of this week, which would give lawmakers five and a half weeks to campaign before the Nov. 2 election but could also leave them exposed to allegations that they didn't finish their work in Washington. The House hasn’t adjourned before Sept. 30 in an election year since 1960." Read the entire article at The Politico . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Yesterday the New York Times reported ( M ) that Obama's political advisers are trying to think of ways to give Democrats a boost in the final months leading up to the midterm elections, including national advertisements "to cast the Republican Party as all but taken over by Tea Party extremists." A winning strategy? Absolutely not. In a year that is going to swing in the Tea Party's direction, identifying your opposition with the Tea Party is only going to strengthen it. But more interestingly, this new line of propaganda contradicts the Democrats' earlier line that the Tea Party was a pawn and puppet of the establishment GOP. Which is it, Democrats? Are the Tea Partiers just AstroTurf puppets on the strings of the GOP, with no principles and no purpose but to get Republicans elected; or are they rabid ideologues with "extremist" principles who have hijacked and now control the GOP? Hmmm? Which is it? Because it can't be both. But you know that d

**UPDATE** **SHOW CANCELED** I'm so sorry to do this everyone! I just went out to a local skate park yesterday experiment with skating in a half pipe for the first time in my life, and took a major fall that has resulted in a mild concussion. I figured I'd rest up a little bit and see if I'm up to doing the show tonight, but I'm still not quite "myself" and feeling a little mentally slow, so I don't want you guys to have to listen to concussed Wes for an hour and a half as entertaining as that may be to some of you sadistic bastards. (I kid.) So I will be rescheduling the show for Wednesday at the same time. Sorry again! Wes ### Hey Patriots! As previously mentioned, I'm doing a live radio show, streaming straight to your computer on Sunday 19 September 2010 at 8:00 PM Central Time. The purpose will be to catch up with all you fine people, have a good time talking, and share some of my stories and experiences as an intern in Washington DC for the summ

Weekend thread: Who is going to win the GOP nomination to challenge Mr. Obama for the White House in 2012? And secondly, who would you like to win? These are of course, distinct questions. Discuss/debate away! W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Caught this editorial a little late, but it's an excellent one. Isn't it time to celebrate the people that sign the FRONT of the paychecks of more than half of all U.S. workers? Some other interesting facts from the article: "Small businesses represent more than 98% of all U.S. businesses and produce more than half of the U.S. $13 trillion GDP." Read the entire article at Manta . W. E. Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page