Subject: Re: [LPNY DISCUSS] Fw: Limited Popular Appeal of Libertarianism Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2003 13:05:50 -0400 To: From: Bob Armstrong On Sun, 01 Jun 2003 13:57:52 -0000, Ronald J. Wieck wrote: >=A0--- In lpny_discuss@yahoogroups.com, "James Lesczynski" >=A0=A0wrote: >=A0>=A0Ronald Wieck wrote: >=A0>=A0>>=A0A separate libertarian party, however, >=A0>=A0>cannot >=A0>=A0>>=A0serve any useful purpose because it cannot rationally= accommodate >=A0>=A0>>=A0disgruntled conservatives, such as ourselves, and those= quaint=A0folks >=A0>=A0>> who=A0imagine black helicopters hovering over their heads. >=A0> >=A0>=A0Say, isn't Ronald a few weeks away from owing Gary T. and Bob= A. >=A0some money? I wonder if that's what has him riled. ;-) >=A0> >=A0>=A0Jim Lesczynski > >=A0He is somewhat perplexed, as Saddam apparently allowed his= regime to >=A0be destroyed in an effort to protect something he didn't have= and >=A0therefore couldn't use, but then, we all knew he was nuts.= Right. As I kept trying to point out , if you saw and heard real news ,= it was clear that the Saddamites were doing everything they could= to comply and show that they in fact had destroyed the WMD . And= that fact was being confirmed , conclusively , by the UN inspectors= . The Iraqi's main problem was that their documentation was not up= to US bureaucratic standards - so they couldn't "prove" it . But none of that mattered anyway . The Bush wackoes didn't give= a damn what they did ; the troops were mobilized ; the Husseins= were going down . >=A0Ronald, however, is a professional gambler (blackjack and= poker) who >=A0makes thousands and thousands of individual bets over the= course of a >=A0typical year. He, as the saying goes, wins some and loses some;= he >=A0isn't losing any sleep. I on the other hand hate gambling of this sort . ( Browse http://CoSy.com for a sense of the sort I am prone to .= ) So I didn't take you wager until feeling compelled to "put my= money where my mouth was" and hearing one of the first top Iraqis= to surrender repeat , disclaiming any other concerns , that they= HAD destroyed all their WMD . Bottom line , the Iraqis , in this matter , were far more= credible than B&B who were caught repeatedly in lies and fabrications= . >=A0=A0=A0I gravitated into my current orbit over issues of personal >=A0freedom. My seat-belt ticket, my longstanding belief that the= police >=A0ought not to concern themselves with people playing cards, my= outrage >=A0at the expensive and ill-conceived boondoggle called the War= on >=A0Drugs, my general opposition to the prosecution of victimless= crimes-- >=A0all of these considerations led me to believe that I should >=A0investigate the libertarian alternative. There is much here= that is >=A0commendable. We're on the same team here . ( I live in the City , but that= seat-belt nanny-copping must be incredibly demeaning . ) > There are some things that I simply can't understand. In >=A0my letter to Bob, I discussed the curious case of Joseph= "Buck" >=A0Crutchfield. Now, let me state for the record that I don't know= the >=A0guy. There may be a reasonable explanation, but consider:= someone >=A0prominent in the Manhattan Libertarian Party is running the= local >=A0office of a Castro-ite Commie front group. He gets called on it= and >=A0promptly disappears. I mean, what the hell just happened? Why= wasn't >=A0anyone the least bit curious? Got to admit I'm not curious . I just keep slogging to spread= the concepts however I can to whoever I can . > Elitism, I concede, is not necessarily bad, ... >=A0=A0=A0A few dozen yuppies sitting around bragging about how smart= they >=A0are does not constitute a political party-- especially when= they're >=A0not QUITE that smart. Yep . > If you succeed in driving off >=A0libertarian/conservatives like me, people who hate taxes and= resent >=A0the erosion of personal freedoms, to whom do you propose to= appeal? >=A0You cannot make common cause with the Left--I've said this over= and >=A0over--because the enemies of freedom live there. As the Nolan chart illustrates both the Left and the right= succor authoritarians . I look forward to my bit of extra cash the end of the month . Bob A --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 NEW : Newsletter : http://cosy.com/K/CoSy/NL200305.htm Ultimate Computing Environment : =A0http://cosy.com/K/CoSy.htm=A0 A WTC vision : http://cosy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/ =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02003/06/01 11:20:37 AM