From Eric Dondero:

The last Lt. Governor under Bob Ehrlich went on to become Chairman of the RNC.

Now frontrunner for Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich has chosen former Secretary of State Mary Kane as his running mate. Kane is from Potomac, and is married to the former State Republican Chairman.

During his previous term Ehrlich was seen as a fiscal conservative and moderately social libertarian. He was one of the first Republican Governors to come out in favor of legalization of medicinal marijuana.

OntheIssues.org rated Ehrlich as a "Libertarian-leaning Conservative," noting his atypical stance on marijuana legalization.

From Eric Dondero:

The London Daily Mail is reporting on the attempted killing of actress Afshan Azad. She played Padma Patil in the latter Harry Potter movies. However, the Mail neglects to mention the religious affiliation of the father and son who are accused of the assault.

From the Daily Mail, July 2:

A Harry Potter actress has fled her home after her father and brother allegedly threatened to kill her.

Afshan Azad, 22, who has appeared in four of the blockbuster movies as Padma Patil, is now believed to be staying with friends in London.

Her father Abdul Azad, 54, and brother Ashraf Azad, 28, both of Longsight in Manchester (photo of downtown Manchester), were arrested and charged.

Both are accused of threatening to kill her.

Ashraf Azad is also accused of assaulting his sister causing her actual bodily harm.

They appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and the case was adjourned until July 12 for committal proceedings to crown court.

They had been in custody until this week’s court appearance when they were bailed.
As part of their bail conditions, they have to abide by an 11pm to 6am curfew and must not travel to London or contact an unnamed man.

Miss Azad lived with her father, mother Nilofar and her three brothers.

Meanwhile there are increasing reports of outrage by Potter fans.

But Infidel Bloggers Alliance asks:

Will Harry Potter fans begin to recognize in radical Islam the face of Voldemort and the Death Eaters? Or will the PC/MC indoctrination they have received all their lives corral their natural, spontaneous outrage into the safe confines of "cultural relativism"?

UPDATE!!

CNN confirms family is Muslim

Just breaking from CNN:

Abdul Azad, 54, and his son Ashraf, 28, are accused of attacking actress Afshan Azad earlier this month because of her relationship with a Hindu man, a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said. The family is Muslim.

From Eric Dondero:

Is the Left now going Prohibitionist? Or, at least Ninnies about alcohol?

The Far Left, America-hating political website TPM is taking House Minority Leader John Boehner to task for enjoying Happy Hour after a hard day's work.
From TPM July 2:

During a press conference earlier today, House Republican leader John Boehner was asked about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough’s accusation that “every Republican I talk to says John Boehner, by 5 or 6 o’clock at night, you can see him at bars.” When asked if there was “any truth” to that allegation, Boehner dodged the question entirely and instead argued that he’s hard at work doing fundraisers for his colleagues:

QUSTION (sic): Is there any truth to the matter that you’re at bars at 5 or 6 o’clock during the day?

BOEHNER: You can go back over the last 16 years and look at my schedule and you’ll see you’d be hard-pressed to find a night when I wasn’t doing events for my colleagues or my candidates.

Ironically, some voters may find Republicans enjoying a few spirits a refreshing change to the typical buttoned-down image of the GOP.

gold·brick (gldbrk) Slang
n.
A person, especially a soldier, who avoids assigned duties or work; a shirker.
v. gold·bricked, gold·brick·ing, gold·bricks
v.intr.
To shirk one's assigned duties or responsibilities.
v.tr.
To cheat; swindle. -- Goldbrickers definition from Free Dictionary

From Eric Dondero:

Should people have to work for a living; or should they just get paid for doing nothing?

Libertarian-leaning Republican candidates are starting to question extensions without ends of unemployment benefits. Such benefits for some tax takers are now closing in on the 2-year mark. At least one liberal media outlet is stunned that the question would even be brought up by mainstream candidates for office.

From ABC News, July 1, "Politics of Jobless Claims: Is Two Years of Benefits Too Much?":

But out on the campaign trail, it's a different story -- some insurgent Republican candidates with libertarian streaks are arguing to scale back -- not extend -- the benefits.

Both Sharron Angle and Rand Paul were quoted:

"The truth about it is that they keep extending these unemployment benefits to the point where people are afraid to go out and get a job because the job doesn't pay as much as the unemployment benefit does," she said, even though most people on unemployment receive less than 40 percent of their previous wages. (The maximum benefit in Nevada is $362 a week, far lower than the median household income there, which is more than $56,000.)

In Kentucky, where the unemployment rate is 10.2 percent, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul told a radio interviewer that the unemployed were essentially getting "handouts."

"As bad as it sounds, ultimately, we do have to sometimes accept a wage that's less than we had at our previous job in order to get back to work and allow the economy to get started again," Paul said. "Nobody likes that, but it may be one of the tough love things that has to happen."

From Eric Dondero:

It is my distinct honor to announce that Republican nominee for United States Senate Sharron Angle of Nevada will be our guest tonight on "Libertarian Politics Live."

A hearty congratulations to our show's host Andre Traversa for securing the interview. And a special thanks to the show's producer Jim "Right Guy" Lagnese. The three of us will be on the show tonight. And we might have a special surprise call-in guest or two.

It starts at 8 pm central standard time. Or, you can listen to the podcast after the show airs.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/libertarian Or simply click on the radio button above.

From Eric Dondero:

This is the first sighted comparison of Sharron Angle to Ayn Rand in the major media. Ezra Klien, far-left editorial writer for the Washington Post compared Angle's jobs position to that of incumbent Senator Harry Reid; "Angle vs. Reid -- and Nevada -- on unemployment benefits."

From WaPo:

Whatever else Nevadans can say about their Senate race this year, they can't say they've been denied a clear choice. In the blue corner is Harry Reid, who took to the Senate floor last night to introduce yet another bill to extend unemployment benefits. One important thing to note: The measure varies unemployment insurance by state. The states with the highest levels of unemployment get up to 99 weeks of help. States with more modest unemployment levels get much less than that.

In the red corner, wearing the Ayn Rand trunks, is Reid's opponent, Sharron Angle.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws [...]

Economics in More than One Lesson

Business prospers most in an environment of limited government.

Business prospers little in an environment of no government (anarchy), due to no protections of private property.

Business propsers little in an environment of lots of government. Economic output suffers from over-regulation, and high spending, confiscating otherwise investment income from the private sector.

From Eric Dondero:

The Washington Post was critical of Sharron Angle's appearance on our show "Libertarian Politics Live" on Thursday. And now, like clockwork, the other liberal DC establishment media is joining in.

From Politico, Sunday, July 4, "Sharron Angle: I'm not a 'birther'":

Republican Sharron Angle, who is challenging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Nevada Senate race, declared Friday that she is not “birther,” a day after she avoided answering a question about whether she had any doubts about President Barack Obama’s citizenship.

In an interview Friday with the conservative blog Hot Air, Angle was asked whether she believed Obama was born somewhere other than Hawaii, and she replied: “No. Is that flat-out enough for you?”

Her comments came a day after she appeared on the conservative blog talk show Libertarian Politics Live, when Angle was asked by a caller whether she had “any doubts whether or not President Obama is a legitimate president or a naturalized born citizen.”

Note the description of our show explicitly named "Libertarian Politics Live" as "Conservative."

Later in the article:

Andre Traversa, the host of the Thursday show, said the question was “irrelevant” because “what’s really important is [Obama’s] ideology is dangerous.”

“I think so too,” Angle said. “I think his policies as I’ve said have been a failure, and Harry Reid has failed because he has pushed forward those policies, and that is what has put us in this position – especially here in Nevada. … You’re exactly right: his ideology has failed us and continues to fail Americans.”

Angle has faced a barrage of criticism from Reid’s campaign over some of her staunchly conservative views, some of which she’s kept off her newly revamped website. And she’s been criticized for limiting her appearances before the mainstream media in favor of mostly sympathetic news outlets.

And a few paragraphs later they mentioned my question to Sharron; whether she could see the makings of a "Liberty Caucus" in the Senate:

On the radio show Thursday, Angle was praised by conservative callers and the hosts who badly want to take down Reid, who faces sagging approval numbers back home and who polls show is trailing Angle in the race. And she went on the offensive against Reid, accusing him of wanting to "raid and pillage" the Social Security trust fund and for presiding in Washington as the top Senate Democrat as Nevada's economy has bottomed out.

Angle predicted she’d win November and create a “strong minority within the minority” of fiercely conservative members in the Senate Republican Conference, including Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) – along with Senate GOP hopefuls Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida.

WaPo didn't even mention the Liberty Caucus question, which could be seen as the most newsworthy event to come out of the show. Politico could be given some praise for picking that up.

Of course, both WaPo and Politico completely missed Dave Nalle's calling into the show to announce the official endorsement of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Somehow a set-up question from the 617 area code (Boston) on Birtherism is more important than a national political organization representing the libertarian wing of the GOP endorsing a US Senate candidate.

From Eric Dondero:

Fantastic news coming out of Ohio. Fiscal Conservative stalwart John Kasich has actually increased his lead over scandal-ridden incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland. Rasmussen reports that Kasich is up by 2 points over a similar poll done in May.

From Rasmussen:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the governor’s race in Ohio finds Republican John Kasich with a 47% to 40% lead over incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland - for the second month in a row. Three percent (3%) of Likely Voters in the state prefer some other candidate, and 10% are undecided.

In the last poll, Kasich had 47%, but Strickland was at 42%.

From Cliff Thies:

We broke it here. There may be a special election to fill the late Senator Robert Byrd's unexpired term this year.

The WV Secretary of State notices, as we did, that West Virginia's law is unclear about this, when such a vacancy occurs with more than 2 1/2 years left in a term but prior to the filing date for the primaries, as happened this year. Her reading of the law is that the special election is to take place in 2012, coincident with the regular election. Her reading of the law is informed by a 1994 WV court ruling dealing with a would-be Republican candidate for a vacancy in a judicial office. But, the filing period for independents and third-parties is not past. They have until July 30th to file for the ballot by petition, which is their "primary" (and the law on this seems clear enough, the petitioning period IS the primary period for those who are nominated by petition).

If the Republicans are too prissy to push the issue, the WV Libertarian Party should attempt to put a candidate on the ballot. The WV LP does not have a petitioning drive underway, there being no regularly-scheduled statewide election this year. This is good news and bad news. It is good news, since an attempt to qualify a candidate for a special election for the unexpired term of Senator Byrd would not disrupt a petitioning drive already underway. It is bad news, since the infrastructure of a petitioning drive is not already set up, and the deadline for filing is soon upon us. Should enough valid signatures be submitted, I am confident the Secretary of State will promulgate rules allowing nomination by convention for the parties of the state that nominate by primary (i.e., the Democrats, Republicans and Mountain Party), rather than risk losing an appeal of a ruling that there is no special election, since she has already admitted that the WV law is unclear.

From Eric Dondero:

The liberal media is exploiting a supposed gaffe made by libertarian-leaning Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, earlier last week. He was speaking off the cuff at an outdoor picnic.

Now Steele has responded with a clarification of his remarks. Through his spokesman, Doug Heye (via National Journal):

"The responsibility for building and maintaining [a] strategy falls squarely on the shoulders of the President. Like so many Americans, Chairman Steele wants to hear an explanation from President Obama on what his strategy is for winning the war in Afghanistan," Heye said.

Heye called Petraeus's confirmation hearings, held this week, a "missed opportunity" to flesh out Obama's strategy. And Steele himself, at a fundraiser on Thursday, said winning wars in Afghanistan has proven difficult in history. On Friday afternoon, Steele reiterated his support for the general and aimed to clarify his historical point.

"As we have learned throughout history, winning a war in Afghanistan is a difficult task. We must also remember that after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, it is also a necessary one," said Steele.

"That is why I supported the decision to increase our troop force and, like the entire United States Senate, I support General Petraeus' confirmation. The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan."

For the record, we here at Libertarian Republican fully support the Chairman, and recognize that any calls for his resignation, will only be hurtful to our ultimate objective; a massive defeat of Democrats in November. Those who call for his resignation, are in all practicality, aligning themselves with the Democrats against the Republican Party, and just as bad, aligning with the liberal media.

BREAKING NEWS!!

From Eric Dondero:

Ryan Christiano, Co-Chairman of the Libertarian Defense Caucus and an editorial board member of Libertarian Republican, asked us to publish the following letters in full. The first is from LDC's longest standing and most Senior member, LDC Co-Chair Kevin Bjornson. It is in response to a release sent out by Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict. Below Bjornson's response is Benedict's letter in full to Libertarian Party members. Needless to say, and I believe I speak for the LR editorial board, endorse Bjornson's remarks.

It should be noted Kevin Bjornson is an original member of the Libertarian Party; as in he was there at the founding of the LP way back in the early 1970s. He lives in Washington State, one of the two states where John Hospers the LP's first Presidential candidate was on the ballot in 1972. Benedict, on the other hand, is relatively new to the LP. Both Bjornson and Benedict attended the recent Libertarian Party national convention in St. Louis.

Bjornson's Letter

Wes Benedict, "LP executive director":

Your recent communique (appended below) tends to alienate at least half of your LP audience. Is that your intention?

Do you intend to cleanse the LP of all but a tiny clique centered around spurious sources like IBC and anti-war.com?

Fact-checking your statistics is an Alice-in-Wonderland journey through America's anti-war fringe, where far-left meets far-right.

For example: your claims for US-caused civilian casualties are sourced to this website:

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

However, when I click unto their source, I get this:

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/

Clearly, this source is self-referential. They do claim a few sources, in general terms (like "media reports " or "Iraqi government sources"--with no links as to where specifically all these numbers were published, or proof linking the statistics to reality.

In fact, the statistics of alleged US victims mostly include:

"suicide bombers" "roadside bombs" and "shot" by insurgents. So attributing the cause of their misfortune to the US is disingenuous--akin to blaming US attacks on Hitler as the cause of the holocaust.

In fact, this page reaches a dead-end, wherein they assert as proof of their statistics, that they are from irregular and non-transparent sources:

1 We join UNAMI's call for the Iraqi Government to provide this information of important public interest regularly and in a transparent manner. UNAMI HR Report, 1 Jan - 31 Mar 2007. Page 3 Para 2. (PDF)

Yet another "source" is self-referential:

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/about/

Worse, this "source" admits they record all violent deaths, simply assuming they are all the fault of the US.

And further assuming, our only alternative to present policies is withdrawal to US soil, in the vain hope that oceans and a pious attitude will protect our homeland while saving foreign
victims.

These series of self-referential websites read as if written by grad students doing a parody of a superficially academic style.

Pompous enough to persuade the gullible, but without credibility or substance.

I must protest at this sophomoric display. This clearly diverges from your job description-which is executive and not policy-devising.

You are not recruiting libertarians, but trying to re-make the LP in your image. You are making dovish foreign policy dovishness, and not the pledge or NAP, the litmus test for libertarianism.

You pontifications are causing grave harm to the LP.

Thank goodness the LP has near-zero credibility, or your editorials would cause grave harm to the country.

Civilization is engaged in a war with barbarism and religious zealotry. This conflict will continue until we are vanquished or victorious, and cannot be ended unilaterally by the partial surrender you advocate.

If you cannot restrain your actions to those within your legitimate purview, you have sat too long in your position for any good you have been doing. In that case, your best course is to depart, and let us have done with you. In the name of Ayn Rand, go!

Kevin Bjornson
Libertarian Defense Caucus

Wes Benedict's original letter to LP Members

July 5, 2010

Dear Friend of Liberty,

The long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been back in the news recently, and we just had the bizarre spectacle of the Republican National Committee Chairman saying he didn't like Obama's war in Afghanistan, while the DNC chastised him for failing to support the troops.

Here are ten reasons to end the wars now. I hope you'll take a look at some of the links.

1. American military and contractor casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

2. Iraqi and Afghanistan civilian and military casualties.

3. These wars are a tremendous waste of taxpayer money in a time of extreme deficits, high unemployment and a falling stock market.

4. Invading and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq feeds terrorism.

5. Osama Bin Laden and his co-conspirators who attacked the World Trade Center were Saudi Arabian.

6. As Congressman Ron Paul recently said: "In Afghanistan, we are fighting the Taliban, those dangerous people with guns defending their homeland. Once they were called the Mujahideen, our old allies, along with bin Laden, in the fight to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan in the 1980s."

7. Most Republicans in Congress now admit Iraq was a mistake.

8. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's comments show that even the hawkish Republican Party can't support this war with a straight face.

9. As James Madison said, "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." (Witness the PATRIOT Act.)

10. The U.S. military has been in Iraq over seven years, and in Afghanistan almost nine years. It's time to give peace a chance.

(Note, the LP doesn't necessarily endorse the organizations linked above. We encourage you to research these issues for yourself.)

Sincerely,

Wes Benedict

For more info on the Libertarian Defense Caucus DefendLiberty.org

"I am sick and tired of the liberal media asking me don't you think the Tea Party is racist... I know what the liberal welfare policies have done... when I go back to my home to Atlanta I see for myself."

From Eric Dondero:

Here it is folks. The very first poll numbers for Nikki Haley two weeks after she secured the Republican nomination. And the news is, to put it mildly, quite good.

From Rasmussen (via Hedgehog.)

GOVERNOR – SOUTH CAROLINA (Rasmussen)
Nikki Haley (R) 52%
Vincent Sheheen (D) 40%

From Eric Dondero:

There's a hot primary in Kansas to replace Republican Todd Tiahart who is moving up to the Senate. Tim Huelskamp, currently in 3rd in a field of 7, is the Tea Party favorite.

From his website:

Yesterday at massive TEA Parties across Kansas, Senator Tim Huelskamp spoke about the importance of the 10th Amendment. “The 10th Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution for one purpose – to restrict the power of the federal government. But for years,” noted Huelskamp, “Washington has increasingly ignored any limits on their power – especially with the passage of their most recent stimulus and bailout bills.”

Huelskamp also has another big endorser, one with solid libertarian-conservative credentials, Texas Governor Rick Perry.

“There is only one candidate in this race that will keep the state of Kansas and our nation moving forward in the right direction, and that’s Tim Huelskamp…I do not make this endorsement lightly and only offer my support when I am certain of a candidate’s strong conviction…Tim is without a doubt one of those candidates and I am proud to offer my endorsement of his campaign.” -- Rick Perry

And an endorsement from yet another famous Texan:

“Tim Huelskamp will do the work to fight for lower taxes and spending and for more freedom in Washington. I have been very impressed by Tim’s record of fiscal responsibility. We need people like Tim Huelskamp voting with me in Congress.” -- Ron Paul

Finally, Huelskamp is backed by the economic libertarian Club for Growth.

Huelskamp has been a State Senator since 1996 serving on the Agriculture committee. He is a rancher himself, from Western Kansas.

One interesting personal note on Huelskamp. He and his wife Angela have four adopted children including the two girls, who are from Haiti.

From Eric Dondero:

New York Libertarian for Governor and gun rights attorney Warren Redlich said in Albany yesterday that Plaxico Burress's conviction should now be overturned. The Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a 5 to 4 decision, that New York State gun laws are unconstitutional.

In McDonald v. Chicago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Chicago's ban on handguns is unconstitutional. In doing so, it ruled that the 2nd amendment does in fact apply to the states.

Redlich said:

"This landmark ruling will require New York State to take immediate action to amend its gun laws so they do not violate the constitution. It is a striking victory for gun owners and for anyone who believes in the fundamental rights the constitution provides."

Burress was a New Jersey resident convicted under New York's gun laws. Redlich added:

"Given that New York State makes it impossible for an out-of-state resident to get a gun license, Burress’s conviction should be overturned."

Note - Redlich is running on the Libertarian line, but is also a local elected Republican.

by Clifford F. Thies

West Virginia’s law provides that the Governor fills vacancies in the U.S. Senate and certain other offices when there is no more than 2 ½ years in the unexpired term of the office. In cases where there is more than 2 ½ years, the Governor’s appointee shall serve only until a person who has timely filed for the primary is be elected in the subsequent election and takes office. As the filing deadline was, this year, on January 30th (the primary having already been conducted), this would seem to mean that the Governor fills vacancies in the U.S. Senate of up to 3 years. And, in particular, will fill the vacancies resulting from Senator Robert Byrd’s passing for the more then 2 ½ years remaining on the term of his office.

Or may not.

In West Virginia, the filing deadline for independent and third-party candidates is July 30th. Independent and third-party candidates are not nominated by primaries under West Virginia law. Instead, they are nominated by petition. Furthermore, the idea that only somebody nominated by one of the major parties recognized by the state of West Virginia can be elected to fill a vacancy is a violation of the federal constitution, in that it would create an additional qualification for office and the courts have clearly ruled that states may not do this. Therefore, it seems to me, it may be possible for independent and third-party candidates to timely file by July 30th to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Senator Byrd.

Were independent and third-party candidates to be allowed to file, it would seem to me that members of the major parties should also be allowed. An easy enough way to do this is to allow them, as well as the independent and third-party candidates to be nominated by petition. A better way might be for the major parties to nominate by convention in cases where vacancies open with more than 2 ½ years unexpired but after it is practical to file for the primary. However, devising such an involved scheme would be better left to the legislature of the state, than be declared by a court.

The state Attorney General should be petitioned by the Republican Party for a ruling, allowing them to nominate by convention by the July 30th or to allow its members to be nominated by petition by that deadline. In addition, an appeal of the AG’s decision be prepared, and, petitions be drawn up and circulated to nominate a candidate for the office.

Editor's Note - Cliff makes his home in Winchester, western Virginia, on the east slope of the Appalachians.

UPDATE: "Flipping Racial Minorities The Byrd," an Op Ed by Wes Messamore.