George McGovern: RIP

I much prefer real liberals like McGovern over modern corporate statists such as Reid, Romney, Obama,  Boehner, and the Clintons.

George McGovern was a Christian gentleman. His chief fault was a sincerely held, but erroneous, theology that conflated the gospel mandate to care for the poor with the foolish utopian schemes of the welfare state.

He was a real liberal in the same sense that Robert Taft was a real conservative; and both had more in common with each other than either has with the current leaders of our two ruling parties.

On account of foreign policy.

McGovern was speaking against intervention in Vietnam as the Kennedy administration sent thousands of combat troops there and backed a CIA led coup in which South Vietnamese President Diem was killed. Taft opposed involvement in Korea, and NATO - part of the reason the muscleheads running the GOP sabotaged their 1952 convention so that Taft was pushed out in favor of Ike.

Our ongoing foreign interventions - about which neither candidate in tonight's debate will have the slightest qualm - are not consistent with either "liberal" or "conservative" policy.

They fit nicely with fascism, though.

Steve Maxwell vs. Danny Strahan

Due to the outcome of the August 7th GOP primary, I'm opposing Danny Strahan*, the Republican nominee, for Taney County Commissioner, Eastern District.

For those on Facebook, here is my candidate page, which features updates on the campaign, position statements, personal information, and online discussions.

What are the chances of an Independent candidate winning in red, red Taney County? That depends on how many people are ready to quit doing what has always been done - I believe thousands in our county are ready for new leadership.

In the 2008 General Election, about 8,600 voted in the eastern district. In 2012, I expect a turnout of as many as 10,000. The increase will be due to population increase, redistricting, and high interest in the Presidential and U.S Senate races.

Ergo, 5,000 votes ought to be enough for me to win. In the GOP primary, there were 5,224 votes cast. The winner, Danny Strahan, got 30% of the them (1,585 votes), followed by Tim Connell at 24% (1,236), Alan Lawson at 17% (900), and the remaining 1,503 votes taken by Mike Scofield (502), Travys Saffle (426), Charlie Stiffler (411), and Walter Rogers (164).

Please note that the anti-Strahan vote was 70%. Were Missouri a runoff state (some states require a runoff between the top two candidates if nobody garners 50% of the vote) it is nearly certain that Tim Connell would beat Danny Strahan, and be the nominee. (Although I publicly endorsed Alan Lawson, and stated my intent to stand down if he had won, it is also likely I'd have withdrawn had Tim Connell won.)

For me to win 5,000 votes, I'll need most of the 3,600+ who voted against Danny Strahan in the GOP primary, plus a great majority of the 4,000+  Democrats, Libertarians, and Independents who will vote on November 6th.

Doable, I say!

*NOTE: I DON'T MEAN TO DISMISS THE CANDIDACY OF PHIL BEVERS, WHO WILL ALSO BE ON THE BALLOT - I SIMPLY DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT HIS VIEWS TO COMMENT. FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IF HE TAKES,  SAY 1,000 VOTES FROM STRAHAN, THEN I ONLY NEED 4,500 VOTES. 

Iconic Myths Worthy of Destruction

What do these nine statements have in common?

1. Republicans are fiscally conservative and believe in smaller government.

2. Democrats are staunch defenders of the first amendment.

3. Herbert Hoover responded to the stock market crash with laissez-faire economic policies.

4. FDR lifted the country out of the Great Depression.

5. Robert E. Lee fought for the South because he wanted to preserve slavery.

6. Ulysses Grant fought for the North because he wanted to end slavery.

7. The Puritans were teetotalers.

8. The Constitution's commerce clause was always understood to authorize federal regulation of all business activity.

9. The Constitution's general welfare clause shows that the founders favored central government primacy over states' rights.

Pose these assertions as true or false questions to several randomly selected college graduates, and each will be marked "true" by the majority.

The nine assertions have this in common: they are widely believed, and completely false.

Recommended reading: 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask by Thomas E. Woods.