Slog - Comments on So Long, Mike http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike Take that, Democratic Party: Mike Gravel, former Senator from Alaska and long-shot candidate for President, announced that he's leaving the party... and joining the Libertarians. (Via). Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, said in an e-mail that the Democratic Party "no longer represents my vision for our great country." "It is a party that continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism - all of which I find anathema to my views," he said in the e-mail in which he also asked supporters for campaign donations. Of course, I'm mainly posting this as an excuse to put up... Copyright 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:30:58 -0800 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:40:34 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Giffy Who?

]]> Giffy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980581 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980581 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:37:10 -0800 Comment by JC You know, if you play this video with the Twin Peaks theme song over it (turn the volume down on the Mike Gravel video) IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oDuGN6K3VQ

]]> JC http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980584 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980584 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:38:00 -0800 Comment by Andrew Gravel would be better than Hillary any day of the week.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980604 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980604 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:40:42 -0800 Comment by tsm A man driven to bankruptcy by health care costs joining up with a party perfectly happy to see them remain unaffordable. How sad.

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980611 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980611 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:42:54 -0800 Comment by jon c a libertarian who is for climate change legislation, for universal healthcare, and against NAFTA? i support mr. gravel's views, i'm just not sure that he understands what libertarianism is.

]]> jon c http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980634 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980634 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:48:09 -0800 Comment by arduous @4, WORD.

]]> arduous http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980645 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980645 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:50:13 -0800 Comment by bma @5: Yeah... ummm... why isn't he joining the Greens?

]]> bma http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980646 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980646 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:50:22 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Um, Libertarians ... are those like that party that's going to be crushed in our Top Two Primary system this year?

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980657 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980657 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:52:35 -0800 Comment by Giffy @8, thankfully, yes.

]]> Giffy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980683 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980683 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:56:40 -0800 Comment by Seattle Crime Blogger Good for him. The world needs more Libertarians, and it's good to see that at least one politician has finally come to his senses.

]]> Seattle Crime Blogger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980684 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980684 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:56:43 -0800 Comment by infrequent @4 & @5 people don't seem to understand the libertarian's views. this could very be because they are not articulated well.

i consider myself closer to the libertarian view than the democratic view or the republican view. i'm in favor of things like public education, climate legislation and what not.

the idea is just to have the least amount of government "interference" as possible. as possible, meaning, as will work and is acceptable; it does not mean the least that can be imagined. that system already has a name, and it is anarchy.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980697 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980697 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:58:58 -0800 Comment by fluteprof Good riddance...

]]> fluteprof http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980729 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980729 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:14:04 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle @11 - so how much money are you guys going to steal from us while you pretend to be "minimizing" government?

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980904 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980904 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:31:01 -0800 Comment by jon c infrequent, i'm sure your views are completely reasonable, but the official Libertarian party platform 9www.lp.org) is a little too close to "anarchy" not "the least government 'interference' as possible" for my taste.
p.s. by being opposed to anarchy, i'm not opposed to, you know, cool "anarchy in the uk anarchy," where we would all shoot up heroin and listen to punk rock.

]]> jon c http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980935 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980935 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:33:04 -0800 Comment by Seattle Crime Blogger @13:

"Stealing" implies that it was rightfully yours to begin with, friend.

]]> Seattle Crime Blogger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980972 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c980972 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:37:12 -0800 Comment by infrequent @14 that goes without saying. god save the queen.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981037 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981037 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:45:35 -0800 Comment by Lee if anarchy means we can all shut the fuck up about the Superdelegates, then I'm all in.

]]> Lee http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981093 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981093 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:51:16 -0800 Comment by infrequent @13. what? okay...

@14. yeah, they need to get their act together a little bit to make the message palatable. i think it will take people like gavel to start this. almost by definition, if you are a viable candidate you are not a libertarian. that will probably change over time.

but read the wiki article's on the democratic party and the libertarian party. the dem is described as "the left" -- but gives no solid examples as the lib party does, including strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries etc...

wiki's not the end-all of political knowledge. it's just an example of how an average person might sum up a party in a few words. having but two parties is quite limited in many ways...

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981118 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981118 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:56:18 -0800 Comment by Bald Face Lie Who talks of such things like gay marriage and ending war?

certainly silly

]]> Bald Face Lie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981433 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981433 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:59:28 -0800 Comment by Phil M Infrequent wrote:

wiki's not the end-all of political knowledge

You meant Wikipedia, which is one of many thousands of wikis, many of which predate Wikipedia.

]]> Phil M http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981480 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981480 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:12:19 -0800 Comment by RainMan The big two parties, of course, evolve over the years. Those with a libertarian bent generally have tended toward the Republicans (a la Ron Paul) since they have been historically pro-free market and anti-big government. But the Bushies and religious right whack-jobs, of course, have made the GOP into the party that supports preemptive war, huge budget deficits and invasion of personal privacy. Eisenhower, and even Gerald Ford, would hardly recognize the party today. Similarly, the Democrats have been caught for forty years in a battle between centrists and progessives that is being played out (strangely enough since the two candidates are similar on most issues) in the Obama/Hillary split today.

The election of Obama as the first post-Boomer president (God, I hope) will definitely shake up the traditional left/right, red/blue debate. Libertarians could easily decide, depending on how the general election plays out, that there is a place at either party's table for them.

]]> RainMan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981747 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981747 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:41:59 -0800 Comment by bjank gravel's not a libertarian- he's a performance artist in the tradition of 60s/70s artists like bruce nauman. in fact, his insertion of the boulder into the water is a direct response/inversion of carolee schneemann's interior scroll... all he needs is some nea funding

]]> bjank http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981814 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c981814 2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:00:28 -0800 Comment by Joe Liberty Stay ahead of the curve. Join the Libertarian Party if you care about America.

]]> Joe Liberty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c983351 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/so_long_mike#c983351 2008 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:40:34 -0800