MOScout Weekender: Poll on Senate 27 – Hallway on Conservative Caucus Numbers – Franks to Gen Progress – WWTW and more… – Moscout

Remington/MOScout Poll: Senate 27

Survey conducted July 15 through July 16, 2020. 414 likely 2020 Republican Primary Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2020 Republican Primary Election. Margin of Error is +/-4.9% with a 95% level of confidence. Survey conducted by Remington Research Group on behalf of Missouri Scout. Rehder is a client of Remington. See the full results here.

Q1: Do you approve or disapprove of Donald Trumps job performance as President of the United States?

Approve: 83%

Disapprove: 10%

Not sure: 7%

Q2: Candidates in the August 4th Republican Primary Election for State Senate are Holly Rehder and Kathy Swan. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?

Holly Rehder: 51%

Kathy Swan: 29%

Undecided: 20%

Q3: In general, how do you feel about reopening the economy?

We should be reopening faster: 40%

We are going at about the right speed: 34%

We are reopening too fast: 18%

Not sure: 8%

Q4: What do you think is the most pressing concern for state government?

Dealing with the coronavirus: 26%

Ending police brutality: 18%

Creating more jobs: 19%

Improving healthcare: 7%

Making neighborhoods safer: 8%

Something else: 6%

Not sure: 15%

TYPE OF GOP: Thinking about the various types of voters within the Republican party, which type of voter do you consider yourself to be? Evangelical, a Trump Republican, Traditional, Libertarian, or something else?

Evangelical: 18%

Trump: 48%

Traditional: 17%

Libertarian: 4%

Something else: 13%

MOScouts Hallway Index: Next Sessions CC #

The Senates Conservative Caucus is backing candidates in the Republican Senate primaries. I asked the hallway: How many members of the conservative caucus will there be when session starts in January? 25 replies

RESULTS

1. Less than 6 20%

2. 6 or 7 48%

3. 8 or 9 28%

4. 10 or more 4%

Sample of Comments

If they hold serve, could be 10+

10 inmates, controlling the asylum. Katy, bar the door!

It will be 8 or 9, but the number is a bit misleading because some of the new members are not on board with Eigel's fight against leadership.

The problem with any "caucus" is that as it gets bigger it invites dissension amongst the ranks. A caucus in the Senate probably works better if its just a few true believers instead of a greater number of folks that come and go on issues.

Ross and Rehder are looking likely to win so far. I believe the caucus will grow.

The Gang of Six might become Gang of Seven

My hopeful side wants to pick less than six but the realist in me cant do it.

I am saying five but am not counting Rehder as part of the group.

Who Won the Week?

Holly Rehder Jumps out to a lead in the latest MOScout poll.

Greg Razer Far outstripping his primary rival in money and organization with two weeks left.

Derek Grier Gets a White House invite for being a champion of regulatory reform.

Medicaid Expansion With the current outlook being that the opponents have decided on a grassroots campaign without big-dollar resources, passage gets better odds.

Deb Lavender Once again, she outraised incumbent Sen. Andrew Koenig by a large margin. She raised $141K to his $11K, and now holds a cash on-hand advantage of $426K to $175K.

See downloadable version here.

Franks to Gen Progress

Former Rep. Bruce Franks has joined Generation Progress as Senior Consultant.

See it here.

From their website: Generation Progress is a national advocacy and education organization that promotes progressive solutions to the political and social issues that matter to young people between the ages of 18 and 35. We strive to uplift the voices and leadership of young people across the country to ensure that their perspectives and needs are represented in policy-making spaces at all levels of government. Generation Progress is housed within the Center for American Progress, making us the only youth advocacy organization within a progressive think tank.

$5K+ Contributions

HBS MO State PAC - $25,000 from Altria Client Services.

Missourians for Healthcare - $20,000 from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.

Missourians for Healthcare - $18,993 from Missouri Hospital Association.

Women For Justice PAC - $10,000 from Laborers Union Local #110 Voluntary Political Fund.

Friends for Rusty MacLachlan - $7,500 from Coalition for Building a Better Tomorrow.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Becky Cook, Gary Otten, Charlie Davis, and Jim Gwinner.

Sunday: Rep. Rusty Black, John Griesheimer, Ashley Varner, David Overfelt, and Jim Anderson.

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MOScout Weekender: Poll on Senate 27 - Hallway on Conservative Caucus Numbers - Franks to Gen Progress - WWTW and more... - Moscout

With civil libertarians, its often one-way traffic – The Age

Who are these dictators and defendersTom Switzer believes self-righteous activists are dictating to the rest of us how we should feel. I wonder who Switzer a white male and former advisor to the Howard and Abbott governments, as well as a TV talking head, a broadcaster and an editor imagines the rest of us are.

I also wonder why Switzer, on the payroll of free market think tank the Centre for Independent Studies, takes this dictatorship personally, writing: I have been denounced in these pages and elsewhere for holding unfashionable views from praising John Howard, Boris Johnson and free-market capitalism to criticising the ABC and millennial socialism and those activists who claim Australia is a racist nation.

Switzer writes that thought police are everywhere, but his commentary doesnt allow them to speak for themselves: instead they must be spoken for. The cancel-culture defenders, he writes, say attitudes have changed and that marginalised groups are starting to gain equal footing in society. Why, then, are they so afraid of a debate?

Who are these dictators and defenders, and why are oppressed mainstream media commentators such as Switzer so afraid to name them?Katherine Wilson, Healesville

Save us from the echo-chamber of cultural cleansingTom Switzer is spot on. The irony of the dangerous cancel culture movement sweeping the globe is that it risks destroying the very liberal democratic culture it seeks to cleanse.

Liberal democracies thrive in an environment of free speech, rigorous debate, respectful, robust intellectual scholarship and evidence-based discourse in which opinions stand or fall on the strength of their arguments. Thats why journalism and newspapers are the first to be attacked when demagogues stalk the land.

Nazis, by their intimidation, violence and intolerance of difference, wrote the handbook on how to destroy liberal democracy. George Orwells seminal novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four prophesyse about such techniques to create a totalitarian state. Orwell wrote about cancel culture in his novels well before the term was invented. Its not new.

God save us from the self-righteous echo-chamber of cultural cleansing, the stifling of proper, respectful debate and the re-writing of history. Theres an exciting chapter on the history of BLM yet to be written. Let it be written by the future and not re-written from the past.Nick Toovey, Beaumaris

Selective writing about freedom of speechTom Switzer writes selectively about freedom of speech. He fails to propose an end to defamation actions. No mention of varying degrees of anti-protest laws in jurisdictions around Australia. He fails to condemn federal government attacks on journalists. He doesnt challenge the right of employers to deny free speech to employees. What is his game?Darryl Pyrke, Blackmans Bay, Tas.

A disingenuous claimWe live in Singapore and have been planning our return home to Australia since early January, well before this ballooned into a pandemic.

We couldnt throw our Melbourne tenants out onto the street during the first lockdown, so our return was delayed until August.

It is disingenuous for Scott Morrison to claim everyone has had sufficient time families have to organise and line up employment, multiple school enrolments and rental leases.

We are happy to pay for quarantine however the latest medical evidence shows the virus is only infectious for the first eight days, so a 14-day quarantine is no longer justifiable.

I am happy with Scott Morrisons response to the pandemic but please get your facts straight before blaming, criticising and wrongfully punishing your own citizens.Richard Bourke, Singapore

A sad, but true, imageColumnist Anson Cameron (Welcome to wasteland, Spectrum, 11/7) has painted a sad, but true, image of Port Melbournes Station Pier and Waterfront Place.

For some time, the Beacon Cove Neighbourhood Association has been advocating for the revitalisation of the area by creating a precinct overseen by an independent body, bringing together all interested parties. Our proposal has been met with a lukewarm response.

Establishing a precinct run by an independent authority would result in a planned, strategic redevelopment of the area by overcoming competing forces and current restrictions and meet the needs of the residents and Victorians generally. By doing this, Melbournes gateway could be repolished and returned to a vital economic and community hub.Eddie Micallef, president, Beacon Cove Neighbourhood Association, Port Melbourne

An amazing assumptionWe are all aware of the danger of close contact with others at the moment. It is amazing that there is an assumption teachers are immune to this.

Could we not rethink the selection process for university places in 2021 (which is the reason given for the importance of year 12 students and their teachers returning to school) and simply develop a new test or requirement for entry? There are many valid examples available.

Our teachers health and wellbeing, when devoid of the protective measures utilised within the health sector, surely warrant close consideration?Julie McCormack, Brunswick West

Toxic politickingJust to remind everyone that Victorian Liberal state MP Tim Smith began this pandemic with a batty plan to remove all bats from Kew, complaints that we werent open early for Mothers Day, complaints that golfers were hard done by, and now hed like Dan Andrews to resign probably so he can crow about Andrews stepping out on Victorians during a crisis.

Smiths social media presence has been a blight on Victorian politics; I cant believe the Victorian Liberals are proud of the fact that hes one of their own. Along with his colleagues; theyve seemingly decided that supporting any lockdown and safety measures is signalling soft support for Andrews, instead of care for the community.

Its toxic politicking and all of them should hang their heads in shame and know that Dan Andrews has got more class in his little finger than all of them put together.Danielle Binks, Frankston

Surely this is good newsI have just finished reading your article about the ICU at the former Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre remaining empty ($30m ICU at former hospital still empty, 13/7).

I wouldve thought that this is good news not bad since we have not yet been overwhelmed with cases requiring ICU treatment.

It seems to me that the building of this unit ahead of time showed foresight and should not be criticised. Talk about dammed if you do and damned if you dont.

Overall Daniel Andrews and his government seem to have done a really good job in combating the coronavirus pandemic despite one or two failures and should be encouraged rather than criticised.Peter Meadley, Ballarat

Missing the pointContainment of the virus is the catch-cry of both the Education Minister and the Premier, but they are missing the point when it comes to opening schools within COVID-19 hot spots.

I am one of many teachers who commute into metropolitan hot spot schools from Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Gisborne, Sunbury, Castlemaine and many smaller regional communities.

Education Minister James Merlino has not foreseen or addressed this issue. Perhaps containment of the virus to hot spots would have more chance of success if Harry Potter could cast an appropriate spell.Nick DAglas, Woodend

An unhappy shopperOn Saturday morning I went to a large supermarket in order to do some much-needed shopping for groceries.

I was disappointed given the advice from the Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, on Friday not to see more people wearing masks and making more of an effort to keep their distance. However, what was really concerning was that none of the staff were wearing masks and the onus was entirely on the customers as to whether or not the trolley handles were cleansed with disinfectant wipes.

If the supermarket chains CEO truly has the wellbeing of customers close to his heart as he persistently claims in his frequent emails to rewards cardholders he should act quickly to address the concerns I have raised here.Ivan Glynn, Vermont

Unfairly singled outIn Lockdown: How we stuffed it up (Naked City, The Age, 11/7), John Silvester wrote that security guards are blamed for the COVID-19 spike, although it is not clear whether he holds them accountable for the total increase of the past few weeks.

Three security companies supplied hotel quarantine guards but he only goes into detail about one firm naming it and shaming it.

While quick to disparage Unified Security, he fails to acknowledge the company was a finalist in six excellence awards from the NSW Business Chamber and Local Business Awards in 2018 and 2019, winning three.

He gives the location of the Melbourne office, cites two company cars in Indigenous livery and quotes from their website that Unified is Australias largest wholly Australian and Indigenous-owned security company. Why emphasise the Indigenous connection?

Details of the names, offices and cultural profile of the other two firms were not supplied. Are we to conclude they were blameless so not worth profiling?

Why is it acceptable to sarcastically attack Unified Security and yet a few paragraphs later say the three security companies have established track records?

The article unjustly targets one specific company in a sea of comments about the whole security industry in Australia.Sue Watson, Paynesville

Qualified supportIts a bit rich for conservative Liberal MPs and intellectuals to condemn perceived attacks on free expression when the same people hysterically attack the right of those expressing views contrary to themselves on such matters as the commemoration of Captain Cooks arrival in Australia and the celebration of Australia Day and Anzac Day.

A recent example was when some Victorian Liberal Party politicians and right-wing commentators called for the removal of Victorias Deputy Chief Health Officer, Annaliese van Diemen, for posting a controversial tweet about Captain Cook.

No right to free expression there.

And who can forget the hounding of television presenter Yassmin Abdel-Magied out of both the ABC and out of Australia after her controversial Facebook post about Anzac Day in April 2017.Garry Meller, Bentleigh

Anger and apprehensionThis lockdown round, Victorian teachers and parents are expressing anger and apprehension at the return to face-to-face schooling of VCE students. Disturbingly, there are letters with the name withheld, indicating fear not only of the virus, but of retribution for speaking out.

For many Victorians, trust in their government has taken a battering due to significant errors in its handling of the virus. Will this return to face-to-face teaching in reportedly deep-cleaned schools, with classes of 25-plus young adults, no social distancing, and masks discouraged, be another error?

Perhaps teachers and students should take it upon themselves to socially distance the classroom tables if thats even possible and wear masks?

And, perhaps teacher unions, parents, teachers, students and legal firms should be looking at possible class action should any COVID-19 cases and deaths be traced back to this return to school.Deborah Morrison, Malvern East

Breach after breachHeres an idea instead of fining people for COVID-19 regulation breaches, why not make them undertake some hours in community service at a testing station? This reality check might just shake up those foolish enough, like the car of Victorians who tried to cross the Queensland border several times and mocked the $4000 fine they were each issued, to realise this is not some joke they can laugh off.

Over the weekend I witnessed breach after breach of some of the most simple aspects of social distancing. Exceptionalism has taken hold of too many who think along the lines of oh it wont happen to me or its just a small breach, it wont make a difference or well others arent, so why should I? Just take a scroll through Instagram if you need any proof of this.

If you care about your own health and that of your friends and family, take this seriously and abide by the regulations.

If not, prepare for many, many more months of lockdown, infections and deaths.Paul Bugeja, Footscray

Stopping the spreadIf Premier Daniel Andrews wants us to follow the rules, to only go out when you need to, and to only go out for the purposes that are lawful, why are the shopping malls and retail stores open?Nadine McMaster, Port Melbourne

I agree with Andrew Gemmell (Letters, 12/7), maybe it is time masks should be worn on all forms of public transport as a courtesy to other passengers to help limit the spread of all sorts of illnesses (not just COVID-19).Maria Wickham, Mount Nelson, Tas.

Credit:

Sunday on the Gardiners Creek walking loop: hundreds of people, and I counted 11 wearing masks. Not good enough, folks. We are all in this together.Brian Marshall, Ashburton

The footyIts hard to believe now but AFL used to be described as the best game in the world.John Hennessy, Glen Iris

Scott MorrisonWhile I dont begrudge our Prime Minister attending his beloved game, I am less than impressed that he was not self-distancing or wearing a mask.Susan Munday, Bentleigh East

Empty ICU bedsUntil or unless the former Peter Mac building is required for COVID-19 care (The Age, 13/7), couldnt it provide temporary housing for homeless people or those fleeing domestic violence?Mary Cole, Richmond

The fact that the emergency ICU at the old Peter Mac remains unused is a testament to the success of the initial Victorian lockdown in suppressing COVID-19. We can only hope that it remains empty.Nick Barton, Hillside

FurthermoreSo, the reason teachers are not allowed to wear masks is it stops them teaching properly. What really stops a teacher teaching is contracting COVID-19.Susan Caughey, Glen Iris

FinallyOur grandma got out her sewing machine and made individual masks for the whole family. Grandmas are beautiful people.Peter Finn, Tallarook

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number.

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With civil libertarians, its often one-way traffic - The Age

Libertarian Congressional candidate to stop in Wellsboro this Sunday – The Wellsboro Gazette

On Sunday, July 19, Liz Terwilliger will meet with members of the public to hear their concerns about how change is needed in the county. Terwilliger will also answer questions from the community and share what she has learned from local parents, business owners, teachers and other concerned residents.

This free event will be held from 24 p.m. on Sunday, July 9th at Woodland Park at 109 East Ave., Wellsboro. Precautions will be taken to ensure a safe event with proper social distancing and sanitation.

People across Tioga County have told me that they are frustrated with the business-as-usual attitude from their representatives, said Terwilliger. The challenges that the county has faced this year have been incredibly difficult. Government has only made things worse. Tioga County has had politicians, not representatives, in the State House and in Washington, and this must stop with the next election.

Terwilliger is running for Congress in the PA 12th Congressional District which includes Tioga County. She will be joined at the Woodland Park by Noyes Lawton, running for the state representative in the 68th PA District. Both Liz Terwilliger and Noyes Lawton are running on the Libertarian Party ticket.

I am eager to hear from Tioga County residents no matter what political party they are registered with, as well as the many Independents in our county, she said. They have been taken for grated for too long, and it is time their voices were heard. Noyes and I will get these voters real representation both in Washington and in the State House. Please come by and meet us and tell us about your concerns and your views on improving our county.

Originally posted here:

Libertarian Congressional candidate to stop in Wellsboro this Sunday - The Wellsboro Gazette

Potential Key to the 2020 Election: Voters Who Can’t Stand Both Trump and Biden – Reason

Voters who can't stand either major-party presidential nominee could be one of the keys to the electionand unlike in 2016, that might be bad news for President Donald Trump.

Four years ago, in a contest between two of the least-liked presidential nominees in history, Trump benefitted from the number of voters who found him slightly less detestable than Hillary Clinton. But a new Morning Consult poll suggests that Trump isn't doing as well with the "haters demographic" this time around. Voters who hold unfavorable views of both Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden are more likely to hold their nose and vote for the former vice president than for the incumbent.

Exit polling on Election Day 2016 showed that voters who did not like either major party candidate ended up backing Trump over Hillary Clinton by a 17-point margin. With less than four months to go until Election Day 2020, Morning Consult's new poll shows Biden with a 29-point lead with the same group. Among the 43 percent who say they are undecided, Biden has a 19-point lead when they are forced to make a choice.

The group also feels more strongly about Trump than it does about Biden: 66 percent saying they have veryunfavorable views of the president, while only 40 percent say the same about Biden. Again, this is only looking at voters who say they have unfavorable views of both.

The influence that the so-called "haters demographic" could have on the election depends on a few things.

First, because of the Electoral College, there's a geographic limitation on how much of a role voter anger can play. No matter how much a Californian might hate Joe Biden, California is going to be blue state.

Second, like all polls that attempt to organize individuals into groups, this one can be a bit fuzzy around the edges. There are people out there who might say they dislike both candidates but are already fairly certain of how they will vote. Many conservatives, for example, might have voted for Trump in 2016 not because they particularly liked him but because they wanted a Republican president to pick judges. That's a valid way to sort through an awful choice like the one presented in 2016, and it demonstrates that some voters are motivated by more than their personal feelings towards the two candidates.

Then there is the role of third parties. The abysmal approval ratings for Trump and Clinton in 2016 likely contributed to the record-shattering number of votes received that year by former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee.

Few observers think that this year's Libertarian ticketled by the Clemson psychologist Jo Jorgensenwill match Johnson's performance. But the Morning Consult poll didn't include any third-party candidates, so it may have a blind spot when it comes to whether members of the so-called "haters demographic" might refuse to vote for both Trump and Biden. Some might simply stay home; others might try to find an alternative candidate they actually like.

With negative partisanship driving so much of American politics these daysparticularly on cable news and social mediait shouldn't be too surprising that voters with a negative view of both Trump and Biden are likely to decide the election. And with more than 100 days to go before the polls close, both candidates will have ample opportunities to add to that demographic.

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Potential Key to the 2020 Election: Voters Who Can't Stand Both Trump and Biden - Reason

Thomas Sowell: Joe Biden win could signal ‘point of no return for this country’ – Washington Times

Economist and libertarian conservative philosopher Thomas Sowell warned Sunday that the country could reach the point of no return if presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the election and ushers in the radical left.

If the election goes to Biden, Mr. Sowell told Fox News, theres a good chance that the Democrats will then control the two branches of Congress and the White House. And considering the kinds of things that theyre proposing, that could well be the point of no return for this country.

The Hoover Institution senior fellow expressed disbelief that adult human beings in the Democratic Party had openly supported the Defund the Police movement, calling it utter madness.

What is frightening is how many people in responsible positions are caving into every demand that is made, repeating any kind of nonsense that youre supposed to repeat, Mr. Sowell said. I do believe that we may well reach a point of no return. I hope that, of course, will never happen. But there is such a thing as a point of no return. The Roman empire overcame many problems in its long history but eventually it reached a point where it could no longer continue on, and much of that was from within, not just the barbarians attacking from outside.

Mr. Sowell also said that Democrats pushing the concept of systemic racism in the U.S. reminded him of the propaganda tactics of the Nazis.

It really has no meaning that can be specified and tested in the way that one tests hypotheses, he said of the phrase systemic racism.

It does remind me of the propaganda tactics of Joseph Goebbels during the age of the Nazis, in which he was supposed to have said people will believe any lie if its repeated long enough and loud enough, he added. And thats what were getting. Its one of many words that I dont think even the people who use it have any clear idea what theyre saying. Their purpose is served by having other people cave in.

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Thomas Sowell: Joe Biden win could signal 'point of no return for this country' - Washington Times

Election commissioners preparing for voting process in November | News, Sports, Jobs – Evening Observer

Because no decision has been made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo if registered New York voters will be required to go to the polls to vote or if theyll be able to vote by absentee ballot, Chautauqua County Board of Elections officials are planning for two different scenarios simultaneously one as if there will be a traditional election and two as if all registered voters will be permitted to vote by mail.

We have all the envelops ordered to do mail-in ballots. We can move on a dime. Well be ready to move in any direction, explained Democratic Election Commissioner Norman P. Green.

In June, registered Democratic, Libertarian and Busti Republican primary voters were able to vote either in person or by mail for the various primaries. The turnout was above what it would normally be, which was odd, noted Green. For Democrats, they were able to vote for multiple presidential candidates, however only Joe Biden was the only active candidate. It was pretty much an uncontested primary but a higher percentage turned out to vote. We attribute it to having absentee ballots for everyone, he said.

According to the state Board of Elections, normally a person can only vote by absentee ballots for the following reasons:

You are absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from said city, on Election Day;

You are unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability; or because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled;

A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration Hospital;

Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.

In the June primary, registered voters were given the option to request an absentee ballot due to concerns over voting in person because of the coronavirus. Also, voters were provided stamped envelops, so there was no cost to the voter to mail the ballot.

School elections were also 100 percent voted on by mail-in ballots.

Republican Election Commissioner Brian Abrams noted that in Jamestown, the balloting increased from 400 votes to 4,000 votes.

What came along with that was a huge cost difference, he added, noting that schools had to pay for the stamps and envelops.

Still, he was happy to see more residents being able to cast their vote. Well keep doing whatever we can to keep people participating, he said.

According to Abrams, right now the county has around 75,000 active and 6,000 inactive voters. If the state tells county Board of Elections they need to provide absentee ballots for everyone, he admits that will be a lot of work and expense. My thought to the state is to review the local boards and see what their limits are, he said. If youre going to make a change, please give us as much lead time as possible.

Green agrees that any changes will mean more man-hours for the staff. Were definitely going to need more seasonal temporary personnel. Its going to be a very labor intensive job to do a mail-in election, he said.

But that doesnt mean the county will abandon its current polling model. Green said Chautauqua County has 50 poll sites for 29 jurisdictions (27 towns and two cities). Some counties consolidated down to one poll site (in the June primary). We disagreed with that, he said.

Green is not only the county Democratic Election Commissioner, he is also the county Democratic chairman. When asked if he feels mail-in ballots will increase or decrease voter turnout, he doesnt think it will make a difference this year. For this presidential cycle, everybody that wants to vote is going to vote, he said.

He could see mail-in ballots increasing participation in off-election years. The biggest race next year is the county executive race. Would mail-in ballots help that? It could. Weve had as low as 30% turnout in local elections, he said.

One concern brought up by President Donald Trump is the potential for fraud with mail-in ballots.

Green said in New York whether youre voting at the polls or by mail-in ballot, election inspectors will compare signatures to ensure no one is voting illegally. He noted that in June the Board of Elections rejected over 100 ballots because the signatures didnt line up. We let people know their vote didnt count, he said.

Abrams said he isnt worried about voter fraud as much as the personal decision of the vote. He said he could envision a scenario where, for example, a husband pressures his wife to vote the same way he does, instead of her casting her vote by herself in a booth. Its the privacy and independence of the vote that could be lost, he said.

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Election commissioners preparing for voting process in November | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: COVID-19 infects the presidential ballot – Martinsville Bulletin

COVID-19 infects the presidential ballot

1928. That was the last presidential election Virginia voters were left with only two options to choose. Nearly a century later, that statistic is in jeopardy of being repeated.

COVID-19 is making it nearly impossible for minor political parties to gather the required signatures to be able to appear on the ballot.

Petitioners and would-be signers are scared to be exposed to the virus. Popular spots to petition, like the DMV, are closed until further notice.

The two major parties have a free pass from petitioning. If they dont wish to nominate their candidate by primary, they can choose to do so by convention. The VA GOP chose to forego petition-required primaries in order to nominate their presidential and Fifth Congressional District candidates. They only had three out of seven candidates make the June primary even after a Richmond judge lowered the ballot access requirement 65%, from 10,000 to 3,500 signatures.

Potential alternatives to ease the insurmountable hurdle for minor parties include allowing electronic signatures, lowering the overall requiremen, and/or extending the deadline.

The Libertarian Party is the third-largest political party in the United States. Its presidential candidate was on the ballot in all 50 states in 2016. Nearly 200,000 Virginia voters voted for a third-party candidate that year. The last presidential election Virginia voters didnt have the option to vote for the LP presidential candidate was in 1984.

Excerpt from:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: COVID-19 infects the presidential ballot - Martinsville Bulletin

The road to hell is paved with economic plans – San Bernardino County Sun

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says he has an economic plan for America to Build Back Better. President Donald Trump complains that Biden plagiarized significant elements of that plan from, you guessed it, Donald Trump.

Both plans are packed full of bad ideas that have been proposed a thousand times by a thousand other politicians, so the plagiarism claim seems more trollish than truthy. The problem with both economic plans isnt that theyre plagiarized, its that they ARE economic plans.

What is an economy?

Ask a politician, and you might get the idea that an economy is a metaphorical truck full of goodies. Give the keys to the right politician and everyone gets candy and ice cream. Give the keys to the wrong politician and he rolls the truck into a ravine and everyone starves.

Ask a bureaucrat, and youre likely to get lists of key indicators, accompanied by graphs and charts attempting to explain life, the universe, and everything in terms of those indicators.

In actuality, an economy is the aggregate of nearly every decision, made by nearly every human being on the planet, nearly every second, of nearly every hour, of nearly every day.

The economy is whether you have lunch, and if so what you eat and how much of it.

The economy is whether you go to work today or call in sick and return to bed.

The economy is whether you try to make that old beater last one more year, or give in and go shopping for a new car, or start bicycling more and driving less.

The economy is everything you and eight billion other people decide to buy or not buy, sell or not sell, consume or not consume, and do or not do, 24/7/365, cradle to grave.

The idea that a politician or bureaucrat (government or corporate) can come up with an economic plan that takes all the relevant variables into account forecasts what people need or want and efficiently allocates resources to make sure they get it isnt just silly, its dangerous.

Behind politicians economic plans lies the kind of hubris that that turns recessions into depressions, droughts into mass starvation episodes, and trade wars into shooting wars.

According to the Build Back Better plan, Joe Biden believes to his core that theres no greater economic engine in the world than the hard work and ingenuity of the American people. Trump makes similar noises.

If they actually believed it, their economic plans would be identical and 11 words long: Laissez faire et laissez passer, le monde va de lui meme (Let do and let pass, the world goes on by itself).

Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.

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The road to hell is paved with economic plans - San Bernardino County Sun

Ballots set for primary, November elections – The Item – Worcester Telegram

With local elections past, it is time to turn attention to the state primary on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

The biggest action is in the Twelfth Worcester District Mass. House race, where incumbent Harold Naughton Jr., of Clinton, chose not to run for re-election.

Three Democrats will compete in the Sept. 1 primary, while a Republican and a candidate for the Green-Rainbow party will join the fray in November. All five candidates are women.

Democrats on the ballot Sept. 1 are Meghan Kilcoyne, of Northboro, Ceylan Rowe, of Northboro, and Alexandra Turner, of Lancaster.

On the November ballot are Republican Susan Smiley, of Lancaster, and Green-Rainbow candidate Charlene DiCalogero, of Berlin. The secretary of state's election website has DiCalogero as the only third-party candidate in the state, with no Libertarians on ballots anywhere across the state, and she as the sole Green-Rainbow candidate.

For Mass. Senate, First Worcester District incumbent Harriette Chandler, of Worcester, has no challenger in the primary or November election.

While Worcester & Middlesex District Sen. Dean Tran, of Worcester, faces no competition in the primary, the Republican will face Democrat John Cronin, of Lunenburg, in November.

In the House races, Kate Hogan, of Stow, Democratic incumbent in the Third Middlesex District, Kimberly Ferguson, of Holden, Republican incumbent in the First Worcester District, and James O'Day, of West Boylston, Democratic incumbent in the Fourteenth Worcester District, are all running unopposed.

U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III is challenging incumbent U.S. Senator Ed Markey for the Democratic nomination and Shiva Ayyadurai and Kevin O'Connor are competing for the Republican nomination.

For U.S. Congress, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, of Westford, is not facing any challenge in the Third District. In the Second District. James McGovern, of Worcester, has no challenger in the primary, but will face a Republican, Tracy Lovvorn, of Grafton, in November.

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Ballots set for primary, November elections - The Item - Worcester Telegram

Black Guns Matter: Is The Mission Accomplished Yet for Maj Toure? – AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- I first met Maj Toure in July of 2017 as I meet most folks these days: over the internets! Maj Co-Founded the Black Guns Matter movement in 2016 and was very loudly championing The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms!

BGM is an Educational Non-Profit Organization advocating the Second Amendment and promoting responsible firearms ownership to Black and urban communities around the United States. The brash North Philadelphia born and raised, dreadlocked rapper, was quickly gaining popularity in the Gun Community with his philosophy of solutions and self-reliance when it comes to ever-present conflicts and mistrust minority communities deal with in regards to crime, violence, policing and protecting our families. So folks were reaching out to me assuming that I obviously golfed with him every weekend at the local country club. Jokes aside, youll find if you want to reach out to Maj Toure, hes really easy to communicate with through social media, just dont bring that smoke! If you dont know what that means it roughly translates into check yourself before you wreck yourself fool I'm old school.

Anyway, back in the day, I reached out to Maj through the BGM socials, invited him onto Episode 5 of the Who Moved My Freedom Podcast and weve been friends and allies in this everlasting fight for freedom for all ever since then. The message has spread and the mission has grown over the last three years for Black Guns Matter. Recently Antonia Okafor, National Spokesperson And Director Of Outreach for Gun Owners Of America invited us both so sit on a panel entitled: Is The Second Amendment Really For Everyone? put on at the Libertarian National Convention in Orlando and hosted by Party Vice Presidential Candidate Spike Cohen.

After the panel, Lola and I took the opportunity of us all being in the same place to do this sit down interview with Maj and update the readers of Ammoland News and my Viewers on YouTube with The Man, The Organization, and The Mission.

As recent tragic and violent events in our country have unfolded all compounded by the Covid-19 Lockdown, I hope we all realize that we need Actions and Solutions more than we need Rhetoric and Symbolic gestures to keep our Great Nation moving forward. In our sit-down, the question I wanted most to ask was: After four years of activism, outreach, and training, for Black Guns Matter and Maj Toure is the mission accomplished? Have we in the Gun Community pitched in and done our part to support the effort to ensure that The Second Amendment is indeed For All People and that all are welcomed and nurtured here?

According to Maj (as youll hear in the video) BGMs objectives have grown from one introductory class in Philly to a Thirteen City Tour and now to a Nationwide Outreach Effort. In 2020 the mission for Maj Toure is to raise a million dollars, and depending on your perspective thats either too little, too much, or not enough! Considering that a well known Pro Second Amendment Organization spent just as much or more paying for custom-tailored suits for it top executives in one year, I personally feel the money would have been better put to use at BGM Empowering our Brothers and Sisters in Arms. Maj has already raised and given back to our community at large close to three hundred thousand dollars in the form of training, locations for events, ammunition, as well other material costs necessary to put on classed around the country. If youre a fan of Maj and Black Guns Matter or even if you just discovered him here, you owe it to yourself to check out our video (its just 20 minutes) and you can help support BGM by following this link to their GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/blackgunsmatter

About Hank Strange

Hank Strange is an Enthusiastic Supporter of The Second Amendment, An Avid Filmmaker, Writer, Blogger, Music Producer, and Digital Artist: Hank is a Prolific YouTube Content Creator having Published over 1000 Videos to date relating to Lifestyle in the realms of Firearms, Cars, and Technology. A Proud American Citizen Since 2003 Hank was born of Mixed Race Parentage (his Father having African Ancestry and his Mother being of East Indian Ancestry amongst others) in Guyana, South America. He has traveled to a few places in the world with his Family living in London, England, and Nigeria in West Africa before settling in NYC. Hank & His Wife Lola are both Federal Firearms Licensees and currently live and work in Florida. Passionately Pursuing The Lifestyles Of The Locked And Loaded! Tune in to the daily Gun Culture News Podshow Who Moved my Freedom Podcast (WMMF) on the LIfestyles of the Locked and Loaded youtube channel. Hank's work can also be seen onwww.youtube.com/user/hankstrange/featured, Facebookwww.facebook.com/hank.strange.77, Instagraminstagram.com/hankstrange, his Personal Bloghankstrange.com, and other Social Media.

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Black Guns Matter: Is The Mission Accomplished Yet for Maj Toure? - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

What would it take for Kanye West to get on the ballot in Pennsylvania? – WHYY

This story originally appeared on PA Post.

Musician Kanye WesttweetedSaturday night that he intends to run for president in 2020. He has not formed a campaign committee, filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission,or, for that matter, done anything since Saturday to indicate he will follow through on the announcement.

But, just hypothetically, what would it take for him to get on the ballot in Pennsylvania?

Thanks to arelatively recent court settlement, not as much as it used to.

After six years of litigation, Pennsylvanias minor parties the Libertarian, Constitution, and Green parties reached a settlement with the Department of State in 2018 to lower the threshold for ballot access to 5,000 signatures for presidential candidates and 2,500 signatures for all other statewide offices (except governor and U.S. senator, which would require 5,000, but are not on the ballot this year).

Previously, third party and independent candidates needed to get enough signatures to amount to two percent of the statewide electorate, a number that often reached into the tens of thousands. That was a barrier to candidates from outside the two major parties.

If Im not spending months on end trying to fight to get on the ballot, well then we can spend all of our time campaigning and talking about the ideas with voters and debating with each other, so that the election is actually what its supposed to be, Dale Karns, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018,toldThe Philadelphia Inquirer.

Before the 2018 settlement, a federal judgeruled in 2015that the Commonwealths ballot access requirements violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by placing an unequal burden on non-major party candidates. The court then imposed interim guidelines that, in some cases, required signatures to come from multiple Pennsylvania counties. Under the settlement the parties reached in 2018, however, no such county-based requirements exist.

For presidential candidates, the candidatemust also name 20 electors(as well as their occupations and place of residency) at the time their petition is filed.

The deadline to submit paperwork for the 2020 general election is August 3. The filing fee is $200.

Read more here:

What would it take for Kanye West to get on the ballot in Pennsylvania? - WHYY

Rothbard on Substitutionism | Mises Wire – The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette

Often when we ask how to deal with an economic or political problem, some libertarians suggest that we answer in this way. First, we should ask, how would this problem be handled in a fully libertarian world, in which states do not exist? Once we have the answer to that question, we should try to come as close as possible to the fully libertarian solution as we can.

Murray Rothbard does not reject this approach outrightI dont think he accepted it eitherbut he shows that there is an assumption people often make when trying to implement it that is questionable. This assumption is what he calls substitutionism, and this is what I would like to discuss in todays article. Rothbards discussion of substitutionism arises from a controversy about foreign policy, but here Im interested not so much in the rights and wrongs of that issue, but rather in the general assumption.

Rothbards discussion of substitutionism appears in the Libertarian Forum (JuneJuly 1984). As everyone knows, Rothbard thinks that nations should follow a noninterventionist foreign policy. He isnt a pacifist, but wars, except in defense against invasion, are almost never justified.

The philosopher Eric Mack disagrees. In his paper Rights, Just Wars, and National Defense, he allows for a wider range of foreign policy interventions than Rothbard does. (This article is a revised version of the article Rothbard discusses. I cite it because it is more conveniently available.) He says, for example,

It is clearly reasonable to maintain and refine distinctly counterforce weaponry as a means, consistent with just war doctrine, for deterring whichever strategic threats against the people of the United States emerge in an unstable world of nuclear proliferation.

Here is where Rothbards substitutionism comes in. Rothbards view is that Macks suggested policy wrongly equates what it would be reasonable for a private protection agency to do with what is permissible for the state. Rothbard says:

One critical device for Mack is what we may call substitutionism assimilating man to the State, and implying that if, for example, it is all right for Joe Zilch to do something in a free society, or for a Private Protection Agency to do so, then it is ipso facto all right for the State to do so. Now, Mack would agree with mainstream anarchists that the State should be abolished and all functions privatized; but, failing that he sees little wrong with the State and with what it does.if the very being of an organizationthe Staterests on organized theft, then this makes the State simply an organization of thieves, a criminal institution. Unlike other robbers and criminals, the State, far from being scorned and reviled as are most other marauders, is admired and even worshipped as sovereign. The State is the only socially legitimate organization of criminals.

Rothbard anticipates an objection and responds to it. If the state is a criminal organization, does this mean that we should have nothing to do with it? Not necessarily, he says.

Note that I am not taking the absurd position that a person sanctions the State by walking or driving on government roads or by taking off in planes from government airports. Given the monopoly of roads or airports or postal service in the hands of government, and until they are privatized, we have no sensible alternative to using them. But this does not mean that we must blithely accept the State as an automatic proxy, or surrogate, for a firm in the private sector.Even when the State is actually performing an important service that it has seized and monopolized, it does not follow in any sense that we are warranted in calling for more government spending. For we cannot do so without adding to the burden of tax-theft in the society. In short, even in the case of valid but monopolized functions, it is always impermissible for libertarians to support an increase in tax-theft. For the State is not a private firm. If people want more roads, they should be willing to support this activity privately and voluntarily, and blocking at least any more State funding might even give them the idea of privatizing roads entirely. We cannot substitute the State for a private person or firm because it is inherently unsubstitutable. It is unsubstitutable because the nature of the State differs totally and radically, and not just marginally and technically, from all other social institutions. The States very being rests on theft and invasion of private property, and this theft and aggression must be reduced and hacked away at every way we can. At the very least, libertarians must never justify its increase.

Rothbard again anticipates an objection, and Im sure it is one that has occurred to many readers. Even if states shouldnt exist, dont people living in the United States have the right to defend themselves? So long as the United States government pursues a defensive nuclear strategy, then, dont we have to accept this?

Rothbard again disagrees.

A crucial feature of the State is that it always coercively monopolizes the exercise of coercion over a given territorial area. A private, free market defense agency could not do so. So that when the French government takes a course of action in military or foreign policy, it willy-nilly commits all French citizens living in that area to that policy. If the French government attacks Spain, then all French citizens are implicated, at least in the eyes of Spain, which government will force its own citizens to retaliate.In short, it is impermissible to say with Mack that, given the unfortunate existence of the State, we should treat it as if it were a private defense agency. We must say rather that, given the unfortunate existence of the State, we must limit and reduce its power, anywhere and everywhere, and wherever possible.

Rothbard raises other problems for Macks argument, having to do with innocent shields. I wont address these, because, as mentioned earlier, Im interested in the general issue of substitutionism rather than the specific application that Rothbard gives it in his article. Regardless of what you think about this issue, we can all agree that there is no substitute for Murray Rothbard.

Original post:

Rothbard on Substitutionism | Mises Wire - The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette

Opinion: Trump and the GOP’s control of the U.S. Senate – Oklahoman.com

If President Trumps polling struggles continue until Election Day, could that cost the Republican Party control of the U.S. Senate? This concern is emerging among some in the GOP, and it bears watching.

Democratic control of the House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a 233-197 advantage over Republicans (four seats are vacant, one is held by a Libertarian), appears safe. In the Senate, however, the GOP's edge is only 53-47. If Democrats win the White House, they would need to flip just three seats to control the Senate, because the vice president has the tie-breaking vote.

The Associated Press noted in an analysis last week that both parties expect tight races in closely divided states where moderate suburban voters could be crucial. These include Sens. Martha McSally of Arizona and Cory Gardner of Colorado. Other Republican senators facing competitive races are Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Steve Daines of Montana.

In all, Republicans must defend 23 Senate seats this year, compared with 12 for Democrats, who have fewer incumbents facing tough re-election bids.

What is an at-risk Republican to do to get back to Washington? Veteran GOP pollster and consultant Ed Goeas offered his insight during a recent virtual discussion with the Washington, D.C.-based Ripon Society, a public policy organization.

I will say one of the problems I think many of the senators have had is that with the Trump base, Goeas said. If you give them any sense that you are not 100% supportive of the president, they will turn on you very, very quickly.

Goeas says Trumps true base is about one-third of the electorate, and comprise people who have backed Trump from the start of his first campaign. He also says there is a non-Trump-specific Republican base, 11% or 12% of the electorate, who like Trumps policies but not his character.

Many of the states with potentially difficult races for Republican senators, Goeas said, are states that not only do you need the Trump base, you need the Republican base, and you need to start pulling in some independent voters.

Continued here:

Opinion: Trump and the GOP's control of the U.S. Senate - Oklahoman.com

Justin Amashs potential third-party presidential bid, explained – Vox.com

When I got on the phone with Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) the day after he announced the launch of an exploratory committee for a potential run for the White House, my first question was, Why are you doing this?

The question didnt come as a surprise to Amash, who entered Congress in 2010 as a strident Tea Party fiscal conservative only to leave the GOP last year before becoming the lone House conservative lawmaker to vote to impeach President Donald Trump. Now, five months later and staring down an increasingly impossible reelection bid hes considering a third-party presidential run as a libertarian.

Amash, 40, told me hes running because he believes hes the best person for the job. I think its important that we have someone whos honest, whos practical, who will have humility about the entire legislative process and the entire process for government and will allow us to get back to a place where we have a government that actually represents the people.

Amashs decision didnt come as a total surprise after all, he tweeted on April 15 that he was considering a presidential run. But the reactions to his announcement came fast and furious, particularly from Never Trump conservatives concerned he could pull votes away from Joe Biden and help incumbent Donald Trump win reelection.

Others noted Amashs lack of national name recognition and the historic lack of success for third-party candidates. A writer at the conservative-leaning blog Ordinary Times said Amashs 2020 campaign would be something 10 years from now you will be mildly upset for not remembering during a rousing round of bar trivia while waiting on your wings at B-Dubs:

Democrats only liked him for having the token R-turned-I to make their impeachment technically bipartisan. Trump voters arent going to give him anything but vitriol. So if your plan is for a little-known lame duck congressman with no discernible achievements in the one job he has held outside of a brief stint in the family business to revolutionize American politics, you might need to reconsider what you are pitching the American people.

Amash knows this. Hes tweeted about the angry response his announcement had received, and he told me hes well aware of his lack of name recognition. Its important to get out there, talk about the issues, talk about the approach I would take to government, talk about the practical ideas Id bring to the table, he told me.

The Congress member is making a big bet, not just on himself and his ability to reach out to Americans outside of his home state of Michigan, but on Americans in general, who he believes are far more libertarian-minded than their voting patterns indicate. Its highly unlikely to pay off. Even if voters say they want an option other than Trump or Biden, history shows third-party candidates rarely affect the outcome of an election. Amash, if he wins the Libertarian Partys ticket, probably wont be any different.

People are being left behind, he told me. They dont feel like theyre being treated fairly. They want to be treated with respect. And right now we have a government that doesnt do that, and people have an opportunity in this election to change that.

Before Amash became better known as a vigorous opponent of Donald Trump, he was a Tea Party stalwart and co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus. In 2010, a Michigan outlet described him as a throwback who preaches a gospel of old-school conservatism: less government, lower taxes and less regulation. He was known briefly as Dr. No for his penchant for voting against bills supported by his Republican allies, but some libertarians believed he could inherit the mantle carried by former representative (and former presidential candidate) Ron Paul as Americas best-known libertarian.

He argued against reauthorization of the Patriot Act (and was nearly primaried for it) and legislation aimed at prosecuting and fining websites that promote sex work. He opposed the Affordable Care Act, argued against federal support for the city of Flint, Michigan, and supported adding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

But libertarian-leaning conservatism has lost its luster in the Trump era, and among many Republicans, so has Amash. He left the House Freedom Caucus last June, after the caucus voted to condemn him for tweeting that Trumps conduct regarding the Ukraine investigation was impeachable. As I wrote last year:

But the crackup between Amash and the HFC is indicative of a larger and growing divide between Republicans and libertarians, one with real-world implications for Congress and our politics.

The growing conservative populist movement (of sorts) that stands directly athwart libertarian values of free minds and free markets is being felt in Republican politics. Rising stars in conservative circles, like Sen. Josh Hawley, are arguing against so-called free market orthodoxy on trade and calling for the regulation of social media companies, arguing that holding big companies accountable who have amassed significant market power and are using it among other things to squelch conservative voices is a conservative cause.

But Amash isnt running as an independent in 2020. Rather, he wants to contest the nomination for the Libertarian Party, believing, as he told me, that voters value being a part of something, including a political party.

Given the current dynamic with both parties, Amash said, the Libertarian Party can pull a lot of votes from those parties and can also consolidate a lot of independent voters who are not strongly affiliated with either party.

The Libertarian Party nomination process also offers Amash the timing he needs to make an entrance into the presidential discussion. While the Libertarian Party does hold primaries and caucuses, those events are nonbinding. The presidential nominee is ultimately chosen at the national convention, currently scheduled to take place in late May. The candidate who wins the most delegates at the convention wins, period.

And while Amash is popular among libertarians, he has not previously identified with the party, leading some to feel as if the Libertarian Party is, as Reason Magazines Matt Welch said, sloppy seconds for former Republicans.

If he wins the nomination, its the fourth consecutive former Republican elected official [to win], Welch said. It kind of starts making you feel a little bit used. Daniel McCarthy, a writer at the conservative outlet the Spectator, wrote of the Libertarian Party, the fact that it doesnt even have a leadership cadre of its own, but every four years now turns to a former Republican as its presidential standard-bearer, is revealing.

But Amash offers valuable attention and a fundraising opportunity for the party, which Welch told me it badly needs. The main problem is that the natural state of affairs for third parties in this country is just misery, he said. So yes, you could try to reassert yourself and say, Lets have some home grown energy, [and nominate] lifetime libertarian types of people from within, and you will go out and you will get your 0.4 percent of the vote, which has been pretty constant over long periods of time.

The current frontrunner for the nomination, Jacob Hornberger, founder of the libertarian think tank Future of Freedom Foundation, agrees. Hornberger won primary contests in New York, North Carolina, California, Missouri, and Connecticut. And though he somewhat dismissively told the Dispatch that Amash would likely run a Republican-lite campaign, he also told Vox he welcomed the national media attention the Michigan lawmaker might bring.

Congressman Amashs entry into the race for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination provides a big benefit to the LP, he wrote in an email. It not only brings an air of excitement to the race, it also focuses the attention of the national media on the LP presidential debates. ... Moreover, whoever wins the LP presidential nomination will now be assured of national media attention.

Welch added that Amash is actually the most libertarian dude of this parade of Republicans by far hes objectively more libertarian than [2016 LP nominee] Gary Johnson in most ways, and certainly more than [2008 nominee] Bob Barr.

He certainly is. Amash voted against a proposed national suicide prevention hotline because he thought the bill lacked a constitutional basis. He voted against a bill expressing support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. He thinks the Department of Education should be abolished. In fact, on many issues, particularly those regarding executive power and the role of government, Amash is far more conservative than Trump.

But Amash believes his views mirror those of most Americans, but those Americans arent being heard. When I spoke with him back in July, he told me:

One of the reasons Ive always described myself as libertarian and use that word repeatedly is so that people will connect the word to the work Im doing. One of the things I like to tell libertarians when I go to conferences and other places is that libertarians are not really a small minority in the country. Most Americans have rather libertarian tendencies or classical liberal tendencies the spirit of this country is very much libertarian or classical liberal.

Most Americans, in my view, fall within the sphere of libertarianism or classical liberalism. They might not call themselves libertarian, they might not call themselves classical liberals, but they fall within that sphere and could support a party that presents those ideas. And so I think that there is room for a third party presenting those, thats presenting that vision.

When we spoke, I was reminded of a conversation I had in 2016 with Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson. He also told me, I think most Americans are libertarian, they just dont know it, adding that libertarianism in his view, a combination of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism made him the ideal alternative to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. (Johnson won just over 3 percent of the popular vote in 2016.)

And while the Libertarian Party is growing rapidly, relatively few Americans describe themselves as being libertarian, though they might hold libertarian views. So whether any more Americans would vote for a Libertarian Party nominee for president than in 2016 is questionable, particularly in an election many see as a binary choice between Trump and Biden.

While many Americans support the concept of third parties, they dont tend to vote for them, particularly in presidential elections featuring an incumbent nominee. For example, while in 2016 third-party candidates (Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, and independent candidate Evan McMullin) received roughly 7 million votes, Johnson won just 1.2 million votes in 2012. Ralph Nader won 2.8 million votes in 2000 and received just over 465,000 votes in 2004.

As FiveThirtyEights Geoffrey Skelley detailed in 2019, while many voters identify as independents and thus might be more amenable to a third-party candidate, their voting patterns indicate otherwise:

For example, if we include independent leaners with the party they preferred, 92 percent of Democrats and Republicans backed their respective party nominees in the 2016 presidential election. And despite the 2016 election featuring the two most unpopular major-party nominees in modern times, only 6 percent of voters decided to cast ballots for third-party candidates. In fact, the last time third-party candidates accounted for more than 10 percent of the vote was more than 20 years ago, in the 1996 election.

I spoke with David Byler, a data analyst and political columnist at the Washington Post, who told me these results are due, in part, to partisan affiliation and increasing political polarization. All of that stuff has downstream effects on third-party candidates. Its just hard for them to get a lot of votes, he said. And in most scenarios, even in 2016 when we had two historically really disliked candidates, the third-party candidates, Johnson and Stein, didnt crack double digits.

Byler added that the voters who look to third parties are generally not interested in either Democrats or Republicans, contra concerns from some liberals and anti-Trump conservatives who think Amash could play spoiler. Some [third-party voters] are Republicans or Democrats who are protesting against the major-party candidates or feel like they cant vote for their partys candidate. But some of them are just libertarians, and are people whose true first preference are these third-party candidates and arent really as up for grabs as I think people might think.

And even that portion of third-party voters who are protesting the two main parties will probably shrink this year, according to Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. In 2020, Democrats are less disposed to a protest vote if it means Trump staying in office. Coleman told me, If Im a Democratic voter and Im not too enthused about Joe Biden, well, its more important that we beat Trump.

I dont think that were going to see as much of a third-party influence in 2020, Coleman said. Because I think compared to 2016, both sides are going to probably be doing a better job of mobilizing their base.

Its worth noting another possible factor in Amashs decision-making though he told me he felt confident I could win reelection in his district, available data says otherwise. Yes, Amash stopped fundraising earlier this spring in advance of a possible presidential run, but he faced an uphill battle in any case, running as an independent in a state that permits straight-ticket voting against both Democratic and Republican candidates (particularly as a Trump critic).

Amash told me hes not worried about accusations that his run might keep Trump in office. People should vote for the person they want to win, he said. And if someone wants me to win, they should vote for me. And if someone wants someone else to win, they should vote for that other person. Its a pretty simple, frankly, and more choices is better for the American people.

Moreover, he fundamentally believes that Trump and Biden represent equally bad choices for American voters.

If people want to vote for me, they can vote for me. And if they dont want to, theyre welcome to vote for one of the other candidates, he said. I think theyd be making a mistake. And I think they probably know that theyd be making a mistake voting for one of the other candidates. And I think most Americans would believe that, but thats up to each person and theyre allowed to do whatever they want. Theyre individuals.

Correction, May 4: A previous version of this story misstated Gary Johnsons 2016 vote total.

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Justin Amashs potential third-party presidential bid, explained - Vox.com

Armed mobs: the grim apotheosis of libertarianism – National Catholic Reporter

The scene was the most unnerving of any in my political adulthood at least since the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Sen. Robert Kennedy, and this scene also involved guns: Dozens of protesters armed with automatic weapons stormed the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan, demanding an end to enforced social distancing requirements made necessary by the coronavirus. Unnerving, but not entirely surprising.

The protest had some of the symbolic trappings of the Tea Party movement, for example: the prominent display of both U.S. and Gadsden flags, the latter emblazoned with the group's motto, "Don't Tread on Me." This Revolutionary-era motto was a tad excessive then, but at least the marines who hoisted it really were fighting for the principle that free men should not be disenfranchised, as the colonists were.

The crowd in Lansing is surely free to vote for the political leaders they desire, to be taxed only by their freely chosen representatives, is not required to quarter troops from abroad in their homes, nor risk being sent to London if they commit a crime. The 6% sales tax Michiganders pay exempts groceries, so there is no tax on tea either.

The mood was dark, but not the skin color of the protesters: This was a mostly all-white affair, as these libertarian events usually are.

The racist roots of modern libertarianism were well documented in Nancy MacLean's book Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America, which I reviewed in two parts, here and here. The godfather of the movement, James Buchanan, was unapologetically committed to states rights and proudly fond of John C. Calhoun. Watching the protest in Lansing, I could not but recall that George Wallace won the Michigan primary in 1972.

There were the self-contradictory signs invoking freedom when the absence of violence and the peaceful transfer of power have long been distinguishing marks of Western democracy. Only a deeply inadequate political theory would not see that the defense of the freedom of speech and promotion of self-government are essential to the protection of freedom and that bringing a gun to the legislature inhibits free speech and threatens the functioning of democracy. The only freedom these libertarians are committed to is their own and, while we can perhaps comfort ourselves that the protesters in Lansing were fringe extremists, the highbrow libertarians at the Cato Institute also operate from an impoverished, in their case excessively formal, definition of freedom. For them, the rich man and the homeless man are both free to forage in the dumpster for their dinner.

There was a sense of grievance driving the emotion of the mob, a sense that was palpable at Tea Party rallies in 2010, long before any virus infected the land. To be clear, America's working class has good reason to feel aggrieved, but it is the economic structures that flow from this same libertarian attitude that have left them as so much collateral damage in the laissez-faire, globalized economy. Unwilling or unable to identify the true culprit, they are happy to find scapegoats: immigrants, union bosses, "welfare queens." This sense of grievance has been nurtured by Republicans since Reagan's time, but it has been stoked into fever pitch by President Donald Trump.

True, the political left has been afflicted by socio-cultural memes concocted in academic laboratories, all of which tend to invite Democratic politicians to traffic in condescension. Remember "deplorables?" Only an activist political left, focused on economic justice, will bring any help to those cast aside by the Reaganite-Thatcherite economic landscape of the last 40 years. How grimly ironic that such political promise may be destroyed by the penchant on both left and right for culture wars rather than for political solutions.

Five years ago, Alan Wolfe warned us of the totalitarian core of libertarian ideology in a brilliant essay in Commonweal. He followed it up with an extraordinarily well-done conference on the topic at Boston College's Boisi Center, which he then led. The fact that libertarianism is at odds with Catholicism has long been obvious, which is why the courting of libertarian guru and funder Charles Koch by the Catholic of University of America was so repulsive. With my great friend Stephen Schneck, I helped organize a series of conferences on the wrongheadedness of libertarianism that began with a speech by Cardinal scar Rodrguez Maradiaga. This video starts with the cardinal being introduced by Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO. I hasten to point out that the defeat of libertarianism in our polity and culture will begin here, in an alliance of labor and the Catholic Church.

Those "Erroneous Autonomy" conferences started in 2014, which seems like a lifetime ago. Dark as the threat of libertarianism appeared then, none of us foresaw what we witnessed last week, armed protesters storming a citadel of democracy. The rest was predictable: the abuse of symbols, the racism, the self-contradictions, the totalitarian itch. But the threat of violence, expressed so openly and in such a raw fashion, this is new. Let the condemnations be swift and loud, before it is too late.

[Michael Sean Winters covers the nexus of religion and politics for NCR.]

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Armed mobs: the grim apotheosis of libertarianism - National Catholic Reporter

Political scientist finds disconnect in Libertarian Party platform, voters – University of Dayton – News Home

University of Dayton political scientist Christopher Devine has written the definitive academic study of the Libertarian Party Americas third largest political party. He documents a growing disconnect between the partys radical platform and the more mainstream, fiscally conservative and socially liberal policy preferences of its rank-and-file supporters.

His research is timely. This week, Michigan Congressman Justin Amash announced that he would run for the Libertarian Partys presidential nomination at next months national convention.

Devine examines the Libertarian Partys history, electoral performance and prospects for growth in the future. In addition, he conducts the first-ever survey-based analysis of party voters and members policy views for Beyond Donkeys and Elephants: Minor Political Parties in Contemporary American Politics. The book, released this spring, is the most comprehensive account ever written of contemporary minor political parties in the United States, according to publisher University Press of Kansas.

The Libertarian Party portrays itself as the third choice for Americans who find themselves dissatisfied with the two-party system not a fringe group of small-government radicals but a mainstream alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties with broad electoral appeal and the potential to emerge as a major party in its own right, Devine writes.

Devines analysis shows that Libertarian Party voters and members are fiscally conservative and socially liberal but not radically so. Essentially, they agree with Republicans on economic policy and Democrats on social policy. However, Libertarians are less likely than Democrats or Republicans to support the use of military force. Yet they hardly qualify as extreme in this regard or even noninterventionist, really, Devine writes.

Libertarians, it would seem, are not nearly as radical as their party platform, he writes. For instance, only 12% of Libertarian Party voters agree that taxes should never be increased.

Devine shows that Libertarians successes mostly have come at the local level. No one running as a Libertarian ever has been elected to federal office, or to any state legislature since 2000. Amashs recent party switch makes him the first Libertarian ever to serve in the U.S. Congress.

Amash is hoping to build on the Libertarian Partys success in 2016, when presidential candidate Gary Johnson appeared on all 50 state ballots and won 3.3% of the national popular vote three times more than the nearest competitor, Jill Stein of the Green Party, and more than any other minor-party candidate since 1996. Devine also notes that in 2016, the Libertarian Party had more registered voters (approximately 500,000) than any other minor party, and won a higher percentage of the vote in U.S. Senate races than at any other point in party history.

To succeed in 2020 and beyond, Devine argues, the Libertarian Party must focus less on ideological purity and more on appealing to the broader electorate with its fiscally conservative and socially liberal message. It could do so by moderating the partys radical platform, and by nominating a credible presidential candidate, such as Congressman Amash -- even if doing so may upset the partys ideological base.

The change that they seek may never come, Devine writes, if Libertarians continue to win only the most votes among losing parties.

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Political scientist finds disconnect in Libertarian Party platform, voters - University of Dayton - News Home

Be Free: A Libertarian Look At The Music Of Kemo The Blaxician – The Libertarian Republic

Kemo the Blaxican is one of the founding members of one of the pioneering Latin rap groups, Delinquent Habits. As a dedicated fan of Blaxicans music, I have noted many of his songs are loaded with messages libertarians will love.

Id like to take you on a journey a sampling of his some jams that speak of liberty in Spanglish.

Thats When She DiedThis song has to be the most Libertarian rap song I have ever heard. It sends a powerful message concerning the abuse of government authority. Kemos lyrics speak of how the American government has betrayed the ideas of individual liberty, which were foundational to the creation of our Constitutional Republic for money and power. The song also samples audio from former Congressman Ron Paul speaking about defending our liberties. How much more Libertarian can you get?

Be FreeThis song is sure to pull on the heartstrings of any liberty-lover as it hits on the foundational beliefs of Libertarians the ability of all people to live free provided they dont hurt anyone else. As the hook of the song says, Kids, be free! Just dont hurt anybody! The song also speaks about making the most of your life instead of wasting it by making stupid decisions. I think its a song Steffi Cole would appreciate as she always reminds everyone to be free at the end of her videos.

U Dont Own MeLike the previous song, this one harmonizes with the heart of Libertarian thought. Self-ownership is a core belief of all Libertarians, and this Delinquent Habits track talks about living how you please and not giving a damn what anyone else thinks. The song samples Leslie Gores 1960s hit of the same name and is a real headbanger with themes centering around self-ownership.

RebelA little rebellion is good now and then. The Blaxican spits hot fire on this number. Calling out the government and media for trying to control the people. Our battle is primarily on the battlefield of ideas as Kemo says in this anthem for liberty, The mind is your gun, the trigger your tongue, fighting for freedom, the war has begun.

Kemo the Black Latino has put some heavily liberty-themed rhymes on wax during his career and continues to make waves in the world of Hip-Hop with his signature Latin style. If you love liberty and rap, Id recommend giving Kemo The Blaxicans music a listen. His rhymes are hotter than Lady Libertys torch!

Image: Tade Bednarz

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Be Free: A Libertarian Look At The Music Of Kemo The Blaxician - The Libertarian Republic

What You Need to Know About the CARES Act – The Libertarian Republic

The coronavirus pandemic has created chaos in many sectors, and higher education is not exempt. Fortunately, the CARES Act, a 2 trillion-dollar relief package signed on March 27, included many benefits for students. Understanding what parts of the CARES Act are designed for students and what those benefits are can help you navigate this scary time.

The Educational Stabilization Fund makes up almost 31 billion dollars. It is dedicated to both K-12 and higher education. It gives money to governors who can distribute it as needed in their state. It also includes funds that are passed directly to schools, both K-12 and higher education, without going through the governors of the states. This money is used in a variety of ways. At least half must be used to provide emergency grants to those who have expenses related to the disruption of campus operations. This means the funds can pay for a wide range of things, such as housing, child care, and technology.

You do not need to be in school to see relief from the CARES Act. If you are currently in default, the bill suspends involuntary collections on defaulted student loans. This includes tax refund offsets and Social Security garnishments as well as wage garnishments. If you have Direct or FFEL Loans through the federal government, billing is suspended on those through September 30, 2020. During this time, you will not accrue interest, and the payment suspension will count as qualifying payments for the benefit of those working toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness or who are repaying on an income-based plan. The months of the suspension are also counted as qualifying payments for individuals rehabilitating their default. It is important to note that these benefits do not cover Perkins loans, which are campus-based, and FFEL held by commercial lenders. Private education loans are also not covered by these benefits.

There is a temporary, for the 2020 tax year only, benefit included in the CARES Act. The tax break allows an employer to provide up to $5,250 toward the existing student loan debt of an employee. This is excluded from wages and is not taxed. It is an addition to the existing law that allows employers to provide the same amount to an employees education cost but allows the money to be used for student loan debt. It will expire after the 2020 tax year.

If you are in a situation that is not covered under these existing benefits, there may still be options. There is a provision in the CARES Act that allows for flexibility in the money colleges and universities provide for their students. They can, for example, release work-study funds to students who are unable to work due to closures. They can waive program requirements for pursuing loan forgiveness. They can also refuse to penalize students who may not have made Satisfactory Academic Progress this term and would otherwise be in danger of not meeting financial aid requirements for time limits. There is a good deal of flexibility built into the higher education segment of the CARES Act, so if you are experiencing a particular need, you should reach out to your school for a discussion into how it may be possible to reach a solution.

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What You Need to Know About the CARES Act - The Libertarian Republic

Who should be included in the libertarian canon – UConn Daily Campus

Many are familiar with the long intellectual tradition of progressivism within academia. While progressive ideas may hold true, it is important students are exposed to the full breadth of knowledge academia holds. Without ideological diversity, students lose the critical thinking skills to discern between important ideas. Who I think should be included in the libertarian canon is merely a sample, but sufficient enough for readers to get their feet wet in libertarianism. My methodology is multidisciplinary, ranging from literature, to economics and more. All of the figures in this article are a product of my own research and I have never been formally taught any of them in school, which is why it is doubly important this message is expressed. Besides, one of the main tenets of libertarianism is self-directed education.

Firstly, lets discuss literature. My favorite author, George Orwell was a libertarian socialist. Another author, Ayn Rand, was a libertarian capitalist. Ive read both 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell and enjoyed them, thoroughly. Both were a critique of the overreach of government and totalitarianism. Some readers believe Snowball and Napoleon from Animal Farm represent dictators, Stalin and Trotsky.

Orwell also coined such phrases as The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians, and If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. In short this man stood up for and advocated what he believed in: libertarianism.

As for Ayn Rand: I listened to half of her audiobook, Anthem. The book is written in first-person, plural pronouns. Individuality in the book is deemphasized. In fact, individuality is an important theme in her books and her philosophy, which she called Objectivism. Though I disagree with major components of Objectivism it believes altruism is evil I appreciate that it stresses capitalism, individualism and limited government. Ive been learning a lot about Ayn Rands work through her think tanks and through Yaron Brook, businessman and president of the Ayn Rand institute.

Economics is where the vast majority of libertarian theories arises. It goes without saying that I believe students should study the works of F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. As Hayek says, The argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason can employ, but an argument against all exclusive, privileged, monopolistic organization, against the use of coercion to prevent others from doing better. Despite these economists long accolades and contributions to society, my favorite economist is someone else, an obscure economist from Virginia.

I first became a fan of economist Bryan Caplan when I was googling libertarian quizzes, several years ago. From there, I became curious about his work, watching lectures, interviews and debates he participated in. I eventually bought two of his books, The Case Against Education and Open Borders. Caplans statistics were educational and pointed to an idea he called signalling, the idea that educations mere purpose is to convey intelligence, conformity and conscientiousness. In Open Borders, he explained a philosophical thought experiment my favorite about a man named Marvin. I had emailed Dr. Caplan last summer, out of sheer curiosity, about his positions of abolishing the FDA and anti-discrimination laws, ideas hes defended in the past. He answered my emails, thanking me for emailing him, along with a link for senior economics students, using statistics to convey why the general public is not bigoted. Overall, it was an interesting read, but Im not sure if Im ready to repeal anti-discrimination laws just yet, but he definitely deserves to be in the canon.

Overall, this is a sampling of who should be in the libertarian canon. You are free to research, enjoy and discern between opinions. I hope this article helps someone in exploring libertarianism, even if they decide libertarianism is not for them.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual writers in the opinion section do not reflect the views and opinions of The Daily Campus or other staff members. Only articles labeled Editorial are the official opinions of The Daily Campus.

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Who should be included in the libertarian canon - UConn Daily Campus

The insipid libertarian memes of COVID-19 – Ryan Bohl – Elemental

What a time to be alive. The libertarian right is suddenly rediscovering their balls after years of watching the GOPs steady entrenchment of presidential power under Trump. And their memes are here to tell you tyranny is upon us!

Perhaps youve seen some of these floating around your social media newsfeed, or at least seen a version of them. You may ask, how do I know these are specifically libertarian memes? Well, like all memes, ownership is fluid but I will say I did take them from popular posts in libertarian Facebook groups and Reddit. Even if the creators were not libertarian themselves (perhaps Russian?), the audiences sure ended up being so.

There are far too many memes to repudiate comprehensively, let alone in a Medium post, but I thought Id grab a few recurrent ones Ive seen. When given even a dash of scrutiny, the memes find themselves collapsing faster than Trumps poll numbers.

The I dont know what quarantine means meme

Americas school system has failed again! This meme doesnt know what quarantine means, and for some reason the creator didnt bother to Google the dictionary definition. Quarantine is not just about sick people its also about exposed people. Because COVID-19 is so virulent (with an r-nought of perhaps up to 5.7, meaning its super spreadable) and also often asymptomatic, we 1). have to assume its been spread a lot more than it has been and 2). a lot of people have it and we dont know it.

Hence the widespread measures that look like quarantines the public health strategy assumes that a lot of people have been exposed, and its so many that there is no viable neighborhood by neighborhood strategy, let alone an individual by individual one.

The meme also just totally ignores modern quarantine practices: immigrants and cargo crews coming into the United States are routinely quarantined if its believed they may have been exposed to some kind of infectious disease; often, the threshold is as simple as Been anywhere near Ebola lately? Many of them are healthy. Most of all, this has been standard practice since the word quarantine was invented in the 14th or 15th century.

At its core, quarantine is about individual rights the rights of millions of people not to get sick and die. The exchange is the temporary suspension of movement for others. And thats the real problem here: its not just that the meme doesnt understand quarantine, its that its arguing that the temporary interruption of daily life for some is pure tyranny. My God, what if I cant visit the Olive Garden for unlimited breadsticks for a few months?

The I want to bring back gilded age depressions meme

Woof here! This meme suggests that businesses affected by COVID-19 lockdowns should be slaughtered like the sickened wild hogs they are. There are a few libertarian fetishes tickled by this meme: hunting, blood, and disproportionate punishment for personal failure. In the 21st century, the only ones who survive should be the ones who trick their fellow citizens into purchasing artificially scarce goods and services.

Of course, this memes underlying principles are based on an often fatal combination of myth and fantasy. The myth is that businesses are entirely responsible for their own success and not part of an interconnected economic and political system in which even good ideas do not immediately achieve success. The fantasy is that adopting Darwinian capitalism would somehow be a better world, and not revert the U.S. back into the late 19th centurys murderous cycle of booms and depressions rather than Americas current cycle of booms and recessions.

The I dont understand how laws work meme

Ah yes, proof positive that we are but on the cusp of totalitarianism. Apparently, this really did happen but the meme is still stupid. According to reports, the man was part of a group told to disperse; everyone else did, but because this guy is probably a dick, he refused to. So he was arrested.

And yet this libertarian meme makes it out as if this is 1). widespread and 2). not reasonable. First of all, we dont have any evidence that police across the nation are arresting thousands of people for lockdown violations, and the arrests that are happening are resulting in fines, not concentration camps. Its like the memes creator thinks that Hitlers rise to power was paved with traffic tickets.

So to answer the memes question, yes, its about a virus, because law enforcement had a non-compliant individual violating a reasonable anti-pandemic order multiple times and had no choice but to end social distancing to ensure the order still had any meaning. Pretty sure tanks didnt roll out the next day in LA.

The Im really bad at history one

Heres the problem with historical comparisons: they most often tell you how things are not repeating themselves. You can do the broad strokes things (Rome got so corrupt it fell apart, so corruption is bad), but when you get into specific policies, let alone your news of the day, youre gonna end up looking dumb.

The idea behind this meme is that the tyranny of the British in 1776 is somehow the same as the tyranny of public health officials in 2020. But boy does that ignore a lot of history including all the times public health officials used to quarantine our asses before vaccines were invented for pandemics like measles, polio, and the Spanish flu. Somehow that all gets ignored, in addition to the very big fact that the American Revolution wasnt even remotely fought over Britains right to impose quarantines during pandemics.

Instead, this is just lazy libertarian ahistorical math: one tyranny is the same as all the others. It says something foolish and wrong, and contributes nothing to the public debate happening over how the U.S. should approach COVID-19.

That surely wont stop more from coming, though. The best we can do is lambast them.

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The insipid libertarian memes of COVID-19 - Ryan Bohl - Elemental