...'cause I agree with someone on FOX News! ...something inside me dies a little every time I say that... Anyway, I turned on FOX News and watched a John Stossel commentary on law titled "Illegal Everything." He started with the lemonade stands run by those nasty little people called "children." He commented on how one of those little heathens dared to run a stand three days in a row, forcing the cops to raid it. Apparently it was a sting operation 'cause just the day before, two cops had purchased product from this illegal little den hiding in plain sight on their city streets. Do those little people have no shame? Another segment of Stossel's show talked about a family who was busy building a house on their property. They had gotten all the necessary permits to build a foundation, and when it was done it passed inspection. Then it started to rain, resulting in the family having to abandon their home or face insane amounts of fines. It turns out there was a drainage ditch not far from the family's new home, which ran through a culvert under a road. It rained so much, debris built-up at the entrance to the culvert, causing flooding on the family's property. The family took action against the state government to have the debris removed and, after some discussion, was told they could remove the debris themselves, so they did. Then the federal government sued them for destroying wetlands! It seems the EPA now considers their land to be temporay wetlands or somesuch, since it flooded, meaning they had broken the law by removing the blockage in what some people might call a storm drain. He went on about some guy who visited Honduras and wound up spending 6+ years in prison back in America. Federal officials here in America said he had broken laws in Honduras... something the Honduran authorities say isn't true. He talked about food issues, about how you can't sell anything to your neighbor anymore without the feds bringing you to court over it. From chickens to fruits, the F&DA is taking a harder line on diseases that may be spread through food...when the real issue should be educating people on how to properly prepare and cook their food. He talked about decriminalization of drugs, on how other countries have handled it and what the results have shown. Authorities didn't expect to see crime go down, much less drug addiction, but both fell in Portugal in the ten years since all drugs were decriminalized. And finally, prostitution. His interview at the Bunny Ranch went so well he apparently decided to bring three of the ladies with him to another interview with a woman who was rabidly against prostitutes. Just before he brought the three young ladies in to meet the woman he asked her what she would say to them. She replied that she just wanted to "hug them." Hope she brought cash. Far from being the victims of sexual perverts, the three young ladies were in control. I don't remember if the question of 'what if they were raped' came up. The answer should be: "We're safer being prostitutes than if we were ordinary women on individual dates with a rapist." Bottom line: Rapists rape, whether or not you charge money for sex. http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/s...d-illegal-everything-airs-sat-and-sun-3pm-fnc
Don;t worry...if you enjoy John Stossel' show, it may just mean that you have some Libertarian leanings, not necessarily that you are turning Republican.
I do have some leanings that way. For instance, I agree with some of what Ron Paul says, but disagree on just as many of his comments. I think Libertarians tend to be too extreme in their beliefs, an "all-or-nothing!" stance that doesn't fit my beliefs in balance and compromise. That's one reason I consider myself an "independent." I agree and disagree with aspects from those three major parties, as well as the rest of the smaller parties (like the "green party"). It's how I grew up. I saw hypocrites everywhere in politics (my first political memory is watching "watergate" unfold... Nixon: "I am not a crook!" ) as well as in the people I met. An example of that last statement, I'll try to keep the rambling down. Aww, who am I kidding? lol: When I was in my late teens I was able to find work through the Dept. of Social Services, who eventually found a year long program for me at a local State park. A long-haired boy and a long-haired girl together came to meet with my boss, looking for work. Afterwards, my boss came in spouting on and on about how that boy "had hair down to his ass!" I asked if he hired him and he spouted "No!" Then I asked about the girl and he calmed down and said "Oh yeah, I hired her." My boss was a hypocrite... sort of. The state law was/is? such that a male cannot have hair touching his shoulders... which I consider to be gender-bias, so when he ordered me to cut my hair (it just touched my shoulders) I tied it up and tucked it under my hat. When he figured that out I said "That's whatcha call a 'loophole'" and he stomped off into his office to look up the rule. Anyway, that same girl worked with me and an old man, who drove a garbage truck (park owned). Now, this old man had recently got a lot of sympathy because his wife was awaiting a heart transplant. He insisted the girl sit in the center of the cab, which felt creepy to us, but not terribly, so she sat in the middle. It was a stick-shift, so his hand had to get mighty close to her crotch. Creepy as hell. Then he kept eyeing her crotch and began making comments like "Excuse me if I touch your leg." and other crap... he was practically drooling at that point. I told him to "Keep your hands off her crotch, old man...what would your wife say?" Ok, maybe the old man's more a pervert than a hypocrite lol I'll shut up now.
That is true of any ideology...Liberalism, Conservatism, any flavor or sect of religion, atheism, animal rights, environmentalists, whatever. Extremism is where very few people's beliefs actually lie in any ideology but they tend to get all the press and attention from opponents because it is an easy way to attack something.
From my point of view, Stossel is great. He is one of the few that I would watch on any news program.
That's true, and I should have just said I half agree and half disagree with their ideas. It's ironic we're talking about Libertarians, 'cause I just watched some of the coverage on c-span of their party picking candidates for pres. and vp. An interesting, and varied, bunch... not all cookie-cutter people like most seem on the repubs and dems events... or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention then lol
The Libertarian Party in the US, while espousing most socially Libertarian views, is generally very, very fiscally Conservative. I just wish they would nominate someone who was not a former Republican this or that once in a while. If they would keep their social and non-interventionist platforms but move towards the mainstream in economic views, I would be able to support them wholeheartedly. But, I think their fiscal platform is unlikely to change.
Here's a Libertarian worth listening to: http://www.lp.org/blogs/wayne-allyn-root/atlas-shrugged-is-american-business-on-strike
