The Indelible Bonobo Experience

Renaissance Monkey: in-depth expertise in Jack-of-all-trading. I mostly comment on news of interest to me and occasionally engage in debates or troll passive-aggressively. Ask or Submit 2 mah authoritah! ;) !

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We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.
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Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, on the Romney campaign’s dishonest welfare ad.
 (via theatlantic)

truthiness in advertising / politics

(via huffingtonpost)

Posted in politics mitt romney vote 2012 usa advertising elections campaign | 417 notes
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“We used to say most people found libertarianism by reading Ayn Rand,” said David Boaz of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization in Washington. “In the last five years, most people have found libertarianism by listening to Ron Paul.” (via Ron Paul Passing Torch to a Libertarian Legion - NYTimes.com) Mr. Paul, in an interview, said convention planners had offered him an opportunity to speak under two conditions: that he deliver remarks vetted by the Romney campaign, and that he give a full-fledged endorsement of Mr. Romney. He declined. Some true believers want to “dress in black, stand on a hill and say, ‘Smash the state,’ ” said Mr. Benton, who is married to one of Mr. Paul’s granddaughters. But “it’s not our desire to have floor demonstrations. That would cost us a lot more than it would get us.” The purity of the movement’s principles has long left it in self-imposed isolation. The minimalist role it envisions for government repels a vast majority of Democrats; its noninterventionist foreign policy and live-and-let-live social views repel most Republicans. The Pew Research Center’s most recent study of groups within the electorate, conducted last year, categorized 10 percent of registered voters as libertarians. But even that relatively small group, said the center’s president, Andrew Kohut, held more moderate views on the role of government and foreign affairs than Mr. Paul. Simple generational change could give the movement a boost in elections to come. Younger voters of all stripes display increasing tolerance on social issues like same-sex marriage; the fiscal conservatives among them will fit into the libertarian camp far more easily than older, conservative Christian Republicans. Mr. Doherty, the author of a history of libertarianism called “Radicals for Capitalism,” credited Mr. Paul with “normalizing” a movement once derided as kooky. But he said the movement must remain aggressive to grow more rapidly and avoid being taken for granted the way, in his view, Republicans have taken for granted the religious right.  “It can’t be growth just by age attrition,” he said. “The young people have to start connecting with the older people.”

“We used to say most people found libertarianism by reading Ayn Rand,” said David Boaz of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization in Washington. “In the last five years, most people have found libertarianism by listening to Ron Paul.” (via Ron Paul Passing Torch to a Libertarian Legion - NYTimes.com)

  • Mr. Paul, in an interview, said convention planners had offered him an opportunity to speak under two conditions: that he deliver remarks vetted by the Romney campaign, and that he give a full-fledged endorsement of Mr. Romney. He declined.
  • Some true believers want to “dress in black, stand on a hill and say, ‘Smash the state,’ ” said Mr. Benton, who is married to one of Mr. Paul’s granddaughters. But “it’s not our desire to have floor demonstrations. That would cost us a lot more than it would get us.”
  • The purity of the movement’s principles has long left it in self-imposed isolation. The minimalist role it envisions for government repels a vast majority of Democrats; its noninterventionist foreign policy and live-and-let-live social views repel most Republicans.
  • The Pew Research Center’s most recent study of groups within the electorate, conducted last year, categorized 10 percent of registered voters as libertarians. But even that relatively small group, said the center’s president, Andrew Kohut, held more moderate views on the role of government and foreign affairs than Mr. Paul.
  • Simple generational change could give the movement a boost in elections to come. Younger voters of all stripes display increasing tolerance on social issues like same-sex marriage; the fiscal conservatives among them will fit into the libertarian camp far more easily than older, conservative Christian Republicans.
  • Mr. Doherty, the author of a history of libertarianism called “Radicals for Capitalism,” credited Mr. Paul with “normalizing” a movement once derided as kooky. But he said the movement must remain aggressive to grow more rapidly and avoid being taken for granted the way, in his view, Republicans have taken for granted the religious right.  “It can’t be growth just by age attrition,” he said. “The young people have to start connecting with the older people.”
Posted in libertarian republican gop mitt romney vote 2012 elections ron paul
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The Libertarians had argued that under existing statute the Republican Party lost its “major party” status by failing to nominate a candidate for the US Senate race in 2010. Judge Thomas McPhee accepted the Secretary of State’s argument that the statute in question is no longer applicable even though it remains on the books.
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Judge Rejects Libertarian Lawsuit, Rules Romney Can Appear on WA Ballot | Slog (previous)

interesting comments

7
  • I would be curious if anyone thinks that this judge may have ruled differently if he were appointed for life instead of being elected, or what are anyone’s thoughts on an elected judiciary in general (merchant seaman)
  • Voters of Washington, backed by the federal judiciary, changed the voting environment to a Top 2 system, leaving a number of orphan statutes that no longer work. The Supreme Court has made that point. The Legislature is waiting for the final denouement of party “as-applied” challenge before doing a Top 2 cleanup bill that clears out Pick-a-Party statutes that no longer apply. Supremes will decide next month whether to accept review, but the state’s administration of Top 2 closely followed the roadmap set forth in the original decision. Judge Coughenour and the 9th Circuit both have ruled this. In the Libertarians’ case, the judge has ruled that the presidential year voting, not the mid-term, will be used as the test for major party status (ammons)
Posted in libertarian law vote 2012 lawsuit mitt romney gop