Samizdata

I was aware Donald Rumsfeld was in the Pentagon at the time the Al Qaeda kamikazi’s struck, but I did not realize he had experienced the full glories of middle eastern hospitality. He said the following in an interview with Sir John Keegan of the Telegraph, who had shared some of those same “glorious” times in Beirut:

DONALD RUMSFELD: The fellow who finally got me out of there was Brigadier General Carl Steiner, who was then head of our special forces and was travelling with me for a period.

He is quite well known today as a terrific person. But we ended up, we’d been trapped in there for three or four days where they were shelling the house we were in. And we got in the car and there was all this crazy driving. My wife took some Dramamine. She was in there with me that whole time.

We ended up in your Embassy on those wooden pews that are in the front, where all the people come in to get visas? And she had taken two or three Dramamine and fell completely asleep in a flak jacket. And I can still picture her, just out cold from the Dramamine, waiting for a helicopter to come in, and the only place we could go was your Embassy, before we got out of there.

Secretary Rumsfeld’s CV for his current job is even better than I had ever imagined. No wonder he understands there is no safety in any form of engagement with al Qaeda and their ilk that does not leave them laid in rows on the ground.

The interview is in the online Telegraph and well worth a read.

The Demopublicans are at it again. A campaign ‘reform’ law we all thought was born dead has been revived. It’s a congressional effort to deflect attention from the fact virtually every member raked in the Enron largesse while it lasted.

The rhetoric is they are reforming. The truth is they are passing a law aimed at holding onto the Demopublican power monopoly. Jim Babka of Real Campaign Reform reports:

Shays-Meehan (the House version of the McCain-Feingold bill) and any alternative bills will be debated in the House of Representatives Tuesday and Wednesday, February 12 & 13.
Shays-Meehan is a terrible bill that restricts your 1st Amendment rights. There are several dreadful provisions included in it, but in this message I’ll just focus on one of them.
Shays-Meehan provides for 90 days in every election year when you and organizations you belong to will be prohibited from running any ads on radio or television that might influence a federal election campaign. In other words, there will be 90 days when you will be denied the right of free speech regarding election campaigns.
And the penalty for violating this law could be as much as $25,000 or five years in prison.

Of course Samizdata’s ruling elite are not in the USA, so we’ll back the Libertarian Party candidates all we want up to election night. Perhaps we’ll add a raised finger logo after our VOTE LIBERTARIAN posts to show our opinion on the collective intelligence of Washington.

Americans can send messages to their congresslime via the Real Campaign Reform web site.

An article in the Sierra Times describes a Canada sharply at variance with what I had thought existed.

Gordon Campbell and the Liberal government swept to power last year (winning 77 of a possible 79 seats in the BC Legislature) on a mandate to set British Columbia back on the road to prosperity. Prosperity – as the Liberals promised – would be built on a platform dedicated to freeing the private sector from crushing taxes and burdensome regulation. Indeed, this last move by the Liberals to help cut 1.9 billion dollars from the budget by 2004 is just one thing in a list of many that has some wondering if the Liberals are actually Libertarians in disguise.

Well that certainly is one hell of a majority! But call me cynical if you like: talk is cheap… except for political talk, which is usually very expensive indeed. But then when I read what the BC Liberals have actually started doing, I almost fell off my chair! Way to go! Read the Scott Carpenter article and be amazed yourself. Methinks I shall be visiting the Sierra Times and the various Canadian blog sites more often to see what is in the air over there.

I don’t often have time to respond in any depth to e-mail about articles I have posted. I’ve so many “irons in the fire” I barely have time to post, let alone debate. However reader and fellow blogger Swen Swenson of A Coyote at the Dog Show made some valid points:

FYI, there are still a lot of polygamists in the Rocky Mountain states and you rarely hear about one of them being prosecuted. Tom Green’s mistake – ‘marrying’ a 13-year-old and bragging about it. The first is statutory rape regardless of your religion, the second just plain asshole stupidity. With Green you could also make a case for chatel slavery.  His ‘bride’ apparently had little choice in the matter.

I agree that the government has no business limiting the number or gender of those who would enter into a marriage contract.  But in this situation you’d as well bemoan our attack on the religious freedom of the poor Taliban. They too were acting on their religious beliefs..

That is not the story Opinion Journal chose to emphasize. The titles weren’t of the form “Utah resident takes child bride in forced marriage“. They centered on the old Morman lifestyle. Had the former been the headline, I’d not have given the article a second glance. I’d have left it for someone like Karl “Defending The Indefensible” Hess.

Even the email replies Opinion Journal received and reported on focused on post-sellout (You vill sign ze papers old man!) Morman beliefs rather than the particulars of the case Swen pointed out.

The Opinion Journal’s newsletter is a good source of information, but they don’t always come down on the side of liberty. Recently they have been discussing the case of Tom Green of Utah, arrested for having a family with multiple wives. Today’s email newsletter states:

What the Opinion Journal neglects to mention is why the tenets of the Mormon religion were changed in 1890.

Many would know Brigham Young led his people to Utah after years of persecution in the east. Few are aware of the continous battle fought by he and his people to be left alone. The difficulty was that polygamy was a tenet of those beliefs and was anathema to the majority religion of the populous eastern states.

The first round in the running battle between freedom of religion and the Feds came with the 1858 Utah War sometimes known as ‘the Mormon War’. It was not exactly a shooting war as they were not a terribly violent people and had no particular desire to face off with the Federal troops that were sent in to put them in their place.

Because of this experience, the Mormons later fought the Blackhawk War on their own for nearly 8 years to avoid more unwanted ‘assistance’ from Washington. Nonetheless, Federal Troops intervened in 1872.

The final act came between 1887 and 1890:

So there we have it. The Green family is being persecuted for following the original tenets of their religion, tenets that their Church was forceably coerced into changing.

The Waco massacre was nothing new. Freedom of Religion in the US has always existed on the sufference of the majority religion. As the Buffalo Springfield song said: “You step outta line, the man come and take you away”

Carla Howell is not a woman to rest on her laurels. After running the most successful Libertarian Senatorial campaign in history she followed it up by successfully placing an initiative to end the Massachusetts income tax on the ballot for this fall.

Today she declared for the Governorship of Massachusetts.

There is little I could say that Carla can’t say better, so with no further ado, here is her full statement of candidacy:

Massachusetts government spending has more than doubled in the last 10 years.

Democrat Governor Michael Dukakis’ last bloated budget was $10 Billion.

Republican Governor Jane Swift’s first budget is $23.5 Billion. Republican Governor Jane Swift increased last year’s budget by $1 Billion.

Massachusetts government is Big Government. Bi-Partisan Big Government.

Massachusetts Big Government is bossy, nosy, clumsy, abusive, and intrusive. And outrageously expensive.

Massachusetts Democrat and Republican politicians are laboring day and night to:

— make our state government bigger,
— increase state government spending,
— expand state government power and authority, and
— seize the few remaining remnants of our gun freedom.

Do you believe Massachusetts government is too Big?

Do you believe Massachusetts Taxes are too High?

I do.

That’s why I’m running for Governor of Massachusetts.

I’m running because … small government is beautiful*.

I’m Carla Howell, Libertarian candidate for Governor.

I’m the only candidate for Governor who has signed the small government pledge:

“I vote small government. Every issue. Every time. No exceptions. No excuses.”

Small government is beautiful* … and it leaves our families alone.

Small government is beautiful* … and it leaves our income alone.

Small government is beautiful* … and it leaves our guns alone.

I am the only candidate for Governor who will boldly advance our cause of personal responsibility, individual liberty, and small, constitutional government.

I represent the forgotten taxpayer. The forgotten worker. The forgotten gun owner. The forgotten voter.

I represent responsible individuals. People who work for a living, pay their bills, and support their families. People who are good neighbors, and caring members of their communities.

The Big Government Candidates for Governor

Every Democrat and Republican Candidate for Governor is a Big Government Politician.

Every one of them supports today’s $23 Billion or more in state government spending.

Every one of them proposes more state government programs, more state government spending.

If you like today’s Big Government spending in Massachusetts, pick your favorite flavor.

The Republican: Governor Jane Swift.

The Democrats: State Senate President Thomas Birmingham. State Senator Warren Tolman. Democrat Party Fundraiser Steven Grossman. State Treasurer Shannon O’Brien. Secretary of State William Galvin. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

Here’s what each one of them offers: More laws. More government programs. More taxes. More government.

If you want Ever-Growing Greedy Government, if you want Big Government, take your pick.

Because there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between them.

Why They Fail the ‘White Out’ Test

What’s the ‘White-Out’ Test?

Get an issue of the Boston Globe, the Herald News, or another Massachusetts daily newspaper. Find an article about each of the Republican or Democrat candidates for Governor. Find a proposal or program advocated by each candidate. Clip them out.

Take a bottle of ‘White-Out’ and blot out each candidate’s name. And ‘white-out’ the word “Democrat” or “Republican” — if it’s even mentioned.

Take these political proposals or programs and put them in front of 10 people chosen at random. Ask each person to correctly match the candidate for Governor with his or her proposal or program.

They won’t be able to do it.

Why do these candidates fail the ‘White-Out’ Test?

Because their positions, proposals, and programs blur and blend into the same Big Government mush.

That is why the Big Government Democrat and Republican candidates for Governor must spend millions and millions of dollars to publicize and advertise their campaigns.

Voters can’t remember who they are. Voters can’t remember why they’re running. So they subject voters to endless mind-numbing rote repetition advertising.

Carla Howell: The Only Small Government Candidate

I score A+ on the ‘White-Out’ Test. My proposals for making government small are dramatically different. I stand in stark contrast against the Big Government candidates.

If you want small government, if you want to End the Income Tax in Massachusetts, there’s only one choice: Carla Howell, Libertarian for Governor.

And only one issue: small government. A vote for Carla Howell is a vote for small government. Every issue. Every time. No exceptions. No excuses.

— A vote for Carla Howell is a vote to make Massachusetts government so small it doesn’t need an Income Tax.

— A vote for Carla Howell is a vote to give back $3,000 each year to 3,000,000 working people in Massachusetts by Ending the Income Tax. On November 5th, when voters go to the polls to End the Income Tax, they can vote for Carla Howell, Libertarian for Governor.

— A vote for Carla Howell and small government is a vote for 100% Gun Freedom. I am the only candidate for Governor who will shred every Anti-Gun Freedom Law on the books in Massachusetts. Immediately repeal Chapter 180. Immediately repeal and remove every Anti-Gun law, restriction and regulation on the books. More guns means safe communities.

Governor Carla Howell will do everything in her power to repeal, remove, erase, and dismantle destructive and expensive Massachusetts

Governor Carla Howell’s most powerful weapons: the Veto and a Shredder. The Veto to stop new laws, stop new taxes, and stop new government spending. The Shredder to remove every vestige of Big Government in Massachusetts. To make government small.

The News Media knows. When I ran against Ted Kennedy for U.S. Senate in the last election, here was a typical comment:

“If Hollywood needed to invent a challenger to Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, they couldn’t have created anyone whose views differ more than Libertarian Carla Howell.”
— Front Page, Sunday Edition, MetroWest Daily News, November 7, 1999

I champion small government. Every issue. Every time. No exceptions. No excuses.

Gun Owners know. Ask any gun store owner in Massachusetts what Carla Howell stands for. Ask any gun club. Ask any gun owner.

During my campaign against Ted Kennedy, I handed out over 10,627 fliers that explained why “small government is beautiful* … And it leaves our guns alone!”

Taxpayers know. My Committee for Small Government filed 75,629 petition signatures for our Ballot Initiative to End the Income Tax in Massachusetts. The Secretary of State has certified our petition signatures — and we’re headed for the ballot.

Our Ballot Initiative is entitled “The Small Government Act.” It’s designed to reduce our state budget from $23 Billion to $14 Billion. And give $9 Billion back to taxpayers.

Ending the Income Tax in Massachusetts will give back $3,000 each to 3,000,000 working people in Massachusetts. Every year. To People like you. Your neighbors. Co-workers. Family and friends.

Carla Howell For Governor

Small government is beautiful*. I’m running for Governor to make Massachusetts government small.

Ending the Income Tax in Massachusetts will help make government small.

Repealing every Anti-Gun Freedom Law on the books in Massachusetts will help make government small.

Exposing the fatally-flawed, wasteful, and destructive Big Government Programs in Massachusetts will help make government small.

A vote for Carla Howell, Libertarian for Governor, is a vote for small government, individual liberty, and personal responsibility.

A vote that says, “small government is beautiful*.”

Carla immediately needs canvassers to collect 25,000 signatures. She also needs a war chest to get things off to a fast start. Donations of up to $500 per person are allowed under Massachusetts bureaucracy.

It goes without saying that I endorse Carla’s candidacy without reservation.