United Liberty

Politics is a nasty business. A Really dirty business in which a select few are qualified to engage. Even fewer can do this and retain their own integrity and principles.

Those who watch from the outside tend to romanticise the process. This is probably because those who write about history and current events rarely give the general public a peek into the sordid affairs of politicians that does not involve naked women or bribes. Parliamentary procedures and party rules aren’t that exciting.

A prime example of how the media has, from time immemorial, missed the entire point, can be found in the Republican nomination process. You know, the one where Willard “Mitt” Romney has been named the presumed nominee months before the nominating convention has even been assembled.

But before examining this recent example, let us examine the process of a rag-tag band of colonists who were attempting to shrug off what they considered bonds too tight to bear; bonds which by today’s standards would be laughably inadequate to justify a bloody revolution.

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson, as a result of parliamentary procedure and reputation, was commissioned to write a draft list of grievances to be presented King George III; a literary gauntlet to be thrown down in response to a growing, oppressive government which considered its subjects chattel for its own hegemonic designs and even mere protestations, acts of open rebellion.

The draft was to be reviewed and revised by a small body of men who had tenuous grasp on power and credibility as representatives of the 13 colonies’ citizens. A Continental Congress sent to Philadelphia to try reason with the Crown after many trips across the ocean to petition the people’s representatives in London had netted nothing but scoffs, more taxes and bullets for the effort.

Politics is a nasty business.

After spending a couple of hours at an Occupy site over the weekend, let me tell you that this “movement” is different from the Tea Party in several ways. The biggest is the respect for property, both private and public. The protesters at Tea Party rallies I went to were mostly respectful to the property they were on and those around them. Even the slight hint of criticism of the Obama Administration was classified as anti-government sentiment or hate speech.

But the Occupy site I visited in Denver, one of the organizers rallied some of his follow protesters to march on the evil corporations — including Starbucks and McDonald — at the 16th Street Mall. After all, the employees at those locations are evil bourgeois pigs that should be taken away from the fry line by the proletariat and dragged through the streets of Red Square!

But imagine if tea partyers were discussing taking over the government with aid from members of the military or speaking approvingly about soldiers in Vietnam shooting their superior officers. That’s exactly what was discussed in a meeting at Occupy DC, via Adam Kokesh:

Many of us are still trying to figure out the so-called Occupy Wall Street movement, which has now spread to other cities around the United States; including Atlanta, where civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) was denied an opportunity to address the “general assembly.”

The folks from Reason TV visited New York City to see what the mob, who has been protesting the evil corporate machine that employs many stock traders that fall into the 99%, is so angry about. Enjoy, you’ll probably roll your eyes as much as I did:

Adam Kokesh, host of Adam vs. The Man, visited the Occupy DC protest at McPherson Square in the nation’s capitol. The ignorance of some of the people in this video (particularly the woman at the end), specifically when it comes to the policies of President Barack Obama, are hilariously astounding:

Rand Paul. RJ Harris. Adam Kokesh. Peter Schiff. Debra Medina. The list of liberty candidates running for political office is seemingly endless.

Just yesterday B.J. Lawson joined the ranks. He is running for North Carolina’s 4th district U.S. House of Representatives seat. Two years ago he was one of only a handful of liberty candidates running. Though he was defeated, this year a win is much more likely.

Two years ago having an (R) by your name was more of a liability than an asset. Bush was not popular and the Republican Party as a whole was not seen in a positive light. The public was ready for change, but recently have shown they were not looking for a change towards a hard-left agenda.

Liberty candidates are in practice more libertarian than the typical “Conservative” than the typical Republican. They are in effect in a very desirable position. Though the Republican Party is still not looked at favorably among the public, many will vote for Republicans as a vote against Democrats. On top of that liberty candidates have the added benefit of gaining many Independents and Democratic voters because of their libertarian-leaning stances that resonate with them.