So, the potty training isn’t going so well; we are having way too much fun to work on that stuff seriously. I bought Little Man his first fishing pole and we hit the lake in my neighborhood. The very first cast in, we caught a fish! I’m not sure if he liked watching the worms or fish wriggle more and he was a little sad when we let the fish go back into the lake, but overall I’d give the experience two big thumbs up.
Update: Little Man felt like a big boy all afternoon and has used the big boy toilet and backyard four times! I put him to bed in a diaper but he knows that the bowl of M&Ms are his reward for peeing in the singing toilet. Hopefully, we can keep dry undies tomorrow too.
I’ll be out of pocket for a bit. I have Little Man all by myself for the week and we are working on toilet training. His mom and dad are busy with his little sis, I’m not going back to work for at least a week or two (long, but decent story), and who knows when I’ll have this chance to bond again.
For the most part, Little Man is training just like his mommy and auntie did: bare assed in the back yard. Having never trained boys, my work is cut out for me. I don’t think I could have ever known how much little boys liked their weenies and the poop in the kitchen was a surprise that I wasn’t quite ready for. No potty training is complete without training pants pics and so I’ve made sure that we have some to embarrass him with later.
My dad emailed me the link the morning after Barr’s nomination. He is having a field day mocking me for being an LP member with this.
This is not to put me in the camp of those who oppose the party, or those like disinter who have precluded the possibility of supporting Barr.
On the other had, neither am I willing to give a ringing, and, as far as I can tell, unconditional endorsement of Barr-Root, a la Steve Kubby.
Although I am as yet far from certain, my initial inclination is to take a wait and see attitude, as described by Less Antman:
This is going to be a balancing act for radicals. We DO want to keep pressure on Barr so that he doesn’t feel emboldened to tell conservatives what they want to hear to draw votes from McCain.
We will have NO influence if we declare our unconditional refusal to vote for Barr, and even less if we let him know he doesn’t have to worry about our being in the LP after the election.
The proper approach for LP radicals is to constructively work for state and local candidates and ballot access and to focus on better internal education (or any internal education, which would be a good start). We can work for the party through November without having to specifically work for Barr-Root, and neither an unconditional commitment nor an unconditional rejection makes sense.
However, what practical incentive do Barr and Root have to listen to us? Surely, they can find more votes, and, even, more activists outside of traditionally hardcore radical LP ranks? If ever they had to compromise with us and make concessions, that time has passed now that they have safely secured the nomination. From now on, as anyone with practical political experience knows, their job is to move away from trying to please the party base, and towards reaching out to grab votes from the great undecided muddle. This is true of all parties.
In fact, if they were to pay me as a political consultant for advice on how to package their message with a view towards increasing their vote total in this election, I would be ripping off my client if I told them anything other than downplaying hardcore libertarian positions. That is, if their job as candidates is what most people define the job of candidates to be - getting the maximum number of votes possible in THIS election.
I happen to think that the job of the Libertarian Party should be somewhat different than that; but it is currently clear that those who agree with me on this have lost the fight, at least for the time being, to those who do not. Given this fact, is it possible to stay and fight and win this battle in the future, or is it time to cut my losses?
I’m not yet sure; stay tuned for an upcoming post: “I haven’t left the Libertarian Party, but has the Libertarian Party left me?”
Briefly speaking, I do not know the answer yet.
My support is not unconditional, and is based on actions rather than party loyalty. In other words, I will see what the campaign looks like. If I was into the idea of “my party no matter what,” I would still be a Democrat.
But it does not matter much either way - I will still collect signatures for Barr if he pays well enough (if I can collect signatures for Greens and Constitution Party, which I will, I can certainly collect signatures for the LP regardless of who the candidate is), and I will still most likely personally not be able to actually vote in November, regardless of my support level, for logistical reasons. Regardless of my support, I’m unlikely to have the financial means to make any donations to the campaign. In other words, very little changes based on how I feel about the campaign.
As far as my writing, I will continue to tell the truth the way I see it - I’ll say good things about the ticket when they do good, and bad things when they do bad, as I see it. If anyone at any point thinks that I am worth commissioning to write anything (hasn’t happened yet, and I have no indication that it ever will), he who pays the piper calls the tune.
I highly encourage the pro- and anti-Barr factions to engage in a bidding war for my services. And I expect that the offers will come pouring in just as soon as I hit “publish,” and not long after hell freezes over.
“Paulie Cannoli,” a Kubby supporter and blogger who’d been unceremoniously de-credentialed by Third Party Watch, joked around and proposed that radicals make an end run around Barr. “Give him all the tokens,” Cannoli said. “Let him take the stage all by himself. Then get all the candidates back in here and tell C-SPAN!” Cannoli, who brandished the media credentials of former LP Executive Director Shane Cory (a man about as popular in this circle as Donald Rumsfeld), handed out Kubby buttons and asked for support: “A token for the tokin’ candidate!”
I want to first say how much fun Denver was. It was great meeting the people I met on line through the years and finally putting very real faces to sometimes very silly screen names. I roomed with Angela Keaton, partied with Paulie, was goaded into a $200 tip to room service by Stanhope, finally met Starchild, ate and/or drank with Anthony Gregory, Ernest Hancock, Barry Hess and many others, and was even shushed at 3:00 a.m. by Mr. Nolan, founder of the LP and person unlucky enough to have the room next to ours. Yes, it was a great time.
My candidates didn’t win the roles of standard bearers. I’d supported Steve Kubby since he threw his hat in the ring and I gave him my token at convention. I also supported Mary Ruwart since that bullshit smear and brouhaha over at TPW. When it was clear that Mary had more support on the floor, she got my votes on all ballots for prez. I was hoping for a Ruwart/Kubby ticket but that hope was smashed after Bob Barr won, by an ever so slight number, the presidential nomination.
I then thought that perhaps the ticket would be nicely balanced as Barr/Kubby. With the divide between the purists and reformers, it seemed like a decent compromise. Kubby threw his hat in the ring for VP and received my votes on each ballot. Unfortunately, the snake oil salesman that is Wayne Allyn Root (I say this only because of the way he conceded the prez race as an apparent side deal for Barr’s endorsement for VP) had more support on the floor. I was disappointed that Barr essentially demanded from the stage that the delegate body give him what he asked for in a running mate. That race was also close and the reformers got their ticket. We were able to get some radicals on the LNC though. Angela Keaton kept her spot and added to the group was Mary Ruwart and Lee Wrights.
Now, where does that leave all us in the purists vs. reformers fight? Christine Smith, as she was dropped from the prez nominating race, demanded that we all think about what we were doing and vote for a “real” libertarian. Her rant was seen by some as childish but I sought her out to tell her I appreciated her comments. I never supported Ms. Smith for that race but I thought it brave of her to stand up and say what she did in the face of her own politicking style and fear mongering. Now I want to go on record to say that I think it must be time to let the reformers learn and teach and Ms. Smith’s call to keep true to the philosophy of libertarianism is important but perhaps not for the reason she thinks.
Libertarianism is a philosophy of personal liberty coupled with responsibility. When I came to the party-much like Barr or Root- as a disgruntled republican, the first thing I thought is: Great! Now let’s get the potheads and weirdos off of television so we can win! It took me a few years to do the 180 and really get the ideas behind the philosophy and I’m still learning. Barr and Root will hopefully continue to learn as well.
Bob Barr brought a certain amount of excitement to some longtime and new members of the party. Hell, if Bob Barr can change his mind, who can’t? The excitement of Barr makes people more firmly rooted in the idea of the LP as a political party than party of philosophy rally to his cause. But those of us who know that we’re not going to win the prez race this year, who’ve not been benefitting from the ego boost from running campaigns, profiting from a salary from national or our direct mail businesses, or have been through the 180 I described above are understandably wary of a newbie carrying the torch for us. We know how bad watering down the message can be and that is why it’s important not to abandon the cause of liberty.
Like it or not, we have a republican lite Barr/Root ticket. It’s our job to keep them on message and that’s why we need to be close. The radical way is correct in my mind but it takes time to get it. What was for up for grabs at the convention was a prez/veep nomination and it was dealt with in as free a market as you can get. Bob Barr and his team showed up, participated and won. The radicals who sat home watching on CSPAN didn’t and thusly should be reminded of the personal responsibility part of our mantra. Perhaps they will show up at the next convention. And all of us should remember that we’ve only sold our collective soul if we leave and let Barr/Root bastardize our years of work without fighting a whit for it.
So I finally made it home from Denver. My dumb ass missed the flight I’d already rescheduled and found that I couldn’t get another one for two days. Thankfully, there are some really kind Texas libertarians who let me ride back home with them. I’m whipped after the 1000 miles drive and general lack of good sleep during the weekend so I plan to take a short nap and post my thoughts on the convention this evening.
The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the cost of foster care for the kidnapped FLDS children will be nearly $1 million a month. The total cost to taxpayers for this fiasco could top $21 million.
Virtually all of the sect children are deemed to need a “basic” level of service, which at $39 a day is the least costly of Texas’ four levels of paid foster care. Nearly doubling the monthly cost, however, is the fact that many – a precise number was not available – are staying in emergency shelters. The state pays shelters $106 a day.
Ms. Goodman said other monthly costs will include $325,500 in health care, provided under the state-federal Medicaid program for the poor; and $425,000 for an additional 70 protective services workers – as soon as they’re hired.
The estimates came on the eve of a special Senate Finance Committee hearing today to examine the costs of the raid, the largest child-protection sweep in U.S. history.
“The focus has always been on what you do for the children and how do you protect the children,” Ms. Goodman said. “Obviously, we have to take care of the costs as well. … We have to look at that going forward. I think we’ll get a lot of good guidance tomorrow from Senate Finance.”
Can I just point out that there are many single mothers in this country that would love, love, love to see a $1200 monthly- per child- support check? And, the monthly emergency shelter rate of $3379 plus approximately $700 monthly in paid health care is more than some dual income families make in a single month. You’d think that the jackasses at CPS who are supposed to be so much better at parenting would have learned to budget a little better. But, I guess budgets don’t matter when John Q. Taxpayer is paying the ransom.
Willie Campbell is an HIV positive man recently convicted of spitting on a Dallas police officer during a 2006 public intoxication arrest. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison and will not be eligible for parole until he’s served half that time. I wonder if the prosecutor, defense attorney or any of the jury ever read this:
Saliva—is NOT considered to be infectious. The only time saliva would pose a risk would be if it had blood present in it. There are no documented cases of HIV transmission through saliva. There is a protein in the mouth that attaches itself to the surface of blood cells and blocks infection by HIV that appears to be present in the mucous membrane in the mouth at a level sufficient enough to reduce the concentration of HIV in saliva to non-infectious levels.
The CDC’s website indicates that there is no known transmission of HIV through contact with saliva, tears or sweat but that info brought a question to my mind. Would the guy have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon for sweating or crying during his arrest?
I’m thinking probably not and that 35 years is cruel and unusual punishment for spitting during a PI arrest. The guy perhaps needs a better lawyer for the appeal process.
Ash and the kiddos are here for the weekend and we are having a blast. Watching these little ones grow up is so rewarding and I’m thankful that I’ve the time, energy and money to spoil them rotten. Little Man is now 14 months old and runs everywhere. He said PopPop several times already this weekend and the doc knows I’m jealous; I really hoped he’d say MiMi first. Oh well, with eyes and a smile like this, he can say whatever he wants whenever he wants. I’m totally wrapped around his little chubby fingers.
Alaina Michelle is Little Man’s baby sister and at two weeks old is already the sweetest little girl. She sleeps throughout the night and is nothing but smiles and sugar during the day. Watching her asleep on her PopPop’s chest (he was also sleeping) in an overstuffed chair was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and there’s not a doubt in my mind that she’ll call his name before mine as well. Too bad the camera wasn’t handy but here’s one of her as she was leaving the hospital.
Being a young grandmother is amazing and seeing how beautifully Ash and Richard parent, I start to let the guilt of being a working, single mom wash away. I obviously did something right along the way.
