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It's all about me

It's traditional, I suppose, to start one of these puppies with a long, rambling monolog all about the genius behind the weblog, but Dean has his own site already. Heh.

Ok, about me: who am I to flout tradition? With no more ado, What About Casey?

I'm single, male, and have finally (December, 2003) gotten my Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University at the grand old age of 44.

Politically, I'm a mongrel. I'm for strong personal rights like private property, the right to carry and bear arms, and the Feds to keep their damn noses to themselves. I'm for vigorous R&D in science, including genetic research; the possibilities are nearly limitless. I think that we -people, not just government astronauts- should move into space as quickly as possible, and that private initiative is one of the major forces behind America's prosperity. If I had to pick a prime virtue, it would be liberty; that -as Jerry Pournelle says- we were born free.

On the other hand I also agree with Benjamin Franklin that liberty should not descend into license, and that private citizens have obligations to society as well as personal rights. Too many people these days constantly harp on self-defined rights that are more properly defined as privileges. Our rights are simple, and include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Please not the word "pursuit" in the previous sentance.

It follows, then, that I prefer smaller, local, government. Government is a utility: it exists to maintain the roads, shoot criminals, and protect the property rights of everyone, great and small.

Liberals don't like me because I don't like forced political correctness and I do like guns. I also think they should leave the Christians alone, and quit wetting the bed every time a local town puts up a Nativity scene at Christmas (not the "Winter Holiday," dammit!). Conservatives don't like me because I think we should quit obsessing over what people do to and with each other in private.

We should lose 90% of the gun laws because they don't stop criminals from obtaining guns, but do stop law-abiding citizens from the same.

We should also lose 90% of the PATRIOT Act. The American Revolution came about exactly because our forefathers didn't wait until abuses of government were prevalent: they acted to prevent just that. How many Wacos have to happen before people realize that you can't trust any government that much. Or as P.J. O'Rourke says: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenagers."

While we're at it, let's decriminalize, or legalize drugs. Face it: we spend billions of dollars every year to stop -maybe- 1% of the drug traffic in this country. Every law passed to help the "War on Drugs" is another nail in the coffin of our personal liberties. These days a police officer can stop you for well, damn near anything. If nothing else, in many states, they can stop you for not wearing a safety belt, and go from there. Even if they don't find a damn thing, and waste the entire night doing so... well hey, they acted in good faith and we all have to respect authority, right?

But we were born free. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. Nor am I a Libertarian.

Call me a Federalist. Call me an American.

Comments (7)

Rosemary Esmay:

You are a Dempublitarian. Either that or you are a confused Commie. Heh.

I like Jerry too. Federalist is a great label. I may steal, err, borrow it.

Yours,
Wince

Oh, am I did add you to my blogroll.

Yours,
Wince

Casey:

Dean set me up a couple of blogs, too. An excellent fellow!

May I suggest that, instead of Federalist -- since you sound a lot like me -- you might check into the term "democratic-republican," which I learned from American Aurora, by Richard N. Rosenfeld -- a book, by the way, which is organized a lot like a blog.

Sincerely,

Jerome du Bois

Casey Tompkins:

Jerome, thanks for the kinds words. Sounds like Rosenfeld's stuff should be on my growing list. :)

Wince, go ahead and use it, I didn't invent it anyway. I took it from one of the original American political parties. And yet another reminder of things I need to do on the blog, like links.

I'm still at the "how'd they do that!?" stage for a lot of this stuff.

Rose: dear, majestic QOAE, thanks so much for the valedidictorian comment on the blog. You shall remain immortal for that, if nothing else!

Miami University of Ohio, right?

Cool.

Casey Tompkins:

Yep. Miami was a University before Florida was a state! Heh.

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 27, 2004 9:28 PM.

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