Will Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr be a threat to John McCain? Apparently, McCain doesn’t think so. Often, the two major parties will try to deal with third party threats by knocking the third-party challenger off the ballot in as many states as possible. For instance, Democrats tried to block Ralph Nader’s ballot access [...]

The Carnival of Divided Government is a monthly compilation of writing from around the blogosphere and main stream media on the single topic of government divided between the major parties. The carnival offers links, excerpts and commentary from and about writers both pro and con, who are thinking and writing about the topic.

He admits he was wrong and that it’s now time to call this “war” off because it’s doing far more harm than good.
From Huff Post:
For years, I served as a federal prosecutor and member of the House of Representatives defending the federal pursuit of the drug prohibition.
Today, I can reflect on my efforts and see [...]

But it wasn’t an easy nomination process…
Denver — Georgia’s Bob Barr won a long and tense battle Sunday for the 2008 Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination and now faces the daunting task of doing what no third-party candidate has done: Win in November.
It took six ballots and nearly five hours of voting at the Libertarian National [...]

 
I’ve been dying to draw a Ron Paul cartoon, especially as a lesbian! The Libertarian convention is happening this week, and with Georgia congressman Bob Barr coming out of the closet, the Republicans are afraid…very afraid of the L word.

Could he be McCain’s Nader?
From AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr has announced that he’s running for president as a Libertarian.
His candidacy would be a wild card in the White House race and many believe it would hurt Republican Sen. John McCain.
Barr made the announcement Monday at a news conference. He first must [...]

And he’s not too fond of McCain.
From CNN:
In an interview on The Situation Room, Paul told Wolf Blitzer that endorsing Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, “would really confuse” his supporters “because they know we have a precise program and we have to defend that program.”
Having a Republican win the upcoming presidential election [...]

Looks like the Libertarians are going to field a candidate who could actually have a voice in the conversation this year…thanks to the groundwork laid by Paul.
From Philly.com:
Bob Barr, former GOP congressman from Georgia, is an all-but-announced presidential candidate - as a Libertarian.
The possibility of a run by Barr has sent shudders through the mainstream [...]

Ron Paul supporters are nothing if not passionate, and they’ve pushed his book to the top spot on the biggest online retail site in the world.
From CNN:
“The Revolution: A Manifesto”, released earlier this month, is currently No. 1 on the Web site’s list of top sellers, besting even Oprah’s latest Book Club selection.
“Despite a media [...]

If you followed Ron Paul’s candidacy closely, you’ll want to read this…
Before the election, pollsters such as John Zogby and Scott Rasmussen thought Paul might come in third place. [...] But Paul finished in a momentum-sapping fifth place, polling worse than he did in Iowa even after spending $3.6 million in the state. Only [...]

First off, I know a lot of you Paulites have told me you’ve read what was printed in the newsletters and you don’t think it was all that bad. Well, fair enough. That’s your opinion and I respect your right to make it. Of course I completely disagree, but that’s neither here or there at [...]

Over at Poligazette Jason Steck ruminates about the demise of Dr. No, and while I do agree that Paul is going to find it impossible to dig out from under the weight of nearly a decades’ worth of newsletters and 1-800 number, I think he started something that will live beyond him. The only question [...]

I don’t want to repeat what Justin wrote down below, so for anyone who cares, my thoughts on the Ron Paul newsletters are over at Midtopia.

For a year the idea had haunted me, and Thursday night it returned more insistently than ever. If a Democrat became a Republican in San Francisco, what adjustments would he have to make? What is it like to experience discrimination based on political belief…

An oldie but a goodie.

A reader writes:
I’ve been a big L Libertarian for close to 30 years. I registered Republican to support Ron Paul. Every time I hear Libertarians quibbling about minutia over Ron Paul, I can’t help but think of an exchange from Monty Python’s Life of Brian movie (I know, I know, quoting this movie automatically nullifies [...]

This morning, Will Hinton sent me a post with the alarming title “Libertarian Enemy Number One: Ron Paul.” Since I follow nearly anything related to the Ron Paul phenomenon, I checked it out.
The gist of the post is that Paul’s answer to the YouTube debate question about the Council of Foreign Relations and secret plans [...]

Yesterday I wrote about “The Rise Of The New Libertarianism” and today I read an article that makes a lot of the points I discussed, and then some.
Specifically, it talks about how more and more libertarians are speaking out
The lefty Internet titan Markos “Daily Kos” Moulitsas penned a widely read manifesto last year pegging the [...]

Washington Times has an article about the growing number of “Celebertarians” and how they’re just one indication of a growing third way movement in this country.
For instance…
Comedian Drew Carey can be seen on a series of funny-but-not-kidding Internet-TV episodes sponsored by the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based think tank. So far, Mr. Carey has recommended [...]

Well, how about that? I missed this announcement, but it’s great news. Good to see more people talking about freedom.
In this episode, Carey shines the spotlight on eminent domain laws gone wild. As the site explains…
Officials in National City, a predominantly Hispanic community near San Diego, have pushed to bulldoze a popular athletic center for [...]