Delusive Libertarianism:
  'libertarianish'
    Is Not A Word

Washington, George. Ford, Worthington Chauncey (Ed). 1889-1892. The writings of George Washington. New York: G.P. Putnam’ Sons.

• Volume I 1748-1757 - pub 1889 - 7.4mb
• Volume II 1758-1775 - pub 1889 - 7.5mb
• Volume III 1775-1776 - pub 1889 - 9.0mb
• Volume IV 1776 - pub 1889 - 8.6mb
• Volume V 1776-1777 - pub 1890 - 7.5mb
• Volume VI 1777-1778 - pub 1890 - 7.8mb
• Volume VII 1778-1779 - pub 1890 - 6.0mb
• Volume VIII 1779-1780 - pub 1890 - 6.4mb
• Volume IX 1780-1782 - pub 1891 - 7.1mb
• Volume X 1782-1785 - pub 1891 - 7.0mb
• Volume XI 1785-1790 - pub 1891 - 7.5mb
• Volume XII 1790-1794 - pub 1891 - 7.4mb
• Volume XIII 1794-1798 - pub 1892 - 7.0mb

Total Download size of collection: 98.2mb.

Two George Washington collections available for download from Google Books.

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Marshall, John. 1848. The life of George Washington: commander in chief of the American forces during the war which established the independence of his country, and first president of the United States. Philadelphia: Crissy & Markley. Two Volumes

 

• Volume I - 22.9mb
• Volume II - 22.9mb

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Hamilton, Stanislaus Murray and Washington, George. 1898-1902. Letters to Washington and accompanying papers. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Five Volumes

 

• Volume I - pub 1898 - 5.6mb
• Volume II - pub 1899 - 7.1mb
• Volume III - pub 1901 - 5.8mb
• Volume IV - pub 1901 - 5.4mb
• Volume V - pub 1902 - 5.6mb

John McCain’s pick of Sarah Heath Palin as his VP running mate has caused many to opine about Palin’s ‘libertarian’ leanings. Libertarianish is NOT a word. Palin’s libertarianism is suspect from the git, and her supposed libertarianism is naught but disinformation pumped out as political spin.

Palin Does The Flip-Flop

Palin’s first public address after the announcement of her being McCain’s VP pick proves, with just a small bit of research, that she was not honest about her ‘libertarian’ tendencies.

Palin: “…I championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress — I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that bridge to nowhere.”

CQ Transcripts Wire, “McCain Introduces Palin as Running Mate“, Washington Post, August 29, 2008

Palin Was For the Bridge To Nowhere Before she Was Against It

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them “nowhere.” They’re still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin’s subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects — and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.
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In September, 2006, Palin showed up in Ketchikan on her gubernatorial campaign and said the bridge was essential for the town’s prosperity.

She said she could feel the town’s pain at being derided as a “nowhere” by prominent politicians, noting that her home town, Wasilla, had recently been insulted by the state Senate president, Ben Stevens.
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Palin’s 2007 press release announcing her change of course came just a month after McCain himself slammed the Ketchikan bridge for taking money that could have been used to shore up dangerous bridges like one that collapsed in Minnesota.

Tom Kizzia, “Palin touts stance on ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ doesn’t note flip-flop“, Anchorage Daily News, August 31st, 2008

The Anchorage Daily News recently republished Palin’s responses to questions the paper posed to the Alaska 2006 gubernatorial candidates and was originally published on October 22, 2006. In an answer to those questions, Palin assuredly stated support for the “Bridge to Nowhere”.

5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska’s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now - while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

Running for governor - Where they stand (10/22/2006), Anchorage Daily News, August 29, 2008

Palin Has Never Been Against Earmarks

Palin’s opposition to earmarks is laughably false. John Katz, director of State-Federal Relations and Special Counsel to Gov. Sarah Palin, wrote in a June 18, 2008 Op/Ed that Palin had only agreed to scale them back, and then only because G.W. Bush had made a public issue out of earmarks:

Earlier this year, President Bush and the congressional leadership announced that the total number and dollar amount of earmarks must be reduced significantly.

The Palin administration has responded to this message by requesting 31 earmarks, down from 54 last year. Of these, 27 involve continuing or previous appropriations and four are new. The total dollar amount of these requests has been reduced from about $550 million in the previous year to just less than $200 million.

John Katz, “My Turn: Palin not abandoning earmarks altogether“, Juneau Empire, March 18, 2008

Alaska Is Not A Libertarian Minded State

Alaskans love to tout their libertarian tendencies, but that is pure fantasy on their part. The Associated Press’ Earmarks widget shows that in 2008 Alaska has $346,073,350 in total earmarks, which ranks it 10th overall, but Alaska is far and away #1 in earmarks per capita, receiving $506.34 per state citizen. The 2nd highest is Hawaii with $226.86 in earmarks per capita.

In a report published by The Tax Foundation, Alaska was the 2nd highest state recipient in Federal_Funding/Tax_Revenues in FY 2004 receiving $1.87 for every $1 its residents paid to the IRS.

Source: Curtis S. Dubay, “Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures by State“, Tax Foundation Special Report #139, March 16, 2006

Alaska Governor And Libertarian Are Mutually Exclusive Terms

Alaska is not about to give up its free Fed ride without a fight, and no candidate for Governor of Alaska could survive a campaign honestly pledging to do so.

Here are two parodies of The 2008 Republican Party Convention

Please Steal these Graphics.

You can even remote link to them throughout the whole Republican Convention this coming week. They have been graciously provided free from our friends at NeoCommix.

 

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House minority leader, John Boehner, has proven himself to possess a less than thorough understanding of what he’s up to with his politicking.

U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) has endorsed former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), who is running in a primary against former Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen (R-Manchester). Although Boehner endorsed his rival, Stephen said he looks forward to Boehner’s endorsement in the fall.
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When asked why he decided to endorse a candidate in a Republican primary, Boehner said he doesn’t “have any idea” about Stephen.
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“Do you have an opponent,” Boehner said turning to Bradley. “I don’t know anything about his opponent. I’m here to help Jeb.”

Brian Lawson, “Boehner endorses Bradley, brushes aside Stephen“, PolitickerNH.com, August 14, 2008

What a buffoon! Meanwhile, as he continues the tergiversate plugging of his energy bill and complaining about high energy costs, the price of retail gas continues downward. The price of oil seems to have stabilized presently at around $115/bbl, even with the threat of Gustav heading into the Gulf of Mexico, and the the oil rigs beginning to shut-in (cap the wells below the water’s surface) in an effort to avoid spills. At present oil costs, the price of gas at the pumps can be expected to fall at least another $0.30/gal.

Even though forecasters expect Gustav to strengthen once it hits the gulf, oil and gas prices that had risen moderately reversed course Thursday.

Crude for October delivery fell $2.59, or 2 percent, to $115.56 a barrel, while natural gas for October delivery dropped 55.8 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $8.05 per million British thermal units, both on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The plunge in natural gas futures came after the federal government announced that gas inventories rose by 102 billion cubic feet, about 20 billion cubic feet more than analysts expected.

Kristen Hays-Hearst Newspapers, “Oil companies ready gulf platforms for storm“. San Francisco Chronicle, August 29, 2008

Boehner one-note continues marching on asswards ho. From a Boehner Press Release:

Day 18: House Republicans’ Unprecedented Gas Prices Protest Will Continue Until Speaker Pelosi Relents and Allows Vote on “All of the Above” Energy Reforms

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 /Standard Newswire/ — House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement today after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats unveiled yet another “energy plan” in Denver, Colorado:

The Democrats’ energy record is one of empty rhetoric and broken promises, and that’s why they have no credibility with the American people. Energy independence was a signature campaign promise of Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats in 2006, yet their chronic negligence in addressing record gas prices continue to have devastating consequences for working families, small businesses, seniors and schools. For proof look no further than the fact that Speaker Pelosi adjourned Congress for a five-week break instead of allowing a simple up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act to reduce fuel costs.

The biggest farce of this whole charade of Boehner’s is that he did not even introduce his “American Energy Act” in Congress until July 22, 2008. From a bill’s introduction, it gets referred into committee(s), and then must come out of committee(s) to even reach the floor where it can be debated. The process takes far longer than a couple of weeks.

H. R. 6566: American Energy Act

H.R. 6566 was referred to seven different House committees. Even in a Republican controlled House, it would not have made it out of these committees before the August Congressional recess. The committees where H.R. 6566 was referred to are:

• House Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
• House Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
• House Judiciary
• House Ways and Means
• House Energy and Commerce
• House Armed Services
• House Oversight and Government Reform

The Department of Defense announced in a press relase dated August 26, 2008, “the transfer of two detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Algeria”:

In early July, 2008, The DOD announced another 2 Guantanamo detainees had been released:. (No. 561-08 - July 02, 2008)

Consider Article 3 of the U.N. Convention against Torture, which the United States is a signatory of:

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider Algeria to be a state which regularly tortures:

Torture and other ill-treatment continue to be perpetrated with impunity in Algeria in cases of individuals who are thought to have information about terrorism.

The Department for Information and Security (DRS), widely known as Military Security, an intelligence agency within the military that specializes in counter-terrorism, operates with great secrecy.

The DRS systematically holds suspects in secret places of detention, and their families receive no information about their whereabouts, sometimes for months. While held by the DRS, detainees have no contact with the outside world and there are persistent reports of torture and other ill-treatment.

Statements established by the DRS are regularly used in court to obtain convictions for terrorism related offences, while allegations of torture or other ill-treatment in DRS custody are never investigated.

Methods of torture include beatings, electric shocks, the forced ingestion of dirty water, urine or chemicals, and the suspension of detainees from the ceiling. Most detainees do not have access to a lawyer when they are first brought before a judge.

Algeria: Persistent torture by the Military Security in secret locations, Amnesty International, June 10, 2007

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Beatings, electric shocks and the forced ingestion of dirty water, urine and or chemicals are just some of the methods that continue to be used by Algeria’s security forces with systematic impunity, Amnesty International revealed in a report published today.  

Based on a series of case studies collected between 2002 and 2006, the report shows how the “war on terror” is serving as an excuse to perpetuate torture and ill-treatment by Algeria’s “Military Security” intelligence agency, officially known as the Department for Information and Security (Département du renseignement et de la sécurité, DRS).

Algeria: Evidence of persistent torture by the Military Security in secret locations, Amnesty International, July 10, 2006

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The United Kingdom cannot deport security suspects at risk of torture to Algeria without violating international law, Human Rights Watch said today. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said after official talks in Algiers on February 16 that “good progress” had been made on a deportation agreement and that both countries wanted to sign “as soon as possible,” according to Reuters news agency.

The proposed agreement reportedly resembles the memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that the U.K. has already reached with Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya. Under these memoranda, the receiving governments provide “diplomatic assurances” that they will not mistreat persons that the other country transfers to their territory.

“These MOUs will not prevent torture,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. “On the contrary, they are tacit admissions that torture is practiced and that these individuals are at risk.”

U.K.-Algeria Deal to Deport Suspects Is Fig-Leaf for Torture, Human rights Watch, March 8, 2006

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From the DOD Press Released cited above: “more than 500 detainees have departed Guantanamo for other countries” - “There are approximately 260 detainees currently at Guantanamo.”  A conservative estimate of the total number of humans who have been detained as “unlawful combatants”  is more than 800, but only 21 detainees have been charged by the United States Government. That is less than 2.7%.

Now add into this mix:

The Irony of Two Georges

Why have the American Citizenry forgotten Our Dreamtime?

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended legislation:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

Jackson Browne has filed a lawsuit alleging Intellectual Property Rights infringement, against the Republican National Committee, the Ohio Republican Party, and John McCain for unlawful use of his song and recording, “Running On Empty“. The song was used in an ad criticizing Barrack Obama’s energy policy, was broadcast in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and on the internet.

Jackson Browne is a decades-long supporter of the Democratic Party, and has an extensive history of liberal cause activism. The lawsuit is alleging trademark infringement under the The Lanham Act, because it infers a false association to the McCain campaign. He is also suing under California’s Right of Publicity Law.

The McCain campaign has asserted that they are being targeted improperly, since they were didn’t have a clue that the Ohio Republican Party was making the ad. It was reported in The Washinton Post that the attorney representing Jackson Browne in the lawsuit, Lawrence Y. Iser, said, “we have been informed and believe that McCain and his campaign were well aware of the ad”.  Maybe John Boehner ought to be named too, since the Ohio Congressman, and House minority leader, has attempted to make a Presidential Campaign issue out of off-shore drilling during this present Congressional recess, even as Oil prices have declined immensely without one of his fatuous demands being met.

It is amusing that the McCain campaign cries foul about being named in the lawsuit, just because of their ignorance that the song would be used in an advertisement for their cause. That has not proven to be an impediment for past lawsuits filed by the RIAA. Senator McCain say hello to the DMCA, real close and personal.

This isn’t the first time the the McCain Campaign has run afoul of copyright infringement, either. In another blatant example of right-wing moral relativism, the McCain camp has purloined the Intellectual Property of artists multiple times before. The artists whose Intellectual Property has been infringed by the McCain Campaign includes:

• Frankie Valli
• Michael Myers
• John Mellencamp
• ABBA

Maybe The RIAA should subpoena McCain’s I-Pod to check for pirated music on it.

The wee willy wankers of the right have responded with their typical viciousness, attacking Browne. Often these attacks have used a thoroughly discredited allegation of “wife beater“, or by implying that Browne is not a “Real American”. There is also often a charge that the lawsuit is motivated purely by politics, yet a visit to the official Jackson Browne website, shows that Browne is not shy about stating what is politics are, but there is no mention of this lawsuit to be found on it. Of course, none of these attacks have any merit whatsoever. What is the issue is the theft of Intellectual property.

Monroe, James, and Stanislaus Murray Hamilton. 1890s. The writings of James Monroe: including a collection of his public and private papers and correspondence, now for the first time printed. S.l: s.n.

Seven Volumes Published between 1898-1903
Considered to be the most complete compilation of James Monroe’s papers.

• Volume I: 1778-1794 - pub 1898 7.3mb
• Volume II: 1794-1796 - pub 1899 6.9mb
• Volume III: 1796-1802 - pub 1900 7.1mb
• Volume IV: 1803-1806 - pub 1900 6.6mb
• Volume V: 1807-1816 - pub 1901 5.4mb
• Volume VI: 1817-1823 - pub 1902 7.8mb
• Volume VII: 1824-1831 - pub 1903 6.2mb

Total Download size of collection: 47.3mb

John Adams

Adams, John, and Charles Francis Adams. 1850. The Works of John Adams, second President of the United States: with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. Boston: Little, Brown. 10 Volumes
 

• Volume I - pub 1856 19.2mb
• Volume II - pub 1850 16.7mb
• Volume III - pub 1851 16.2mb
• Volume IV - pub 1851 18.5mb
• Volume V - pub 1851 13.8mb
• Volume VI - pub 1851 13.7mb
• Volume VII - pub 1852 20.7mb
• Volume VIII - pub 1853 20.6mb
• Volume IX - pub 1854 20.1mb
• Volume X - pub 1856 18.4mb

177.9mb Total Download size

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