The can't seem to attract any candidates

303 to 224; that's the margin of Republican candidates to Democrats this year in Missouri. This is a state that is always considered a bellweather of public opinion nationwide.

From the Kansas City Star:

JEFFERSON CITY | Significantly more of Missouri's political candidates are calling themselves Republicans than Democrats this year.

When Missouri's candidacy filing period ended last week, Republicans comprised 303 of the 582 people running for U.S. Senate or House, the state Legislature, state auditor or circuit judgeships. Democrats had 224 candidates, and the rest were aligned with either the Libertarian or Constitution parties.

John Frullo made the run-off for State Representative HD-84 in the Lubbock area. The first place finisher was business-man, and Texas Tech regent Mark Griffin. Frullo was a complete political unknown. But he represents a growing hard right insurgency. He owns a print shop. His campaign signs simply read "Frullo for State Representative; Conservative Republican."

From the Texas Tribune, April 5:

The contest shares one important characteristic with the adjacent race in HD-83: It pits inside-the-tent Lubbock Republicans against a coalition of social and libertarian conservatives who are distinctly unhappy with government in Washington and Texas. In that frame, Frullo's the insurgent and Griffin represents the establishment.

"I feel a little like Don King," jokes Chris Winn, chairman of Lubbock County's GOP, but he downplays the ideological splits. "In Lubbock, what you have are people who espouse limited government, freedom and liberty. Those values have been the cornerstone of the Republican Party back as far as Goldwater and Reagan," he says.

"What it comes down to right now are which individuals show they are experienced to work in Austin for what's best for Lubbock," Winn says.

Griffin was a backer of Kay B. Hutchison for Governor. Frullo has Gov Rick Perry on his campaign website. Though, Perry has not made any official endorsements in the race.

Notably, Frullo has the endorsements from the Young Conservatives of Texas (Rand Paul was Chairman of this group for many years in the 1980s), and the libertarian-leaning Empower Texas.

Reached by Libertarian Republican, Frullo had this to say:

I want to thank everyone who has supported my campaign in the pursuit of smaller government. I believe that individual freedom is the cornerstone of our government and I want to do my best to defend it.

Radical Muslims have been advancing on all fronts into Sub-Saharan and even Central Africa, from Nigeria, to northern Kenya, and even as far south as Tanzania. Now, solid proof of their increasing incursions into Uganda. (Uganda is located just south of the heavily Muslim Sudan where genocide against the Christian minority in the south by the Islamic Government has been standard policy). At least one Al Qaeda rebel has been captured in the troubled Central African nation.

From The UK Independent, April 2:

Security agents in Kampala arrested a suspected Somali Al Shabaab terrorist linked to the Al-Qaeda.

Hashi Hussein Farah and a dozen others were arrested by the Joint Anti-terrorism Taskforce (JATT) in Kisenyi slum in the capital Kampala on Thursday. He was paraded on television later in the evening. The terror suspects were taken away by the anti-terrorism squad for further interrogation.

It’s not clear where he is being detained. The Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba declined to comment, saying the police did not arrest Farah. She referred The Independent to JATT, a largely military intelligence squad, which carried out the arrest.

However the Army Spokesman Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye declined to divulge details about Hussein Farah, on account that it would jeopardise investigations. He said Farah’s arrest is part of a wider investigation. He did not say where Farah was being detained.

Farah, who has an Australian passport, was first arrested by the Kenyan police on March 13, 2010 as he was trying to cross Uganda’s Busia border into Kenya.

Last year, Muslim clerics in Uganda pushed legislation that would allow for the executiion of any Uganda citizens caught in a Homosexual act.

See our article from our sister site Worldwide Liberty, "Muslims push for Death Penalty for Homosexuals in Uganda," from Dec. 16.

A New Hero has Spoken

Dramatic new video, coming out of Europe, originally banned by YouTube. This is the toned down censored version.

Breaking News...

The State AG has approved the first step in the process to qualify an initiative for the November ballot granting Ohioans the right to opt out of federally mandated Health Care. The move is significant, for Ohio does not fit the mold of a traditional southern or western State such as Idaho, Virginia or Texas.

From LegalNewsOnline:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline)-Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray last week signed off on petition language that would bar federal health care coverage mandates from taking effect in the state.

The petition is being sought by the Ohio Liberty Council, a coalition of 25 conservative and libertarian grassroots groups, including many Ohio Tea Party organizations.

With the attorney general's declaration that their ballot summary is fair and accurate, the petition language now goes to the Ohio Ballot Board for final approval.

If the measure is ultimately approved by voters, Ohioans would not have to pay the likely $750 fine for failure to carry health insurance.

Oddly, Cordray, a Democrat, is on record in strong opposition to the measure, believing Obama's Health Care legislation to be in full compliance with the Constitution.

Outlawing of couples Kissing in Public

Two items:

From the BBC (h/t Jihad Watch) "Jailed Dubai kissing couple lose appeal over conviction":

A British couple jailed in Dubai for kissing in public have lost their appeal against their conviction.

Ayman Najafi, 24, and Charlotte Adams, 25, were sentenced to a month in prison with subsequent deportation and fined about £200 for drinking alcohol.

The couple were arrested in November after a local woman accused them of breaking the country's decency laws by kissing on the mouth in a restaurant.

No more Music on the Radio

And this from Google News "Islamists order Mogadishu radios to stop playing music":

MOGADISHU — A hardline Somali Islamist group issued a 10-day ultimatum Saturday to Mogadishu-based radio stations to stop playing all kinds of music or face unspecified penalties, an Islamist leader said.

The Hezb al-Islam group, which controls patches of the war-riven Somali capital, said playing music on radio stations was evil.

"We call on the local radio stations to stop broadcasting the songs and all music as well. We give them a 10-day deadline and any radio station found not complying with the orders... will face sharia action," said Moalim Hashi Mohamed Farah, a senior Hezb al-Islam official, referring to Islamic law.

Has voted in American elections, including three Party Primaries

From Eric Dondero:

David L. Bosco of the Washington Post has an investigative piece "Rwanda's ex-U.N. ambassador, who vanished after genocide, resurfaces in Alabama" April 4. Bosco, after years of research, tracked Damascene Bizimana to a sleepy little town in northern Alabama, Opelika. The town's main claim to fame is that it was the subject of the 1970s Pro-Union movie "Norma Rae" starring Sally Fields.

From WaPo:

Sixteen years later, the Rwandan government is still investigating whether Bizimana supported the genocide in his capacity at the United Nations, according to Andrew Tusabe, a counselor at the Rwandan Embassy in Washington. "Bizimana has not been forgotten," he told me. But he said they had not been able to determine his whereabouts.

It seemed that the ambassador, along with his wife and two small children, had simply vanished -- until he turned up living quietly in the small town of Opelika, Ala., a few miles up the road from Auburn University. He's an American citizen now. He works for a plastics company. And he doesn't want to talk about genocide.

But buried in one of the final paragraphs of the three-page piece is this intriguing note:

Bizimana does not appear inclined to reckon with the past, and legally at least, he has no reason to do so. Opelika records show that he registered to vote in October 2004 and has cast ballots in primaries and general elections since then -- meaning he acquired U.S. citizenship. And as a citizen, he enjoys full due-process rights.

According to the Madison County, AL Register to Vote website, Alabama does not have registration by party. However, one must declare party affiliation to vote in primaries. From MadisonCounty.AL.com:

Registration is not by political party. Only in Primary Elections must you declare your party at the polls. In the November General Election you may vote for any candidate on the ballot - you can either vote a straight party ticket or a split ticket.

To be clear, to participate in a primary Bizimana would have had to declare a party affiliation. Sources reached by Libertarian Republican in Alabama could not disclose Bizimana's political affiliation or indicate if Bizimana voted in the Democrat primaries. The Opelika Clerk's office did confirm he was listed on the voter roll under a different first name.

Given the slant of the Washington Post, if there was any inkling Bizimana had participated in Republican primaries, there's little doubt this would be all over the media.

Is the United Nation's rep. for Rwanda 1994, during one of the worst mass human genocides in history - over 800,000 dead - now a US Democrat?

Note - later reports suggest Bizimana is now seeking political assylum in Ireland.

“This should be our campaign theme song for 2010” - Andrew Breitbart

You've seen Jon David perform at the major Tea Party rallies, including Washington, DC and opening up for Sarah Palin in Nashville. Now, a new, updated version of Jon David's Monster Tea Party hit "American Heart" has just been released.

David is a diehard "Breitbartian" and writes a regular column for Bretibart's libertarian site BigGovernment.com.

From Jon's site:

It’s no secret that the majority of folks in the entertainment industry lean left. What is less well known is that Artists who don’t are often met with such contempt that their very livelihoods are threatened.

The industry responsible for setting the cultural tone in America, which keeps itself warm under the expansive blanket of free speech, has no issue attempting to silence the conservative voice within its ranks.

Hear the new Re-mix now at Jon's website AmericanHeart.com

You can also buy the song, and help a Soldier at the same time.

Editor's Note - Jon's song is the theme song for our occasional blog talk radio show "Libertarian Politics Live."

Guest Blogger For The Day: The Right Guy

I will be handling the posting duties for the next day while Eric is on special secret assignment. Below is an article from my blog.

Paul Volker, paper hanger and advisor to the mountebank in chief has told Obama that "we...need to consider a European-style value-added tax" in order to bring our deficits under control. This advice comes on the day England raised it's top tax bracket to 50% for people that £150K per year. That's $229K a year in the states. That's just income tax. The brits also have VAT and luxury taxes as well.

Well, what's good for the mother country, must be good for us, eh Paul? Did it ever occur to you to cut spending? A novel idea, eh?

Well, the farmers in DC are continuing to implement their farm animals in training plan on the citizens of the united states. You will see in the ensuing months, that Obama will trot out plan after plan pushing his progressive socialist agenda at a break neck pace to beat the November (Really January) deadline. Obamacare was just the start. We have the balloon floated for a VAT tax, Amnesty, Disarmament, Cap and Tax, FCC regulation of new media, and it goes on and on.

In 1765, England passed a Stamp Act which required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London and carrying an embossed revenue stamp. While the act was repealed a year later after many protests from the people, including the sons of liberty, many smaller taxes were levied thereafter in an effort to pay off the 7 years war (the national debt for England was £130,000,000). This precipitated the American Revolution. When will the people become aware that we are under the same threat we were 245 years ago? When will Obama learn that his actions have consequences? He is not a king, as much as he would like to be an absolute monarch. The yoke is coming my friends. Do you take it willingly or do you resist?

Thank you for reading this blog.

Trib confirms Giannoulias made bank loans to convicted Felons

From Eric Dondero:

The troubles keep piling up for Democrat nominee for US Senate in Illinois (Barack Obama seat), Alexia Giannoulias.

The Chicago Tribune, in a banner headline front page story Friday, announced the finding that Giannoulias was indeed responsible for "$20 million in bank loans to felons." The convicted felons in question: illegal loan shark and money laundering enterprisers Michael "Jaws" Giorango, Demitri Stavropoulos and Boris Stavensinksy.

The family bank of Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias loaned a pair of Chicago crime figures about $20 million during a 14-month period when Giannoulias was a senior loan officer, according to a Tribune examination that provides new details about the bank's relationship with the convicted felons.

Broadway Bank had already lent millions to Michael Giorango when he and a new business partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, came to the bank in mid-2004. Although both men were preparing to serve federal prison terms, the bank embarked on a series of loans to them.

Now, a top Chicago Democrat boss is saying it's curtains for Giannoulias. Don Rose, has ties to Obama, and very close ties to Obama's top consultant David Axlerod.

Background from the Chicago Tribune, June 24, 2007:

In his early years as a political consultant, Axelrod, following in the footsteps of his mentor, the political strategist Don Rose, carved out a reputation for himself as a skillful specialist working for local progressive candidates...says Rose. "I think he's a principled, generally progressive guy... ."

Photos - Rose left, Axlerod right

Don Rose admits, if election held today Republican Mark Kirk would easily beat Giannoulias

Now this from Real Clear Politics, "Democrats stand by candidate for Obama's old seat":

Chicago political consultant Don Rose said that if the election were now he thinks Kirk would win but sees a good opportunity for Giannoulias make up for lost ground, especially if the economy improves.

"They have to make Kirk unpalatable politically and level the playing field," Rose said. "Of course the best thing would be if they could get him (Giannoulias) to resign and replace him."

Photos - Convicted Chicago mobsters and "friends of Alexia" Boris Stavensinksy left, Michael "Jaws" Giorango right

There's some speculation that Obama and Axlerod might be quietly putting the word out that Giannoulias has to go, through Rose.

But other top Illinois Democrats are still clinging to Giannoulias. They believe the way for him to get elected is to paint moderate and squeeky clean Republican Kirk as "too conservative" for Illinois.
Continuing:

the 34-year-old Giannoulias is still electable if he meets the bank embarrassment head on and strikes back at the Republican congressman as more conservative than this Democratic-trending state, Democratic insiders say.

Kirk is a Veteran Naval Officer with combat service. He's also a Medal of Honor winner. He has served 4-terms representing Illinois 10th CD, and is generally regarded as a fiscally conservative/socially moderate GOPer.

This seat is one of two or three truly toss-ups (along with California Barbara Boxer seat, and NY's Kristen Gillibran), that if it swings the GOP's way, it could give Republicans the majority in the Senate.

Special hat tip to regular LR reader and former Libertarian Party of Illinois board member Jeff Wartman of Chicago, for keeping us regularly informed on this story.

Chicago Free Marketeer takes on the Education Establishment

Libertarian Republican website was pleased to have the opportunity to interview Ms. Emma Jackson, a former student at the Medill School of Journalism in Chicago. She is a regular reader of Libertarian Republican. She's also friends with the free market think tank community in the Chicago area.

Jackson was kind enough to allow Libertarian Republican to premiere her groundbreaking video series on the troubled Chicago school system, and free market options to improve educational opportunities, particularly for inner-city school children.

LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN: What was it like being a libertarian at a leftwing journalist school?

JACKSON: It would have been nice to have at least one faculty member that was libertarian. It really kills your motivation when you know that political commentary with a libertarian angle is not encouraged. I produced the voucher video outside of the required assignments for the school.

LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN: How did the faculty treat you?

JACKSON: One of my professors Sharon McGowan knew I was conservative. Our class had a simple assignment of writing a news brief on what occurred on a Meet the Press show. I wrote a straight news article piece about what was said about Obama's response to the Iranian protest of the election results. My professor thought I was trying to insinuate in the piece that diplomacy is ineffective and hence we should bomb Iran. All I wrote was a straight news article. I didn't put my oppinion in the piece at all. After she read my piece she asked in the middle of class. Does Iran have a bomb? Do you really think Iran has a bomb? I couldn't even answer because I was so shocked. She wanted me to say yes so she could (I guess) prove that I'm stupid conservative.

LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN: Can libertarians and other free marketeers have a place in journalism school?

JACKSON: If you want to write or produce videos with a libertarian angle I don't think journalism school is the best route to go. You can be innovative with getting free market policy organizations to fund you to write commentary pieces and produce videos or you can try to brand yourself through a blog.

Series produced by libertarian/conservative Videographer Emma Jackson

Jackson examines the root problem: A Governmental Monopoly for Schools resistant to change. She quotes Milton Friedman, "Vouchers would widen the range of quality education options for parents through competition and choice." She also interviews scholars from the free market-oriented Heartland Institute who posit that the Teachers Unions are literally bankrupting the State of Illinois, as they've already done in California.

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

Editor's Note - we hope to bring LR readers more of Emma Jackson's videos in the future. Please do us the favor of letting us know in the comments section if you found this video series enjoyable and informative.

New survey numbers from Rasmussen. During the waning days of the Bush administration, and the first few months of Obama's presidency, Democrats had reached par with Republicans on virtually all issues, including foreign policy and defense matters. Now they've fallen back to traditional territory.

Trust on the Issues, from Rasmussen (h/t Rightosphere) April 3:

National security and the War on Terror

•Republicans 51% (47%)
•Democrats 36% (37%)

War in Iraq

•Republicans 47% (42%)
•Democrats 39% (38%)

Note, trust in the GOP to handle War in Iraq has grown by 5 points in the last month to its highest point since 2003.

Michelle Obama a Birther too?

First lady slips up in speech to GLBT April 3. Makes reference to "when we visited Barack's home country in Kenya." Comment comes in at 40 second mark.

Editor's comment - Wonder if Chris Matthews will be calling Birthers, "kooks," and "nutso extremists" now?

(H/t LR reader Hack W.)

Valued members of the Party of Reagan

Former Vice-President Dan Quayle had an op-ed in the Washington Post today, "Don't let the Tea Party go Perot". Excerpts from The Hill:

"to this day we firmly believe that Perot cost the Republican Party the White House."

"As Reagan did 30 years ago, Republican leaders between now and 2012 should reach out, as Sarah Palin has done, to an independent grassroots movement whose energy and conviction the party badly needs."

"Whether they count themselves as Republicans, independents, libertarians or conservative Democrats, these are our folks -- the natural allies of the party of Reagan."

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Marijuana Reform Advocate Jessica Corry appeared on Fox News on Sunday, expressing her support for efforts in California for legalization.

From Mediaite:

“GOP Mom” happens to be Jessica Corry, “a Republican activist, and mother of two young girls. She is also a marijuana advocate who says Republicans should get behind the movement.”

During the interview Corry espoused an essentially Tea Party message:

"This is more than about Pot. This is about a future where we don't rely on the government to enforce our moral behavior. And as we've jut heard the national debt is a greater threat to our country than Afghanistan. And when every American born today is issued a bill for $45,000 as their share for the debt, nothing should be no line item left off the table."

The initiative will be on the ballot in November.

Former Fed Chairman, and former Ayn Rand inner circle member from the 1960s was the guest on This Week ABC News, Jake Tapper, anchoring. As Brent Baker at NewsBusters writes: Tapper took an unusual opportunity to "invoke objectivist/libertarian writer-philosopher Ayn Rand.

From ABC News (via NewsBusters):

JAKE TAPPER: You'll be testifying about the financial crisis on Wednesday before the financial crisis inquiry commission. When you testified before Congress in October, you said that you finally saw a flaw in the way that you looked at markets, that markets cannot necessarily be trusted to completely police themselves. But isn't it more than a flaw? Isn't it an indictment of Ayn Rand and the view that laissez-faire capitalism can be expected to function properly, that markets can be trusted to police themselves?

ALAN GREENSPAN: Not at all. I think that there is no alternative if you want to have economic growth and higher standards of living in a democratic society to have competitive markets. And, indeed, if you merely look at the history since the enlightenment of the 18th century when all of those ideas surfaced and became applicable in public policy, we've had an explosion of economic growth, and especially in the developing countries where hundreds of millions of people have been pulled out of poverty, of extreme poverty and starvation basically because we have competitive markets.

(Big Hat tip to our friends at Newsbusters for the transcript)

Right before her eyes, but too blind to see

From Eric Dondero:

The Politico reports that both Congressman from New Hampshire, Carol Shea-Porter (photo) and Paul Hodes, held town hall meetings over the weekend to report on the recently passed Health Care legislation, with less-than-friendly results. Politico describes how Shea-Porter met with "raw emotion" and "consistent boos, heckles and catcalls." Rep. Hodes spoke at a Seniors Center. One woman refused to shake his hand. When he described all the benefits that would soon come in 2020, she dryly responded, "we'll all be dead by then."

Rep. Shea-Porter had a few defenders in the room during her event. From Politico:

Kathy Sullivan, a former state Democratic Party chair, said a groundswell of cynicism is to be expected when most of the attention and media coverage thus far has focused on a convoluted process and the colorful opposition.

“All we knew was that this behemoth was coming and that it was going to cost a fortune, and there were a lot of people upset about it. It wasn’t until the bill passed that you started seeing stories about what the bill actually did,” she said. “Cover kids on their parents plans until 26? Excellent! Takes away the companies power to deny pre-existing conditions? Great. Where is the communist stuff, and where is the stuff about the death panels now? It doesn’t exist.”

Cradle to 20s something adult mandated coverage. Telling private industries how to run their business and who they should take on as customers. Where is the Communist stuff indeed?

(H/t Memeo)

Communists of a feather...

Comedienne Victoria Jackson, formerly of Saturday Night Live, tells her Searchlight, NV Tea Party story over at Breitbart's Big Hollywood, "My Sarah Palin Experience."

Jackson talks of tryint to meet Palin in the flesh, and of meeting other celebs on the Tea Party Right, such as Andrew Breitbart, rapper Politick and Hannah Giles. And she also gives some insight into her own speaking gig:

I ran into Joe the Plumber and was thrilled to meet him... I told him that his fateful, little exchange with Obama had been the last piece of evidence I’d needed to conclude my theory that Obama was a Communist. That quote, “Spread The Wealth,” was the last nail in the coffin for me. Joe smiled and nodded.

[On stage] I was going to tell my story about what Communism means to me. I grew up in Miami and watched it turn into Cuba West as thousands of Cubans risked their lives on rafts coming to America for Freedom; to escape Castro and Communism. The news of the day had been that ‘Castro approves Obama’s Health Care Plan.’ Well, of course he does! He’s a Communist Dictator! Man, are people dumb or what?

Photo of Jackson speaking to a preview Tea Party rally, in Pasadena, last summer.