Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Newt Warns of Patriot Act 2

.
.
Please watch this short video clip:
Newt Gingrich on the International
War Against Terror:
http://snipurl.com/newtiwot
.
.
Newt Warns of Patriot Act 2
'No one worries about civil liberties the day after
a terrorist attack'.

Bruce Cohen
August 28, 2007

Newt's been ringing the alarm bell for a long time.
Call him a 'Neocon' or other insult, as you will.
But to me, he's not only a smart, pro-defense
Conservative, but he's quite the libertarian.

Unlike many Libertarians however, Newt doesn't
live in the fantasy world of 'all-or-nothing' or it's
semi-parallel world of inconsequentialism.

He's perfectly aware that progress must be made
in small steps. He's also very aware, as he points
out so brilliantly, that pretending something is so,
doesn't make it so.

In this video, he points out, and I'm paraphrasing
from memory here, 'Noone worries about civil
liberties they day after a terrorist attack'.

Yes, that's clearly true, on the face of it.
But, its literal truth is not really his point.

Newt's point is this: should we not prevent
these attacks that are certainly beeing plotted
against us as we speak, post-attack, we will lose
our civil liberties from the heavy-handed
government responses and actions.

Yes, Newt might be called a 'reverse
incrementalist', where he's advocating the
prevention of our mutual loss of Liberty.

Speaker Gingrich is well aware of the perils
our freedoms, both personal and economic,
face from a successful major terrorist
attack on a large American city.

Let's imagine together what will happen
when a major US city faces another 9-11
sized attack.

If you don't like the Patriot Act,, and there
is a lot not to like about it, well... I can
assure you, what would happen after our
enemies blow up Seattle or San Diego,
will make the Patriot Act look mild.

Don't like Patriot Act I?
Wait until we get Patriot Act II.

And, don't say Newt and I didn't tell you.

Snipped URL: http://snipurl.com/newtiwot
Original URL:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/08/gingrich/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Copyright Bruce Cohen - August 2007
http://www.getbruce.com/

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Fox News: MTV's Kurt Loder Rails Against Universal Health Care & Tax Hikes


Bruce Cohen

Fox Headline:
MTV's Kurt Loder Rails Against
Universal Health Care & Tax Hikes


Kurt Loder was interviewed on 'Your World With Neal Cavuto' today.

The top rated News and Business show host was off, but his guest host sounded just as Libertarian as he.

Her guest, Kurt Loder also sounded very Libertarian, talking about the financial and supply pitfalls of Socialized Medicine, or as it's been labeled lately, 'Universal Health Care'.

Yes, Fox News is 'Fair and Balanced'.


The real balance comes not from having both the Republican and Democrat, Conservative and Liberal sides, but adding in the pro-Liberty choice into the discussion.

http://www.getbruce.com/

A Libertarian Angel gets her Wings: California LP Director Fired

A Libertarian Angel gets her Wings: California LP Director Fired


by Bruce Cohen


Have you ever heard the saying, 'Libertarians eat their own'?

It refers to the nasty Rothbardian habit many Libertarians have of demonizing, attacking and then purging fellow Libertarians for not being perfect in one way or another.

Don't agree about Foreign Policy? Leave the room.

Don't agree about Immigration Policy? Go to the back of the line.

Don't agree on Reproductive Rights? We're not friends any more.

Why is this topical as of today? Well, the unthinkable has happened.

Angela Keaton, purist, hardcore, radical Libertarian just got fired as Executive Director by the leadership of the Libertarian Party of CA.

That's right.

Angela Keaton.

Host of 'The Liberated Space' Radio. Wife of Brian Doherty, famous Libertarian Author and Reason think tanker...

Hand selected, Miss Perfect, choice of the radical LP set was fired.

For what, you ask?

Did she break ranks and agree with Eric Dondero and want to go to war with Iran and Syria?

No.Did she go Pro-Life, and support Ron Paul in making Abortion illegal?

Nope.

Did she line up with Art Olivier and want tough border controls?

Nope.

They fired her because they couldn't balance their budget. A budget they voted for, they control, they can change at will...

I have a lot of problems with the hows and whys of her firing. Angela was fired in an inhumane and dishonest manner, and those who fired her ought to be ashamed.

How she was fired, why she was fired, who fired her...

But I'm not going to elaborate on that. For now.I am going to say that Angela is a fine, honorable person. She's honest and hard-working, and did not deserve this treatment.

But there you have it.

Libertarians eating their own, again. They don't have any other enemies these days, so they must fight among themselves.


Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who's the Most Libertarian of Them All?


Bruce Cohen

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Libertarians have long judged each other by the news sources they rely on, with choices ranging from Lew Rockwell, to the Orange County Register and the Wall Street Journal.

The same goes for Television news. Many hate Fox, many hate CNN and the rest of the Mainstream Media.

I'm going to throw my two cents worth at this question. In my mind, Fox News is clearly the 'most libertarian' of any broadcast source, TV or radio.

Fox has the most pro-freedom hosts and guests on, including many who are out-of-the-closet declared small l and capitol L Libertarians.

Now I know very well the purist and anarchists are going to rant and rave about Dennis Miller being imperfect, so I'm going to ignore them when they do. Big picture, which is what counts, we have a news organization that's very friendly to the concepts of small government and individual freedom. 'But wait!', my detractors will yell. 'Fox News is a Bush-Promoting, warmongering bunch of baby killers!' 'How can you cal lthem libertarian?'

I'm not going to deny Fox News leans Republican. However, I am going to say that in line with their 'fair and balanced' slogan, they've been very tough on the President, mostly for things Libertarians have problems with.

They have pounded him on overspending.

They have pounded him on the Prescription Drug boondoggle.

They have been very forthright about the failures of leadership in the Iraqi war and have never shied away from discussing problems and bad news from the war front.

But Fox News does have more guests on the air from Cato and Reason and Heritage, espousing Libertarian views than CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS combined.

And, they are very open minded about our approaches and solutions, whilst the rest of broadcast media, with very few exceptions are pro-government solution, socialists.

Short of having news anchors such as LP Officers Aaron Starr and Chuck Moulton, Fox News is about as good as one could really expect to get.

More points for Fox News: They've given a lot of coverage to Ron Paul.

Sean Hannity has stated on the air he would be a Libertarian, except our position on the 'War on Drugs'. On the other hand, he's been willing to concede thatparticular war is a failure and has been willing to discuss the possiblity that decriminalization or Legalization just might work.

You don't find that at CNN or anywhere else but Fox.

Other news organizations are universally pro-Dem, pro-socialism and pro socialized medicine. Fox is pro First and Second Amendment, unlike the rest of the MSM gang.

Fox is against quotas and 'affirmative action'. Fox is pro choice in education.

Fox is against socialized medicine. All these things big media are in the opposing camp as a matter of editorial policy.

Fox has libertarians as news anchors and contributors, such as Fox Senior VP Neal Cavuto, Fox Business News Head Alexis Glick, Larry Kudlow, Dennis Miller and Fox website Blogger Rodney Balko. The list continues.

Note - Bruce Cohen is the Immediate Past Chair of the Orange County, CA Libertarian Party.