Friends,

  It is with great sadness that I have to write of the passing of Jame Goldstein, wife of LPIN Chair Sam Goldstein. Jame was a long time Libertarian Party activist, candidate, lawyer,  loving friend, and above all, a loving mother and wife. She has battled breast cancer for many years, and passed away yesterday.

  Jame's funeral will be on Wednesday, March 10th at 2:00pm at Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Funeral Home located at 11411 N. Michigan Rd, Zionsville, IN. It will be followed by burial at Crown Hill Cemetery at 700 West 38th Street Indianapolis, IN. After the burial, anyone who wishes to join in a celebration of Jame's life is welcomed to Sam's home at 8074 Claridge Road, Indianapolis, IN following the burial Wednesday evening and Thursday, March 11th at 6:00pm for a memorial service in Jame's honor.

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Says to Brother Muslims, Attack Americans wherever you can

A new video has been released by Al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn. The American-born (California) Gadahn called on American Muslims to emulate the example of Ft. Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan. But he also said, attacks need not be limited to Military installations.

From MyWay.com:

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes."

Later in the Video:

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage."

He seemed to suggest possible soft targets such as shopping malls, advising attackers to find ways to bring down "consumer confidence and stifle spending" in the economy.

UPDATE!!!

The Associated Press and MSNBC are reporting that Adam Gadahn has been captured by Pakistani troops. CNN is saying "mixed reports" on capture of Al Qaeda spokesman.

False Alarm! All media outlets now retracting the story...

Shot SF victim in the face because he was Gay

New details emerging in the case of the three Muslim men who shot a Gay man outside a bar on Guerrero Street last week.

From the SF Appeal online newspaper, March 5:

spokesman Officer Samson Chan said... while officers were interviewing him [the victim of the crime] outside the bar, he spotted the same vehicle again driving by...

Police pulled the car over and found three men inside with a "rifle-style" BB gun and a video camera, which investigators later discovered had recorded the shooting, according to Chan.

The three men, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, Sayed Bassam, 21, and Mohammad Habibzada, 24, the driver, were arrested.

"The suspects did make a confession, basically stating that they came to San Francisco to target gay people," he said.

International Fatwa to Attack Gays

The Gay press from California to the East Coast has been reporting on the story, yet it has yet to break into the mainstream media outside of the Bay Area.

From Boston The Edge, "Three Arrested for Anti-Gay Attack" March 5:

The men, all 24 years old and all cousins, videotaped the attack, which was carried out at about 10:00 p.m. on Feb. 26. The victim was shot in the face... Authorities said they believed the men targeted the victim because of his sexuality.

A tenet of the Muslim religion as interpreted by some Islamic scholars is that active homosexuals should be put to death.

U.K.-based Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary, whose past sermons have included warning Muslims to "protect" their families from Christmas or face "hellfire," told the media last year that the religion prescribes death by stoning not only for sexually active gays, but also for heterosexual adulterers. Choudary indicated that being gay was not in itself sinful, saying, "If a man likes another man, it can happen, but if you go on to fulfill your desire, if it is proved, then there is a punishment to follow." However, the cleric said, "You don’t stone to death unless there are four eyewitnesses. It is a very stringent procedure." Choudhury then compared gay intimacy to bestiality, saying, "There are some people who are attracted to donkeys, but that does not mean it is right."

From Eric Dondero:

Today we are running a three-part series over at our sister site Worldwide Liberty, of a recent interview conducted by American journalist Bruce Bawer with Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders.

Bruce is a former liberal reporter for the NY Times, who turned right-libertarian after 9/11. He authored the best seller, "While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within." (Which I have read 5 times over, and is one of my all-time top 5 if not my number one favorite book). The book chronicles what life was like in Western Europe (Denmark, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Norway), immediately after 9/11. He goes into detail about the deep predjudice European Muslims have against Gays, and the violence they've committed against Homosexuals throughout Europe. He also describes the murders at the hands of Islamist assassins of film maker Theo van Gogh (photo - left), and Dutch MP and Presidential candidate Pym Fortuyn (photo - right).

Writes Bawer in the book's intro:

The European political and media establishment turned a blind eye to all this, selling out women, Jews, gays, and democratic principles -- even criminalizing free speech -- in order to pacify the radical Islamists and preserve the illusion of multicultural harmony.

Pym Fortuyn, Theo van Gogh murdered by Muslims on the Streets of Holland

Pym Fortuyn was the longtime Dutch MP, and leader of the Livable Netherlands Party (the forerunner of Wilder's Party of Freedom). An open homosexual, Fortuyn was a former leftwinger who turned rightwing libertarian after watching his beloved Netherlands being taken over by an increasingly radical Islamist element. He was considered the frontrunner for Dutch President in 2002. He was assassinated in the city of Hilversum, in North Holland by Volkert van der Graaf. Van der Graaf was described by the Euro-media as a "radical environmentalist." Yet covered up by the Euro-media was his conversion to Islam, months before the assasination.

Theo van Gogh, great-grand nephew of the famous Dutch painter, was assasinated in 2005 on the streets of Amsterdam. He was a friend of Pym Fortuyn and a member of the Dutch Republican Society. Van Gogh was a radical atheist, who despised all religion. In 2005, he produced a short film titled "Submission," which criticized Islam for its treatment of women. He was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan citizen. As he pleaded for his life, Bouyeri stuck a long knife in his chest and twisted it, to the horror of passers-by.

Wilders was originally aligned with Fortuyn in the Dutch Parliament. Today he is widely considered the heir to the Fortuyn legacy.

Bawer, one of America's great libertarian authors, ignored by the official Libertarian Movement

His current work "Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom" (available at Amazon) continues in the same vain as his previous work. From Booklist:

Narrowing his scope from While Europe Slept (2005) but retaining its theme of radical Islamic assault on Western civil liberties, Bawer files a hefty brief of case reports on Muslim campaigns against free speech, primarily in western Europe but also in Canada and the U.S. Official infatuation with political correctness (PC), the determination that no one ever be offended, and multiculturalism, the dogma that all cultural perspectives are equally and universally valid...

Amazingly and very dissapointedly, Bruce, who lives in The Netherlands and part-time in Norway, is shunned by the American libertarian movement; No feature write-ups at Reason, no invites to address the Cato Institute, no meetings with top leaders of the Libertarian Party. This despite the fact that he's a self-avowed "libertarian." But his views, that Islam represents the greatest of threats to the liberties of Americans, don't fit the template of the left-leaning on foreign policy Libertarian establishment. To give credence to Bawer (or Wilders for that matter), would put these Left-Libertarians in the uncomfortable position of acknowledging the threat to our Liberties from Radical Islamism.

But Bruce is an absolute hero to Right libertarians. His activism, and certainly the activism of Geert Wilders, serve as a great inspiration to this website, and our movement of pro-defense libertarianism.

Geert Wilders: The World's Greatest Defender of Liberty

From Bruce Bawer (Intro to Video series):

Geert Wilders, a member of the Tweede Kamer and head of the Freedom Party, is a target for countless individuals in the Netherlands who would murder him in the name of Islam, and is obliged to spend his life behind all these layers of protection in order to avoid the unthinkable. In the last decade, after all, there have already been two assassinations of famous Dutch critics of Islam, Pim Fortuyn in 2002 and Theo van Gogh in 2004. And yet Wilders’s opponents in parliament, whose lives are shaped by the impact of the high-level security procedures that have become an everyday routine at their workplace, act as if the very threat that makes these procedures vitally necessary is a chimera. Indeed, to listen to them, and to the media, and to the great majority of the professors and commentators and business leaders who make up the Dutch establishment, is to acquire the distinct impression that it is Wilders himself, and not his Islamic would-be murderers, who represents a danger to Dutch society.

In the interview that follows, I cite an opinion piece that appeared on Thursday in Trouw, a major Dutch newspaper (I mistakenly refer to it as having been in De Volkskrant), in which Thomas Mertens, a law professor at universities in Nijmegen and Leiden, argues that Wilders, by seeking so urgently to clarify for the general public the truth about Islam, is actually undermining the central precept that underlies the Dutch social contract which has been in place for centuries: namely, the agreement among members of different faith traditions to tolerate their theological differences – to close their eyes, as it were, to one another’s truth claims. What Mertens and others like him refuse to acknowledge is that the willingness of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, and others to agree to disagree about theological abstractions has no relevance whatsoever to the present situation, in which the Netherlands, and the West generally, are confronting a faith tradition for whose most committed adherents theological abstractions have calamitous real-world consequences – not only terrorist attacks but such appalling practices as polygamy, forced marriage, honor killing, and the execution of apostates, gays, and adulteresses.

Indeed, what we are speaking of when we speak about Islam is a religion whose holy book calls for the conquest of infidel-run territories in the name of Allah – a religion, that is, whose guiding beliefs leave no room for the kind of live-and-let-live mentality that Mertens and his ilk think, or pretend to think, can still be relevant in a country whose largest cities will soon have Muslim majorities. In a nation whose guiding philosophy for centuries has been “don’t rock the boat,” Wilders has dared to challenge this traditional attitude and address these terrible realities, and it is for having done so that he is now on trial for speaking his mind – and speaking the truth.

For more information on Bawer's books and activities as well as links to the European right libertarian movement visit: BruceBawer.com

European style Muslim violence has now come to America.

From SFGate, March 3:

Three cousins from Hayward have been charged in San Francisco with a hate crime and assault for allegedly firing a BB rifle at the face of a man they believed was gay, an attack the men videotaped, authorities said Wednesday.

Mohammad Habibzada, Shafiq Hashemi and Sayed Bassam, all 24, are scheduled to be arraigned today in San Francisco Superior Court.

The victim of Friday's attack was walking on the 3200 block of 16th Street near Guerrero Street about 10 p.m. when a car pulled up and someone inside opened fire...

Investigators believe the assailants chose the victim because he appeared to be gay.

[Asst. DA Victor] Hwang said, "We believe we have the evidence to show that there was targeting of individuals who they believed to be gay."

Note, SF Gate failed to mention the religious affiliation of the three suspects.

(H/t Creeping Sharia)

Photo of the intersection of Guerrero St. and San Jose in SF.

The House Foreign Relations Committee voted yesterday to pass a 100-year old proposed resolution to condemn the Islamic Republic of Turkey for the Genocide of Christian Armenians in the early 20th century. This is the first time the resolution has passed through committee.

The vote was a slender 23 yeas, to 22 nays. It criss-crossed party lines, with many conservative Republicans voting against the resolution, and some liberal Democrats voting "yes."

Of particular note, California Representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce, two longtime libertarian Repubicans, and noted rightwing human rights advocates, voted in favor of the resolution.

From NewsAm.com:

Armenians were displaced and exterminated in the Ottoman Empire, which is considered a crime not only against Armenians, but entire humanity, the Congressman Dana Rohrabacher stated at the March 4 hearing of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Two other Republicans joining in with Rohrabacher and Royce were Rep. Chris Smith of NJ, and Rep. Gus Bilrakis of FL.

According to the Armenian Reporter:

Rep. Smith, in particular, called Turkey's denial of the genocide and lack of appropriate condemnation an "assault on the dignity of the Armenian people."

Meanwhile, Republican Reps Jeff Flake, Mike Pence and Ron Paul voted No.

Some Republicans who voted No cited the presence of US Army bases in Turkey and potential damage to US-Turkish relations.

Giving a portion of the Stimulus funds back to the American Taxpayer

From Eric Dondero:

This is Senator Scott Brown's first address to the United States Senate. (And at first he seems a little overtaken and even a bit nervous).

According to NewsMax:

The Immediate Tax Relief for America's Workers Act targets mostly working class Americans, those employees making up to about $200,000, with a temporary tax cut that would, according to data released from Brown's office, save the average worker "about $100 a month for a total of at least $500 for individuals and $1,000 for working couples," Fox News reported.

Highlights (for those unable to watch the full-length 10 minute video):

* The government is spending stimulus funds on projects that in my opinion do not provide enough private sector jobs

* Tax relief for working families is not complicated economic policy... And leaders on both sides of the aisle from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan have often called for across the board tax cuts to put money immediately in people's pockets to help stimulate the economy...

* This tax cut is already paid for, would not increase the deficit and would be implemented within 60 days.

* We've tried a whole host of other things, targetted tax breaks, a little bit here, a little bit there. Why don't we give it back to the American people and see what they can do with their $1,000, and see what they can do to stimulate the economy.

From the Editor:

Take a look at these numbers from the past five days, Site Meter:

Fri 3/5 - 808
Thu 3/4 - 856
Wed 3/3 - 840
Tue 3/2 - 899
Mon 3/1 - 829

That means for the entire work week we had over 800 unique visitors each day. Now, we've gotten good numbers before, many times into the 1,000 to 2,000 range, and actually as high as 3,900 one day last June. But never consistently this high for five straight days.

Additionally, our Google Followers is edging towards the "magic" 200 mark. We stand at 194. It's quite exceptional for a political blog to have over 200 Followers. (If you're signed up with a Google account, please take a moment and become a Follower by clicking rightside bar at the bottom, and help us get over that 200 mark.)

In recent weeks I've learned that we've got some very highly placed and even celebrity readers of Libertarian Republican. As I've mentioned before at least one very high up Republican Inside the Beltway, who is a communications director for an extremely important organization is a daily LR reader. Another communications director for a very large State GOP is also a diehard LR fan.

But in the last 3 weeks or so, I've been contacted by radio talk show host Larry Elder, South Carolina Congressional candidate Katherine Jenerette, and California Congressional candidate David Harmer (running against Nancy Pelosi). All expressed how much they appreciate Libertarian Republican and said they are regular readers. David and Katherine especially wanted me to give a shout out to all Libertarian Republican readers.

Last night I got a call from someone representing a very prominent and somewhat controversial New York celebrity. This individual, said that the person they represented expressed support for our efforts, and is a regular reader of our blog. This person has been featured on this blog (not too mention Fox News, CNN, Entertainment Today, NY Daily News, NY Times, ect...) You'd instantly recognize her name.

One quick request; if you haven't already done it, please take a moment to add LR to your Daily Favorites bar. Visit twice or three times a day. Just click on. That will help us get over the magic number of a consistent 1,000 a day.

And don't forget to tell your friends and political associates about LR. We're mainstream libertarians. We're the perfect introduction to the libertarian movement and libertarian ideals.

A Combat Veteran and 9/11 First Responder

Michael Grimm is the hardline conservative choice for US Congress in the GOP primary for NY CD 13 - Staten Island (and small section of Brooklyn). This is the former Vito Foreselli seat, that is now held by a Pelosi Democrat. It is an expected potential GOP pick-up.

From GrimmforCongress.com

Michael Grimm's service to our nation began at the age of nineteen, when he left college after his freshman year and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps to serve a country that he loves and respects. After serving in the Persian Gulf War and being awarded a Combat Meritorious Promotion to NCO, he returned as a combat veteran to an active reserve status.

"I am proud to be an American and will never apologize for our greatness, nor will I lament our lack of perfection. The good that America does in the world is unique in the history of mankind, and even if some may denigrate it, we, the people who believe in the innate goodness of the United States, have a right to be proud of our country and its achievements."

On fiscal matters:

Immediately lower taxes across the board to stimulate the economy and create jobs. I will fight for the following tax-cutting principles:

•Dispense with the Capital Gains Tax for then next two years so that investors have incentive to go back into the market to invest in small businesses, technology and the surplus housing stagnating throughout the country.
•Temporarily reduce the Employment Tax by 30 to 40 percent which will enable business owners to hire more workers and provide employees with more money to spend.
•Extend the Bush Tax Cuts.
•Reduce the Corporate Tax to a flat 18 to 20 percent.

He staunchly opposes Obama's Health Care and calls it not only unConstitutional but outright "Socialism."

From Eric Dondero:

Friend and Contributor to Libertarian Republican blog, Tim Daniel of California, has been doing the yeoman's work of investigating Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell, who is also from California.

What Tim has come up with clashes greatly with the major media spin emerging on Bedell. Perhaps the very worst media spin today came from the Christian Science Monitor that headlined: "Bedell a Rightwing extremist." Others even called him an "anti-government libertarian."

Bedell, it's now being learned, seems to be much more of a leftwinger, and though he had some views that could be described as libertarian such as pot legalization, the overwhelming majority of his views leaned decidedly to the far leftside of the political spectrum such as 9/11 Trutherism. He defintely was not a rightwing libertarian, pro-military, or conservative. In fact, he went out of his way to bash former President Bush.

Some excerpts from Tim's investigations:

* I do have though is a list of the friends that his profile is linked to. Right off the bat I see several middle eastern sounding names many students.

* Here's something juicy. John Patrick Bedell is (was) friends with a certain individual linked to TrineDay Publishing (conspiracy), First World, Michael Moore, the Coalition on Political Assassinations (why?) and CLG (check out the Facebook group that resists corporaterrorism, and the New World Order).

* John Patrick Bedell was also Facebook friends with noted libertarian/anti war guy Lew Rockwell (as are 5,000 other people), which doesn't surprise me being that Lew Rockwell is one of the most noted antiwar spokesmen in the country. From what I have gleaned I can see that Bedell clearly had an anti-government bent. I don't see it as a left/right anti government bent, I see it as a fringe blend of tortured ideas.

Finally, this bit of breaking news as noted by Tim in another updated blog post:

Per Michelle Malkin I have a doozy of a detail about John Patrick Bedell the deceased Pentagon shooter that the main stream media is trying to pin on the Tea Party movemnent or conservatives in general.John Patrick Bedell, aka the Right Wing Extremist, Tea Party John Patrick Bedell was registered to vote and actively registered up to 2008. Tea Party guy John Patrick Bedell who decided to drive across the country (from Hollister, CA) and engage in a shootout with the Pentagon (not exactly a bright idea) was registered to vote --- as a Democrat.

You can see all the documentation, including Bedell's voter id information at Left Coast Rebel.

Almost the "anti-Lawyer"

The Texas Supreme Court is just weeks away from having a bonafide libertarian member-elect.

Rick Green finished first in a field of 6 in the March 2 primary.

From RightWingWatch (a site that regularly attacks libertarians and conservatives), March 3:

Now for the bad news, which is the Rick Green appears to have secured enough support that he will be in a run-off election for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court... he's also a Tea Party activist who rails against "socialists" like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and announces that they are "firing the first shots of a second American Revolution right here in Texas"

From the Texas Tribune, March 3:

The wildcard looks to be Rick Green, who represented Dripping Springs in the state House from 1999 to 2003. Green has no judicial experience, but's he's been endorsed by conservative icon Chuck "Walker, Texas Ranger" Norris and a slew of conservative lawmakers, including state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, and state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center.

George Christian (no relation), the president of the Texas Civil Justice League, says Green holds some appeal for the disaffected libertarian wing of the Republican Party. “He’s kind of running as the anti-lawyer," he says. "He’s almost running against the fact that the rest are judges.”

His campaign web site describes him as “an outspoken advocate of returning to the principles of the Declaration of Independence.” He frequently gives speeches on behalf of Wallbuilders, an Aledo-based organization focused on preserving America’s “moral, religious and constitutional heritage.”

Green will now face Debra Lehrmann in an April 13 run-off.

Michele Bachman asks, for Health Care vote, Quid Pro Quo?

From Eric Dondero:

The Democrat Congressman from Utah in the whirl of controversy, confirmed to the Deseret News this morning that he indeed met Obama at the White House, and the two talked briefly about the recent appointment of his brother to a prominent judgeship. Republican congressmen, Rightwing bloggers and even spokesmen for the Republican National Committee are calling for an investigation as to whether the brother of Rep. Jim Matheson was offered the post in return for a 'yea' vote on health care legislation. Rep. Matheson had previously been a 'nay' vote back in December. He's now hinting that he's "undecided."

From The Deseret News this morning:

The president, he said, did talk about his brother with him. "He said, 'Your brother is a real impressive candidate, and I'm proud to nominate him,'?" Matheson said.

On the very same day that Obama was meeting with Matheson, and nine other wavering Democrat legislators, the White House sent out this press release:

"Scott Matheson is a distinguished candidate for the Tenth Circuit court," President Obama said. Both his legal and academic credentials are impressive and his commitment to judicial integrity is unwavering. I am honored to nominate this lifelong Utahn to the federal bench."

Response from the RNC:

RNC spokeswoman Sara Sendek said in that e-mail, "Anyone can see that President Obama's White House soiree tonight with Jim Matheson is a blatant attempt to flip his vote on this government health care takeover."

On Neal Cavuto, Fox News libertarian-conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann asks:

"Are we buying a judgeship in exchange for a health care vote? The press release was issued and within hours the brother of the judge nominee was at the White House having his arm twisted... Think of it this way, if President Bush was in the White House today, and if President Bush had offered a judgeship to the brother of a Republican member of Congress who wouldn't give him a vote on a very crucial piece of legislation, and then brought him up to the White House to do some pressuring, don't you think that the Democrats would be out there calling for an independent investigation?"

Talks Moderate, Votes mostly Liberal

Also of note, the Matheson brothers are friends and political colleagues of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, a moderate Republican appointed by the Obama White House, as the US Ambassador to China.

Interestingly, Matheson was Huntsman's Democrat opponent for Governor in 2004. In a generally low-key race, Matheson garnered 41% of the vote. However, Gov. Huntsman than turned around and appointed Matheson to a key state energy post.

From The Weekly Standard:

While on public service leave from the University of Utah from 1993 to 1997, Matheson served as United States Attorney for the District of Utah. In 2007, he was appointed by Governor Jon Huntsman to chair the Utah Mine Safety Commission.

Additionally, some of Matheson's bio notes include a teaching stint at Harvard University in Constitutional Law in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Obama himself studied law at Harvard. Though, there are no indications that the two ever met.

The Matheson brothers are sons of the late Scott Milne Matheson, a giant in Utah politics, one of only two Democrats to serve as Governor of the State, from 1987 to 1995.

Rep. Matheson (photo 2nd from left) calls himself a Blue Dog Democrat. Being from Utah he is perceived as relatively moderate. However, his voting record reflects a more liberal bent. He often sides with the Democrat leadership on key legislation particularly in the environmental and energy areas. His American Conservative Union (ACU) score is a relatively low 36. In comparison, another Western State Democrat, Rep. Walt Minnick of Idaho, has an ACU rating of 58.

From Eric Dondero:

Just released video from rightwing comedienne Victoria Jackson. "There's a Communist living in the White House; now what are we going to do about it." Jackson is a former SNL cast member, Dennis Miller friend, and diehard Tea Party activist.

Not the catchiest tune around. But the lyrics are spot on.

Campaign for NY Gov. not a Publicity Stunt

Manhattan Madam Kristin Davis has still not decided whether she will be running as an Independent or on the Libertarian Party line for Governor of New York. For the time being she's listing herself under "Personal Freedom Party." She made her announcement of her candidacy in January at the monthly meeting of the Manhattan Libertarian Party.

But Davis is promising not to run a fly-by-night publicity stunt campaign. She's got top political professionals behind her, including one powerhouse Republican pro.

From Mediaite, "Eliot Spitzer's Madam of 5 years to place Governors race" March 2:

She is confident in her fundraising ability, and even more in her campaign team. She counts libertarian Republican and famous Spitzer enemy Roger Stone among her consultants, and her communications director Andrew Miller brings some political weight to the team with his experience in the Tea Party movement.

While Davis plans to campaign on the prostitution decriminalization issue, she's also talking taxes and budgetary matters, as well. She's even being described in some news accounts as "a right-leaning independent."

Davis supports lowering both income and property taxes, and promises:

"I am the only candidate that offers new ideas and new revenues for New York instead of tax increases..."

KristinDavis2010.com

First City ever! in Europe with libertarian governing majority

From Eric Dondero:

For the first time ever, a libertarian party has secured a working majority in a city of the Netherlands. Dutch media services are reporting that Geert Wilders and his Party of Freedom (PVV), has won big in Almere; a planned city, only a few decades old. The population is 188,000. It is located in western Holland, south of Amsterdam.

The PVV is a pro-free enterprise, pro-free speech, pro-sexual freedom political party. The party fiercely opposes the institution of Sharia law in Dutch cities, increased immigration from Islamic nations, and government hand-outs to illegal immigrants squatting in Dutch cities.

The party grew out of the Pro-Dutch culture movement of the deceased gay libertarian activist, Parliament member, and presidential candidate Pym Fortuyn. He was assasinated two weeks before national elections in 2003, by a Muslim sympathizer on the streets of Amsterdam.

From Dutch News, Expatica.com:

The far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders came first in municipal elections in Almere, east of Amsterdam, with 21.6 percent of the vote, according to partial results released early Thursday.

Radio Netherlands - If they continue to do this well, "Wilders the next Prime Minister"

Final results are not yet in, but all indications are that the PVV will place second in the Netherland's second largest city, The Hague.

And the Dutch press is seeing this as a portend for upcoming national elections. From Radio Netherlands:

Far-right politician Geert Wilders has made major gains in local elections held in the Netherlands. Taking part in two cities it has become the largest party in Almere and the second largest in The Hague.

Mr Wilders was visibly buoyed by the results and was characteristically combative saying this was the first step in the upcoming campaign for parliamentary elections.

"The national campaign begins today in Almere and The Hague, tomorrow in all of the Netherlands… On 9 June, we'll conquer the Netherlands," said Mr Wilders

The Freedom Party has profited more than any other from the fall of the Dutch cabinet ten days ago. The party currently has 9 seats in parliament (out of 150).

If voters had elected a new parliament on Wednesday, the Freedom Party would have won between 24 and 27 seats. In one poll, it would be the largest single party. If his party does that well come June, Geert Wilders could become the next prime minister.

by Eric Dondero

And so it begins... A Fatwa was issued last month worldwide directing all Muslims to resist the body scanner at airports. And we've just had the first test case, at an airport in the United Kingdom.

From The Times On-line, March 3:

A Muslim woman was barred from boarding a flight after she refused to undergo a full body scan for religious reasons.

The passenger was passing through security at Manchester Airport when she was selected at random for a full-body scanner.

She was warned that she would be stopped from boarding the plane but she decided to forfeit her ticket to Pakistan rather than submit to the scan. Her female travelling companion also declined to step into the scanner, citing “medical reasons” for her refusal.

The pair were attempting to fly to Islamabad in Pakistan.

The scanners have been in use for one month at Manchester and London Heathrow. The pair are the very first to refuse the use of the search method.

The Times goes on to explain:

The X-ray machines allow security officials to check for concealed weapons but they also afford clear outlines of passengers’ genitals. They are due to be introduced in all airports by the end of the year.

Leftist civil liberties groups are fiercely rejecting the scanners. Yet pro-civil liberties groups on the Right see this as a right of American and British passengers to be safe and secure from the threat of Islamic Terrorism.

From the aptly named blog Bare Naked Islam:

It isn't Islamaphobia when they are trying to kill you!

It’s about time the Brits got tough on Muslims... We should demand body scanners in every public building in America.

I side with the pro-security civil liberties advocates on this. From a libertarian view, such security measures are entirely consistent with a personal liberty standpoint. These are public, not private facilities. If the government in the UK were directing private facilities to install scanners, that would be an entirely different situation. After all, the women do have alternative and one might say "more traditional" means of transportation to Islamabad, such as the train, bus or even carriage.

BREAKING NEWS...

The Senate minority leader has just called Obama's bluff. Obama had been threatening health care would be an issue in November that would benefit Democrats if the GOP didn't join in.

The Christian Science Monitor, and The Examiner are reporting on a late afternoon press conference yesterday by Senate Minority leader, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. The leader made the following vow:

"If this bill is passed, in the next election every Republican candidate will be campaigning to repeal it."

McConnell also mentioned Obama's "$500 billion in new taxes, and $2.5 trillion in new spending."

Carmen Gumina, a local Legislator in Monroe County (western New York), recently switched his party registration to Republican.

From the WHEC Channel 10:

The Republicans increased their majority in the Monroe County Legislature Saturday, despite no elections being held.

At a press conference Saturday morning alongside County Executive Maggie Brooks and Chairman Bill Reilich, Carmen Gumina, a county legislator in Webster, announced he's switching parties and his allegiance, from Democrat to Republican.

This now gives Republicans a 16-13 majority over Democrats.

Gumina cited his fiscal conservatism inconsistent with current Democrat Party beliefs, and his interest in tax relief for his constituents.

"Health concerns?" or Sex Scandal?

From Eric Dondero:

The official reason is "health concerns." But according to a source inside the beltway, the rumor is something more along the lines of a looming "ethical challenge." Some sources indicate that he may have used very inappropriate language, including "homophobic slurs," against a congressional staffer. Other sources suggested he "made unwanted sexual advances" towards a male staffer.

Irregardless, the sudden "retirement" announcement of first-term Democrat Congressman Eric Massa of New York, has given the Republicans yet another opportunity for a House seat pick-up.

Tom Reed has been the challenger to Massa in this GOP-leaning district. However, one of our sources indicates that another name is surfacing, who'd be an even stronger candidate to secure the seat in the Republican column; that of Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks.

So far, at least one media source in New York is confirming the rumors. From LoHud.com (Lower Hudson):

Republicans are eying Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks as a potential contender for the sprawling 29th District, which stretches from the Rochester suburbs to the Southern Tier.

She has resisted calls to run for the seat in the past, but said today in a statement that she is going to seriously consider it.

Brooks issues a statement:

"Since early this afternoon, I have received dozens of calls from my colleagues in Monroe County, across New York State, and in Washington who have asked me to run for Congress now that the 29th Congressional District will be an open seat.

Out of respect for our community leaders and a desire to serve hardworking and overburdened taxpayers, I will give this opportunity serious consideration over the next several days."

Brooks, a former TV anchorwoman, is best known for having led the charge against corruption in county government, including cases of fraud by county employees against local taxpayers.

Rand Paul stands his ground

Sanchez: You support him on this, don't you?

Sanchez: Is this a smart move for you... I'm looking at the stats for your state. 10% unemployment in Kentucky. How do you justify to the people of the state of Kentucky where you want to be a senator, that they should um, bite their lip and not do anything... that they may be losing their unemployment benefits as a result of this move by Bunning?

See Part II of the interview here.

(H/t Daily Paul)