Badnarik's VP is an Embarrassment!

[John Dibble]

Considering the attention you're giving this, I'd say someone doesn't want Libertarians to 'steal' votes from Bush. If you really want to say a third party is insane, how bout the one that has a porn star as it's presidential nominee? Why is this even an issue anyways? It's a useless degree, and as you stated he's obviously educated and has real degrees. Our candidates may have their quirks(and really, think about it, it's just a quirk, not a big deal at all), but they are honest about their views - can the Republicans or Democrats make that claim consistently?

Anywho, one can't blame Badnarik for the V.P. choice, that decision was made by the delegates at the LP convention(we do things differently, at our convention the candidates aren't already decided in advance), and likely he got the V.P. nomination because he perfromed better than his opponents at the debates(same way Badnarik got nominated).

[John Dibble]

Seems like they had 2 fairly good choices for the nomination (Russo or Nolan) and they went with the hardcore nut-jobs instead.  I really don't understand why, though....

I was a Nolan supporter myself. However, the reason Badnarik got the nomination is because he apparently beat the tar out of both Russo and Nolan in the debates at our convention(our primaries are non-binding). The delegates felt that he packaged the Libertarian view in a way that would appeal to non-Libertarians.

Anywho, before judging Badnarik, how about you listen to him on the radio or go to an event he holds if you get the chance to do either. Hear him speak his views and you might be surprised.

[John Dibble]

It seems to me that libertarians fundamentally don't believe in democracy. Why?  Because democracy means sometimes having to obey the will of the majority even when you don't agree with it.

1. I don't believe in democracy. Democracy is a horrible system prone to what some people like to call the "tyranny of the majority". The majority is often stupid, just remember that. The majority once thought it was alright to own slaves and they were indeed property, but I doubt you'd advocate locking up those who stole that property and let it go free, now would you?

2. What I do believe in is our Constitutional Republic, which by no means is perfect, but is far superior to democracy.

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Guess what? Most libertarians don't do drugs(nor do we advocate use, we believe that the drug war just causes more problems than is solves), have driver's licenses, and pay our taxes. And once again, just because the majority designates something a crime does not mean it is an actual crime.

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The Constitution means nothing if the people don't enforce it. It is a mere piece of paper written by the people telling government how it will work and what it can and cannot do. Once the people stop enforcing it, it becomes nothing more than a piece of paper.

Please, I'm curious, do you think the Patriot Act is constitutional?

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He's running for president, how does he not believe in the democratic process? He's part of the democratic process for pete's sake.

As for following laws I disagree with, as I said most libertarians do, but there is only so much that people will tolerate. Remember, by today's standards the founding fathers were criminals.

[John Dibble]

Oh, I certainly don't think we should just accept every law that is passed...but the way to counter unjust laws is through the political process, not by refusing to obey them.

So, the people who used civil disobedience in the Civil Rights movement were wrong?

[John Dibble]

Oh, I certainly don't think we should just accept every law that is passed...but the way to counter unjust laws is through the political process, not by refusing to obey them.

So, the people who used civil disobedience in the Civil Rights movement were wrong?

People in the civil rights movement had no choice, because they couldn't vote!  

Obviously if you can't participate in the democratic process, you need to find other ways to broadcast your agenda.  I'm not opposed to the use of civil disobedience or even violence to fight dictatorships.

They could too vote, the 15th amendment gave them the right to vote.

"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Ratification was completed on February 3, 1870.

So, yes, they could vote. However, the REALITY was that those against equal rights for blacks tried and sometimes succeeded in blocking blacks from voting.