The Humble Libertarian original

This dissenting comment left on my libertarian pro-life argument post was so good I had to share it: "What you miss - what you call evasive - is the fact that the fetus lives inside and is entirely dependent on the woman. So, even if the fetus does have rights, this is a clear case of a conflict of rights. Now, it's pretty clear that if we care about equality, we have to address the fact that women can have children. That can be a wonderful thing when you want it, but an oppressive experience otherwise. And this is where the conflict occurs. If you protect the rights of a fetus, you deny women a significant amount of freedom to choose the life she wants to live. This is why science won't help us here. If a fetus is fully a life and endowed with all rights, that just makes the resolution even harder. That's also why it is ridiculous to call it murder. I can't think of anywhere else in the world where you can find such a similar conflict of rights. The thing is,...

Dr. Ron Paul's speaking highlights from the CNN / Arizona GOP debate held at the Mesa Art Center, Mesa, AZ on Wednesday, February 22nd at 8:00 p.m. ET. No commentary from me... you just have to watch this: Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Late last night, in the uninhibited and ecstatic throes of inebriation, a vision came to me that was so compelling I had to write it down in dry erase marker on my bathroom mirror so I wouldn't forget it by morning. That is what you see pictured above: a written reminder that I had a brain child last night-- Afghanuggies, an afghan with sleeves like a Snuggie. I'd buy that. I'd buy one for myself and I'd buy one for my dad. I also bet hipsters would love it. I don't know why, but I just feel like they would. This morning my roommate suggested a follow-up product after the success of Afghanuggies: Quiltuggies, a patchwork quilt like something grandma would make-- except it has sleeves. After Afghanuggies go mainstream, the hipsters will need another product that hasn't caught on yet, something new to like before it becomes fashionable. Quiltuggies could be that product. Why am I sharing this? Because I believe that every single one of you reading this right n...

By: Carl Wicklander My friend Wes Messamore recently asked, “What happened to the Tea Party?” As the conservative base is debating between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, two veteran politicians with big government track records, the question is certainly a pertinent one, even if it’s a little late. When the Tea Parties became a visible force on the American political scene it was originally to protest the unpopular bank bailouts, the proposed auto bailouts, and the overall growth of Washington’s claws into American life. Today it’s unclear what any self-described Tea Partier stands for. Like all mass movements there were different elements to the Tea Party and it’s inaccurate to think of them as a unified monolith. Rather, there were different Tea Parties. There were some protesting the power Washington exercises over citizens’ lives. There probably really were a few that got interested in politics at the time the Tea Party became visible but the majority of people marching u...

Lots of things the government does stinks to high heaven, but a story I read today on Dan Mitchell's excellent blog, International Liberty , sets a new standard on the "malodorous" scale. It's a story about farting, of all things. T H L is a polite blog for the most part, but you'll have to beg our pardon for releasing this story. (Pun intended) It's really a story about how goofy, and even dangerous, it gets when government employees - in this case teachers - over-react to the kind of thing that wouldn't even get the disciplinarian involved back when I was in school. Teachers used to handle this kind of stuff with a dunce cap in those days, but I digress. It seems that a student used some "country" nomenclature to describe what he had done in the library when nature called and it resulted in eleven different government agencies responding to the "emergency" and his arrest for his doodling about "dropping a bomb" among th...

By: Carl Wicklander It’s been a bumpy ride for Mitt Romney since winning Florida on January 31. Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri all held non-binding votes a week later and Rick Santorum prevailed in all three. His victories seem to have changed the tenor for the race. With this second “surge,” might Santorum derail Romney’s inevitability? Never before did winning zero delegates seem to have meant so much. While he didn’t win any delegates, his February 7 trifecta keeps Santorum relevant. With a week still separating us from the next primary contests on February 28 in Arizona and Michigan, front-runner Romney may be facing an electoral catastrophe in the Wolverine State. Born in Michigan, where father George Romney was an auto executive and popular governor, Mitt Romney won the state of his birth by 9 points over John McCain in 2008. Michigan should be an easy win for Romney, who needs one and whose only win in the meantime is under a cloud of suspicion . But recent polls i...

In this series called " Libertarian Talking Points ," we pose a talking point that aims for the heart of an issue - avoiding the "politically safe" answer to actually try and convince people of both the moral and effectual justifications for liberty. You argue its effectiveness, or propose how to rephrase it to win hearts and minds. If the topic of viewing the Constitution as a "living" and "breathing" document comes up... "Yes, the U.S. Constitution is 'living' and 'breathing' in that it is not a static document. It is why amendments exist and the Congressional procedures by which to amend it. But, as for the notion that we should ignore this ritual altogether, and assume the enlightenment of non-democratically elected justices is better able to interpret the Constitution based not on its words, but on today's 'societal necessity', then no. The 'breath' of the U.S. Constitution is based upon the wor...