UPDATED, see below for Rush Limbaugh’s post-election reaction. Exclusive to The Volunteer, Dissociated Press provided the following roundup of reactions to the reelection of President Barack Obama. What is left to hope for? That the American people will soon regret their choice? That another four years of economic stagnation and escalating debt will cure them of [...]
Category Archives: Terrence Watson
Portrait of a libertarian Republican
Posted by Terrence Watson on November 8, 2012 6 comments
I’m posting this strictly for the lulz. Eric Dondero, a self-described libertarian Republican who once worked for Ron Paul, is spitting mad about President Obama’s victory. And when I say spitting mad, I mean that literally. If I meet a Democrat in my life from here on out, I will shun them immediately. I will [...]
Top 10 ways the Liberty Summer Seminar is better than Occupy Wall Street
Posted by Terrence Watson on November 11, 2011 13 comments
As many of you know, Peter Jaworski, editor and writer for The Volunteer, hosts a libertarian gathering on his family’s property each year. For more than ten years now, this event, the Liberty Summer Seminar (LSS), has brought people together from all over the world for a weekend of lecture, discussion, fine dining, and camping. It’s [...]
Tim Hudak supports ordinary, hard working, middle class families!!1!
Posted by Terrence Watson on August 30, 2011 2 comments
I don’t know how to embed Sun News videos, so here’s a link. It’s David Akin interviewing Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak. After watching this video and seeing Hudak on other occasions, I have two observations: (1) Hudak has no idea what to say about the HST, even on the most basic level. Is he [...]
A conservative’s insanity
Posted by Terrence Watson on July 22, 2011 6 comments
Crime is down in Canada. Way down. As the Globe & Mail points out, the national crime rate has fallen to 1973 levels, continuing a 20-year decline. Homicides, attempted murders, serious assaults and robberies were all down last year from the year before. Young people were accused of committing fewer offences. Even property crime was [...]
Bill C-51: the Conservative government is in favour of censorship
Posted by Terrence Watson on May 5, 2011 5 comments
Why must you DO these things, Conservatives? 1. Bill C-36: a Conservative betrayal In the comments to this post, commenter Robert McClelland correctly highlights Bill C-36 as one of the lesser known pieces of bad Conservative legislation to come out of their minority government. C-36, the Consumer Product Safety Act, takes effect in June. It [...]
The Conservative majority: my wish list
Posted by Terrence Watson on May 3, 2011 21 comments
What should Stephen Harper do with his new majority? In no particular order, here is my wish list: 1. Move forward on the Reid/Hillier property rights amendment Back in February, Scott Reid and Randy Hillier jointly proposed amending the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to add protection for property rights within the province of Ontario. [...]
On the great debate
Posted by Terrence Watson on April 13, 2011 3 comments
There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. For a good rundown, check out the Star‘s David Olive here. Prior to the debate, the general sense I got from knowledgeable folks is that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff had to perform flawlessly, while Harper just had to not fail too badly. On that measure, Harper [...]
Did Michael Ignatieff vote in an American election?
Posted by Terrence Watson on April 11, 2011 2 comments
Probably not, but in this review of his book “The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror”, he said: I am not a neo-con…I am an American Democrat. I will vote for Kerry in November. Interesting, anyway. Today, Ignatieff said: I’ve never been the citizen of another country. I’ve never voted – can’t [...]
We’re not going here, are we?
Posted by Terrence Watson on April 8, 2011 1 comment
Link Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff won’t be counting on his wife’s vote on May 2 because she is not a Canadian citizen, the Toronto Sun has learned. Zsuzzana Zsohar, Ignatieff’s Hungarian-born wife, is a landed immigrant who still hasn’t obtained citizenship in Canada, Liberal party officials confirmed on Wednesday. If the Conservatives make this an [...]
The per-vote subsidy for political parties benefits free riders
Posted by Terrence Watson on April 3, 2011 8 comments
As mentioned recently in this space, Stephen Harper has pledged to end the $2-per-vote subsidy to political parties should his party win a majority in the upcoming election. Perhaps experiencing a flashback to his more libertarian days, Harper claims he is against forcing people to contribute to parties they don’t support. He may also suspect [...]
Stephen Harper’s speech
Posted by Terrence Watson on March 31, 2011 3 comments
In June 1997, Stephen Harper was president of the National Citizens Coalition. To a mostly American audience, he gave a speech expressing his understanding of Canada and its politics. It’s the speech in which the future Prime Minister describes Canada as “a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term.” Most of [...]
Election predictions? Hopes?
Posted by Terrence Watson on March 23, 2011 8 comments
We don’t know for sure if there will be one, but here’s a thread where people can share their early predictions of how it will turn out. What will the results be? Another Conservative minority? Liberal minority? Something else? Important question: if the Conservatives fail to get their majority, is that the end of Stephen [...]
Why I despise the teabaggers: Exhibit I for Islamophobia
Posted by Terrence Watson on March 4, 2011 17 comments
Slate talked to the mother who can be seen walking past the stinking pile of teabagging vermin. “My daughter was so frightened that she just didn’t say anything. She was really terrified because she did realize that these people were against us. As soon as we got out of the car, people started taking pictures [...]
The Randy Hillier and Scott Reid property rights amendment: a Volunteer connection
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 22, 2011 10 comments
As I wrote yesterday, Randy Hillier and Scott Reid, MPP and MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox, and Addington, have announced their plans to propose joint resolutions seeking an amendment to the Charter that would protect property rights in Ontario. The amendment will be formally announced at a press conference this Thursday, at 1:30 pm. It turns out [...]
Scott Reid and Randy Hillier to announce property rights amendment
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 21, 2011 11 comments
Exciting news! Scott Reid, MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox, and Addington, along with Randy Hillier, MPP for the same riding, have announced their intention to jointly present resolutions seeking the amendment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect property rights. Link Thursday should be an interesting day. Hillier and Reid are holding a press conference [...]
How conservatives argue
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 17, 2011 10 comments
Reading one of these intellectual conservative pieces is like meeting that rare girl who is a fan of classical music and then after a few dates finding out she’s a raving anti-Semite. The amount of Wagner in her collection should have tipped you off, but because she was saying all the right things about things about that horrid Justin Bieber you were able to overlook her insanity for a while.
Conservatives to spend money promoting their own fiscal awesomeness
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 7, 2011 1 comment
Link It would have been less ironic if they’d just taken the $6.5 million and flushed it down the toilet. Oh, and then there is this: The 11-week campaign, called “Tax cuts … working for you,” will run until March 27 – right around the time an election would start if the Conservatives were defeated [...]
The liberaltarian proposal
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 7, 2011 33 comments
Conservatives are good at killing people. Liberals are bad at helping people. Both of them reject the fundamental libertarian constraint. But conservatives profane that constraint, while liberals elide it.
Sarah Palin is incoherent, confuses conservatives (updated)
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 7, 2011 Comments Off
There are two facts that are endlessly reaffirmed: (1) Sarah Palin is incoherent, and (2) Social conservatives are confused. At the same time, conservatives don’t often seem confused by Sarah Palin. No matter what nonsense leaves her mouth, they’ve tended to treat it like the softly decaying wisdom of zombie Ronald Reagan. Then, there is [...]