Change of Heart Over Stimulus and FED

In a grand turn of event's Telegraph reporter Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has reversed his pro-Fed, pro-stimulus position, issued an apology, and is now calling for an end to the central bank. This marks an important milestone for those of us who call for a return to sound money. People are starting to realize that the emperor has no clothes when it comes to fiat currency and interventionist fiscal policy and are waking up from their state-induced dream. Let us welcome these new converts as they join the battle against Leviathan's central banking and fiat currency system. 

My favorite line from Ambrose reads, "My apologies. Mercy, for I have sinned against sound money, and therefore against sound politics."

 I encourage you to read the whole piece. It begins:

I apologise to readers around the world for having defended the emergency stimulus policies of the US Federal Reserve, and for arguing like an imbecile naif that the Fed would not succumb to drug addiction, political abuse, and mad intoxicated debauchery, once it began taking its first shots of quantitative easing.

My pathetic assumption was that Ben Bernanke would deploy further QE only to stave off DEFLATION, not to create INFLATION. If the Federal Open Market Committee cannot see the difference, God help America.

We now learn from last week’s minutes that the Fed is willing “to provide additional accommodation if needed to … return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate.”

NO, NO, NO, this cannot possibly be true. (Read the rest here.)

Follow the San Francisco Chronicle's Example?

It is rare that I would advocate anyone following the example of the San Francisco Chronicle, but their editorial board's refusal to endorse in California's senate race commands our consideration.

Claiming that "Californians are left with a deeply unsatisfying choice for the U.S. Senate this year," the Chronicle on Sunday refused to throw their support behind Barbara Boxer or Carly Fiorina, claiming that Boxer lacks the effectiveness in advocating the liberal causes the editors advocate and Fiorina stands in the way of those very causes. While the paper's reasoning is flawed and differs greatly from my own, they are right to notice that it is unwise to throw support behind candidates that do not share one's values.


Too often we are told to choose the lesser of two evils and support one of the major party candidates even if neither represent the values we desire in a candidate, but this urging is misguided and down right foolish. All we do when supporting the "lesser of two evils" is reward political parties for running "evil" candidates, create a continued cycle of "evil" candidates in each election, and place "evil" people into office. The lie that one party is better than the other is revealed every time a poor candidate is rewarded with victory; they govern in a way not unlike their opponents and we wonder why things never change. It is philosophy, not party, that truly distinguishes candidates.

If we truly seek to advance liberty we must stop blindly supporting major party candidates if they are not worthy of our support. While we will never find someone we agree with 100% of the time, we must be careful to not quickly compromise our principles. Much of the poor situation we find ourselves in can be linked back to similar compromises in past elections. 


Whether it be in primaries or general elections, those of us serious about liberty and a return to a free society must follow the example of the Chronicle--if no one is worthy of our support, let's withhold it.

Wither the Neocons? by the Souther Avenger

Once again the Southern Avenger offers up a pointed and perfect commentary. I love it. Take a watch a be the wiser for it.

Happy Constitution Day

Today we celebrate the signing of a document I truly love and cherish--the US Constitution. Though it is far from perfect, our Constitution has brought the quest for human freedom leap and bounds ahead of where it was when adopted. For that I am grateful.

Sadly, our Constitution is continually disregarded and infringed upon. So let's be vigilant and fight to restore constitutional government in this country as we pursue liberty and limited government. 

Now for a little Constitution Day wisdom...

"Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government."
-- James Madison 

"In matters of Power, let no more be heard of confidence in men, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
-- Thomas Jefferson  

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
-- Patrick Henry

"The Constitution is a written instrument. As such, its meaning does not alter. That which it meant when it was adopted, it means now."
-- South Carolina v. United States, 199 U.S. 437, 448 (1905) 

We Who Dare Say No to the War

I really enjoyed this video of the Mises Institute's Jeffrey Tucker interviewing Tom Woods about his book We Who Dare Say No to War. It's fantastic and worth your time.



A blurb on the book:

The rap on those who oppose war is that they are "anti-American" or "unpatriotic" or not supportive of American ideals. How can this be when war itself has been a main enemy of freedom for Americans themselves? When the war is on, government is unleashed. Those who oppose this are the greatest friends of freedom, especially because they dare to oppose the regime when it matters most.

We Who Dared to Say No to War uncovers some of the forgotten but compelling body of work from the American antiwar tradition speeches, articles, poetry, book excerpts, political cartoons, and more - from people throughout our history who have opposed war. Beginning with the War of 1812, these selections cover every major American war up to the present and come from both the left and the right, from religious and secular viewpoints.

Hat Tip: Young Americans for Liberty 

Amazing Article on Beck's Rally and Beyond

I beg you to head over to The Humble Libertarian and read Carl Wicklander's latest on the Beck rally and the state of conservatism in America. It is an absolute must read, brilliantly laying out what is in front of us and stating the tough truth. 

Here is a taste of the article:

If there is any question about the status of the conservative movement, it could be found in Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally: it is as alive and kicking as Ronald Reagan himself. Too soon? Either way, despite estimates of hundreds of thousands attending Beck’s rally last Saturday, there was nothing on display to imply that American conservatism has any long-term usefulness.

More than anything, it showed the triumph of "liberalism" over everything in the country, even the purported conservative movement itself.

Heeding criticism that the rally could only be political in nature, the Mormon Beck made it about “god.” Only keynote speaker Sarah Palin, whose presence was derided as proof that the event would just be a Republican rally, treaded into the political muck.

The insufferable opening prayer, led by a supposed descendent of Mayflower passengers, alongside a rabbi and supposed descendants of the Indians er, Native Americans at Plymouth Rock, included a petition about Quaker William Penn and this beauty:

“And you, O God, called us to repentance when we did not live up to our creed, and we did not treat everyone as equal. But Lord, we found out that you are a God of forgiveness, you are a God of covenant, you are a God of restoration, you are a God of healing and you have healed us.”

I’m no professional theologian, but if I understand that correctly, Americans didn’t learn about the forgiveness of God by reading the Bible’s account of Christ’s sacrificial death but only after we had enslaved the blacks and broken our treaties with the Ind-. . . Native Americans. Was this conservative Christianity or the liberal gods of collective guilt and multiculturalism?

This display of multiculturalism isn’t new and it isn’t even unique for Beck. (Continue Here).

 PS: Please check out Carl's personal blog here. I am a huge fan.