United Liberty

It’s the last day of 2009. We made it through a crazy year that saw liberty put at risk on an all to regular basis. We decided the best way to recap the year was to take ten of 2009’s biggest stories and write a blurb about each one of them (we tried to keep it short and to the point).

Before you continue on, each of us here at UL want to thank you for a great 2009. We appreciate you reading. We’re planning for world domination in 2010 and hope that you’ll join in the fun.

So, here they are in no particular order, United Liberty’s Top 10 Stories from 2009.

Tea Party Movement (Brett Bittner): The wave of “hope” and “change” that swept Barack Obama into the Presidency of the United States closed out 2008 and opened the door to a new movement in American politics, the Tea Party movement.  I believe that his election was merely a catalyst for many groups of a conservative nature and strong views on limited government to unite to form one voice to stand up to the political status quo, calling out Democrats and Republicans alike for their affinity to grow the size of government to a breaking point.

Note: Brad Warbiany from The Liberty Papers was originally penciled in as a guest for the podcast, but some technical difficulties required a re-recording of the show.  He was missed on the final product, but we plan to have him on again in the very near future.

Jason and Brett were joined by Stephen Gordon, principal with Forward Focus Media for the re-record, as well as the original.

Together, they discuss:

Over at Taki’s Magazine, the top notch paleo commentary zine, Richard Spencer gives the far-too-loved writer Andrew Sullivan a talking to:

Protesters continue to press on inside Iran as the government has become increasingly violent in response:

Thousands of protesters defied Iran’s highest authority Saturday and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons as the crisis over disputed elections lurched into volatile new ground.

[…]

Some bloggers and Twitter users claimed that there had been numerous fatalities in Saturday’s unrest, reports that could not be immediately verified.

The clashes along one of Tehran’s main avenues — as described by witnesses — had far fewer demonstrators than recent mass rallies for Mousavi. But they marked another blow to authorities who sought to intimidate protesters with harsh warnings and lines of black-clad police three deep in places.

The Russian government’s current bid for military hegemony in Asia and Europe has many hearts a-fluttering. In fact, the reporting on Russia seems more dramatic lately, and it is unclear whether this is a result of heightened threat perception in the US and Europe or increased aggressive posturing from Moscow.

By now, everyone is aware that Hamas has attacked Israel, though it was Israel itself which broke the ceasefire. I no longer have a television but I know the story is plastered on every major news network because it is also plastered on every political blog and social networking site. There is an entire network of supporters on both sides of the conflict insisting that their side is blameless and that the concerns of the other side are unremarkable. Both sides are spewing enough hyperbole and anger to warrant concern about fistfights breaking out stateside.

The conflict between Israel and it’s “neighbors” in Gaza and the West Bank is a great big mess that apparently has just one solution - according to a large group of foreign policy geniuses in America and Israel: more fighting.

Putting it at a level that most Americans can relate to (recurring monthly charges), this clever video brings up an interesting point.  Would this war still be going (or have ever started for that matter) if families had to write a monthly check to cover the expenses?  For that matter, what other “government services” would be quickly put to an end if voters paid for them directly instead instead of with money subtracted from their paychecks before ever reaching their checking account?

Last week we published an article “Bush Agrees to Timetable” that gave a 100 mile flyover of the “sticky situation” the Bush Administration is in with regards to its Iraq policy. Over the weekend public reporting of the issue has matured and it seems that the security agreement being pushed by the U.S. is not only in a fragile state, but also unlikely to pass in its current form.