Category Archives: Libertarianism

Kevin Winter / Getty Images file

By Rolling Stone

Museare unhappy with the way American right-wingers, particularly Glenn Beck, have embraced their music,The Guardianreports. In an upcoming interview with the Observer on Sunday, singer Matt Bellamy singles out Beck's affinity for the band's 2009 album "The Resistance," and criticizes the conservative radio host for using the single "Uprising" in rightwing conspiracy-theorist videos on YouTube.

Lil Wayne tops Elvis as king of Hot 100 hits

"In the U.S. the conspiracy theory subculture has been hijacked by the right to try to take down people like Obama and put forward rightwing libertarianism," said Bellamy, who describes himself as "a left-leaning libertarian-- more in the realm of Noam Chomsky." He continued, "'Uprising' was requested by so many politicians in America for use in their rallies and we turned them down on a regular basis."

Hear this: Earphone cords make cool portraits

Bellamy maintained his lyrical content is more about personal healing than espousing political sentiments. "When I dabble in watching the news and reading about current events I tend to get a future negative view and that's something I've dealt with through music," he said. "It's quite possible I'm slightly paranoid. But I'd say making music is an expression of feelings of helplessness and lack of control that I think a lot of people can relate to."

Muse's next album, "The 2nd Law," is out Oct. 2.

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Muse singer rips Glenn Beck for liking his music

Muse frontman Matt Bellamy has spoken out against the use of the Brit rockers' songs by right wing politicians and media figures. In a new interview with Britain's Observer On Sunday, the singer/guitarist says, "In the U.S. the conspiracy theory subculture has been hijacked by the right to try to take down people like Obama and put forward rightwing libertarianism." He added that the band's 2009 single "Uprising "was requested by so many politicians in America for use in their rallies and we turned them down on a regular basis." Bellamy adds that "When I dabble in watching the news and reading about current events I tend to get a future negative view and that's something I've dealt with through music. It's quite possible I'm slightly paranoid. But I'd say making music is an expression of feelings of helplessness and lack of control that I think a lot of people can relate to." Muse's new album The 2nd Law is in stores next week.

Christina Aguilera has released the video for "Your Body," the lead single from her upcoming album Lotus, due out November 13. In the clip, Aguilera goes on a rampage, seducing then destroying a series of men. You can see the "Your Body" video below:

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Quick Hits: Muse, Christina Aguilera, Nicki Minaj, Outasight, Interpol

In a two-part column over at Breitbarts Big Government, Kurt Schlichter practically begs libertarians to support our Constitution and vote for Mitt Romney this November in order to avoid not only the destruction of this country by way of a second Obama term, but also to avoid the destruction of libertarianism by way of the Libertarian Party becoming a pariah.

The begging will not work, especially when it comes with the usual platitudinous overtures to America and the Constitution being at stake; and the suggestion that not supporting Romney is to selfishly disregard of the Constitution in the name of ideology. No matter how you dice the logic, a committed Republican accusing libertarians of not supporting the Constitution is nothing short of laughable.

Schlichters misunderstanding of the libertarian mentality doesnt help, either. The first and most obvious mistake he makes is to conveniently overlook the fact that small-L libertarians are truly unconcerned with the Libertarian Party. Remember the Greens? he ominously asks libertarians, alluding to the fact that following the Green Partys role as spoiler in Al Gores 2000 presidential bid, the Greens died off and became a punchline.

He naively assumes libertarians actually care what happens to the party that, for years, has been mismanaged and run by glibertarians like Wayne Allyn Root, a birther who only recently realized its time to give up the act and join the GOP. For many libertarians, the party already is a punchline. And looking at this years none of the above incident at the Libertarian National Convention, can you blame them?

Schlichter makes the case that libertarians will sure-as-Hell never find a home in the Democratic Party, what with the partys free this, free that, bailouts this, bailouts that spectacle at the 2012 DNC. He rightfully points out that the Dems only occasionally make attempts to reach out to libertarians, but are happy to eliminate that support at the drop of a hat. This is probably true. But dedicated libertarians find themselves politically homeless mostly because the corrupting forces of party politics are inherently in conflict with remaining ideologically principled. For many libertarians, a functioning political party to call home is not the desired end-game.

Schlichters blind partisanship is unlikely to convince libertarians either. Whats most insulting about the column is how he lectures libertarians about how President Obama is on an unstoppable path of trampling the Constitution and Bill of Rights, one amendment at a time. He notes in terribly overwrought language that Obamas spent nearly four years trampling the First Amendment, and that the Second Amendment is just one Supreme Court vote from being snatched away. Look, its no secret that the Obama administration has a seeming disregard for the Constitution. Schlichter suggests that, therefore, libertarians who are truly dedicated to the age-old document need to support Romney and the Republican Party because they are different they will save the Constitution and end the madness.

But hey, guess what? Many of President Obamas constitutional abuses are simply extensions of the ones initiated under President George W. Bush you know, that other unsupportable Republican that we libertarians were all told to shut up and vote for in 2004.

It was the Republican Party that rammed through the PATRIOT Act that Obama reauthorized last year. It was the Republican Party that set the precedent for the use of indefinite detention, torture, executive overreach, and the crackdowns on government whistleblowers. It was the Republican Party that heightened the crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally under their states laws. It was the Republican Party that voted for Bushs spending spree and expansion of federal powers under Medicare Part D, the No Child Left Behind Act, etc.

Schlichter points to the administrations recent rousting of the Innocence of Muslims filmmaker as an Obama First Amendment abuse. The presidents handling of this entire movie-causing-riots debacle was, indeed, frustrating to libertarians. And so we libertarians should support Romney because hes dedicated to the First Amendment, right?

Not quite. This is the same candidate who pledged to vigorously fight the scourge that is all forms of adult pornography. Oh, and under the last Republican president, we saw an increase of pointless federal prosecutions of porn-makers like John Stagliano, who film consenting adults doing consensual things you know, the kind of stuff Republicans hate when it involves sex, drugs, or gambling.

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Breitbart Writer Begs Libertarians To Vote Romney — Sorry, It Ain’t Going To Work

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson spoke Thursday in Durham about the rise in libertarianism in todays political environment. Joining him at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University were libertarian gubernatorial candidates Barbara Howe and Brian Irving.

The Libertarian partys appearance follows on the heels of a 16 percent increase in registered Libertarian voters in the United States last month, according to Howe. She said that mostly Democrats and independents are converting to Libertarianism.

"Our country needs a new direction," Howe said. "It needs a third party to break through."

Howe conveyed her strong opinions on the passage of Amendment One, an anti-same sex marriage law, this previous May. Howe said shebelieves the passage of the amendment was a "slap on society." She said shewas so upset by the passage of this amendment that she shredded her marriage license in front of the Attorney General's office.

This is Howes third run for Governor of North Carolina, and to boost awareness of her campaign and the Libertarian party in general, she is organizing and participating in a 5K run in all 100 counties of North Carolina. She has already visited 84 counties and hosted what she said to be successful events. On Nov.4, the day before election day, Howe plans to end her tour in Wake County by completing a 5K in front of the Governor's Mansion.

The Libertarian party currently has three candidates running for the House. One of whom is Brian Irving, who gave a brief speech after Howe.

"Our country has been at war my entire life," Irving said.

He said he feels strongly abut bringing our troops home and supports an isolationist foreign policy.

"I am presenting a completely different view than twinkle-dumb and twinkle-dumber" Irving said.

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Gary Johnson invigorates the Libertarian vote

12-06-2012 17:04 Welcome to Ask a Libertarian 2012 with Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. They are the authors of the book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America, coming out in paperback later this month. Pre-order: On June 12, 2012 Gillespie and Welch used short, rapid-fire videos to answer dozens of reader questions submitted via email, Twitter, Facebook, and Reason.com. In this episode, they answer whether recalling fixes political corruption, whether 'nudging' will create more libertarians, and whether the Tea Party as made libertarianism obsolete. Produced by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein, Josh Swain, and Tracy Oppenheimer with help from Katie Hooks. To watch answers from 2011's Ask a Libertarian series, go here:

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Ask a Libertarian Lightning Round: Recalls, Libertarian Paternalism,

12-06-2012 16:16 Welcome to Ask a Libertarian 2012 with Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. They are the authors of the book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America, coming out in paperback later this month. Pre-order: On June 12, 2012 Gillespie and Welch used short, rapid-fire videos to answer dozens of reader questions submitted via email, Twitter, Facebook, and Reason.com. In this episode, they answer what's the most libertarian film, spotting libertarianism in pop culture, and how pop culture can liberate people even behind the Iron Curtain. Produced by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein, Josh Swain, and Tracy Oppenheimer with help from Katie Hooks. To watch answers from 2011's Ask a Libertarian series, go here:

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Ask a Libertarian Lightning Round: Libertarianism in Pop Culture

13-07-2012 12:50 From the Majority Report, live MF 12 noon EST and via daily podcast at Ron and Rand Paul's "internet freedom" manifesto really tells you all you need to know about the Paul's brand of "libertarianism." Ron Paul, especially bites the hand that feeds him and exposes himself as a true corporate feudalist.

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"Libertarian" Ron Paul Exposes His True Self: a Corporate Feudalist - Video

26-08-2012 19:37 Dusty Smith explains why Libertarianism is an ideology of suffering and death. I was much nicer than I could have been. I did not even attack the selfish Ayn Rand Libertarian cunt wing of the party, because I don't think most people who call themselves "Libertarians" even know about how these terrible ideas ever came to be in the first place. In my observation, most people who call themselves Libertarians really don't even know what the core Libertarian policies are. There are some good points to Libertarianism, but the bad outweighs the good so much that it's not even close. I shot an hours worth of footage and had so much to say about this, but i cut it down to 7 minutes. So I know I missed a ton of points, but you guys can discuss all that yourselves. The shirt I am wearing is available at . We have a nice selection of Atheists Tees, so please support this channel and pick up one.

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Why Libertarians Are Idiots. - Video

03-08-2012 10:51 Libertarian Austin Petersen and Socialist Connor Fitzpatrick of Jacobin Magazine debate Austin Petersen, libertarian video producer, free market activist and entrepreneur takes on Connor Fitzpatrick over whether libertarians are just "Puppets of the corporate elite" or whether Americans are finally embracing both civil liberties and economic liberties. Sam Sacks on the Thom Hartmann show "The Big Picture" hosts.

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Libertarianism Vs. Socialism with Austin Petersen - Video