Duverger was WRONG and...

...and anyone supporting Duverger's claim is a Nationalist.  Anyone who deals with an association that relies on Duverger's theory of mandatory two-party systems of government is not worthy your time.  In short, Duverger was an elitist scumbag and so is the Independent Caucus.

“Duverger's Law, which essentially says that, 

in a system dominated by two parties, third party 

candidates almost always are either marginalized, 

or serve to help the party which is furthest away 

from the third party's niche.”

The Two-Party System Leads to Totalitarianism
In some areas a member from a particular political party CANNOT WIN.  For instance, if you live in a major metropolitan area that sends a member to the U.S. Congress, chances are, that person is a Democrat.  In some extreme instances, Republicans in these districts receive a pitiful average of 30% of the vote.  Why is that?  The answer is easy:  Education.  Or rather, under-education.  In some cases, blatant mis-Education.  But really, it is a matter of unbalanced education.  The amount of education a child receives in the city from his school far outweighs the education he receives from his parent(s).  Which national party controls the Teachers Unions?  Yeah.  They are arming an electorate and insulating them from exterior influence.  This has NOTHING at all to do with Duverger's "law".  It has everything to do with totalitarianism--in the true sense of the word: "total". Think like us or we'll make you think like us.

In our cities, the role of parents and nuclear families is downplayed (even ridiculed and belittled by leftist academicians--most of whom come from affluent suburban families, ironically) and the role of the child as a social victim is enhanced.  Families are mean, they hurt you, fathers abuse you or abandon you...you don't need them, you've got us...then you grow up under the working assumption that fathers are superfluous and what do you do?  Well, you knock up whomever you want and abandon the results of that action.  If you haven't seen this is action, then you're either one of the affluent white leftists or you live outside the infrastructure of our ever-socializing major cities.  If the latter is the case, a word of warning is in order:  you are a redneck hillbilly white-trash racist bible-thumpin' gun totin' anti-semite, anti-palestinian.  In other words, you're representative is probably a Republican and even though your U.S. Senator had traditionally been a Conservative, she's not now. 
 
This means that Duverger's theory is wrong at some level (the local level) and in some cases, instead of three or multiple parties (which is the normal counter-argument to Duverger.  i.e. Canada, Great Britain), we get ONLY ONE (i.e. U.S.S.R., China, North Korea, Libya, Venezuela, Cuba).

Less choice is no choice.  That's right.  If you support the two party system, you're an agent of totalitarianism because eventually one of the two parties will FAIL.  Where are the Whigs?  Then something rises up to the champion party only to get knocked down again (Republicans and Democrats have both experienced this phenomenon throughout this nation's history). 

Thank you to the Independent Caucus for not realizing any of this and adopting a broad-sweeping, generic, Marxist approach to "independence".  Thank you for reinforcing the status quo.  Thank you for making the Teachers Union's job all the easier.

You rock.

Assholes.

Liberty is the Answer to your discontent

SALEM -- If you've been paying attention to politics in the last year or so, you've probably noticed a game-change taking place. Starting with the Tax Day protests in April '09, Americans started re-awakening, started wondering what was going on around them and started speaking out against the status quo politics of derision and discontent.

Discontent. The catchword of our day.

Full Story Here

Voting "R" Part One: Suckers

Most people in the know realize the Libertarian Party and the Republican Party are similar in a lot of ways.  If you're not one of these people, however, you may want to check out the Libertarian platform here and the Republican platform here.  And while you're at it, check out the Democrat Party platform here, and for kicks and giggles, the Socialist Party platform here.  It's probably not worth the time to take the effort to point out the close association the Democrat Party has with the Socialist Party (or Green Party), you can decide for yourself what the ramifications of those similarities are, if they exist.  (Hint:  Both parties treat citizens as chattel.)

The one striking difference between the Libertarian and Republican agendas is this:  The use of violence.  Mainly, by this, I mean, war.  There are others, of course, and we're simply talking platform here, not reality.  Libertarians are, for the most part, opposed to violence of any sort.  This is why the Libertarian party appeals to Christians who see a traditional and dogmatic alliance between the teachings of Christ and non-interventionism.  Some Libertarian Christians have argued that even defending oneself is an act of violence, and therefore should be averted.  I personally disagree with this sentiment, as do most Libertarians.  Libertarian philosophy, as you know, is rooted in the precepts of the U.S. Constitution which explicitly grants the National government the capacity to declare war and to protect the citizens of each of the States via unified military and intelligence operations.  To put it crudely:  You put one of ours in the hospital, we'll put two of yours in the morgue.  That's right.  I got your detente right here, pal. 
 
The use of violence on the personal, societal level, too, is approached differently by Republicans and Libertarians. The Second Amendment, right?    The Second Amendment itself probably has its roots in Biblical teachings.  Maybe it has something to do with Peter taking a sword into the garden or Jesus talking about how he wields a sword as well as peace.  But can we get to an ideological basis that encourages self-defense without any influence--be it Biblical or Constitutional--on our own?  Sure, here's how:  The act of willfully allowing the perpetration of violence is, in itself, an act of willful violence.  No Libertarian would pass by an alley from which the word "help!" and "rape!" were being yelled.  To abandon the duty of Justice, to convince oneself that this duty does not exist or that it belongs to someone else (the police, say) is a default admission of the power of the State over the individual.  No Libertarian would agree with that.  Not one.

But Republicans do.  Constantly Republicans are supporting tighter security, more police, more video surveillence, etc.  Republicans don't want to stand up for themselves.  They want Spiderman or the police to do it for them.  Republicans are the reason behind The Patriot Act.  They are the reason we have to check in six days before our flights.  They are the reason why you better learn how to smile while on the corner of Park and Columbia.  Democrats may be your mommy or your nanny or whatever term we're sticking on them now, but Republicans are your Big Brother.  I got news for you:  Your big brother is a bully.  And he's convinced you to give him your lunch money to watch your back.  Sucker.  And crime rates soar.  Sucker.  And that department of Education the Republicans said they would eliminate in '94?  Yeah, it's taught you how to relinquish your power to the State, willfully, happily, selfishly.  And you never learned how to do the job you've been trained to let someone else do.  Sucker.

Sucker.  Sucker.  Sucker.

Sure, Republicans talk about the Constitution and personal responsibility.  But they don't mean it.  As a whole, they simply don't.  The people in charge of the Republican Party are all about control.  They control you, they control spin, they even control newly elected representatives.  Think about that when considering who to vote for this fall.  Will this person, even though they sound an awful lot like a Libertarian, actually be beholden to the Republican Machine?


Yes.  That person will.  And if that person tries to tell you that he or she won't, that somehow they are special, and you believe them.  You, my friend, are a sucker.

Jeff Lawrence on Bruce Broussard this Sunday

All right!

Listen up!

Bruce Broussard of  Oregon Voter's Digest will be doing a short interview with Jeff Lawrence this Sunday on Channel 11 (Cable channel may vary if you're in East County or Clackamas, check listings).  Also featured on Sunday's show will be Bill Sizemore.  Wish Jeff luck as this will be his first on-air opportunity to voice his position and his candidacy for U.S. Congress.  Man, if anyone can go to D.C. and do what he says he's going to do, it's Jeff.  Make an effort to tune in.

Third district debate, round two—shootout at the Benson High corral

Oregon’s 3rd district hopefuls met again this last Saturday night for a second debate. Delia Lopez, the only Republican running this year, did not participate, but Jeff Lawrence, the Libertarian candidate, put his candidacy in the spotlight with his participation. Lawrence was matched up against Michael Meo (PGP) and John Sweeney (D) in what proved to be a better debate than the first, even if the attendance in this debate was less than that of the first. More on that later.

The banter between Lopez and Michael Meo (PGP) during the prior debate certainly featured its share of amicable sparring, but this debate was a little more heated. The back and forth between Lawrence and Meo was respectful and professional, but the ideas of the Green party and the Libertarian party are so totally divergent that when they started taking on each other’s statements in riposte, one could feel the tension mount in the audience. To add to that stressor, this debate’s topic was health care reform. What’s that you say? A Libertarian and a progressive arguing welfare? Load the rifle, Mabel! We finally got ourselves a good ol’ fashioned political shoot out!


CONTINUE READING

Inactive!

I'm not writing a lot now because I'm helping Jeff Lawrence with his campaign in Oregon's 3rd Congressional district.  Jeff is a lifelong Libertarian who has never held public office, is not a career politician but who is willing to sacrifice his very awesome career in order to take a principled, freedom-oriented approach to Washington.

I'll write more as we progress in the campaign building process.  Right now I'm building his campaign site.  You can go check it out at www.votejefflawrence.com but I'll warn you right now, it's not done!  I hope to have it up and running by Saturday night in time for the 2nd debate.

Wish us luck and stop by to check up on us.  Don't forget you can join Jeff on facebook as well and  root for him there!

Thanks so much!

The master/slave dialectic, Part 1: The Münchausen Politic

Since when did the line:  "This is for your own good"  ever win anyone over?
"Hey kid, you've just been drafted to go to battle in a far away jungle in an undeclared war!  Don't worry, it's for your own good."

Yeah.  That worked.

No it did not.  It started an entire subterranean movement that grew into an explosive counter-culture.  Hippies, right?  Of course, not all of the protesters against Vietnam were love, peace and Jesus freaks.  A ton of them were embedded in college campuses around the nation.  So while your uncle "Star Trip Infinity" was in the park dancing naked for chakra oneness, your soon-to-be-congressman was "sitting in" the Dean's chambers at Penn.  Or Harvard.  Or Berkeley.  Or Wherever.

No one was going to tell these brats what was for their "own good" and what wasn't.  These were the days of Kierkegaard and Niechze.  Be damned all that Fascist Nixon crap.  Right?

Right.  And then what happened?

They grew up.  These hippies actually grew up.  They thought they won the Vietnam war.  Ask them, they'll tell you they won it.  They will.  They finished college or left the nudist colony and got jobs.  Gub'ment jobs.  They became lawyers, politicians, doctors and teachers.  Oh yes.  Teachers.

And what did these ex-hippies and zen-love-age-of-aquarius rejects teach you?

"Wear a sealtbelt."
"Wear a helmet"
"Wear another helmet."
"Eat tofu"
"Use plastic bags and save a tree."
"Use paper bags and save a...uh...an entire planet"
"Smile for the CCTV"
"Stop smoking"
"Unless you're the master."
"Or this master."
"Stop drinking"
"Unless you're this master."
"Or any master."
"At least don't drink and drive"
"Unless, yeah, you're the master."
"And don't eat and drive"
"And don't talk and drive"
"Actually don't drive at all, take mass transit"
"Don't watch "X" news channel."
"Don't listen to Rap"
"Don't listen to Rock"
"Don't watch Charlton Heston movies, he's evil."
"Guns are bad.  Hence the Charlton Heston thing we said before."
"Knives are pretty bad too."
"In fact, don't defend yourself at all."
"Don't pray.  Unless you're a congressman and are forced to do so at the beginning of each day."
"Pay your taxes.  All of them."
"Don't make fun of people."
"You may make fun of people that do not like taxes.  That is ok."
"Wear yet another helmet."
"Don't go to the circus." 
"Don't wear fur."
"Don't wear leather."
"Don't watch Bill O'Reilly.  He eats children and uses their skin to make leather."
"Do not have children.  The world is overpopulated and Bill O'Reilly can only do so much."
"These are not the dittoheads you're looking for."
"Glenn who?  I never watch that show and neither should you and to prove it we're going to reintroduce the media fairness doctrine"
"And while we're at it, we'll pass some Net Neutrality.  Gotta cover all the bases, as it were."
"You're a racist.  Because we say you are."
"Say:  All white people are racists.  Three times before going to your multiculturalism class at the local community college."
"Fill out your census and tell us if you're a racist white person."
"Don't use coal power, it has been evil since 1906."
"Don't use wind power or you're a murderer."
"Don't build your own water receptacle."
"Just kidding, go ahead and do your rain dance."
"Don't burn in your backyard...or do...because we refuse to tell you when you can and can't do it so that we can ticket you and gain access to your property."
"Say: Bush lied and people died three times before you lay you down to sleep."
"Don't fart."
"Don't breathe."
"At least don't breathe in marijuana."
"Unless you have a medical marijuana permit. Or unless we decriminalize it.  Then you'll see our full force of arms!"
"Say: Obama lied and the people loved it three times before you turn on Keith Olbermann.
"Go to work.  And only go to work.  We like workers.  They unite and stuff."
"We don't, however, like big business, or small businesses either for that matter, so good luck going to work.  Get some of that wealth we're spreading around at your Social Services Outlet store."
"Did we already say 'don't own a gun?'  Ok."
"Don't go hunting.  It requires a gun."
"Don't go fishing either."
"In fact, don't do anything."

Oh, we could go on and on and on.  And you love it.  You're a democrat.  You LOVE these rules, rules are awesome!  It's not because you would ever behave irrationally and do something silly like talk on the phone while driving, is it?  Nah, you would never do that.  You need these laws to protect yourself from other evil people out there.  Don't you?  That's what your ex-hippie Master told you, isn't it, slave?

Slave.

You're a slave.  And you relish your bondage.  

If you love all these laws so much you can thank your Democrat mentors for them all.  Every one of them.  You see, they don't trust YOU.  Masters don't trust their slaves.  That's how it works.  Their main job is to get you to trust them.  Their secondary goal is to get you to talk your brothers into loving bondage too!  And they've done it, slave.  They've convinced you to like most of these laws, they've convinced you to spread the word of Greater Good totalitarianism haven't they?

But what about the few laws up there you think are silly.  There are a few aren't there?  I mean, you're not really a fascist are you?  You don't think you are.  I don't think you are.  I bet there are a number of silly little things up there you loathe.  Net neutrality.  It's for your own good.    But I know you hate it.  Censorship?  It's for your own good.  You're not a racist, are you?  Or has your master convinced you that you are by now?  It's for your own good.  The Greater Good.

And it won't stop there.  The list will grow.  And it will grow.  And it will grow.  And so will their ability, these ex-hippie fascists, to make you love your chains, and to make you help them put chains on your brothers.

You are your brother's keeper.  Your brother's slave keeper.