In a word, "No!" The conservative movement has been subverted by the Religious Right. No self-respecting Libertarian should ever embrace the homophobic, anti-choice, and anti-individual liberty positions inherent today in both the Republican and Tea parties. Libertarians should instead make it clear that their position on all of these social issues is "Our bodies, our choices" and that the social moderates in the Republican party need to get up off their backsides and muzzle the “social nanny state” pretenders that are currently running their parties, before we will join with them.
I would rather see Obama win again than to elect someone who thinks that what I put in my body, how I choose to end my life, how my daughter, wife or friend deals with an unwanted pregnancy, or who my friend Jim wants to get married to is any of their goddamned business, or is anywhere near the proper place of government to determine or to interfere with in any way.
Libertarians used to be up in arms about "men with guns" dictating how you live your life, but somewhere along with the discussion about charter schools, we became infected with some of the rhetoric of the Religious Right. I say "Bullshit!"
You can't be pro-prohibition and be Libertarian! You can't be against assisted suicide and be Libertarian! You can't be anti-choice and be a Libertarian! You can't be against same-sex marriage and be Libertarian!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tea Party Versus Republican Party
Listening to their positions, I have to say that the Tea Party candidates are pretty much the same as the rest of the Republican candidates. They are all cut from the same cloth, woven by the Religious Right ("Your body, my choice,") which fails to understand the sanctity of Individual Rights, and which supports the un-American idea of putting Individual Rights up to a vote of the people.
They are the American Taliban and they deserve to lose their respective races. They will deserve consideration by Liberty-minded Americans only when they understand that their social conservatism is their choice, for themselves and for their families, but when they attempt to force their religious beliefs on others and conspire to abuse the power of government in this way, they are diametrically opposed to the intent of our founding fathers and are guilty of nothing less than Treason.
David Rogers
They are the American Taliban and they deserve to lose their respective races. They will deserve consideration by Liberty-minded Americans only when they understand that their social conservatism is their choice, for themselves and for their families, but when they attempt to force their religious beliefs on others and conspire to abuse the power of government in this way, they are diametrically opposed to the intent of our founding fathers and are guilty of nothing less than Treason.
David Rogers
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Will "Turning Back to God" Save Our Nation?
Some say that “God gave us this nation and we need to turn back to God to save it.” Wrong! If anything, America the land, was "given" to the Indians, not to us.
America the Beautiful, the country and the idea, was given to us by our founding fathers and the founding documents they created, while standing on the intellectual shoulders of men and women who led the way before them. That gift has been preserved since with the blood, sweat, and tears of many, and while some of these men and women drew their inspiration from religion, “praising the Lord” has never directly contributed a damned thing to this earthly creation called the United States of America.
It is, after all, an earthly creation. What is directly responsible for our success as a nation is a collection of ideals and principles, involving equality, freedom, and responsibility, and the resolution to live in accordance with them. It matters not if you live these principles in the name of God, Allah, Christ, the Buddha, Krishna, Humanity, or the FSM. It matters not if you live them in the name and company of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, or gluttony. Living a life resolved to those ideals and principles is a necessary and sufficient condition to work toward saving our nation.
Turning to God is something that might help motivate and focus the efforts of some Americans, but not all – belief is not universal. For this reason alone, it will not save our nation. Insisting that "turning to God" is the answer for all America is parochial and divisive. I hold that this insistence is one of the most un-American forces at play in politics today.
Many living today are too young to remember, but up until the 50's we pledged allegiance to this country without invoking religion. Arguably, the country has gone to crap since the words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 50's. Why is that?
The flag (and “the country for which it stands”) is an earthly creation, not a heavenly one. This creation is based on the reality of our living together and prospering as a nation, rather than on any belief system about creation and eternity. Conflating the two has been the source of much evil, and much of the division today between people of good will is due to those who insist that their religious views should somehow have precedence over the founding documents and guiding principles which created this “Shining city upon a hill.”
All we need to do as a people to save this nation is to live a life in accordance with our founding ideals and principles. We need no reason or justification other than the fact of who we are - we are Americans.
America the Beautiful, the country and the idea, was given to us by our founding fathers and the founding documents they created, while standing on the intellectual shoulders of men and women who led the way before them. That gift has been preserved since with the blood, sweat, and tears of many, and while some of these men and women drew their inspiration from religion, “praising the Lord” has never directly contributed a damned thing to this earthly creation called the United States of America.
It is, after all, an earthly creation. What is directly responsible for our success as a nation is a collection of ideals and principles, involving equality, freedom, and responsibility, and the resolution to live in accordance with them. It matters not if you live these principles in the name of God, Allah, Christ, the Buddha, Krishna, Humanity, or the FSM. It matters not if you live them in the name and company of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, or gluttony. Living a life resolved to those ideals and principles is a necessary and sufficient condition to work toward saving our nation.
Turning to God is something that might help motivate and focus the efforts of some Americans, but not all – belief is not universal. For this reason alone, it will not save our nation. Insisting that "turning to God" is the answer for all America is parochial and divisive. I hold that this insistence is one of the most un-American forces at play in politics today.
Many living today are too young to remember, but up until the 50's we pledged allegiance to this country without invoking religion. Arguably, the country has gone to crap since the words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 50's. Why is that?
The flag (and “the country for which it stands”) is an earthly creation, not a heavenly one. This creation is based on the reality of our living together and prospering as a nation, rather than on any belief system about creation and eternity. Conflating the two has been the source of much evil, and much of the division today between people of good will is due to those who insist that their religious views should somehow have precedence over the founding documents and guiding principles which created this “Shining city upon a hill.”
All we need to do as a people to save this nation is to live a life in accordance with our founding ideals and principles. We need no reason or justification other than the fact of who we are - we are Americans.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address
I think Obama made a powerful speech - he was a great leader tonight. However, he needs to walk the walk as well as he talks the talk. He needs to realize that Nancy Pelosi is much more of a threat to his presidency than John Boehner. Hopefully he now understands what happens to his initiatives if his own party walks all over the opposition - he gets "bills we can't believe in."
If he can deliver on his promise of bipartisanship, if he can make that happen as a leader, then he will go down in history as a great president – the first great president since Ronald Reagan.
The Republican response was tepid, but better tepid than rabid. There seemed to be some effort to recognize the numerous areas President Obama mentioned where bipartisan cooperation is feasible. Republicans should immediately try to bring to the floor bills on each and every issue where Obama's vision coincides with limited government, civil rights (including those of homosexuals), individual liberty (including that of pregnant women) and national security, which includes energy independence, reductions in our military presence around the world, border control, immigration enforcement, environmental protection, and fiscal conservatism.
Let's see a Republican introduce a funding bill to start building modern, nuclear power plants. Let's see immediate action to enable offshore drilling to get us through until those nuclear power plants, solar plants, and wind farms come online. Let's see a national energy grid renewal project, of the scope and scale of the interstate highway program, to get ready for distributing that new power.
Let's see bills with the incentives Obama mentioned for small business and community banking. Let's see regulation to break up or eliminate any business institution which is "too big to fail." Any such entity is a clear threat to the American people and to democracy itself.
In short, Republicans have been handed a list of items which the President has told the American people he is willing to move forward on. They should jump at the opportunity to either 1) get some real work done for the American people or 2) prove to everyone that “Obama is a sweet-talking liar.” Either way, the Republicans will win big in 2012, potentially taking back both the House and the Senate, and, in the later case, likely taking back the presidency.
These Republican initiatives must be clear, immediate, and resolute. Americans are tired of dissent – they want leadership. Republicans should stop wasting their time trying to knock down Obama. They should get on with the work we sent them to Washington to do. And if the Republicans don’t put forth an effort to take Obama at his word and meet him halfway, then I for one will say, “Yes, he may be a liar, but you are a do-nothing leech on the body of America.”
David
If he can deliver on his promise of bipartisanship, if he can make that happen as a leader, then he will go down in history as a great president – the first great president since Ronald Reagan.
The Republican response was tepid, but better tepid than rabid. There seemed to be some effort to recognize the numerous areas President Obama mentioned where bipartisan cooperation is feasible. Republicans should immediately try to bring to the floor bills on each and every issue where Obama's vision coincides with limited government, civil rights (including those of homosexuals), individual liberty (including that of pregnant women) and national security, which includes energy independence, reductions in our military presence around the world, border control, immigration enforcement, environmental protection, and fiscal conservatism.
Let's see a Republican introduce a funding bill to start building modern, nuclear power plants. Let's see immediate action to enable offshore drilling to get us through until those nuclear power plants, solar plants, and wind farms come online. Let's see a national energy grid renewal project, of the scope and scale of the interstate highway program, to get ready for distributing that new power.
Let's see bills with the incentives Obama mentioned for small business and community banking. Let's see regulation to break up or eliminate any business institution which is "too big to fail." Any such entity is a clear threat to the American people and to democracy itself.
In short, Republicans have been handed a list of items which the President has told the American people he is willing to move forward on. They should jump at the opportunity to either 1) get some real work done for the American people or 2) prove to everyone that “Obama is a sweet-talking liar.” Either way, the Republicans will win big in 2012, potentially taking back both the House and the Senate, and, in the later case, likely taking back the presidency.
These Republican initiatives must be clear, immediate, and resolute. Americans are tired of dissent – they want leadership. Republicans should stop wasting their time trying to knock down Obama. They should get on with the work we sent them to Washington to do. And if the Republicans don’t put forth an effort to take Obama at his word and meet him halfway, then I for one will say, “Yes, he may be a liar, but you are a do-nothing leech on the body of America.”
David
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Deflation or Inflation
Some say the bubble will deflate,
Some predict inflation.
From what I've heard on debt of late
I hold with those who say "deflate."
But to steal the soul of our nation,
And bring about her sure defeat
To destroy the middle class inflation
Can be discreet
With no salvation.
David W. Rogers
(with apologies to Robert Frost)
Some predict inflation.
From what I've heard on debt of late
I hold with those who say "deflate."
But to steal the soul of our nation,
And bring about her sure defeat
To destroy the middle class inflation
Can be discreet
With no salvation.
David W. Rogers
(with apologies to Robert Frost)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
<Gasp> Obama is not a Citizen!
I just received another copy of the email referred to here:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/occidental.asp
This brought up here are two things that I don't like about the Republican Party right now:
The current leadership claims (or abides the claim) that the founders of this country intended no separation of church and state, and that keeping religion and politics separate is both un-American and un-Christian, ignoring the historically clear separation of church and state, exemplified by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the admonition of Christ referred to above.
I have nothing against religious beliefs or humor. However, I think those of us who have a brain and aren't afraid to use it are obligated to stand up and shout that the GOP leadership has no substance! They have no business claiming to represent us with their dual agenda of injecting religion into policies and substituting humor for honest debate. They must go before this country becomes a one-party country!
David Rogers
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/occidental.asp
This brought up here are two things that I don't like about the Republican Party right now:
- They start every political meeting with a prayer, pretending that their proceedings, beliefs, and leadership are especially blessed with the patronship of God (thereby relieving the majority of the members of any need to actually think,) and
- They have a large, powerful contingent of foul-mouthed, gossipy, hateful folk who spend all of their time knocking the opposition, rather than leading the party in any real way. Worse yet, the rest of the party doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with this and promulgates the misinformation and hate-talk. I have even witnessed District-level meetings where the next thing after the prayer is a joke about some Democrat!
The current leadership claims (or abides the claim) that the founders of this country intended no separation of church and state, and that keeping religion and politics separate is both un-American and un-Christian, ignoring the historically clear separation of church and state, exemplified by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the admonition of Christ referred to above.
I have nothing against religious beliefs or humor. However, I think those of us who have a brain and aren't afraid to use it are obligated to stand up and shout that the GOP leadership has no substance! They have no business claiming to represent us with their dual agenda of injecting religion into policies and substituting humor for honest debate. They must go before this country becomes a one-party country!
David Rogers
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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