Below The Beltway

I believe in the free speech that liberals used to believe in, the economic freedom that conservatives used to believe in, and the personal freedom that America used to believe in.

Archive for April, 2009

Your FBI In Action, Spying On Teenage Girls

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009. Filed under Individual Liberty, Politics

Another reason why giving the government broad surveillance powers is a bad idea:
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Two FBI workers are accused of using surveillance equipment to spy on teenage girls as they undressed and tried on prom gowns at a charity event at a West Virginia mall.
The FBI employees have been charged with conspiracy and [...]

Why Ron Paul Is Wrong About Secession

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009. Filed under History, Politics, Ron Paul

In the wake of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s off-the-cuff comments last week that seemed to suggest he viewed the idea of seceding from the Union favorably, Texas Congressman Ron Paul has waded into the fray.
First, he made these comments in a video posted by his Campaign for Liberty over the weekend:

Then he expanded on those [...]

Meet The New GOP, Same As The Old GOP

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009. Filed under Politics, Republicans

I wouldn’t ordinarily post about an ad from the Democratic National Committee, but this one just hits the nail on the head:

Does the GOP honestly believe that trotting out the same faces we’ve seen for the past eight years, the same faces that led the party to destruction, the same faces that said nothing while [...]

Is The Republican Party Becoming More Libertarian ?

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009. Filed under Politics, Republicans

Via Stephen Gordon and Nate Silver, there seems to be some speculation out there that the Republican Party is moving toward a more libertarian direction on policy issues.
For example, a recent Gallup Poll showed that Republicans overwhelmingly think big government is a bigger threat than big business, even more than they did three years ago:
Now, [...]

A Twit Takes On Twitter

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009. Filed under Dumbasses, Internet, Media, Technology, Twitter

Maureen Dowd talks to the founders of Twitter:
Alfred Hitchcock would have loved the Twitter headquarters here. Birds gathering everywhere, painted on the wall in flocks, perched on the coffee table, stitched on pillows and framed on the wall with a thought bubble asking employees to please tidy up after themselves.
In a droll nod to shifting [...]

Obama’s NAFTA Flip-Flop

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009. Filed under Barack Obama, Business, Economics, Politics

Barack Obama has always seemed to have a strange strategy when it comes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. When he started his run for the White House, he vowed to renegotiate the landmark free-trade agreement to include environmental and labor “protections” long advocated by the far-left, and he repeated this position during the [...]

Corruption: The Inevitable Result Of Big Government

by Doug Mataconis @ Tuesday, April 21st, 2009. Filed under Politics

The Cato Institute’s Daniel Mitchell explains why corruption and bigger government go hand-in-hand:

H/T: Carpe Diem

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back On Gun Rights

by Doug Mataconis @ Tuesday, April 21st, 2009. Filed under Individual Liberty, U.S. Constitution

One of the many issues left unresolved by last year’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller was the question of whether or not the Court’s holding, and the Second Amendment in general, would apply to the states. Back in 1886, in the case Presser v. Illinois, the Supreme Court specifically held that the Second [...]

Quote Of The Day

by Doug Mataconis @ Tuesday, April 21st, 2009. Filed under Gay Marriage, Individual Liberty, Politics

Rick Moran makes the conservative case for gay marriage:
A hundred years ago when traditional marriage and child bearing was vital to the continuation of society due to shorter life spans and much higher rates of infant mortality, such an argument made sense. But since this is no longer the case, most objections to gay marriage [...]

So, CBS News Gets Its Ideas From Family Guy Now ?

by Doug Mataconis @ Tuesday, April 21st, 2009. Filed under Individual Liberty, Media, Politics, Television, War On Drugs

That’s the only conclusion I can reach after reading this report from yesterday:
(CBS) On yesterday’s episode of Fox’s animated sitcom “Family Guy,” one of the main characters – a dog named Brian – is arrested for possession of marijuana. He subsequently goes on a mission to legalize the drug, at one point earnestly arguing [...]

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