Subject: LP Candidate Debate Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 20:23:25 -0400 To: lpny_discussion From: Bob Armstrong I am honored to be associated with the party of such "freedom= fighters" which , while Aaron Russo's phrase , applies to all three= candidates . It was great to see Ron Moore & John Clifton sitting >< . I'm sorry Michael Badnarik did not make it to NY . He is= stronger than I had gathered from either his website or his appearance on= Harry Browne's radio show . All three candidates must have been impressed with each other's performances and clearly have many profoundly simple , succinct= ways of expressing the truths we all share , to share with each other . My endorsement of Gary still stands . His homework showed - as= did Aaron's comparative lack thereof . One particular area which I have been particularly studying , is= energy and the environment . Aaron should have listened to Gary's comment= that drilling ANWAR is an issue of developing an area the size of Dulles= Airport in an area the size of South Carolina . Leaving aside his very low= ball estimates of the recoverable reserves in this virtually unexplored area ,= bottom line , LET the ALASKANS decide . They are far more concerned= with evaluating the profits and losses than any of the rest of us . Further , he should learn that the ONLY large scale alternative= to combustible fuels is Nuclear . That's it . Wind and direct solar will never= be more than supplementary sources . Michael stated most clearly that market forces , ie : high= prices , will automatically enforce conservation . The one question which all 3 candidates muffed was ; what are= the future wars Libertarians need to be on guard for . The answer , which didn't occur to me immediately , is the= extension of the one which has already claimed 10s of thousands of lives , and= 100s of thousands imprisoned , and which until the neo-crusades blasted to the= forefront , has been the US's most successfully exported war : the Drug war . That is one where we've generated a coalition of almost all the= world's governments . That is the one which we will still be battling= even after Bin Ladden is attended to . That is the one leading Amnesty= International to find the Colombian government one of the greatest violators of= human rights on the planet . And that is totally our baby . While all the candidates did kinda say the FDA is a bad idea ,= none stated directly the profound immorality of the State making decisions= on what substances you can put in your body - that drug prohibition is= the same moral issue and mentality whether the drugs are medically= recognized or not . Aaron appears to have shown his greater command of the media by= having set up a situation with C-Span causing them to follow him into the= hallway for the first interview and ending their broadcast with a shot of the= convention hall with one of his balloons center frame . One of his peeves with Browne was that Harry failed to heed his= advice to run many 15 second spots instead of fewer 60 second ones . I think= Aaron knows what he is talking about and I hope can apply his passion as= media manager for our candidate assuming it is not himself . I think that= would be the strongest allocation of our collective abilities . --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 Computing Environment : =A0http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ A WTC vision : http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/ Libertarian Presidential Candidates =A0:= http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm =A0=A0=A0For Senator from NY : http://www.silbergerforsenator.org/ =A0=A0WHY DOES THE UNITED STATES INCARCERATE A LARGER PERCENTAGE, AND A LARGER NUMBER, OF ITS CITIZENS THAN ANY OTHER NATION ON= EARTH?=A0 =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A05/29/2004 5:59:41 PM