An Open Letter to Fox News' Hannity and Colmes

Dear Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes,

On November 29th, your show's administrators contacted the local University of Florida libertarian group in an effort to have a discussion over a recent issue involving the separation between church and state. The Libertarian Activist Network, of which I am a cofounder, was chosen by your staff and we proceeded to conclude when and where we could have this discussion. I agreed to represent my organization and have meaningful discourse with the show regarding the subject at hand. The issue involved a monument to the Ten Commandments that was erected at the Dixie County Courthouse near Gainesville, Florida in an effort to connect the laws of our nation with that of Judeo-Christian religions.

As I was getting mentally prepared for the television broadcast, your administrators notified me that they had gotten another individual to take my spot: the leader of the atheist and agnostics on the University of Florida campus. Saddened by the change of heart on the part of the Hannity and Colmes staff, I thought hard and well as to the reasons why a libertarian representative would be replaced with an atheist instead. One conclusion might be suggested that by inviting a representative of an atheist group to present the counterpoint in the Ten Commandments discussion, the show would immediately turn the impending deep and important political discourse into a religious ramble. The matter at hand has less to do with Christianity in itself and more to do with the Constitution and the separation between church and state. It is vital that the state not favor any specific religion over another, and by displaying monuments to the commandments of the Judeo-Christian religions at a courthouse, the state is doing just that. In essence, it is a matter of the constitutionality of the subject and not of the importance of Christian themes in our moral systems.

In addition, many of the individuals in favor of these Ten Commandment displays, such as you, Sean Hannity, claim that the United States of America is a Christian nation founded on Christian laws; this can not be farther from the truth. In all reality, one of the principle reasons for the creation of the United States was freedom of religion and the separation of religion from the state. This is something the British crown did not practice and which led to many acts against minority religious groups by the English government. It was the intent of the Founding Fathers that the United States government be free from all ties to any specific religion.

An additional argument in favor of this belief is the famous Treaty with Tripoli, signed by the 5th Congress and President John Adams, that states in Article 11 that "the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." I know this is a old and dusty paper, Hannity and Colmes, but it is one that clearly states the position of this government with respect to its supposed embrace of the Christian religion. In fact, many of the Founding Fathers were not Christians, but Deists who believed that God could only be understood through scientific insight and not faith. Thomas Jefferson himself urged us to "question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." This wasn't (nor is it today) a popular opinion of Christian individuals, yet it was this man that wrote the very document that separated the colonies from the British crown. James Madison understood that "the general government is proscribed from the interfering, in any manner whatsoever, in matters respecting religion." In fact, Madison believed that by government interfering in matters of religion and binding religion to its laws would inevitably lead to a decrease in the faith of individuals in religion. Madison writes that "religion flourishes in greater purity without than with the aid of government."

It was Deism, not Christianity, that was the belief of a large part of the Founding Fathers and it is the duty of government not to respect any sect of religion, including Christianity. This is clearly not the case when government courts find it justified to place religious icons at the top of courthouse steps.

These are the points that you, Sean Hannity, the self-proclaimed libertarian, would not have wanted to hear come out on his show. In essence, by making the problem at hand into a religious conflict rather than a legal and political issue, your show could simply argue over the validity of the atheist's claims and label them inherently biased. This is what Hannity and Colmes proceeded to do on the show, to label any individual opposed to the union of the state and Christianity as an infidel and atheist. In the blink of an eye and the execution of a phone call, the discourse of the show was changed from a meaningful and intellectual discussion to the religious ranting of a member of the Christian right. Individuals should be more concerned about the rights that are being stripped away from them by the religious right and less passionate about the unconstitutional union of the state with Christianity. This administration has been given the unconstitutional privileges to suspend habeas corpus, intrude into the private lives of law-abiding citizens without warrants, and gather the national guardsmen without regard to the wishes of the governors. If your show ever wants to have serious discussions on the many controversial subjects of our time, you know where to find us. Otherwise, your show can continue to perpetuate the dull and empty talking points found in modern political circles. It now seems clearer than ever that libertarianism and truth are out of fashion, while meaningless rants are all the rage.

Sincerely,
Alexander Villacampa
Cofounder of the Libertarian Activist Network

Inflation and Government Trickery

Now with Alan Greenspan gone, Ben Bernanke has taken over as Federal Reserve chairman. Many individuals saw the appointment of Bernanke as another mishap of the Bush administration. The new Federal Reserve chairman has stated that there are no plans to decrease inflationary policies and that any deflation must be avoided. That said, Mr. Brandly writes in this editorial of the extraordinary inflation rates that have been appearing in private indexes and the effort the government is putting forth in order to silence public worries of inflation. The author points out that the CPI (Consumer Price Index) is leaving out "volatile" products in an effort to "better" measure inflation.

These volatile products are goods whose prices are rising rapidly and are purposefully being left out of public indexes in an effort to hide highly important data. Inflation often affects certain goods before others and indexes should not ignore those goods that are being affected most by expansionary monetary policy. The Cantilion effect states that inflationary policy sets certain "injection points" and the prices of goods closest to these points often rise much quicker than other market prices. It is not sufficient for government to ignore the prices of "volatile" goods and simply analyze the other products on the market. If the CPI wants to give an accurate account of inflation these "volatile" numbers must be calculated into the data. The reason that Mr. Brandly believes the government is withholding this data from CPI calculations is so that their figures align themselves with consumer and investor expectations rather than give an objective judgment of the situation. In addition, these incorrect inflation statistics hide much of the government spending that has led to these numbers and may give politicians unwarranted public support to increase government deficits.

I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Brandly's analysis and find it quite enlightening. Few citizens truly understand inflation and the detrimental affects it has on our economy. These new numbers lower the credibility of the CPI and show the massive effort to which government is trying to hide its spending habits. In addition, government can be seen, by manipulating these numbers, as tricking investors and consumers into believing that price increase are less severe than previously estimated. The Federal Reserve needs to provide less inflationary policy and must once again reinstate the M3. By keeping up an inflation rate much closer to our rate of growth, the affects on the citizen's pocket and on the economy will not be as severe. If we are not to remove the Federal Reserve of its post then we must encourage these bureaucrats to alter monetary policy in a way that it keeps up with, and does not outdo, economic growth.

Reflections on PorcFest 2006

“A spirit with a vision,
is a dream with a mission.”
- Rush

I must admit, that as the wheels of my plane first touched New Hampshire, a tear came to my eye. This, I knew, was home to me. It was the setting of all my dreams for the future, the soil out of which a revolution would spring. I stepped off that plane with a silent reverence for the righteousness of the mission that was ahead, renewing the sense of my life’s purpose.

Manchester was mine to explore that evening. After dropping my luggage off at the hotel, I set out on foot towards downtown, crossed the Merrimack river, and discovered Elm Street: the Main Street you’ve always wished for. I mean, where else on one street have I found a Hungarian pastry shop, an awesome cigar lounge called “Castro’s Backroom”, and an entirely Vietnamese video store? And it was there, on Elm Street, that I experienced for the first time ever the absence of any sales tax. To know that your money is going directly to that business is a great feeling of the power of your purchase. The only cops I ever encountered in Manchester were actually performing a public serivce: they helped people cross the street safely! Now these are policemen I’d be inclined to respect.

My friend, Menno, would arrive later that night. His first experience of New Hampshire was in renting a car for our trip up to Lancaster. Remarking at the cheap rate, he asked, “This includes insurance, right?” “Nope,” the agent responded. “You mean, insurance isn’t required in New Hampshire?” “Of course not, it’s the Free State. Live free or die, man!”

Menno and I awoke at 5 the next morning, and soon after set out for PorcFest. We traveled through beautiful scenery, the highways covered in mist, past cliffs of granite, with Rush playing in the background. At one point, for the sake of exercising my New Hampshire freedoms, I unbuckled my seatbelt while going 75mph down the interstate. The horror! I thought myself a rebel, until I realised I was acting well within the law and felt naked and unsafe without it. Imagine that: people will voluntarily look out for themselves!

We arrived at Lancaster in the early morning, having driven across the state in less than three hours, and found a group of Porcupines getting ready for a hike with the president of the FSP, Varrin Swearingen. The mountain they had chosen to climb was, uncoincidently, called Mount Liberty. What a great metaphor it would be, to say that you had climbed Mount Liberty. Unfortunately, I only made it to Liberty Springs, three-fourths of the way to the peak. I had had but one bottle of water on the way up, so my mind was focused on getting my hands on some cold, refreshing Liberty Water. Needless to say, dehydrated and steaming from sweat, and in the wilderness of the Free State, it was the best water I’ve ever tasted.

That afternoon, they held a meeting for those interested in substantially volunteering for the FSP. It was there that I met the superstars of New Hampshire activism: Russell Kanning, Kat Dillion, Joel Winters, and Lauren Canario. Maybe they’ve heard it before, but these people are role models for all of us. I was glad to have the opportunity to talk with these dynamic, principled people (about what else, but politics! hah) and even to crash on Russell and Kat’s couch in Keene.

From singing around a campfire while roasting marshmellows with Jason Sorens, to lying down with a beer to watch falling stars streak across the Milky Way in incredibly dark skies, PorcFest was an absolute blast. Menno, after having been offered a job by Joel Winters, has gone back to Sarasota to pack, and is turning right back around to settle in Manchester. I, on the other hand, will be here at the University of Florida in the mean time, spreading the message of Liberty and rallying the troops for the Free State Project. But home shall be calling...

“Those who fight for the future,
live in it today.”
- Ayn Rand

For the first time...

id like to focus on what's being done thats right, or at least pro-liberty... even if the way its being done is inappropriate.

first and foremost, the westboro baptist church can suck me. those hateful bigots make all christians/baptists look like intolerant nutjobs... and thank god for the us senate making a positive change-

cnn - military funerals

NEWSFLASH: marijuana does not cause lung cancer!

what a concept... and still, while cigarettes show a 20-fold greater risk of the disease- marijuana's illegal, cigarettes are legal.

pot - cancer link?

but then theres this shit that makes me want to vomit-

stop the planet- i want off.

oh well, can't win 'em all with those damn republicrats in power.

First Post

First Post