Each one of those daily convention wrap-ups was a several hour project that exhausted most of my productive juices for the day, and I'm too behind in my schoolwork right now to spend time on other projects. By the time I'll be caught up with school the convention will have been so long ago that no one will care anymore. Sorry!
Associated Press: Obama tells black fathers to engage their children:
Barack Obama celebrated Father's Day by calling on black fathers, who he said are "missing from too many lives and too many homes," to become active in raising their children.
"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it," the Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday at a largely black church in his hometown.
If Obama is elected I hope he serves as an inspiration to black Americans to get their shit together. Yes, there was horrible historical injustice and there is lingering discrimination today. But most of black Americans' problems now are caused by their own choices -- to not value education, to have children out of wedlock, to get involved in drugs and other crime. They've created a self-destructive, self-limiting culture, and they need to change that if they want to achieve widespread success in mainstream society.
My brother is chortling over the impending legal "clusterfuck" in other states once California starts marrying gays on June 16. California does not require residency to get married there (whereas Massachusetts does), so this is a much bigger deal than when Massachusetts legalized gay marriage.
I think this comment sums the situation up nicely:
People forget that the constitution built so many two-way streets.
"You forget that we allow gay marriages!"
"You forget that we banned them!"
"Hey, fuck you."
"NO, fuck you!"
"LAWYERS ASSEMBLE!"And then two nice ladies who live in a bungalow have to watch as their love is basically slapped around by supporters and enemies.
In related news, George Takei (Sulu) is planning a fabulous gay wedding for September, to be attended by many of the Star Trek cast.
-- but Wayne Allyn Root has five -- some gambling books, The Joy of Failure!, and Millionaire Republican."You may disagree with the Republican Party on issues like abortion, gay rights, stem-cell research, affirmative action, the environment, the death penalty, or the war on terrorism. I certainly have my own opinions about many of those issues, and they don't always agree with the GOP party line."I know that some people have been concerned about the recentness of Root's departure from the Republican Party. So, I find it interesting that even when he was writing a book titled "Millionaire Republican" a few years ago that he was already expressing discontentment with the Republican Party's positions on several issues. This suggests to me that his move to the Libertarian Party is more likely to be a sincere search for a better political home than a calculated move based on hidden opportunistic motives (as some have imputed).
"Being interviewed, Christine Smith says libertarians are selling out. Says people are leaving LP if Barr is chosen. Damn, she’s angry again. Says Barr needs to use the media he brags about to apologize to people who are in prison because of his laws. Says libertarians are selling out by supporting Barr. Says it’s all for nothing if we sell out. Barr is not a libertarian, is wolf in sheep’s clothing, etc."
Barr's reaction, as overheard by David Weigel: "I guess I'm not getting her vote."Mike Jingozian endorsed Mike Gravel.
Robert Stacy McCain reports, "One delegate told me that Ruwart seemed visibly angered by Michael Jingozian's endorsement of Mike Gravel. Jingozian had to solicit tokens from other candidates in order to qualify for the C-SPAN debate, and if Ruwart gave Jingozian tokens, she has a right to feel betrayed." David Weigel confirms, "There's a lot of grumbling from Ruwart backers about Jingozian's move."
Second Ballot:"He says he would vote for Barr before he’d vote for Ruwart, if it comes down to the two of them."
Jason Pye reports that Barr and Root met after the fourth ballot to discuss a deal: "Root wanted a guarantee that Barr would not seek the nomination in 2012. Once talk of the Washington Times article started making its way around the convention, talk of deal started.""It was in the interests of not having an LP Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominee openly disagreeing on major campaign themes, and not petulance, that she felt she could not run on a ticket with Barr. I was present while she was discussing the proposal with one of the Barr people."
As I blogged about previously, Ron Paul supporters took over the Nevada Republican Party convention, and the state party officials shut the convention down before they elected delegates to the national Republican convention.
The Ron Paul supporters feel that the true story of what happed at the Nevada Republican Party convention hasn't been told by the media, and have put up a website to raise money to run a statement in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Give Us Back Our Convention! (Thanks to Brien for the link.)
"On April 26th in Reno, the Republican State Convention was abruptly and improperly recessed indefinitely on the orders of Sue Lowden, state party chairperson.
...
"As the election proceeded, it became clear that result desired by the party leadership, which was the election of delegates favorable to John McCain, would fail. The party leadership and the John McCain campaign began searching for a way to stop what to them would be a disaster."
...
"The original word from Sue Lowden was that the convention would reconvene at a later time. At this writing, more than two weeks after the convention, there is no word from the party chairman as to when, if ever, the convention will be reconvened."
You can read Sue Lowden's Letter to Nevada Delegates yourself. The letter is dated April 26 and as of May 20 it is still the latest news on the Nevada Republican Party's front page.
The Libertarian Party national convention is this weekend in Denver. I won't be going, but I know at least one delegate reads this blog, so I'm posting my endorsements for candidates and issues in the hopes that they are at least somewhat influential in the delegates' decisions.
First, to give my endorsements the necessary context, I should explicitly disclose my history, positions, and biases: I've been involved in the LP since 2000, including working as the Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Washington State (2001-2002) and running as a Libertarian candidate for Washington Secretary of State (2004), but I've been less active since the 2006 election. I'm a minarchist, but I welcome anyone who supports reducing the size, scope, and power of government as a member of the Libertarian Party and libertarian movement even if they don't share my exact vision of what Libertopia should be. I think that the Libertarian Party has the greatest chance for success in local races (state legislature and lower) and thus the role of the national party and Presidential candidates should be to first do no harm (do not say or do anything wacky that will hurt local candidates), and second, help recruit and develop a pool of Libertarian activists, donors, and voters that local candidates and organizations can tap into.
To get caught up on the candidates and issues, I read their websites, their Wikipedia biographies, searched YouTube for videos of them speaking, and sought out opinions and gossip from other Libertarians on blogs. I've also had personal interactions with George Phillies and Mary Ruwart, and I heard George Phillies and Steve Kubby debate at the LP Nevada convention last year.
GOOD CANDIDATES
Unfortunately, none of the candidates this year really excite me. However, there are a few that I think would help our party grow if they won the nomination:
Pros: Moderately famous for his gambling TV shows/books and
Millionaire Republican personal finance book. He's a very good speaker
and smooth with the media, as shown here. Has raised the second most money of the "good" candidates".
Cons: He only recently made the switch from the Republican Party and is a little on the conservative side. He also seems to have already alienated a lot of people within the LP, although it's not clear to me what exactly he did to get their panties in such a bunch.
Pros: Relatively famous politically. He was successful in getting
California Proposition 215 (Medical Marijuana) passed, so we know he has the connections and resources to get things done. He would probably get media attention for
being a convicted felon, but this is a good thing because it would show the stupidity of the Drug War. He's been campaigning for 2 years. Consistently libertarian positions.
Cons: Most Americans are more concerned about other issues than the Drug War right now, so Kubby's biggest strength is sort of wasted this year. Despite campaigning for 2 years he hasn't raised much money.
Pros: Is an excellent speaker and communicator. Is moderately famous within the libertarian movement. She's able to explain fairly radical libertarian positions and policies without scaring the crap out of people. Running a woman for President or Vice President this year might win us more media attention than we would otherwise get. She's been involved with the libertarian movement for a long time so we all know her pretty well by now. Consistently libertarian positions.
Cons: She entered the race pretty late and hasn't raised much money or probably built much of a campaign yet. She doesn't seem to know how to dress appropriately for a Presidential candidate. Please, Mary, go get some black or navy suits and wear them to all future events instead of that hideous gray thing.
Pros: George is probably the most sane/mainstream candidate for the
nomination -- he consistently advocates reducing the size of
government, but in incremental ways that are actually politically
viable. Has raised the most money
of the "good" candidates. He's a long-time member and activist in the
Libertarian Party, so we all know him pretty well by now. He "gets it"
that the Presidential campaign should be a recruiting tool for building
the party and helping elect local candidates. He's been campaigning for 2 years.
Cons: I think George might have a touch of Aspergers Syndrome --
those of you who have met George know what I'm talking about. He's not at all notable outside of the party.
I wish that George was working as the campaign manager or strategist
for a prettier, more charismatic candidate instead of running for the
nomination himself. Regardless of who wins the nomination, I hope that
George stays involved in the Presidential campaign, because I think
he's got the right mix of libertarian ideology and strategic pragmatism
that we need to run a party-building Presidential campaign.
MEDIOCRE CANDIDATES:
I don't think these candidates would either help or hurt us that much:
Pros: She seems to have consistently libertarian positions on all the issues. She's a decent public speaker as seen here.
Although I generally wish that female candidates would dress more
conservatively, she pulls off the red suit look well. Running a woman
for President or Vice President this year might win us more media
attention than we would otherwise get.
Cons: She's just not that notable -- it's too bad that she decided to jump into running for President, because she would have made a great candidate for local office if she actually wanted to be elected to something. She desperately needs a web designer to improve the look and feel of her campaign website.
Other: She shares a name with a Playboy Playmate (NSFW Google images search). Inevitably, some people will get the two mixed up -- not sure if that will help or hurt her campaign. :)
Pros: Seems comfortable speaking, as shown here. Long-time member (claims he joined the LP in 1980). Founder and CEO of a successful small marketing company. Managed to score a Wall Street Journal blog post about his campaign ("A Small Business Owner for President").
I think his internet-focused campaign strategy is a smart idea given
the LP's lack of resources for conventional campaigning. Has raised the most money of the not-bad candidates. Hasn't done anything to motivate people to write nasty things about him on blogs.
Cons: That no one is wri
Wayne Allyn Root
