71% vote to keep Bolick on AZ Supreme Court

Clint Bolick, Arizona’s Libertarian Supreme Court Justice, Wins Judicial Retention Election - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Damon Root:

November 7, 2018 - "The Arizona electorate has voted overwhelmingly in favor of letting a libertarian jurist keep his seat on the state's highest court. As the Arizona Republic reports, state Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick handily won his judicial retention election yesterday by a lopsided margin of 71 percent to 29 percent.

"Bolick, a pioneering libertarian lawyer and co-founder of the Institute for Justice, was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court in 2016 by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. Under the terms of the Arizona constitution, a state Supreme Court justice must stand in a judicial retention election two years after being appointed to the bench, and then stand again every six years after that.

"It's worth noting that Bolick prevailed in yesterday's vote despite the best efforts of the liberal National Education Association, which funded anti-Bolick activities in an attempt at payback over Bolick's vote in a case that the Arizona Capitol Times has described as 'a ruling that knocked a tax hike for education off the ballot.' Unfortunately for these liberal activists, they have now lost soundly in both the courtroom and in the court of public opinion.

"Bolick has already amassed an impressive record on the Arizona Supreme Court in the past two years and will no doubt continue to build upon it in the years to come."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/07/clint-bolick-arizonas-libertarian-suprem
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A libertarian case for voting

The Libertarian Case for Voting - Reason.com - Ed Krayewski:

November 30, 2014 - "Tomorrow I'll be voting in my 39th consecutive election. When I vote for candidates, they rarely win. The ones that do have without exception disappointed. Many elections don't have any candidates I want to vote for. So I spoil my ballot.

"There are a lot of [bad] reasons to vote.... Ultimately your vote matters very little. It's almost certainly never going to tip an election. Many elections (think 2012) don't really have a plausible conclusion that doesn't suck for the American people. Nevertheless voting is important, because in a democratic system the absence of a vote enforces the illusion of the consent of the governed.

"Most people don't vote. The U.S. population is about 316 million. About 235 million are adults.... About 130 million Americans voted in the 2012 presidential election, nearly 66 million for President Obama.... Almost all of the 49 percent of voting Americans who didn't vote for Obama voted for the Republican, Mitt Romney. That still leaves at least 78 million Americans eligible to vote who didn't vote for Obama or Romney, more than the vote total either major party candidate received....

"It's impossible to say how many of those 78 million Americans, pressed to vote, would vote Democrat or Republican..... Millions of Americans ... may never vote precisely because they don't like Democrats or Republicans. A lot of people don't know they're libertarians. A lot of libertarians don't believe in voting. And not every Libertarian candidate will appeal to all libertarians. Certainly not every adult eligible to vote will have a candidate that matches up even imperfectly with their own views....

"No one person's decision to purchase or not purchase an Apple phone over an Android phone will make or break Apple.... Yet, in the aggregate, market participants set prices. Even the non-participants, those who decide not to buy, help set the price.... Not purchasing a smartphone deprives no one of anything but you of a smartphone....

"In politics, on the other hand, not voting becomes part of the illusion of consent. After all, non-voters aren't starting insurgencies or calling for revolutions.... The consent required for government to exert more control over you is far less robust than, say, the consent demanded of college students in California, or, actually, in any other situation where consent is required.

"Voting is a right, not a privilege. It's also not something you have to exercise. Not voting doesn't diminish anyone's credibility in criticizing the system, because voting doesn't ensure a specific result. But the regularity of not-voting helps promote the idea that the system is acceptable, just as much as the regularity of voting for the major parties does. Breaking that cycle can help break politics' control over us."

Read more: https://reason.com/archives/2014/11/03/the-libertarian-case-for-voting
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Indiana Dems urge conservatives: vote Libertarian

Trump tweet about Donnelly 'trying to steal' election wrong, Indiana Democrats say -  Kaitlin Lange and Tim Evans, Indianapolis Star:

November 3, 2018 - "In a Saturday afternoon tweet, President Donald Trump accused Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., of 'trying to steal the election' by paying for Facebook ads for Libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton.... Donnelly is locked in a tight race with Republican Mike Braun, who Trump stumped for Friday at a rally in Southport....

"A spokesman for the Donnelly campaign said the ads were paid for by the Indiana Democratic Party, which earlier paid for a mailer urging fiscally conservative voters that Brenton is a better choice than Braun. He referred questions to the party.

"Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody released the following statement in response to President Trump’s tweet:

The ads highlighting how Lucy Brenton is the true conservative in the Indiana Senate race are paid for by the Indiana Democratic Party. They are perfectly legal, factual, and accurately represent Lucy Brenton's anti-tax record. These ads draw attention to Rep. Braun’s record of voting to raise taxes on Hoosiers dozens of times as a State Representative while writing legislation to give himself tax breaks.

"Original story, October  29, 2018 - The Indiana Democratic Party sent out a mailer last week telling fiscally conservative Hoosiers there is a better Senate candidate than Republican Mike Braun. But in an unconventional move, .... the mailer praised Libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton.

"The words 'Looking for a candidate who will really lower your taxes?' appear on the front of the flier. On the back, the mailer says that Brenton 'is an anti-tax conservative' while Braun 'raised Indiana taxes 159 times.' Donnelly isn't mentioned....

"Brenton said she was shocked that the Democrats used this tactic, but called the mailer 'accurate.' 'I am grateful for the free publicity highlighting my tax stance, but think it will backfire,' Brenton said. 'Many Democrats are Constitution loving, fiscally conservative voters and my message resonates with them, too. Ultimately, how well they targeted the addresses will determine which voters learn that they have a choice in this race that demands all of their freedoms, all of the time.'

"The Indiana Republican Party said the mailer was a 'desperate, late-game campaign tactic'."

Read more: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/29/indiana-senate-race-democrats-mail-flyer-praising-lucy-brenton/1805722002/
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Ohio Libertarians begin modest TV ad buy (video)

Libertarian candidate for governor unveils TV ads in Toledo - Toledo Blade - Liz Skalka:

November 1, 2018 - "Libertarian governor candidate Travis Irvine launched his first television ads in Toledo and Cincinnati less than a week from Election Day.... The buy is for a modest $2,000 worth of airtime on Fox News and CNBC, campaign manager Ken Moellman said....

"Irvine, whose campaign has already invested in radio ads, said the TV ads are ones already featured online and are produced by Mr. Irvine himself. The 35-year-old from Columbus runs his own media company and also dabbles in comedy. 'I guarantee I’m the only candidate to edit his own ads,' he said....

"Irvine reported raising more than $5,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 17 and spending $7,300. [Republican Mike] DeWine and Democrat Richard Cordray have raised more than $44 million....

"Irvine said he would campaign in Lucas, Geauga, and Butler counties, where he said he has the support of some conservative Republicans who have balked from backing Mr. DeWine."

Read more: https://www.toledoblade.com/local/politics/2018/11/01/libertarian-candidate-for-governor-tv-ads-Toledo-travis-irvine/stories/20181031155
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Reason magazine celebrates 50 years in print

America’s Premier Libertarian Magazine Celebrates Its 50th Year - Troy Warden, Daily Signal:

November 2, 2018 - "Reason magazine, the print and online publication of Reason Foundation, will celebrate its 50th anniversary Saturday with well-known figures in the libertarian movement at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Los Angeles. Reason bills itself as 'the planet’s largest source of news, culture, policy, and ideas from a principled libertarian perspective.'

'Larry Friedlander, a Boston University student, founded Reason magazine in the summer of 1968. The magazine was considered unlike many magazines of the time because of its clean graphic design and clear ethos. Freidlander, who died in 2011 at age 63, painstakingly designed the magazine’s aesthetics and content from scratch at his mother’s house, Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor in chief, told The Daily Signal in an email....

"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes individual freedom and limits on the coercive behavior of the state. Libertarians typically favor strong property rights, civil liberties, and drug decriminalization.

"According to Mike Alissi, the publisher of Reason, the website receives 4 million web visitors a month and 3.5 million monthly video views of at least 30 seconds in length. Monthly circulation is 47,000....

"A luncheon followed by a gala Saturday night will feature conversations on and remembrances of Reason’s 50-year history of 'fighting for "Free Minds and Free Markets" via award-winning journalism and cutting-edge policy work powered by principled, pragmatic, and visionary libertarian ideals,' and what plans the magazine and foundation have in store for the next five decades....

"Fox Business Network host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery — professionally known as Kennedy — will host the evening program, which will feature remarks from Vernon Smith, who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, and Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, a two-term governor of Indiana....

 "Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason magazine along with public policy research, will give its Savas Award for Privatization to Frank Baxter, former U.S. ambassador to Uruguay ... 'for his role in co-founding Los Angeles’ largest and most successful charter school network, the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools,' Leonard Gilroy, director of government reform at Reason Foundation, said in a statement provided to The Daily Signal....

"Despite the passage of 50 years, Mangu-Ward said, “the early issues of Reason feel astonishingly relevant today'.... 'In the early days of Reason, libertarians and conservatives made common cause against the rising tide of socialism and communism,' she told The Daily Signal. 'Unfortunately, that alliance may once again be relevant.'”

Read more: https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/11/02/americas-premier-libertarian-magazine-celebrates-its-50th-year/
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Close to 50 Libertarians running in North Carolina

Libertarian candidates swell ranks - Rocky Mount Telegram - Lindell John Kay:

September 23, 2018 - "Two local candidates for state office this year are part of a growing trend of more Libertarians appearing on North Carolina ballots.

"'I’m fortunate to be the first Libertarian to run for the North Carolina House in our area,' said Nick Taylor, 30, of Nashville, who is running for the state House District 25 seat, which represents most of Nash County including Rocky Mount. Jesse Shearin, 77, of Scotland Neck, is running for for the state Senate District 4 seat....

"North Carolina is second only to Texas this year in having the largest number of Libertarian candidates — and with nearly 50 Libertarians running this year, it's one of the largest slates of Libertarian candidates ever, according to information from the N.C. Libertarian Party.

"Libertarians believe government stifles innovation through regulation, subverts compassion through bureaucracy and suppresses achievement through economic manipulation, according to the preamble of the party's platform....

"Lack of jobs is one of the biggest challenges facing Nash County and the state, Taylor said.... 'I would like to make it easier for businesses to open up in Nash County and our state,' he said. 'Therefore reducing the unnecessary steps and run-around that citizens have to take to create a business'....

 "The most important issue facing District 4 — and all other districts — is the tendency to rely upon government to solve all problems, Shearin said....

"The Libertarian platform calls for the legalization of marijuana, the end of immigration laws, gun ownership without regulation, repeal of any restrictive marriage laws, outlawing government collection of information on people, a free market, abolishing the execution of prisoners, school choice, privately owned roads and more."

Read more: http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/News/2018/09/23/Libertarian-candidates-swell-ranks.html
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Pakistani Christian on death row for blasphemy freed by Supreme Court

Pakistan acquits Christian woman sentenced to die for blasphemy - John Bacon, USA Today:

October 31, 2018 - "Pakistan's highest court on Wednesday ordered the release of a poor, illiterate Christian woman who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy, setting off a wave of demonstrations by hard-line Islamists nationwide but drawing praise from human rights activists.

"The Supreme Court overturned the conviction against Asia Bibi, accused in 2009 of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a case that sparked violent protests in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of 200 million people. Two Pakistani government officials were murdered in 2011 in crimes linked to their support of Bibi....

"Chief Justice Saqib noted that tolerance is the 'basic principle' of Islam. Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sherry Rehman cheered the verdict on Twitter.... But the future of blasphemy laws in Pakistan is far from settled. The laws remain popular in Pakistan, and Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed support for them during the recent election campaign.

"After the decision on Bibi was announced, the Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labaik said Saqib and the other judges deserve death under Islamic law. That drew a sharp rebuke from Khan. 'The state will fulfill its responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of people and take strict action against violators,' he said in a speech broadcast across the country....

"Bibi's case stemmed from a simple act among poor farmhands in rural Pakistan.... Muslim women working with Bibi complained when she dipped her cup into the water bucket, saying a non-Muslim was unclean. The women quarreled, and her co-workers accused her of insulting the prophet three times. She was later beaten, and the women complained to a local religious leader who pressed for the blasphemy charge. Insulting Islam's prophet is considered blasphemy [and] carries a death sentence under Pakistani law....

"The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom hailed the decision and urged Pakistan officials to take steps to ensure her safety. The group also called for release of the estimated 40 people who remain on death row for blasphemy convictions. Blasphemy laws protect entire religions rather than the rights of individuals, falling short of international human rights standards, commission chairman Tenzin Dorjee said.

"Amnesty International called the decision a 'landmark verdict' for religious tolerance. 'Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are overbroad, vague and coercive,' the group said in a statement."

Read more: https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/1830129002
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