From RR

• Army to keep media from covering Palin at Fort Bragg. Why are Obama’s people so scared? Come to think of it, aren’t attractiveness and charisma all either has to offer really?
• On Sully’s Palin obsession.
• Not that her good intentions and sex appeal make her immune to criticism: Palin and the decline of conservatism. Goldwater should have been president.
• How high-profile CEOs could revive the Libertarian Party. Sarah Palin is rumored to be mulling the idea of starting a third party, pulling together social and fiscal conservatives alienated from the GOP. The Blue Dog Democrats, turned off by President Barack Obama’s spending, could reach across the aisle to moderate Republicans and try to attract independents. But the best third-party contender already exists. The Libertarians, like so many independents and disaffected Democrats and Republicans, are fiscal conservatives and social liberals — and no one has yet built a lasting coalition out of this growing force.
• Is libertarianism the way of the future?
• Choking the Blue Dogs.
• Government to give ‘gold star’ to companies that act as immigration police. I don’t like it but, when you filter out the racism and xenophobia, appreciate what part of my corner of the right is trying to say about charity at home and the wrongness of stealing from citizens. I’m still essentially an open-borders libertarian.
• Katrina blame case could bring billions in lawsuits.
• Justin Raimondo: Obama’s Wag the Dog: stage the Gitmo trial now to distract from possible attention to his war on Afghanistan not that we’re hearing any objections from the left.
• US war planners woo sceptical Pakistanis.
• Afghanistan is an unjust, unwinnable war.
• Welfare without the state. Mormons, Amish and old-school monks and proper nuns do it.
• The fall of Communism: another world was possible.
• Ganging up on Switzerland.
• PTSD: hell comes home.
• The welfare state actually violates individual rights, and hurts the very people it claims to help. Here’s a thought for mainliners in or following property fights: stealing is stealing.
• Stealing is wrong but so is selfishness. Such narcissism reminds me of a story about a selfish, no-good rich man who died and tried to get into heaven. But you can’t just walk through the Pearly Gates. An angel reviews your life, then St. Peter decides if you can enter. To counter the angel’s negative review, the rich man argued that he had a history of charitable giving. He’d once tossed a nickel into a beggar’s cup, he pointed out. Plus, some years later, he had aided a poor woman by giving her a nickel. Then there was the time he put a nickel into the Salvation Army kettle. Hearing all this, the angel turned to St. Peter and asked, “What in the world should we do with this man?” And St. Peter said, “Give him back his 15 cents, and tell him to go to hell!” Now that’s a story that these big banksters need to hear — and ponder.
• The best mistake ever. Getting the state out of the marriage business. Of course most of the human race throughout history including Catholics are not bigots. But minorities’ rights under the no-harm principle are our rights.
• Something for cat people: I’ve heard of moggies so tame they’re afraid of their natural prey (I think my hefty outdoor friend gets all the recreational bird-hunting he wants on top of handouts from people and a home where he can be fed if he needs it) but never captive big cats being like that. Call me sceptical but don’t forget the stories of rogue animals attacking keepers et al.

Labels: history, libertarianism, politics