RIP Mr. Driving without a License Michael Badnarik

Ballot Access News alerted me yesterday to the death of the 2004 Libertarian Party presidential candidate, and what's in the header was what I immediately thought about because that's what he was known for at the time.

Wikipedia reminds me, per the first commenter at BAN, Andy, that Badnarik was indeed a true-blue Libertarian nutter in one other way, namely, in that he believed the 16th Amendment had never been properly ratified.

Also in comments there, No. 2 person said that Greens appreciated him for the investigation of alleged vote fraud in Ohio in 2004. I use the word alleged, which said commenter did not, because there was no actual fraud. Unethical vote suppression by Ohio's then Secretary of State? Plenty. Anything fraudulent? No. Mark Hertsgaard has the facts.

Well, Libertarians got butt-hurt about my takedown comments. I replied that, to riff on Liberty Valance, here at this blog, I'd rather repeat the truth before post-mortem hagiography gets set in stone. I noted I'd written takedown obits here of warmonger John McCain, warmonger and NATO-monger Madeleine Albright, First Amendment mocker Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and others, for precisely that reason.

And, per a pre-demise post he wrote at his own website, and comments therein, you're a big old gun nut if you have to take a hogleg to a medical conference. That's amplified by having a vertical called "gun friendly restaurants" at the top of the website.

And, his idea of American history was full of shit, as he claims the Civil War didn't exist, and (naturally) uses the secessionist "War of Northern Aggression" instead.

Finally, on current politics, though rightly calling out the departure of Trump, it's typical wingnut bullshit to talk about Americans who "voted for and supported Marxist/socialist legislation." It's a lie. If Badnarik, like many Republican wingnuts, knew it was a lie, then he was part of the problem on both the coarsening of American political discourse and the shifting of Overton windows, and ultimately, to hoist him by his own petard, himself a cancer on the political world. If he truly believed this bullshit, he was an even bigger idiot than the previous post about the Civil War indicates.

This:

They have converted the United States into a communist nation – sometime unintentionally, but often deliberately.

would be fucking laughable if Badnarik didn't mean it quite seriously.

And, of course, and shock me, I googled his blogging for COVID, and as you would expect, he rejected the idea of government actions in the name of public health, even to the point of threats of violence.

You bring the syringe, I’ll bring my .45, and we’ll see who leaves a bigger hole.

(Some Libertarian! [For non-Libertarians, the issue of war, but also somewhat of violence in general and its use, has been a contentious issue within the party.]) And, per him listing that quote elsewhere, I'll take him as a general antivaxxer.

And, as for the Andys of the world, just click the "obits" tab and you'll see plenty of them. I even wrote a semi-takedown of one of my most-liked authors of the past 25 years, David Roberts.

So, goodbye, Badnarik and you won't be missed in this corner of the non-duopoly world. You're the biggest nutter Texas Libertarians, at a minimum, have produced until Dan "Taxation is Theft because Me and My Poopy Pants Don't Like Paying Taxes" Behrman, and given Danny Boy's political takes, you were in the same house on COVID nuttery, too, and presumably on gunz and other lunacies.

Replace the Texas franchise tax ... with what, #txlege?

Houston Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson wrote earlier this week that it's time for the state of Texas to get rid of its state franchise tax on businesses.

I respectfully agree, as I Tweeted him back, because he said "get rid of" instead of "replace." (The same holds true for the inventory tax, as loophole-ridden and as badly designed as it is.)

The answer is: A state income tax. Well, that's the obvious answer in a state that's not as tax-phobic as Texas, even as schools struggle for money and roads fall apart under current funding.

Unless the Texas Legislature can craft a corporate income tax to replace the above state taxes, getting rid of those above taxes will mean even more suckitude in state services (except to lobbyists), yet higher sales taxes, or both.

This reminds me of President Lincoln. Radical Republicans in Congress demanded that he replace George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac well before Lincoln puled that trigger.

"With whom?" he asked.

"Why anybody," Ben Wade said.

"I must have somebody," he responded. Change "somebody" to "something," and that's where we are now. We need to have columnists propose, and legislators adopt, a "something" to replace these taxes.

As for raising the state sales tax? Scrooge McOilDuck, otherwise known as The Comptroller Who Can't Understand Commodities Trends, Glenn Hegar, want to let businesses with less than $5 million in revenues pay no sales tax.

And, I'm sure Scrooge McOilDuck and the GOPers in the Lege have not put pencil to paper, or fingers to calculator, to figure out just how much money this would cost the state.

Actually, they probably figured supply-side economics would turn this into a magical new bonanza for the state.

In reality, if the Wingnuts of Wingnuts steamroll stuff like this, Texas will be the new Louisiana.

Texas: Heading to hell in a handbasket, but now, maybe twice as fast.

And that reminds me of another Civil War hero: Phil Sheridan, who famously said:

“If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell.” 

He would surely still live in hell first, but might find fewer and fewer out-of-state takers wanting to rent out Texas.

Political briefs - Norquist, DOMA, Utah enviros

First, a falling out between anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist and wingnut Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn? So sad. Interesting that Corbin is leaving the door open for some sort of tax increases. Wow.

Second, Speaker John Boehner's defend DOMA firm, King & Spaulding, has quit the project. In turn, former George W. Bush Solicitor General Paul Clement has quit the firm.

Meanwhile, Utah environmentalists and the oil & gas industry are finding room for compromise.

Definitely a News of the Weird day.

Are tea partiers the GOP future?

Charles Blow thinks its exactly the opposite: they're dying bloviations of the frustrated who can see the future's handwriting on the wall.

Unfortunately, he may well be right on the fiscal side.

Which means that unless enough progressives challenge Democrats, we'll see the increasing corporitization of that party.

‘The G.O.P. has been taken over by the people it used to exploit’

Krugman nails it, using last week’s tea-party rally sponsored, officially, by the GOP, as his starting point.

Astroturfers say ‘get Reps. off prepared script’ on health

Ahh, the irony alert and hypocrisy alert daily double at work.

If anybody has a “prepared script,” including a prepared script for disrespect and intimidation, it’s astroturfing corporate groups and their far-right political action group fellow travelers.

“Pack the hall,” said a strategy memo circulated by the Web site Tea Party Patriots that instructed, “Yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

“Get him off his prepared script and agenda,” the memo continued. “Stand up and shout and sit right back down.”

That said, liberals need to respond with firmness but WITHOUT violence; we do not need more Russ Carnahan town halls.

Here's why Cornyn knows Obama is telling truth about town hall thuggery

Texas Sen. John Cornyn wants President Barack Obama to stop talking about an “enemies list” behind disruptions of Congressional town halls and such.

The idea that Cornyn, who sometimes flirts with the edges of reality, thinks Obama’s asking people to report GOP and ’winger Astroturf groups lies and misinformation about healthcare issues is sending secret information to the president, this one is so laughable, in part, because Cornyn knows tea-baggers better from personal experience:



First, Obama the (actual) violator of civil liberties could have his telco immunity buddy, AT&T, team up with the NSA and take care of this in secret if he really were of the mindset Cornyn attributes to him.

Second, people can send their e-mails through routers or anonymizers.

Third, they can stop sending lying e-mails! Hey, there’s an idea for Whackjob Cornyn!

Rather, I hope he ups the ante. Cornyn’s whining shows this might just stick. And, having seen these nutbars protest against HIM on the Fourth of July, he knows what they are like.

A longer video reminder of what Cornyn knows about these thuggery:



More information about actual thuggery on the jump.

In St. Louis, Rep. Russ Carnahan was the target, though liberals were prepared. The result? A big pre town-hall fracas, which included multiple apparent “assault by cop” actions against healthcare supporters.

Remember, police generally come from the more conservative elements of society.

In Wisconsin, a protestor claming to be “just a mom” with “not affiliated with any political party” gets exposed as a big liar — a member of the Republican National Committee.

And good on Steve Pearlstein of the WaPost for calling the lies of folks like this “a flat-out lie.”

By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems.

And he closes with a note to the Jim DeMints of the world:

If health reform is to be anyone's Waterloo, let it be theirs.

Indeed, if we want to put this in terms of raw political calculus, this can be a counter-shift as big or bigger than Nixon’s “Southern strategy,” only this time, generational.

And now, astroturf-teabag intimidation spreads to unions

The latest? The St. Louis headquarters of the SEIU has received a threatening phone call – along with additional threats by Twitter.

Astroturf-teabag intimidation spreads to unions

The latest? The St. Louis headquarters of the SEIU has received a threatening phone call – along with additional threats by Twitter.

Corporate taxes whine proof astroturfers behind protestors

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never, myself, heard the average John or Jane Doe whine about federal corporate income taxes being too high.

But, an alleged group of John and Jane Does did whine about exactly that to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman Michael Arcuri at a news conference.

And, this Don Jeror is no innocent. He’s a, Tea Party organizer, and we know those events, even with “real people” present, are ultimately astroturfed.

If you’re on Twitter, give him a Tweet: @DonJeror.

When tea partiers attack

More and more, Democratic Congressmen are getting wary about town hall events because of the unruliness of tea-partier type constituents.

That said, lest GOP folks like Republican Congressional Campaign Committee Chariman Pete Sessions get too smug, “birthers” may become more a problem at some of their town halls.

Why would MoveOn even waste time on Cornyn?

Well, if this isn’t a “duh” moment. MoveOn, which has done good recently in trying to push conservative Democratic Senators to support some version of healthcare reform, thought it should show up at John Cornyn’s suburban Dallas office.

Not only was it dumb because Cornyn will never change his mind on the issue, MoveOn folks got bested 3-1 in turnout by tea partiers.

Dallas 'tea party' short of promoter hopes - PR spin starts

After the Southfork Ranch Fourth of July anti-government ‘tea parry’ was promoted on everything this side of Facebook — and on Facebook, a turnout of just 25-35,000 is clearly disappointing to Debbie Meyers and other promoters, as well as the people claiming media bias against the still-conservative (on its op-ed pages) Dallas Morning News.

The heat? 101F is not anywhere out of the norm for the Fourth of July in Dallas. Perhaps “tea partiers” have become soft and mushy due to conservative rot, compared to their “good old days” ancestors.

The Snooze came out too early? Eff you; a paper is not a PR organ and you can’t dictate at what time within an event it choose to come out.

Dallas ‘tea party’ falls short of promoter hopes

After the Southfork Ranch Fourth of July anti-government ‘tea parry’ was promoted on everything this side of Facebook — and on Facebook, a turnout of just 25-35,000 has to be disappointing to promoter Debbie Meyers, no matter how she tries to spin it.

Snipes conviction could deter tax-rejection wingnuts

Movie star Wesley Snipes, not just a figurehead but an active player in the antitax movement, has been sentenced for tax nonpayment. His sentence, after a criminal trial in regular federal court rather civil tax court, is a three-year sentence, likely to be served on supervised release.

Snipes had a monetary surprise for the government at his sentencing (see below), but no philosophical remorse.

Snipes hadn’t submitted a tax return since 1998, and had engaged the services of codefendants Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn.

Kahn was the founder of American Rights Litigators, and a successor group, Guiding Light of God Ministries, that purported to help members legally avoid paying taxes. Snipes was a dues-paying member of the organization, and Rosile, a de-licensed accountant, prepared Snipes' paperwork.

The actor maintained in a years-long battle with the IRS he did not have to pay taxes, using fringe arguments common to “tax protesters” who say the government has no legal right to collect. After joining Kahn's group, the government said, Snipes instructed his employees to stop paying their own taxes and sought $11 million in 1996 and 1997 taxes he legally paid.

Obvious proof of nutbarrery? Combining antitaxism with “God.”

The government claims Snipes owes at least $2.7 million in back taxes just from three years that were in question at the trial.

As for his attorney’s complaints about both the length of Snipes’ sentence and the selective prosecution of not going after any other Kahn clients, Judge William Terrell Hodges admitted as such on both counts. He said Snipes’ decade-long history was “serious” and that the selective prosecution was about “deterrence.”

Snipes had three checks totaling $5 mil ready to give the government at the Ocala, Fla., courthouse. But, even after his conviction, in a prepared statement, he refused to use the word “taxes.”

Hey, Wesley, way to prove Judge Hodges right after you’ve been convicted.

Snipes was acquitted on tax fraud and conspiracy charges, which some antitaxers are already hailing as a “victory.” (Wonder if Ron Paul visited Ocala recently?)

I can see beating the fraud charges, as, if you don’t submit any paperwork, there’s nothing to hang a fraud charge on. But the conspiracy charge, especially after telling his employees to not pay up? Beating that rap, I don’t get.