

America's next president had better believe in restoring liberty - rberger
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/29/2016-presidential-race-surveillance-liberty

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mindcrime
He won't. Or she, as the case may be. Nobody who is really serious about
restoring Liberty has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected.

The closest thing we have right now, to _any_ kind of shot of getting somebody
in the White House who will do more than pay lip service to fundamental issues
of Liberty and Freedom, is Rand Paul. If he runs, he might have a shot, IF the
mainstream GOP leadership don't decide to go out of their way to marginalize
him. If he somehow got the GOP nomination, I'd probably even pinch my nose
shut and vote for him (voting for any Republican or Democrat typically gives
me the creeps).

It's bigger than the White House though... the President has some power, but
if we want real change in this country, we have to elect congressmen /
congresswomen who believe in Liberty.

All of that said, as long as we elect using this first past the post / single
member district system, I'm pretty doubtful that we're going to get much
change. Switch to approval voting and/or implement some sort of proportional
representation and maybe...

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hrkristian
My issue with politics in general is the lack of sacrifice for the amount of
power one gains. Lets take the President as an example, what does a
presidential candidate sacrifice upon choosing (of own free will) to run?
Aside from 4-8 years of no personal life there really is nothing important.

Becoming a politician and essentially gaining power over people is a free
choice, why do we not expect them to make sacrifices? Here in Norway there is
currently an ongoing discussion regarding politicians taking jobs at lobbying-
firms and PR-firms. Some advocating higher "quarantines", some advocating a
life-long ban. Personally, I'll not be voting on for instance a political
party (we have 3 major parties and 4 lesser) whose Minister of Trade&Industry
is a major player in offshore salmon-farms. (S)he might be a good minister,
but with regards to corruption you are as secure as you would be in the olden
days of passing power from Regent to Prince.

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czr80
Americans. Always holding out hope that the next superman will rescue them
from themselves.

I blame Hollywood.

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gaius
Amazing to see the Graun supporting Sarah Palin ;-)

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icecreampain
Naive author. The president's beliefs have no meaning. The only thing that is
important is what the puppetmasters want.

This "Dan" fellow, author of the article, should be old enough to know this.
On the other hand, if Dan wrote the truth he'd be fired.

~~~
gaius
It is more accurate to say that American interests are American interests, no
matter who is in the chair. However the person in the char can only think in 4
year spans, and America's problems are more like 40-year spans. For example it
will take at least a generation to restore the trust that the world had in
America in the 80s.

