“I pledge to be a servant to our president…” As Mike noted, several people (Radley Balko, Will Wilkinson, Jonah Goldberg) posted a YouTube video (which seemed to have gone down memory hole already) described by Michael Goldfarb as… …a bunch of B-, C-, and D-list celebrities, and Michael Strahan, resolving to take time out of [...]

MSM advice about Obama’s inauguration: So you’re attending an inaugural ball saluting the historic election of Barack Obama in the worst economic climate in three generations. Can you get away with glitzing it up and still be appropriate, not to mention comfortable and financially viable? To quote the man of the hour: Yes, you can. [...]

California’s Proposition 8, the ballot measure aiming to outlaw same sex marriage, passed on a very close vote. Prop 8’s supporters* pushed a campaign of fear, misinformation, and a complete distortion of the meaning of individual liberty. This campaign commercial is typical of the intolerance and hysteria being promoted from the “yes” campaign. Argument #1: [...]

Brian Doherty’s piece in Reason about the relative failure of Bob Barr’s Presidential campaign, which I commented on earlier this week, leads Volokh Conspiracy contributor Ilya Somin to wonder if the Libertarian Party should even exist anymore: Brian’s article discusses numerous possible causes of Barr’s failure that were specific to his particular campaign. Some of [...]

For years now, I have been under the impression that in an election, undervotes (ballots where there aren’t votes for all the races) aren’t counted.  I read this years ago in a source that I considered reliable at the times.  Truth be told, I can’t even remember where I read it, only that I considered [...]

In a truly laughable article, Arjun Appadurai gives us an explanation for Obama’s election — magic! So the election of Barack is a magical thing in two distinct ways. It is awesome, historical, redemptive, and yes, transcendent too. But it is also magical in a much more serious way. It has been performed and produced [...]

California’s in a major crunch right now, as property taxes — a windfall the last several years — have turned into a drought: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said his state’s finances have deteriorated so rapidly that a budget he signed just six weeks ago has already fallen into a $11.2 billion deficit and taxes must [...]

In some worlds, this would be seen as good news: A passing of the baton happened Friday. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., announced he will step aside as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. … Byrd is 90. He has served in the Senate since 1959 – the most senior member of the Senate. It [...]

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism [...] The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. -Ronald Reagan (1975) For the second election in [...]

From my brother, who is astoundingly close to my political position, when asked by my wife (who likes Obama) about the election last night: The bus has already sailed over the cliff… Who you put in the driver’s seat doesn’t much matter. I have but one bit of disagreement… If it’s possible, Obama’s election might [...]

As we speak the heavyweights of the Republican Party are meeting to discuss how to recover from the debacle (for the Republicans that is) that was to 2008 election.  Their goal will be to figure out how they can win national elections again.  I wonder if they will even consider the advice of Ron Paul.  [...]

Bob Barr has issued the following press release on the election results: ATLANTA, GA – “This is just the beginning of the new Libertarian Party,” says Bob Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party nominee for president. “In these next four years, there will be an even greater need for a political party fully dedicated to lower [...]

Based on these preliminary vote total figures, it looks like Bob Barr’s best outcome would be to exceed Harry Browne’s vote total in 1996: Based on these numbers, Barr has exceeded Ron Paul’s vote total from 1988 and seems likely to match or exceed Harry Browne’s vote total from 1996, but will fall far short [...]

Obviously, I disagree with the choice that 51% of Americans made last night, but in that choice, there are many aspects that I think are good things… perhaps great things. The first point, is that although the democrats are already trying to spin this as a huge numeric victory, it is not. Though the electoral [...]

Today is, truly, a historic day. I’m not an old man, but when I was born 30 years ago the idea of electing a black president was something that might be discussed in polite circles, but was not reality. Today that has changed. Perhaps I’ve become more sentimental as I’ve aged, or perhaps it’s that [...]

Voting is now analogized to Popeye eating his spinach: The final presidential debate concluded with some stirring words, though not from either candidate. Moderator and CBS newsman Bob Schieffer said, “I will leave you tonight with what my mother always said — go vote now. It will make you feel big and strong.“ Cue the [...]

Just one more day, and the government can go back to screwing us quietly instead of auditioning for the job of screwing us.

The City Club of Cleveland extended an invitation to the top six presidential candidates*. Of the six candidates, Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, and independent candidate Ralph Nader participated; Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain, and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney were no-shows. Unlike the debates we have already seen [...]

From Doug Stanhope: The most important thing is to vote locally and know what you’re voting for – and if race or sex are your first reason, you should be denied a ballot because you are an ape who should be banished to voting online for upstart variety show websites. If you dont know exactly [...]

In less than a week it will be over; a year and a half of maneuvering, jockeying, speechifying, electioneering and speculating will thankfully draw to a close, and the U.S., which once was a sort of free republic, will crown a new king, who promises to reward the innocent and punish the guilty. In less [...]