Will Rogers the Libertarian?

As a native Oklahoman, I grew up hearing about the legend known as Will Rogers. He was a great satirist and his skeptical view of the government always showed, there is a whole book representing his jokes and satire against prohibition of alcohol. Here are some of his most famous quotes taken from the The Official Site of Will Rogers:

"There ought to be one day-just one-when there is open season on senators."

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."

"I don't care how poor and inefficient a little country is; they like to run their own business. I know men that would make my wife a better husband than I am, but, darn it, I'm not going to give her to 'em." [TT: Great foreign policy statement]

"The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has."

"If we ever pass out as a great nation we ought to put on our tombstone, 'America died from a delusion that she has moral leadership." [TT: Could this ever be more true than today?]

"Elections are a good deal like marriages. There's no accounting for anyone's taste. Every time we see a bridegroom we wonder why she ever picked him, and it's the same with public officials."

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Cartoon Characters No Longer Able to Offer Cigarettes to Kids

Are you a smoker, present or past? Do you remember the day that Pepe Le Pew or maybe it was Yosemite Sam offered you your first cigarette or cigar? Frightening to think of the peer pressure involved when a child’s favorite cartoon character offers him or her a smoke. Well, thanks to The Elite™ invoking the law of historical revisionism and political correctness, kids will be able to enjoy those same characters without the threat of a life long addiction.

“Cartoon editors are painstakingly working through more than 1,500 episodes of classic Tom and Jerry, Flintstones, and Scooby Doo cartoons to erase scenes of characters - gasp - smoking. “

-From the article Thank you for never having smoked, by David Boaz.

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George Mason, the Greatest Founding Father?

George Mason University may have made it to the Final Four this year, but George Mason the Founding Father may actually be the most intense and fervent defender of liberty and individual rights of the Founding Fathers. He campaigned against ratifying the Constitution because it did not go far enough to protect individual rights and liberties (slavery was one of his major concerns). Radley Balko, a policy analyst with the CATO Institute wrote a great article on George Mason the Founding Father here, it is a must read.

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Be Healthy, Walk Your Gun 3 Times a Week

I really liked the article about what the Founding Fathers would do as mentioned here. Another great part of the article were some quotes by Thomas Jefferson writing in a letter of advice to a younger relative and encouraging him to take walks with a gun. “While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with a ball … are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind.” “Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion of your walks.”

As Virginia has a wonderful open carry law, I might just have to exercise Jefferson’s advice and walk my gun up and down the streets of Virginia in memoriam. God bless Jefferson and the Second Amendment.

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Is Being a Liberal Really That Bad?

The word "liberal" has definitely been perverted over the course of the past 75 years, but it is its original meaning that I subscribe to. In many circles this is identified as being a classic liberal. The Economist magazine says the following about the term "liberal":

"Yet there ought to be a word—not to mention, here [Europe] and there [U.S.], a political party—to stand for what liberalism used to mean. The idea, with its roots in English and Scottish political philosophy of the 18th century, speaks up for individual rights and freedoms, and challenges over-mighty government and other forms of power. In that sense, traditional English liberalism favoured small government—but, crucially, it viewed a government's efforts to legislate religion and personal morality as sceptically as it regarded the attempt to regulate trade (the favoured economic intervention of the age). This, in our view, remains a very appealing, as well as internally consistent, kind of scepticism."

&

"However, we are certainly not encouraging that. We do not want Republicans and Democrats, socialists and conservatives all demanding to be recognised as liberals (even though they should want to be). That would be too confusing. Better to hand “liberal” back to its original owner. For the use of the right, we therefore recommend the following insults: leftist, statist, collectivist, socialist. For the use of the left: conservative, neoconservative, far-right extremist and apologist for capitalism. That will free “liberal” to be used exclusively from now on in its proper sense, as we shall continue to use it regardless. All we need now is the political party."

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3353324

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How to Guarantee an Election Victory

There is a great article recently published in American Heritage magazine that attempts to examine what the Founding Fathers would do concerning modern day political issues. The article covers the death penalty, gun control, the “war” on drugs, and terrorism among other issues. One of the more interesting facts in the article is the following revelation about George Washington:

“When George Washington ran for the Virginia House of Burgesses, he treated voters to drinks. (This was illegal but universally practiced.) The Washington campaign served 28 gallons of rum, 50 gallons of rum punch, 38 gallons of wine, 46 gallons of beer, and 2 gallons of cider, no doubt hard, for a total of 164 gallons of alcohol. There were 396 voters. Washington won.”

As an avid drinker of hard cider I was quite happy to see it on George Washington’s list.

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Does the Movie Airplane Hold the Answer?

I just had a thought that the state of security checks at airports these days fondly reminds me of a classic scene from the movie Airplane. The scene involves multiple stereotypical terrorist looking individuals carrying large munitions including rocket launchers and grenades walking through security without cause for concern and then an 80-something year old granny walks through and is promptly body slammed as a suspicious person. The unanswered question is: Under what circumstances will a profiled based security check become reasonable? My answer is: Only when airlines are given full control and autonomy for security screening.

Currently, airlines simply defray the responsibility for security (which should be an inherent operating cost and responsibility for any business) to the government who surcharges every air ticket purchased to subsidize the cost of increased security. One concern I have is that this inevitably makes flying more expensive and burdensome since it becomes much more bureaucratic and inefficient. It also allows airlines to blame the government if revenue is affected by terrorism or security breaches and also procure unconscionable subsidies. Instead, airlines could compete with one another to ensure the safety of their flights, since a security breach would be blamed on the airline and not the government. I just wonder how much more advanced and secure air transportation would be if airlines were ultimately 100% responsible for their flights.

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The Burger King of the Beach

My wife and I have been to the same Mexican beach vacation spot for 4 of the past 5 years. We normally station out of Playa del Carmen, a fast growing, international and cosmopolitan beach town that has become the antithesis of Cancun, which sits about 40 miles to the north. Today I was reading some postings on a forum dedicated to Playa del Carmen happenings and noticed quite the backlash to finding out that a Burger King would be moving into a prime retail location in the heart of the “strip” in Playa, as the locals call it. First things first, I do not eat Burger King and I personally find the food repulsive, but not quite as much as McDonalds. However, I must admit that I am always confused by the overblown reactions people have to so-called “corporate food” restaurants. It is almost as if Satan and his friends sit on the board of directors of all American chain restaurants and all they do is concoct ways to force feed mass market capitalist foods down the throats of unsuspecting victims. So you don’t like a business? More power to you, don’t frequent that business and if you feel that strongly about it then inform your friends and families about the business and encourage them not to go, but to complain about how the business should not be allowed to operate is ludicrous. The fact is that people vote with their dollars, plain and simple. Just because you happen to consider yourself part of The Elite™ (the trademark symbol that you will find in our writings is a satirical play on generic constructs usually made up by the left such as The Rich or Big Tobacco) and feel that you know the best way a city should develop and what businesses are best for the rest of society doesn’t mean you have right to deny any individual the ability to choose the business where they wish to voluntarily part with their money. The Elite™ wants to stop Burger King in paradise and prevent Wal-Mart Supercenters in Chicago, but it is the same desire to control the lives of other people and dictate to them what they think is best that drives the issue.

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BP Shadow CEO Makes Statement

It looks as if the Shadow CEO of BP, Rep. John Dingell has a few words about the recent pipeline break in Alaska:

"It is appalling that BP let this critical pipeline deteriorate to the point that a major
production shutdown was necessary," said Rep. John Dingell, the top-ranking Democrat on
the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a statement.

"The United States Congress has an obligation to hold hearings to determine what broke
down here and what laws and regulations need to be improved to ensure problem pipelines
like these are found and fixed earlier," Dingell said.

It makes me feel better about myself when I know that Rep. Dingell is single-handily keeping "Big Oil" in check. Isn´t the answer to problems always found by enacting more laws and regulations? Better yet how about nationalizing the nations energy sector? The private sector can never manage to compete with the efficiency and expertise of bureaucrats led by a Board of Directors chaired by Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Charlie Rangel, and the great gift from God, Teddy Kennedy. Or maybe the market punishes BP by first off, requiring them to spend the money to fix the problem if they want to continue making money from the revenue source. Then they will inevitably be skewered in the media and by a multitude of environmental watchdog groups who will no doubt issue Armageddon type proclamations that BP will be forced to address. Most important of all, the more risk BP places on itself the less chance they have of being able to compete with other oil companies such as Exxon, Connoco Phillips, etc... Profit is the end game for businesses and the worst thing that could happen to oil companies is to not be able to sell oil when the price is near all time highs, that is punishment enough for BP.

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Democrats Criticize Wal-Mart? Really?

I saw an interesting article titled Divided Democrats unite to criticize Wal-Mart which includes the following gem:

"We're all together today in wanting to wake up Wal-Mart and say, 'Treat your workers fairly,"' Lieberman told several hundred people gathered outside in stifling heat. He later added, "It is time for the American people to get together to support Democrats who support working people."

First, what does it mean to treat workers "fairly". It is such a subjective term with no real meaning. Some might say it means a "living wage" or making sure that employees are given full health benefits. In all reality these people hate free markets and the right of individuals to work where they want and when they want for the amount of money they want. So Wal-Mart does not pay enough? You have the right to get another job. And what about "working people" can you imagine the possibilities available to define that phrase? Why has everyone forgotten about social mobility? If someone has a relatively small skill set and has a sub-par value in the labor market they can probably get a job at a Wal-Mart and if you desired could work hard, prove themselves, and maybe move up the ladder. Of course there are no guarantees, but there are great opportunities available to those who choose to not be cast aside as a poor hopeless worker who will forever be part of the "working class" forever beholden to the anti-market left.

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Tip Tucker's Intro

What is Free Form? I think Sisyphus said it best in his post: "no script, no rules, no status quo, no externally-imposed structure". My desire is to give a viewpoint on politics, culture, and life that challenges preconceived notions and perspectives that are contrary to a free society. This blog exists to promote, discuss, and examine our philosophies on society. We both maintain a strong libertarian/classically liberal outlook that will definitely shade our musings and hopefully provide a consistent philosophical background to our opinions. the most simple way to sum up our philosophy is to use Reason's tag line: Free Markets, Free Minds. I desire that all individuals are free from government control in their lives and that the only legitimate rights one has is the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We will agree with some people who consider themselves to be on the left and we will agree with some people who consider themselves on the right; however, we will not agree with those who think government is a force for good and a problem-solving institution. A viewpoint that inevitably paves The Road to Serfdom.

As you are offended, upset or confused about our posts, we encourage discourse and the posting of comments. Thanks for coming!

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