This Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for the all the bright voices of Liberty vigilantly watching the steady trespassing of government meddling in our lives and dutifully sounding the alarm. Below is a list of some of guardians of freedom for whom I am especially grateful. Happy Thanksgiving!

And thanks to Bob Smith for the list of links.

The Samurai has linked to some really good, thought-provoking political articles lately. They inspired me to write my own little election summary. Thought you might like to see what the Mrs. has to say about all this. Here goes…

Democrats’ reactions to President Bush’s re-election have been extreme, to say the least. People are seeking therapy, researching Canadian residency requirements, and even committing suicide. But if they are feeling depressed, perhaps it should be from a sense of guilt. The Democratic Party, more than any other group in our country, has worked tirelessly for decades to increase the scope and power of government to shape our society according to their vision. And they succeeded – at least in the ‘increasing government’ part.

But there’s a catch. For all of their talk of smaller government, the Republicans are always more than happy to take the reins of the Federal leviathan and steer it in the direction they want – to the utter horror of those very people who inadvertently put the power in their hands. Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate this whole big Federal government thing.

The colonists overthrew a tyrannical government, set up a system based on liberty, and quickly became a prosperous nation and beacon of hope for the world. It’s important to recognize that America was a tremendous success story not because of what the government did, but what it DIDN’T do. It didn’t treat citizens as property, overly tax them, disarm them, over-regulate them, wage imperial wars around the world, interfere with freedom of speech and worship, circumvent due process, and so on. I speak, of course, in the past tense.

George Washington said, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force.” While you might agree with the way one group uses that force, you never know whose control it will be in next. Washington went on to say, “Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and fearful master.” Not sure you agree? Think of how you’d feel if you received an IRS audit notice in the mail tomorrow.

Next time, vote for Liberty.

To all you suicidal liberals still simpering after the repudiation you endured in the last election: you have a friend in J.D. Tuccile. He feels your pain and offers you an open and heartfelt invitation to join forces in taking America back.

Now, as for this new-found secessionist sentiment of yours and this talk of a looming civil war between progressive blue states and reactionary red states …

Ummm … are you sure you’re up to it?

It was all well and good when your side was running the show to sniff at the Second Amendment and say that the government should have a monopoly on force. You insisted that any talk of resisting the powers-that-be was just SO reactionary (you DO remember our little chat after the Waco unpleasantness, don’t you?). But the world looks a little bit different when the cops work for the opposition, doesn’t it? If you plan to redraw national borders, you’re going to want something of a heavier caliber than those sharply worded e-mails you’ve been circulating. Frankly, the other side is heavily armed; you’re not.

It’s OK. My friends and I are here to help. But we’ll have to come to an understanding. If we’re going to work together, you’re going to have to stop trying to shove your god down the throat of nonbelievers.

No, I don’t have you confused with Bob Jones. I know you call yourself an agnostic. But whatever you call yourself, just like the Bush supporters you worship an awesome god in whom you put all faith — and you think the rest of us should do the same. The Bushies call their god Jehovah and you call your god Government. As happy as I am to hear, yet again, about the sainted John F. Kennedy who died for our sins, I don’t plan on joining your church. Just as I’m unenthusiastic about coughing up a tithe to appease the other side’s Lord in Heaven, I don’t really hanker to make a cash sacrifice to your Lord in D.C.

So here’s the deal: If you agree to let me live my own life according to my own values, so long as I don’t trample on your rights, I’ll agree to do the same by you. Think about it; if we all lived according to that sort of understanding, the stakes would be an awful lot lower when your side lost an election. Then you could go about your business without taking time out to chat with immigration lawyers or draw maps with creative new borders on them. [read more]

Get ready, it’s coming…

Between a quarter and a third of the world’s population will fall ill, according to new World Health Organization estimates, and 1 per cent of the sick will die.

Do the math and the numbers defy credulity; between 16 million and 21 million people would die in a matter of mere months. In Canada, 80,000 to 106,000 people would be expected to succumb.

Armed with that math, think of the consequences. Panic. Crippled health-care systems. Economic disruption on a global scale. Grounded airlines. Distribution networks that will grind to a halt. Social instability.

Or, “three years of a given hell,” as a leading U.S. epidemiologist, Michael Osterholm, puts it: “I can’t think of any other risk, terrorism or Mother Nature included, that could potentially pose any greater risk to society than this.” [read more]

The flu vaccine does more harm than good–just as well that it’s in short supply. Instead, focus on staying healthy and building up your immune system.

With samurai precision, Anthony Gregory separates the wheat from the chaff, the Americans from the Amerikans.

[T]hroughout its early history, America was great to the extent that the
government was limited, and kept out of people’s affairs. America was tarnished and
bloodied to the extent that government grew and gained power. The same is true
today, when we have a much larger government than even the least libertarian
Founding Fathers would have ever imagined or desired. To the extent that America
is now great, it is because of what government doesn’t do, not what it does.
And today’s nationalists are not cheering on America when they cheer on the
police-warfare state and lash out at its critics. They are cheering on Amerika —
the nationalized, bureaucratized, militarized version of our country. [read more]

Found another good Libertarian talk show. The one is Libertasia and comes to us from WGNU – Radio Free St. Louis, AM 920, www.wgnu.net.

L. Neil Smith, of The Libertarian Enterprise, wrote a scathing wrapup of the election and a thank you to our excellent Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarik:

In hindsight, this election yielded exactly the results one would have expected from 120 million products of the public school system. Half of the voters wanted Daddy to protect them from the nasty bad A-rabs. The other half of the voters wanted Mommy to protect them from Daddy. [read more]

Topics: post-election wrap-up both nationally and in New Hampshire; who are the Libertarians; government programs never accomplish what they intend; educate yourself about Liberty. (13 minutes)

Your Hosts: Samurai Appliance Repair Man and Mrs. Samurai

Download the MP3 file of this show here (right-click and select save to download the file).

Topics: Live election day report in New London, NH; phoney election choices; rigged elections; is anyone really pro-Bush or pro-Kerry? 11 minutes.

Your hosts: Samurai Appliance Repair Man and Mrs. Samurai.

Download the MP3 file of this show here (right-click and select save to download the file).

Topics: upcoming election, dumbasses stay home, democracy as the tyranny of the majority, individual liberty. Length: 5 minutes.

Your hosts: Samurai Appliance Repair Man and Mrs. Samurai.

Download the MP3 file of this show here (right-click and select save to download the file).

Not exactly a conservative? Not precisely a liberal? Not quite sure at all? What do those labels mean, anyway? Most people have the nagging feeling that this left-right, liberal-conservative pap that Big Media smears us with every day is far too narrow a view. The fact is that these labels are not only meaningless, but they exclude millions of people.

Relax–the Samurai has just what you need to figure it all out: The World’s Smallest Political Quiz. Quick, easy, painless and, most of all, revealing–you just might learn something about yourself!

I don’t understand all these bleeting appeals to get out and vote. Could someone please answer this question for me: if people are ignorant about the pressing issues of the day, the principles of individual liberty upon which this nation was founded, or the basic structure and function of our government, then why in the hell do we want these boobs casting votes that affect all of us?

Oh wait, I can hear the whining and caterwauling now, “Hey, Samurai, you’re too cynical about people!” Ok, how ’bout some numbers? Warning: the following contains factual information, including statistics, and a TV-talking head is NOT supplied to inject this information directly into that void between your ears. You have to actually read it…just like you would a ballot.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, UNBELIEVABLE NEWS
by James W. Harris

New Study: Shocking Voter Ignorance

A new study by the libertarian Cato Institute indicates that a shockingly large
number of U.S. voters are almost totally ignorant about the issues and
candidates they vote on.

“Overall, close to one-third of Americans can be categorized as ‘know-nothings’
almost completely ignorant of relevant political information,” writes Ilya
Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, in “When Ignorance Isn’t Bliss:
How Political Ignorance Threatens Democracy.”

“Most of the time,” Somin notes,” only bare majorities know which party has
control of the Senate, some 70 percent cannot name either of their state’s
senators and the vast majority cannot name any congressional candidate in their
district at the height of a campaign.”

Overall, voters tend to be “abysmally ignorant of even very basic political
information… the sheer depth of most individual voters’ ignorance is shocking to
observers not familiar with the research.”

A few examples from many in the report:

• The Patriot Act? What’s that? Three-fourths of Americans say they know little
  or nothing about it. 58 percent say they’ve heard “nothing” or “not much” about
  it.
• Seventy percent don’t know about the $500 billion new drug benefit added this
  year to Medicare, which Somin describes as “probably the most significant
  domestic legislation passed during the Bush administration.”
• A majority cannot make even a rough estimate of how many Americans soldiers
  have been killed in Iraq.
• 61 percent believe that there has been a net loss of U.S. jobs in 2004.
• Over 60 per cent don’t know that, during President Bush’s term, there has
  been an explosion in domestic spending (about 25 percent above previous levels)
  that has enormously increased the national debt.
• Last year, 58 percent of Americans could not name a single federal Cabinet
  department.

And such voter ignorance is, alas, nothing new:

• In 1964, at the height of Cold War tensions, only 38 percent of the public
  knew that the Soviet Union was not a member of NATO.
• In 1994, after Republicans took control of Congress under the
  highly-publicized leadership of Rep. Newt Gingrich, 57 percent of Americans said they’d never
  heard of Gingrich, despite the avalanche of press coverage.
• In 1996, 67 percent couldn’t name thei

r congressman, and only 26 percent knew
that senators serve six-year terms.

• In the 2002 elections, only 3

2 percent of voters knew that the Republican
Party controlled the House.

In 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,
in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

Looking at the grave threats to liberty now facing America, one can only
conclude Jefferson was right.

(Source: Cato Institute study:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-525es.html)

Mrs. Samurai recently found out that a very nice friend was planning to vote
for John Kerry. When asked “My heavens, why?!”, this friend, whom we will call
Eeyore, responded with her concerns (to put it mildly) about the Republican
party. Mrs. Samurai responded to these concerns in the hopes of opening Eeyore’s
eyes to the truth of the two-party scam. We thought you might enjoy this
interchange as well. Can you handle the truth?

Eeyore: The Republican Party, in all honesty, hasn’t got an inch of ground to
stand on when they talk about standing up for life. This government cares only
for the richest people in our society, and is willing to sacrifice everything
and everyone else in the attempt to ensure that the interests of that top
percent are protected.

Mrs. Samurai: In theory, Republican policies would benefit most of society by
minimizing government interference, thus allowing a vibrant economy so people
have decent jobs, and minimizing the tax burden so a one-income family can live
comfortably. Charity would stay where it belongs – in the community.
Unfortunately, Republicans do not live up to their supposed philosophy of minimal
government.

Furthermore, Republicans want to be re-elected. That can’t happen if they only
“help” the top few percent. Even if it’s self-serving, every Republican
administration tries to help the economy be better so lots of people – including the
non-rich – are doing well and will vote for them again.

Democrats, on the other hand, claim to care for the little guy, but the social
programs they institute backfire. We now have a multi-generational welfare
class. We also have the minimum wage, NAFTA and GATT, which put so much burden on
businesses located in our country that jobs have flown out across our borders.
The Democratic party has seriously betrayed the very people they claim to be
helping. The Democratic party doesn’t like to talk about it, but, there are many
big businesses who support Democrats. Even Martha Stewart is a Democrat!

Eeyore: I don’t think Bush or the people around him care, underneath the
pro-life hype, for the person that that fetus is. When the baby is one day old does
she have that same right, even if her parents don’t have health care? What
about at a year? Does she have the right to eat and have a roof over her head

Mrs. Samurai: I have to agree with the Founding Fathers here. We have the
right to life, liberty, and the PURSUIT of happiness. Not the GUARANTEE of
happiness (or health care, or a roof over our heads, etc.). Before there were so many
government programs, there were lots of charity hospitals and free clinics.
These places are closing down under the weight of government regulation. I have
a doctor friend (a Republican, by the way) who got in serious trouble for
trying to see the occasional poor patient free-of-charge. Outrageous!

Eeyore: What if her father has a minimum wage job at Walmart and her mother,
with two other preschool children, is unable to work?

Mrs. Samurai: Minimum wage laws have actually forced a decrease in the wages
that could be earned by people who are not brand-new to the work force (i.e.,
teenagers). Our awful tax burden has created the situation where many families
cannot survive well on one income. Democrats and Republicans alike have
contributed to the decline in real wages over the last few decades. I don’t know
which party has been the most deceitful.

Eeyore: If a child, heaven forbid, is not American, does she have the right not
to be bombed in an attempt for America to secure the oil that lies under the
earth by her home, so that people can continue to drive SUVs and other new cars?

Mrs. Samurai: We do not belong in Iraq, but I don’t buy that we went there
over oil. It’s bigger than that. There are a lot of forces in our government
pushing for increased involvement in the Middle East, particularly the
pro-Israel-at-any-cost segment. And don’t forget that the Democrats got us into Vietnam
and also bombed Kosovo and aspirin factories. Again, neither party makes us or
the rest of the world safer.

Eeyore: Does a child have the right not to have to breathe foul air or dirty
water that’s been polluted by the companies owned by those fat cats who found it
so much to their advantage to sing her praises in the the months before she was
born?

Mrs. Samurai: Be sure you include many Federal politicians of both parties in
your “fat cat” moniker. I was an environmental engineer for several years
before having kids, so I’ve got some background here. A large amount of the
pollution to date has occurred because government has ALLOWED industries to pollute
government property. The U.S. government has been a terrible steward – under
both parties. Private property ownership encourages cleaner practices because
people want to protect what they own.

If you still suspect that we need government to make sure we don’t pollute,
consider this: Cars built in the 1960’s polluted less than those in previous
decades. Did the EPA come down on the auto manufacturers? No – the EPA didn’t
exist yet. The cars became cleaner because that’s what people wanted, and that’s
what they got as soon as the technology existed.

Big corporations are a problem in many ways. But it’s important to know that
they have flourished in our country precisely because there is a powerful
Federal government. There is an incredible regulatory burden on business, and
smaller businesses are at a decided disadvantage when trying to keep up with them.
Big corporations have tax advantages over smaller businesses as well. The
reason big corporations give so much to BOTH Democrat and Republican campaigns is
that politicians at the Federal level have a lot of power to grant favors. If we
could significantly scale back the Federal government, then these people would
have no big favors to bestow and smaller businesses would have more of a chance
to flourish. As citizens and consumers, we would in turn have more influence
over them.

Eeyore: In other words, you can’t be for life if you protect the first nine
months of a person and then damn to hell all the months and years that follow.

Mrs. Samurai: Just because someone doesn’t think a government program should
take care of a lot of these needs doesn’t mean they don’t care about these
people. Many of us know from experience that government programs hurt a lot of the
people they are supposed to help and that private charities are generally more
efficient and successful. As Harry Browne said, “If there seem to be ten
thousand people who can’t help themselves, pass a law to help them and there will
suddenly be ten million who can’t help themselves. The new law will provide the
incentive to qualify as needy.”

Eeyore: I cannot support all of the Democratic positions (the stand on
abortion, and stem cell research, for example). But I do not support the Republicans
on anything. Even the way they talk about abortion seems to me to be so
hypocritical that I feel offended by their rhetoric. They use the emotional issue of
abortion to mask their true feelings about the value of human life.

Mrs. Samurai: I think your condemnation goes a bit too far. I know an awful
lot of Republicans personally who are amazingly compassionate people. Granted,
there can be a big difference between the upper echelons of a political party
and the rest. That’s true for both parties. The guys at the top get their
supporters to believe they are going to help them, but it’s a lie. I am offended
equally by the rhetoric of both parties!

Eeyore: Our country is in the most dangerous position that it has been in
during my lifetime, if not in its history. If Bush gets in again, I don’t think we
will ever recover as a nation or as a world.

Mrs. Samurai: The Democrats are great at scaring people with their rhetoric,
but Bush is simply the result of more than a century of the centralization of
power in the Federal government by both parties. We have a professional class of
politicians and bureaucrats whose main goal in life is to keep their positions,
not to do what’s actually best for people. The Democrats and Republicans play
a game where they pretend to have huge differences so we feel like we’re making
a choice when we vote, but things never really change for the better under
either party. I always thought everyone accepted the axiom that “power corrupts.”
How can we keep giving them more and more and expect something better to come
of it?

Vote Libertarian!!!