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Maybe it's time to VOTE LIBERTARIAN

You're looking for the Libertarian party, or maybe the Guns and Dope party.

-Peter

If you'd like to read more, look around for information about anarcho-capitalism. There are essays about the idea of government basically being definable as a group that claims a monopoly on the use of force in an area, and speculates about what we could do if we busted up that monopoly.

I'd point you to such myself, but I got half of these ideas in person from a friend rather than from reading. It wasn't till later I realized how it fit into the larger anarcho-capitalist idea, and decided I agreed with the whole package. (To be specific, I thought the idea was nuts for about five years.)

And interestingly, the Libertarian party platform effectively calls for the right to do this for everybody.

People are obsessed with the two parties which have brought nothing but failure after incompetent failure. They will vote for somebody not even knowing the first thing about their platform based soley on their association with one of the two long term providers of constant pure failure. Now that person voted they feel they did their civic duty and leave the parasite Republican or Democrat unchecked as they forget their constituents and head to D.C. to get with Dubya and get on the Abramoff cash cow for personal wealth and benefit. Maybe when they are caught being a crooked criminal and the media hypes it a bit, that person pretends to care again and may gripe a bit at work. They do not change the way they vote. They do not make it a point to keep tabs on D.C. at all. They do not protest. They do not show their dislike of this by writing to a snake still in D.C. They do not show they are serious by voting these vermin and all of their bedfellows out of office. Almost makes the whole debacle of Diebold a moot point, why care about rigged elections when you don't care to BEGIN with? Why try to wake up sleeping fools when after decades of pumping propaganda into the mainstream the Republicans & Democrats have effectively turned the voter base into cattle; clueless animals with herd mentality. Does it matter if Washington dumps a light brown shit or a dark brown shit on your head? That is really what we are talking about with rigging elections, you are getting shit on no matter what. It is just a matter of what kind of shit is rigging up the election to dump on us all because we will be dumped on.

If you are serious about wanting a change and getting American back to being prosperous like it used to be, wake the fuck up.

http://www.lp.org/

Try to learn a little more about who you are empowering too, our foreign policy is a shining example of the D.C. mentality and lack of caring about you, the poor, or anybody else that does not sit with them at their Imperial Table of the Rich and Worthy.

http://www.economichitman.com/

It just seems so absurd that so many people are getting their panties in a bunch in a purely token expression of emotion. Were people serious, there would be organizations created and supported and they would be getting as many other organizations involved as possible such as the United Nations and any other watchdog group concerned about crooked elections. Were people serious, there would be wholesale public outcry [e.g. Watergate] and somebody would eventually connect the dots that a climate has evolved where we actually have to worry about rigged elections and which single individual will get into power and further expand their powers unchecked while deminishing freedom and liberty. Nobody seems to grasp that concept, the Federal Government has gotten too powerful and too big. Big to the point that it all but completely runs our lives and takes greedily from us while providing us in the long run truly nothing. All this and more to seriously consider and question...and people make a token gesture of being upset over a box that can, and probably did already, rig elections.

The People should be upset over the root fact that we have allowed the Federal Government to go overboard in the first place, Diebold is just them now playing with their new tools to cement already secured power. Instead; We The People, in order to form a more perfect tyranny and fascism, have become lazy and disconnected ourselves from our Governments and civic duties.

The problem is that there is a justified fear that if someone votes for a minor party, it will sap strength from the major party that kinda represents their interest and they will end up with the party that represents their interest in the least. People may be willing to take this chance when there isn't much at stake, but when there are contentious issues (like the war) at stake, 3rd parties don't even get considered. Now if it were possible to vote in a way that says "I approve of candidates A _and_ C, but not B", you can freely vote for other parties without diminishing the strength of major party. Under this process, a 3rd (or 4th or 5th) party could build momentum over several elections rather than being a flash in the pan (like Nader & Perot).

It's not the electoral system, so much as the voting process. If you have only one vote and there are three candidates, you'll quickly decide that you need to vote for the person that most closely represents your ideals AND has the best chance of being elected.

This is why most people dismiss a 3rd party as a "wasted vote".

Now if it were possible to vote in a way that says "I approve of candidates A _and_ C, but not B", you can freely vote for other parties without diminishing the strength of major party. Under this process, a 3rd (or 4th or 5th) party could build momentum over several elections rather than being a flash in the pan (like Nader & Perot).

There are other choices. http://lp.org/

Exactly! Or Scottish Nationalist, for example.

There are other choices. http://lp.org/

Dubya hams it up with his old chum and Bonesman pal, Jack Abramoff who currently is exposing several criminals whom he easily bought and paid for, like J.D. Hayworth, that you elected to represent you and protect you in Washington D.C. When asked about the landslide of photos that show Dubya palling around with Abramoff, always sporting that huge "I just got more money" grin, Dubya refused to comment but his mangy unbathed lapdog McClellan stated: "We also got pictures of him playing in aircraft in Texas while your parents served & died in Vietnam and we got no pictures much less record of him copmleting his dodge of Vietnam before disappearing about the time his Daddy was made head of the CIA with no experience or qualifications for that job." Rumors are flying that as long as Abramoff names only names that oppose W and his Bonesmen plots that Abramoff will be pardoned or given the fat life along with his family similar to another patsy, Jack Ruby.

Several photos are now being excused away by the White House in at attempt to sweep more facts and associations under the rug. This may serve however as an excellent distraction from the other ongoing cancers destroying America such as: the failure of the illegal aggression in Iraq, no WMD there, the best live training and recruitment station ever for terrorists in Iraq before they deploy stateside, the building of further anti-american sentiment in the middle east and amongst Muslims, Scooter Libby releasing any classified information he wants with a promise of a pardon from Dubya, Carl Rove just barely dodging an indictment also with a pardon promise from Dubya, hordes of other Republicans committing tax fraud & embezzlement & profitting from the position you elected them to while doing nothing for you, the ever weakening dollar you only work harder for, unstoppable juggernaut of inflation causing a skyrocket in the cost of living, out of control housing costs, lack of good jobs, poverty totally unchecked and cared about, the out of control deficit, big business empowered to further economically repress the people, the growing massive devide as Americans are no longer Americans but strictly only a religious and/or political label, a failing economy that cannot support the majority who is impoverished, no hope for a better future as none of the above are addressed or cared about, skyrocketing oil costs again despite no hurricane to excuse the gouging with an oil man in office stealing oil, no aid for the poor this winter as they are not important enough to not freeze, mixing of church and government just like Iran, complete disregard for the Constitution they swore to protect as they bypass it and all checks and balances in the name of "terror" with no warrants or check to this power, encouragement of racial profiling furthering bigotry and racism again in America, lack of accountability as another crisis is thrown out so the old one and charges from it are forgotten, more of your liberties and rights and freedoms are taken away for "your own good" and safety, torture of human beings not even getting a day in court, removal of any and all due process. This list could easily continue as this administration makes the biggest grab for power for the Executive "branch" ever in the history of the United States.

Google: A Patriot's Letter

http://www.lp.org/ [lp.org]

What will not be news is Americans continue to vote Democrat and Republican into office to push and continue the same failures that keep failing. If you are truly sick of it, vote out *ALL* encumbents and vote Libertarian otherwise you asked for it so enjoy it. Hopefully your vote will not be ignored like in 2000 & 2004, or "Diebolded" to be more accurate.

Dubya hams it up with his old chum and Bonesman pal, Jack Abramoff who currently is exposing several criminals whom he easily bought and paid for, like J.D. Hayworth, that you elected to represent you and protect you in Washington D.C. When asked about the landslide of photos that show Dubya palling around with Abramoff, always sporting that huge "I just got more money" grin, Dubya refused to comment but his mangy unbathed lapdog McClellan stated: "We also got pictures of him playing in aircraft in Texas while your parents served & died in Vietnam and we got no pictures much less record of him copmleting his dodge of Vietnam before disappearing about the time his Daddy was made head of the CIA with no experience or qualifications for that job." Rumors are flying that as long as Abramoff names only names that oppose W and his Bonesmen plots that Abramoff will be pardoned or given the fat life along with his family similar to another patsy, Jack Ruby.

Several photos are now being excused away by the White House in at attempt to sweep more facts and associations under the rug. This may serve however as an excellent distractant from the other ongoing cancers destroying America such as: the failure of the illegal aggression in Iraq, no WMD there, the best live training and recruitment station ever for terrorists in Iraq before they deploy stateside, the building of further anti-american sentiment in the middle east and amongst Muslims, Scooter Libby releasing any classified information he wants with a promise of a pardon from Dubya, Carl Rove just barely dodging an indictment also with a pardon promise from Dubya, hordes of other Republicans committing tax fraud & embezzlement & profitting from the position you elected them to while doing nothing for you, the ever weakening dollar you only work harder for, unstoppable juggernaut of inflation causing a skyrocket in the cost of living, out of control housing costs, lack of good jobs, poverty totally unchekced and cared about, the out of control deficit, big business empowered to further economically repress the people, the growing massive devide as Americans are no longer Americans but strictly only a religious and/or political label, a failing economy that cannot support the majority who is impoverished, no hope for a better future as none of the above are addressed or cared about, skyrocketing oil costs again despite no hurricane to excuse the gouging with an oil man in office stealing oil, no aid for the poor this winter as they are not important enough to not freeze, mixing of church and government just like Iran, complete disregard for the Constitution they swore to protect as they bypass it and all checks and balances in the name of "terror" with no warrants or check to this power, encouragement of racial profiling furthering bigotry and racism again in America, lack of accountability as another crisis is thrown out so the old one and charges from it are forgotten, more of your liberties and rights and freedoms are taken away for "your own good" and safety, torture of human beings not even getting a day in court, removal of any and all due process. This list could easily continue as this administration makes the biggest grab for power for the Executive "branch" ever in the history of the United States.

Google: A Patriot's Letter

http://www.lp.org/

What will not be news is Americans continue to vote Democrat and Republican into office to push and continue the same failures that keep failing. If you are truly sick of it, vote out *ALL* encumbents and vote Libertrian otherwise you asked for it so enjoy it.

Thing is, most of those libertarian hard scientists become liberals or conservatives when they eventually get girlfriends and reproduce, and see the value in cooperating with other humans rather than hiding out in their parent's basements alone.

Well, you've just proven that you don't understand anything about (L|l)ibertarianism. Nothing about being a (l|L)ibertarian is imcompatible with "cooperating with other humans rather than hiding out in their parent's basements alone."

(L|l)ibertarians only assert that no one can be **forced** to cooperate with anyone else. People are free to **voluntarily** cooperate with whomever they choose, for whatever end they choose. Or they are also free to hide out in the basement, if that is what they **choose**.

That's the essense of (L|l)ibertarianism distilled into a nutshell: no one can use force or fraud to compell someone else to take any action, or to take their property, or otherwise violate their rights. Voluntary cooperation for the "greater good" of groups is absolutely accepted and encouraged.

Just to look at one small example, see the Libertarian Party position on Welfare and Poverty and look at a snippet:

We should eliminate the entire social welfare system. This includes eliminating AFDC, food stamps, subsidized housing, and all the rest. Individuals who are unable to fully support themselves and their families through the job market must, once again, learn to rely on supportive family, church, community, or private charity to bridge the gap.

I think families, churches, communities and private charities fulfilling the role of social welfare certainly constitutes "cooperating with other humans."

'Cause, you know one thing that libertarianism creates? Legalized Enron.

Wrong. (L|l)ibertarianism does not accept the use of fraud to steal money from people. The only real controversy about this is among (L|l)ibertarians who don't always agree on exactly how to regulate companies to prevent Enron type incidents. At either rate, the current system didn't prevent Enron from stealing a bazillion dollars and raping many retirement funds, and most of those people will never get their money back. So how exactly would moving to a (L|l)ibertarian model make an Enron any worse than it already is?

I should add however, that (L|l)ibertarians would hold that an individual has a responsibility to do "due diligence" on any investment, and we do generally see a distinction between being defrauded and just being (or acting) stupid and then expecting somebody to bail you out. Investments are not guaranteed to increase in value, they all have risk... so anyone who invests in stock has to understand this and should not expect a refund anytime they lose money because they made poor decisions. Now clearly Enron did defraud people, but at the same time, there *were* warning signs that should have warned smart investors away from Enron before the stock crashed. Some analysts were issuing warnings some time before the big fall. See "The Smartest Guys In The Room", "Power Failure", or "Conspiracy of Fools" for more details.

Thing is, most of those libertarian hard scientists become liberals or conservatives when they eventually get girlfriends and reproduce, and see the value in cooperating with other humans rather than hiding out in their parent's basements alone.

Well, you've just proven that you don't understand anything about (L|l)ibertarianism. Nothing about being a (l|L)ibertarian is imcompatible with "cooperating with other humans rather than hiding out in their parent's basements alone."

(L|l)ibertarians only assert that no one can be **forced** to cooperate with anyone else. People are free to **voluntarily** cooperate with whomever they choose, for whatever end they choose. Or they are also free to hide out in the basement, if that is what they **choose**.

That's the essense of (L|l)ibertarianism distilled into a nutshell: no one can use force or fraud to compell someone else to take any action, or to take their property, or otherwise violate their rights. Voluntary cooperation for the "greater good" of groups is absolutely accepted and encouraged.

Just to look at one small example, see the Libertarian Party position on Welfare and Poverty and look at a snippet:

We should eliminate the entire social welfare system. This includes eliminating AFDC, food stamps, subsidized housing, and all the rest. Individuals who are unable to fully support themselves and their families through the job market must, once again, learn to rely on supportive family, church, community, or private charity to bridge the gap.

I think families, churches, communities and private charities fulfilling the role of social welfare certainly constitutes "cooperating with other humans."

'Cause, you know one thing that libertarianism creates? Legalized Enron.

Wrong. (L|l)ibertarianism does not accept the use of fraud to steal money from people. The only real controversy about this is among (L|l)ibertarians who don't always agree on exactly how to regulate companies to prevent Enron type incidents. At either rate, the current system didn't prevent Enron from stealing a bazillion dollars and raping many retirement funds, and most of those people will never get their money back. So how exactly would moving to a (L|l)ibertarian model make an Enron any worse than it already is?

I should add however, that (L|l)ibertarians would hold that an individual has a responsibility to do "due diligence" on any investment, and we do generally see a distinction between being defrauded and just being (or acting) stupid and then expecting somebody to bail you out. Investments are not guaranteed to increase in value, they all have risk... so anyone who invests in stock has to understand this and should not expect a refund anytime they lose money because they made poor decisions. Now clearly Enron did defraud people, but at the same time, there *were* warning signs that should have warned smart investors away from Enron before the stock crashed. Some analysts were issuing warnings some time before the big fall. See "The Smartest Guys In The Room", "Power Failure", or "Conspiracy of Fools" for more details.

This is not about privacy, this is about an already overpowerful and clearly corrupt Government further overstepping boundries and making another grab for power in the further erosion of rights. Their track record of failure, mismanagement and losing billions of dollars not already wasted speaks for itself.

If you feed a monster, even a little at a time, that monster will grow larger and you will be the next meal.

This job the Government seeks to do is the job of the parents. If they want to catch pedophiles, that is the job of law enforcement NOT the Executive branch. Existing tools are in place for law enforcement to use for this purpose, perhaps they need more training if they are not up to par. We are talking about ignoring the checks and balances of the Constitution and moving full steam towards outright fascism. Additionally, the stunt artist is the Government as focus now pulls on things like this instead of more critical already exposed issues like Scooter Libby, Jack Abramoff, Iraq, account failures, Osama Bin Laden still running wild, and the list easily goes on. The Federal Government needs to detach itself fully from running and dictating the lives of its citizens, and moves like this are in the opposite direction which is the reason for concern.

http://www.lp.org/

I don't need a babysitter or Big Brother for my everyday life, I need somebody to protect my Constitution, my rights and freedom, and the sovereignity of this nation.

Germany gave Hitler just an inch.
The World gave Hitler juas an inch.
Soon enough Prescott Bush was finanching the 3rd Reich and laundering money for them while the world was thrown into WWII for survival.

Iran overpowered their government and mixed in religion with it, now they face an extremely oppressive regime.

"Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. In the first stage of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted, it misses progress by failing in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the condition of children and barbarians, in which instinct has learned nothing from experience."

-George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905
US (Spanish-born) philosopher (1863 - 1952)

We have been down this path already, it led to the American Revolution. It is the Federal Government pulling a stunt here, not Google.

Google: A Patriot's Letter

When will the People expect their leaders to subject to the same laws that immediately get the rest of us locked up? When will the People realize that soon no rights or freedoms will be left and shortly after that nobody will be left to ask why YOU were taken away and held forever, denied due process.

Wake the fuck up America, vote out ALL encumbents and have every single criminal in office see their day in court for breaking a law that should be blind.

http://www.lp.org/

Oddly enough every one of those points in the post you replied to are the same ones I get from reading books, news from media outlets around the globe, exercising the FOIA, thomas.gov and the Library of Congress. Guess I am not reading the Christian versions meant for people with single digit IQs already brainwashed and programmed into complete ignorance as they actually think they are not only right but the only ones who can be right and their imaginary friends tell them so and their ancient book of poorly written fairly tales supports that. Maybe it has to do with the fact that your nose is shoved in shit all the time and shit might not smell so bad even if it is still shit because you are used to shit. I know! You have to do a few lines of Oxycontin with Rush before you can buy into his feeble dribble!!

Perhaps the Fuhrer is tossing you some scraps from the table and you feel obligated to lower yourself to the Fuhrer's level I mean after all you would then be one of the rare few actually benefitting from this criminal facist racist bigot being in office and following his Father and Grandfather's Nazi footsteps.

Yes, the Bush family are Nazis! But you would need to know how to exercise the rights you so freely and readily give away to find all the memos and documents detailing the involvment in the 3rd Reich for the Bush family starting when J. Edgar Hoover caught Prescott Bush fully financing and laundering money for the Nazis. But as stupid as you seem to be, apparently you could care less about the facts, truth and rights you lose contantly. Maybe you and your kind should go to Iran and see what happens when you never question and overpower a corrupt government and mix in religion with it. They got blind faith too and lots of spin which would make you feel right at home along with practically no liberty, rights or freedom. Maybe then YOU could just be the one to change your mind and be the one to open your eyes before you are butchered in Iran like a farm animal by a mature version of the Monster you feed and support.

http://www.lp.org/
http://www.economichitman.com/

"The world is too dangerous to live in, not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen." - Albert Einstein

Google: A Patriot's Letter

As stated before and known by those with more than a single digit IQ, W is destroying America and what our Founding Fathers created. I do not care what banner you wave, or names you call, or spin you put on things or any damn other excuse for breaking the law and raping freedom and liberty.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Nobody should be above the law either, NOBODY.

Here is a hint for the those freaking over this posting: We made our bed of terrorism (Middle East meddling, start with Kermit Roosevelt, CIA and Dr. Mossadegh for a good start on your education) and now we are forced to sleep in it from our twisted foreign policy and sickening imperialistic zionism as an unwanted cop for the world. How about we try protecting our foreign interests by respecting other people, cultures, religions and their property instead of making wholesale enemies and then giving them a nice live training ground to learn how to mix it up with the military before coming stateside to mix it up with poorly trained and equipped civilian units. Just maybe we can prosper again with more markets to do business in and more people wanting to do business with us rather than tearing us a new asshole for what our corrupt misrepresentatives do for their own pockets and wealth in Washington.

http://www.lp.org/

Wake up and fix the problem, vote out all encumbents and vote Libertarian who wants to reduce the size of the Government who only become more corrupt as they increase in size and reduce our rights and choices.

Rather than support the ACLU, the people would be much better off in supporting any organization which seeks to throw BOT the Democrats AND Republicans out of office. 99% of Congress (both House and Senate) need to be voted out as well as the President. The same thing also needs to happens to just about all state and most local governments. For decades we have been electing both Democrats and Republicans to office only to watch our taxes go higher and higher, be subjected to more and more rules and regulations, and watch our voices get weaker and weaker. I for one am tired of the endless crap being spewed out by the Democrats and Republicans. Isn't it time yet for alternative parties such as those listed below?

Constitution Party http://www.constitutionparty.org/
Green Party http://www.greenparty.org/
Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
Reform Party http://www.reformparty.org/
Socialist Party http://www.sp-usa.org/
Veteran's Party http://www.veteransparty.us/


With the Democrats and Republicans in office, more and more people have quit registering to vote because they believe that it does not matter which one of these candidates get into office (People are going to be screwed each way). This is one reason I blog this message because I want people to spread the word that we actually do have a choice. I believe that throwing out the Republican-Democrats is a better way to obtain justice than what Marvin Heemeyer did in Granby, Colorado (although I do not frown on his efforts to punish local officials). Another way people can have influence in doing away with the oppressive governments in the P.S.A. (Police States of Amerika) is by excercising their powers to judge the law as well as the facts when serving on a jury. People should look at the Fully Informed Jurors Association . In the P.S.A. we will only gain ou freedom by TAKING IT BACK from those who have usurped the rightful power of citizens.

As a Founding Father of the United States, he recognized the need for a REASONABLE patent and copyright system in order to make sure that authors and product creators were able to recoup the costs of creating their works. The patent and copyright system today rewards mostly corporations. Individual creators are left out. As a Founding Father of the U.S. he also stood for for individual right. This is something tht very few mainstream party affiliated politicians think about today. If we want to try to restore the protections of our right by voting, then we need to vote for members of alternative political parties such as the ones listed alphabetically below: Constitution Party http://www.constitutionparty.org/ [constitutionparty.org] Green Party http://www.greenparty.org/ [greenparty.org] Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ [lp.org] Reform Party http://www.reformparty.org/ [reformparty.org] Socialist Party http://www.sp-usa.org/ [sp-usa.org] Veteran's Party http://www.veteransparty.us/ [veteransparty.us] Even though I am not a Christian, I prefer the Constitution Party. I can deal with looking at 10 Commandments posted in a court room, they will not jump out and shoot me. I can even stand still while leaders pray as long as I am not forced to join in. If you do not like the ideas put out by the Constitution Party, look at a party that fits what you believe in. Just don't fall for the bullshit spewed by the Democrat or Republican parties. We already know what they are about (taking bribes and serving their special interests). As another not, we can also judge the law as well as the facts. Visit http://www.fija.org/ .

Benjamin Franklin was an absolute genius. Not only was he responsible for the rediscovery of electricity. he was also responsible for many other scientific advances of historic proportions. Not only that, he was also partly responsible for drafting the founding document of one of the greatest nations in history. Unfortunately he would mostly be fighting mad at how his genius has been misused by the main two political parties of today along with their corporate and special interest paymasters. These entities have distorted the intent to help pay for innovation with laws that has brought innovation to a standstill. Both Democrats and Republicans have destroyed the legal protections which the U.S. Constitution provided for the inhabitants of the U.S. In fact, the U.S.A. should be no longer known by that name. It is more appropriate to call it the "Police States of Amerika." With not only free speech stifled by the abuse of copyright and patents, property rights are now virtually unprotect as any major corporation can have a local government force people to give up their own land for a pittance. Things can be changed though. It has to be done by people not doing what they normally do. In order to make any significant change for the better and have laws passed that protect freedom to hack and free software, people will have to register to vote. Not only will have have to register, they will have to register under an ALTERNATIVE political party instead of the republicrats or demicans. There are many parties out there that fit the different agendas of many who are Slashdotters. These parties are listed below in alphabetical order:

Constitution Party http://www.constitutionparty.org/
Green Party http://www.greenparty.org/
Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
Reform Party http://www.reformparty.org/
Socialist Party http://www.sp-usa.org/
Veteran's Party http://www.veteransparty.us/

Some of these parties I disagree with, however, I list them to give voice to diverse ideas. Isn't it time to register and vote for candidates based on their ideas and character instead of by which one will stand a chance of winning in order to keep out the "greater evil?" The corrupt, bullshit and lie spewing Democrats are just as bad as the corrupt bullshit and lie spewing Republicans. There are much better choices. Get behind them and support them while we have a few legal protections left.

Forming federal political parties sucks. Trust me. Try the Libertarians, although they don't have a lot of money. See the previous link for the reason why.

FYI: libertarianism, Libertarian Party. Libertarianism does not mean what you think it means.

Or maybe it would be called the Libertarian party, because they support the reduction of government influence (in the form of intellectual property laws) in the free movement of information and commerce, and an increase in emphasis on the rights of the individual?

One would think so, at least. Or not? If we look at the actual american libertarian party platform we find that they are strongly in support of privacy rights, like the swedish piracy party. However, their approach to privacy rights seems to be to remove the government from any form of personal identification and tracking-- I.E. from the language in their platform, they only seem interested in protecting people from privacy violations by the government. This means that they would strongly support one of the piracy party's planks-- repeal of data retention laws. However they would would most likely reject the other privacy-related plank (passing laws to protect privacy), because while such laws are intended to protect the individual, it would be a government and thus probably seen by libertarianism as detrimental to the individual in the large. Aside from this the American libertarian party has, as far as I can tell, no opinion on intellectual property law at all.

If we look at the American Communist party we find they are too busy waxing their moustaches and trying to kill pesky moose and squirrel to really tell us much here. The American Socialist Party meanwhile doesn't seem to have explicit positions on either privacy or intellectual property that I can see.

I guess basically the thing to take away here is that there's this old dichonomy between "communism" and "private property rights" ("libertarianism"?), and it's completely bunk. It is a false choice, a straw man constructed by extremists of both positions. The two alternatives here may be fairly contradictory, but if you try to split the world between them things get confusing awfully fast. This is nowhere more clear than in the case of "intellectual property", because intellectual property is a form of property created by the government. Think about that for a moment. This cuts directly across the boundary of state control versus individual property rights-- it's something that wasn't a form of property until the government chose to interfere in the economy.

Of course, even that's a little complicated, because of the question of whether intellectual property is even property now. The head of the RIAA apparently thinks it is. I for one don't really think it is, and language of the the U.S. constitution (which frames IP "rights" as government-granted priviliges, state-issued monopolies), seems to agree.
Ah well.

The law which enables the President to "spy" has been on the books since 1978. The scope of the law was expanded in 1994 and 1998. The EFF has a great writeup about the law which can be found here There are certain requirements that must be met before a "warrant" is issued by a judge. In reality it is really not a warrant because the person investigated is unaware of the pseudo-warrant. Please read the EFF writeup so you have a better understanding of your rights. Blaming this law on the current administration is unproductive and misguided. The law was passed under a democrat administration (Carter) and expaned under another democrat administration (Clinton) We can bitch and moan about the current administration and their use of the law. This doesn't change the fact that the it is on the books. I have already contacted my representatives regarding this law. I am glad the NYTs shed light on this because I would not have known about it otherwise. Disclaimer: I don't support the Democrats or the Republicans. I am a Libertarian. You don't have to vote for a giant douche or turd sandwich you know.

Don't like wasteful government bureaucracy? Don't like government created monopolies? Don't like taxes? Well then, it's time for a shameless libertarian pitch: Vote for Libertarians! Libertarians want to eliminate taxes, government waste, corporate handouts, boondoggles, military imperialism, and especially unconstitutional agencies (like the FCC).

You've obviously got me on that one. The pointer has changed to http://www.lp.org./

I think you might be confused.

Perhaps you are really libertarian and don't know it.
You should try The World's Smallest Political Quiz (it only takes about 45 seconds):
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

Most liberals (and unfortunately some conservatives too these days) want MORE government intervantion in their lives, not LESS. The founding principles of the libertarian movement are:

1) limited govenrment
2) individual liberties
3) free markets

According to your post, it looks like you meet 2 out of the 3 of those.

Here are some links for further reading on the topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.lp.org/

The government is a nessasary evil. There is no good governments, only some are less evil than others. We do not live in a perfect world, therefore there are no perfect solutions.

What I think others are trying to say is that the best goverment we can hope for is one whose powers are the bare minimum needed to be able to accomplish its goals. This is generally considered a Libertarian philosophy. McCarthy like witch hunts are not needed to defend a government from outside influences.

Further the Soviet Union was never more than a nuclear threat to the US and the rest of the world. They did not have an economy capable of supporting a military attack on the US main land, except through nuclear attack. The doctrine of mutually assured annihilation (or MAD) made it unlikely that there would ever be a nuclear attack on the US or its allies.

I went through the Navy and received eduaction in electronics. When I went back to civilian life, I found that employers wanted a college degree. I went to college to get the degree. I only got credit in phys. ed and communications simply because the courses were designed a bit differently. After about 3 years and several thousands of dollars, I got my degree. I work for about a year in the electronic field before my job was shipped to China. Most electronics engineering jobs are now moved to overseas. This is happening to all kinds of professions. Why should people spend tens of thousand of dollars in order get the right paperwork for a career only to see that effort wasted when the next round of outsourcing comes about? I am seeing the same thing that happened to the electronics industry happen to the computer industry. I am just glad that I do not have to pay back a student loan. If the American government wants to increase graduation rates, then it would do something about the flood of slave-made goods and services crossing our borders. In fact, something will give due to the high number of dollars that America bleeds each year. In America, a worker cannot support a house and pay living expenses on a dollar a day. How do we compete with slave labor except by becoming slaves ourselves. This is where America is headed no thanks to the U.S. government's refusal to do its job. http://www.fija.org/ Take back the power usurped by corrupt judges. http://www.lp.org/ Take back our freedoms that have been stolen by the goverment. http://www.constitutionparty.com/ Time to go back to a limited government where people are free.

Seriously, with all the networking framework/protocol established and proven what in the FUCK does an already over empowered corrupt Government think they can really do?

WiFi will be used to create an alternate uncensored net that may just very well be adopted by other nations and people who may seek to pull users away from the American hegemony. People will flock to that Alternet where hopefully the uncensored and unrestricted intention of the Internet will shine. Hopefully allowing the existence again of a totally Free Market free of the facist intents of Capitol Hill.

Not too far off when /. readers can remember a certain Linksys WiFi router and custom swedish firmware.

http://www.lp.org/

`Nuff said.

http://www.lp.org/

I completely agree. Folks when you ask the "government" aka the people with the big guns to make decisions such as this, most people will not like the decision. If a state regulation were created, then it would not be as bad; however, when you ask the Federal government to make decisions like this, then you are asking them to take more control of legitimate state business. This kind of problem happens to people within the state that the computer ISP exist; therefore, the Fed should not regulate it.
--
"I think; therefore, I am Libertarian"
http://www.lp.org/

Too bad he got caught, but good thing this will now be done in copycat style globally. Don't kid yourself with empty hopes of further overpowering the too powerful Government to stop this, move HQ offshore away from useless US laws and keep collecting your money. Just think if he really knew what he was doing and had a malicious tendacy to his nature; Those zombies could have been sleepers that exploited that almost hushed Cisco IOS flaw...spreading from backbone to backbone dropping them arcoss the internet until we are back to 1970 for global network functionality.

Even for all the talk about "focus on the real badguy" nobody has really dropped the crosshairs on the responsible party.

Your Mom.
Your Dad.
Your Brother.
Your Sister.
Your Aunt.
Your Uncle.
Your Cousin.

It is solely and purely the fault of the individual person that allowed their machine(s) to be compromised and then REMAIN compromised. Unless you are a Bishop in the Catholic Church (Thomas "Keep em kissin the windshield" O`Brien) in Phoenix, AZ you cannot feign ignorance for your defense if you run somebody over with your car. You are responsible for that vehicle when you practice your right to own and operate one; You excercise your right to own a computer and connect it to a global network physics damnit you are responsible for that computer or LAN behind your gateway. Typical to American arrogance however nobody wants to have to admit responsibility for their mistakes, instead we blame others and waste time and money to have civil servants do their thing. ACCEPT THE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONCE. When the hand of oppression chokes something you cherish, you immediately react such as blaming video games for violence and decay of society and all of America's ills (Jack Thompson anybody? Parents try being parents again for once?). Same concept, different situation. Apply your logic fairly.

Sure, the issue would diminish if Microsoft would not keep stacking shit on shit and giving it a new name. No matter what kind of syrup you pour over a nice fresh steamy log of shit...it will still be shit and never will be French Toast. But it is not like a big secret that Windows is extremely prone to security exploits; Virus has been a buzzword for a decade now. Should you be that dense and sheltered from the world that you don't know Windows is prone to viruses/trojans, the internet is the last place for you. If you know, and you choose then to ignore that my friends is neglect...yet the majority targets the person clever enough to make money off those ignorant fools and the ones who click.

My fellow citizens sicken me, wake up.
http://www.lp.org/
http://www.economichitman.com/

We need politicians that will bring us back to the freedoms our country enjoyed two hundred years ago,

Welcome to the Libertarian Party.

http://www.lp.org/

http://www.economichitman.com/

Wake the fuck up.

libertarians are basically social liberals and fiscal conservatives- the best parts of the republican and democratic parties. no wasting money on pointless and wasteful social programs, no old fashioned moral guidelines. we arent anarchists. we just believe that the government doesnt need to be so involved in every nook and cranny of our everyday lives OR our wallets.

PLEASE read up on this
http://www.lp.org/

Soon the Ignorant(religious) will battle the Enlightened(scientific) with the victor either copying 1979 Iran or 1776 America; New Civil War either way is rapidly coming.

Can you vote intelligently this time to avoid that? Or will you continue to support liars, murderers, and corrupt thieves because you are too stupid to know one of the historical factual reasons America was founded? Or will you blindly support somebody because they promise to be a bigot and subjugate fellow human beings to second or sub class citizens exclusively due to their sexual preferences? Is your personal crusade to take away liberties and freedoms and force your religion/beleifs upon everybody more important than the essence of what America was founded on?

Stem Cells - Brink of wholesale cures of disease and paralysis [RELIGIOUS BAN]
Cloning Organs - Save lives and eliminate the need for donor lists and years of suffering. [RELIGIOUS BAN]
Parental Failures - Parents are not held responsible for failing to be parents, instead movies, video games and anything but the person(s) responsible are blamed and liberties and freedoms removed. [RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA]
Forced prayer - In violation the Founding Father's wishes, christianity is pushed as it was inserted into the Pledge and money in 1954 under the guise of the cold war then pushed as the long time "nation was founded on christianity" pure lie. [RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION/PROPAGANDA]
Blind to American/World matters - Americans vote as to what their clergy tell them, instead of researching the issue themselves to see how it will impact them and the world which in turn impacts everybody's children. [RELIGIOUS ARROGANCE/PERSECUTION]

The list goes on and on.

In the meantime, China has no issues like this and steams ahead in science and math posed to overtake the US within a decade or maybe two all across the board in all areas. We no longer see ourselves as Americans, we see ourselves labelled by our imaginary friend and the book of ancient fairy tales we think is as airtight as a time honored and prooven mathematical formula. That is what we focus our time, energy and money on because that is what is obviously important to most people who live in America and think they are American. Well if you mix religion and politics and seek to take away liberty and freedoms because of your personal beliefs then you are no American rather you are Un-American like Mohammed Atta (9/11 hijacker) yet worse as you keep pushing your agenda rather than doing us real Americans a favor and dying. Personal beliefs belong to yourself personally and in your place of worship, no place else.

Americans for Americans, Math & Science for our future and survival.

http://www.lp.org/

P.S.
Know your enemy - I thought it was gambling and not selling that started the temper tantrum?

Soon the Ignorant(religious) will battle the Enlightened(scientific) with the victor either copying 1979 Iran or 1776 America.

Can you vote intelligently this time to avoid that? Or will you continue to support liars, murderers, and corrupt thieves because you are too stupid to know one of the historical factual reasons America was founded? Or will you blindly support somebody because they promise to be a bigot and subjugate fellow human beings to second or sub class citizens exclusively due to their sexual preferences? Is your personal crusade to take away liberties and freedoms and force your religion/beleifs upon everybody more important than the essence of what America was founded on?

Stem Cells - Brink of wholesale cures of disease and paralysis [RELIGIOUS BAN]
Cloning Organs - Save lives and eliminate the need for donor lists and years of suffering. [RELIGIOUS BAN]
Parental Failures - Parents are not held responsible for failing to be parents, instead movies, video games and anything but the person(s) responsible are blamed and liberties and freedoms removed. [RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA]
Forced prayer - In violation the Founding Father's wishes, christianity is pushed as it was inserted into the Pledge and money in 1954 under the guise of the cold war. [RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION]
Blind to American/World matters - Americans vote as to what their clergy tell them, instead of researching the issue themselves to see how it will impact them and the world which in turn impacts everybody's children. [RELIGIOUS ARROGANCE/PERSECUTION]

The list goes on and on.

In the meantime, China has no issues like this and steams ahead in science and math posed to overtake the US within a decade across the board in all areas. We no longer see ourselves as Americans, we see ourselves labelled by our imaginary friend and the book of ancient fairy tales we think is as airtight as a time honored and prooven mathematical formula. That is what we focus our time, energy and money on because that is what is obviously important to most people who live in America and think they are American. Well if you mix religion and politics and seek to take away liberty and freedoms because of your personal beleif then you are no American rather you are Un-American like Mohammed Atta yet worse as you keep pushing your agenda rather than doing us real Americans a favor and dying.

Americans for and with Americans, Math & Science for our future and survival.

http://www.lp.org/

The irony here is that I registered as a Republican because they were the party of "fiscal responsibility". Ha.

The republican party hasn't been the party of fiscal responsibility since before Reagan. That's in part why some republicans left the republican party and started the Libertarian Party in 1971 when Nixon was pres. unlike Nixon these people believed in small government and liberty.

Falcon

why don't we just say "hey, fuck you all, we're going home" and let them deal with their own messes? This political party would strive to do just that. Why do for others when we are struggling with our own issues. Let's get our own house in order.

In NewYork you are not allowed to sit on a park bench unless you are in the park with a child that you are the legal guardian of.

Woman ticket for sitting on bench sans child

Or imagine what would have happened if she had, say, firebombed some buses, lynched a city council member, and gotten herself some guns ... it probably would have been a lot more effective than the boycott was/is-to-this-day, especially if the panthers had back her play ...

What the name of holy hell are you talking about? All that would do is delegitimize the problem and probably just piss everyone off.

Remember the riots of 1991? The police officers were still let go. Jesus someone needs to teach you some history.

Actually, it was Federal intervention that convinced the companies and the governments to change policy - the walking just convinced them to bring out dogs and turn firehoses on the crowds. It has ever been the unwillingness of the "peaceniks" to break heads that has let the fascist oppressors get the upper hand.

Actually, you totally skipped the part where the city started taking ham-fisted action in response to the boycott and triggered the national attention. See wikipedia.

"Sacrifice" just means there's that much more you have to fight to win back.

No, sacrifice, in this case, means that the profits for the record companies will go down, they couldn't blame piracy, MORE DMCA-type laws couldn't be passed, and they would be forced to change their policies.

Music will still be there if you change your mind, what have you got to lose besides what you've already STOLEN (or got for free, if you want to be a stickler about that)?

While Rosa Parks is a wonderful example should one find ones self in her situation, I think a better example for the spot we currently find ourselves in would be the Boston Tea Party: buncha patriots meet at the pub, get likkered up, decide somethings gotta be done; dress up like gangstas and go trash the latest shipment of the product, wiping corporate profits *and* taxation (without representation) for at least a week in a single act of studied mayhem ... it seemed to be somehow related to broader changes, but I bet the British didn't think so at the time ... took 'em a minit to figure out, it did...

I agree, that's a great example. If you remember correctly, and you obviously don't, WE WENT TO WAR WITH THE BRITISH AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DIED. The brits didn't yeild! In fact, they made things WORSE.

WORSE!! They taxed citizens EXTRA to pay for the tea that was lost. Similar to anti-piracy measures getting more strict in the days of napster.

Are you saying P2P users should crawl out of their parents' basements and shoot the lawyers that come to their door? What is the matter with you? What do you think that would do??

Remember when Oprah said she was kept out of a store because she was black and boycotted them? A formal apology was issued and their policies were changed.

Boycotts with support work, period. The problem is that most people don't care enough about what the RIAA does to actually boycott. I know I don't. Personally, I think most people who get sued deserve it. It's a product, like software, and it should not be pirated, period.

Fair use, on the other hand... well that's why I vote Libertarian.

Well said. I wonder if it's too late to stop the direction we've headed though. I think it's possible that within one more generation we will be the next full wealth distribution, everyone gets a trophy, and no one loses society.

Yes, there's something that can be done, vote Libertarian!!!

Here's another group [constitutionparty.com] that's trying to restore government according to the Constitution.

The supposedly "Constitution Party" looses it when as part of their beliefs they include "restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical common-law foundations." Sticking religion into politics is a deal breaker. I much prefer the Libertarian Party who leaves religion up to each individual. If people want religion in politics they should try saying "In Buddha We Trust" or "In Goddess We Trust". Maybe "In the Flying Spaghetti Monster We Trust.

Do you think the data obtained by the government is going to be directly useful to the insurance companies? I seriously doubt it.

It's the same data, DNA. DNA doesn't change with different people taking a sample. I don't know why it was needed, other than for testing, but I once applied for health insurance and when I did they scheduled an appointment to have someone, probably a nurse, to come to where I lived to collect a blood sample. There were expenses incurred, now if the feds had had a database of my blood it may of been cheaper for insurance to get the blood from there than having to pay someone to get it from me. BTW I was denied insurance.

I don't mind if the person will need to pay more but only if they can afford to pay. Uninsured people raise the prices for everyone.

Then it sounds like what you want is either universal health care, run by the government, or highly regulated private health care, where no one is allowed to get turned down.

I want neither univesal coverage run by the feds or a highly regulated private healthcare system. Universal coverage raises the cost of healthcare and leads to rationing. High regulatory bars raise cost as well. If states want to have a basic level of coverage for the state then they can but not the feds. If prevention were stressed and complementary or "alternative" healthcare were allowed and other healthcare regulations were abolished healthcare costs may be lower. For instance the FDA shouldn't be requiring perscriptions for drugs, Measured in dollars or lives, excessive regulations cost too much. Actually as far as I'm concerned the FDA should be abolished, I don't see anything in the USA Constitution authorizing the FDA. With lower costs of general healthcare people would then be able to pay out of pocket for minor treatments, and because people would be paying out of pocket for these they would be able to afford insurance which would then cover major expenses.

Again, I'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm just saying I don't really see the potential harm. I thought a bit about this before giving my fingerprints to the IRS. And I think I'd come to the same conclusion if they required me to give them my DNA. It's just not that big of a deal.

Go ahead and give the IRS your DNA, it's your choice but I see no need or any reason the IRS should have it what so ever, their job is to collect and process taxes and not healthcare.

I think the Libertarians would be more successful if they limited their scope to human freedom, as opposed to corporate freedom. I don't vote for them because I don't believe in a free market. Just like the government needs strict limitations on its size and power, I think corporations do too.

I do believe in free markets and the right of each person to benefit from their labor. But corportations don't make the free market, they can be a part of it but they are not the free market. It's said corporations only purpose is to maximize profits for the shareholders however originally the charters for corporations specifically stipulated that they had to serve the common good. However the corporate aristocracy has been pretty successful at buying off governments and public officals, politicans. As Thomas Jefferson said in 1814, "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." Another Thomas, Thomas Paine writer of the book "Common Sense" called corporations evil. In "The Wealth of Nations" Adam Smith father of capitalism, says "In ancient times, too, it was usual to attempt to regulate the profits of merchants and other dealers, by regulating the price of provisions and ether goods. The assize of bread is, so far as I know, the only remnant of this ancient usage. Where there is an exclusive corporation, it may, perhaps, be proper to regulate the price of the first necessary of life; but, where there is none, the competition will regulate it much better than any assize."

Fact is is early supporters including the father of freemarket capitalism and libertarians were wary of corporations and believed they needed to be help accountable and regulated lest they become what they have, wielding real political power, and early laws held to this. Unfortuantely, just as any other economic system suffers from it, capitalism also suffers from greed.

Libertarians, just as other freemarketers, also want government to stop subsidizing businesses. Here's what one libertarian writes on the Libertarian Party website:

"But while individual welfare needs to be gradually phased out, two of the three types of corporate welfare need to be eliminated immediately."

The first is the government payout. Writing huge checks to corporations like McDonald's or ADM has got to end now.

The second is tax breaks: Corporations rarely get breaks based on merit or need. The corporations that get the biggest breaks are those that lobby the best. Yes, I know the Libertarian Party wants to get rid of the IRS, but we have to be realistic. That will never happen until we have a majority in power. Therefore, equality must come before elimination.

The third kind of corporate welfare is the kind I have been talking about in this essay. Since taxpayers are being forced to supplement the income of the minimum wage workers, we are picking up a part of the labor expense paid by big corporations like McDonald's and Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, this type of corporate welfare will be a necessity for some time to come.

Then there's stuff like the recent USSC ruling in the Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain case. As with the previous medical marijuana and other rulings that limit or interfer in rights, this ruling has been condemned by libertarians, and should be by freemarketers too.

To say that libertarians care more about corporations that individuals is either a mjor distortion or an out right lie about libertarians.

I think the Libertarians would be more successful if they limited their scope to human freedom, as opposed to corporate freedom. I don't vote for them because I don't believe in a free market. Just like the government needs strict limitations on its size and power, I think corporations do too.

I do believe in free markets and the right of each person to benefit from their labor. But corportations don't make the free market, they can be a part of it but they are not the free market. It's said corporations only purpose is to maximize profits for the shareholders however originally the charters for corporations specifically stipulated that they had to serve the common good. However the corporate aristocracy has been pretty successful at buying off governments and public officals, politicans. As Thomas Jefferson said in 1814, "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." Another Thomas, Thomas Paine writer of the book "Common Sense" called corporations evil. In "The Wealth of Nations" Adam Smith father of capitalism, says "In ancient times, too, it was usual to attempt to regulate the profits of merchants and other dealers, by regulating the price of provisions and ether goods. The assize of bread is, so far as I know, the only remnant of this ancient usage. Where there is an exclusive corporation, it may, perhaps, be proper to regulate the price of the first necessary of life; but, where there is none, the competition will regulate it much better than any assize."

Fact is is early supporters including the father of freemarket capitalism and libertarians were wary of corporations and believed they needed to be help accountable and regulated lest they become what they have, wielding real political power, and early laws held to this. Unfortuantely, just as any other economic system suffers from it, capitalism also suffers from greed.

Libertarians, just as other freemarketers, also want government to stop subsidizing businesses. Here's what one libertarian writes on the Libertarian Party website:

"But while individual welfare needs to be gradually phased out, two of the three types of corporate welfare need to be eliminated immediately."

The first is the government payout. Writing huge checks to corporations like McDonald's or ADM has got to end now.

The second is tax breaks: Corporations rarely get breaks based on merit or need. The corporations that get the biggest breaks are those that lobby the best. Yes, I know the Libertarian Party wants to get rid of the IRS, but we have to be realistic. That will never happen until we have a majority in power. Therefore, equality must come before elimination.

The third kind of corporate welfare is the kind I have been talking about in this essay. Since taxpayers are being forced to supplement the income of the minimum wage workers, we are picking up a part of the labor expense paid by big corporations like McDonald's and Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, this type of corporate welfare will be a necessity for some time to come.

Then there's stuff like the recent USSC ruling in the Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain case. As with the previous medical marijuana and other rulings that limit or interfer in rights, this ruling has been condemned by libertarians, and should be by freemarketers too.

To say that libertarians care more about corporations that individuals is either a mjor distortion or an out right lie about libertarians.

This is a cute suggestion, but not very practical

It's "not practical" because people won't. Many many people say they don't like voting for either democrats or republicans but when it's pointed out they have other choises like voting for Libertarians they say the same thing as you. If they, and you, were to make your votes meaningful things would change. And yes I've voted Libertarian, I first voted LP in 1992 for Ron Paul the Libertarian candidate for president. Admittedly I don't always vote for straight party ticket, I've voted for Democrats, Reform, and Republican, instead I vote on the person who comes the closest to being Jeffersonian, for liberty and small government. When a Libertarian is running s/he usually comes the closest, but many tymes one isn't running for a specific office.

So what would you suggest we do? Take up arms against our government? The only arms I have are the ones attached to my shoulders and possibly a pointed stick. And sorry, I don't want to be detained down in Guantanamo Bay.

Here's what you can do, vote Libertarian.

Stop voting for Democrats and Republicans, for starters.

This is a cute suggestion, but not very practical. I agree that both political parties are corrupt beyond repair and that democracy needs more than 2 dominant political parties, but what should we do? Vote for some candidates who have barely spent the energy formulating a coherent policy? Let's see... we have the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the Constitution Party, plus a cadre of smaller ones. I certainly am not going to vote for third party candidates merely because they are a third party candidate. I consider myself more knowledgeable about the current state of American politics, and I am at a loss of suggestions. I would love to find a political party that actually represents my political views, rather than finding the best fit among the big two. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do? I mean I could go into politics, but I am quite sure I am not suited for such a job.

If you've never found it worth your while to vote but the fear of video game regulations spur you to the polls...please stay home and don't vote.

Nope. If fear of regulation of anything spurs you to the polls...please vote a Libertarian ticket (or foreign counterparts). As for welfare and Social Security's survivor and disability programs, insurance companies in the private sector may do a better job of giving their customers a safety net.

freedom of the press [...] defending your Constitutional rights

Precisely. Keeping the FCC away from the content of video games is potentially a free press issue.