United Liberty

As I noted last week, Van Jones recently made some disparaging, ill-formed comments about libertarians, calling us bigots and anti-gay. But in an interview on Friday on The Alyona Show, Jones attempted to clarify his remarks , saying now that the comments were not directed at all libertarians, rather those that associate with the “far-right” (relevant section of the interview is at the 12:50 mark):

Like I said last week, libertarians aren’t racists or bigots. There are certainly libertarians that tend to focus their activism on fiscal issues, which at times puts them close to conservatives. However, the libertarian philosophy also places emphasis on social tolerances, including support for immigration and personal liberty (ie. allowing someone to marry who they want).

The criticism of libertarians in this manner is odd given that it’s coming from someone that once identified himself as a communist, a collectivist political philosophy and economic system that has claimed the lives of millions of innocent people. Should I lump Jones into the same category as Pol Pot and Joseph Stalin? If I were to use his “overly broad generalization” of libertarians in the same manner, maybe I should.

At an Occupy Wall Street rally last weekend, Van Jones, a self-described communist and former Obama Administration official, slammed libertarians, claiming that we areall are anti-immigrant and anti-gay:

In a venomous speech this weekend, notorious ex-Obama aid Van Jones went on a hate-filled rant against “cheap patriotism” and “libertarians,” calling out his free-market opponents as “anti-immigrant, bigots.”

Jones was introduced by actor and Obama activist Edward Norton, who likened the disgraced former Green Jobs Czar to the Dali Lama.

“When I was on a panel once with [Jones] and the Dali Lama it was a toss up as to who was wiser, Van or the Lama” Norton mused.

Jones began his speech by citing his six months of work in the White House before launching into a tirade against the “so-called Libertarians.”

In citing the Libertarian principle of economic liberty, Jones stated “They’ve taken their despicable ideology and used it a wrecking ball, that they have painted red, white and blue, to smash down every good thing in America.”

Jones continued, “They say they’re Patriots but they hate everybody in America who looks like us.  They say they love America but they hate the people, the brown folk, the gays, the lesbians, the people with piercings, ya know ya’ll.”

Who was Che Guevara? While some kids sport a t-shirt with his image, most have no idea that he was a cold-blooded murderer:

The title of this post is also the name of a Facebook group. I’d encourage you to join it to raise awareness of Che’s real legacy.

Here is a look at prison populations around the world according to the latest issue of The Economist. Only communist China, the scourge of many right-winged Americans, holds a candle to the US where numbers are concerned. I guess that means the US drug war is working. Somehow.

As I read through the “Issues” of US Senate Candidate Bob Conley, I became confused.  I was under the impression that he was a Democrat, running against incumbent Republican, Lindsey Graham.  But as I read his stances on several issues, it occurred to me that he was far more “Republican” than Senator Graham.

Read for yourself-

Has anyone else found the coverage of the Olympics to be a joke? I was running errands on my lunch hour on Friday and listening to the radio, a local news/talk station. The newscast was talking about the opening of the games and how the Chinese showed off their organizational skills. This morning I was watching ESPN and they happened to cover the murder of a US citizen, and relative of a USA volleyball coach, in Beijing. The anchor referred to Beijing as one of the safest cities in the world and made a passing reference to the Chinese government’s ban on handguns.