Another Decided Undecides

The Detroit News -- one of the most reliably Republican newspapers in the known universe -- has endorsed None of the Above.

Ordinarily I don't care much about newspaper endorsements, but speaking as a former Michigander, this is roughly akin to The New York Times endorsing Michael Peroutka.

Comments

[dead_elvis]

That is a really frustrating article, as usual for a big media outlet pretending there are only two parties.

"For those readers, we restate the philosophy first printed on these pages in 1958: "The News is bound to no political party. In matters economic, it is and will continue to be conservative. On issues of civil rights and individual liberties, it is consistently liberal."

How they can say this, and then with a straight face pretend that the LP doesn't exist, is beyond me. Keep in mind, I'm not saying they should endorse Badnarik, but to not even mention the existence of the party that most clearly lines up with their stated ideology is bizarre.

[dhex]

it does when you think about how embarassing the LP has acted at times.

like a small religious group, a small political group has to be on its best behavior at all times.

[Jesse Walker]

The News did endorse a statewide LP candidate at least once.

[Jason Bourne]

Detroit just generally sucks; except for the Greek quarter. What amazed was how horrible the roads are there. Its the "Motor City" for fuck sake, and their roads are no better than Vermont's!

[Jason Bourne]

Jesse Walker,

Do you know any ties between Peroutka (or the Constitution Party) and the Christian Reconstructionist movement (particularly as embodied in the thoughts of individuals like Rushdoony)?

[huh]

Question, when a newspaper endorses a candidate, what the hell does that mean? Is this the owner's endorsement, do they do a vote down at the ole newspapers headquarters where even the HR department gets a vote, is it just a vote amongst editorial writers? I don't get it, who actually makes this decision on behalf of a newspaper? Obvioulsy there are employees of the Detroit News that are voting for Bush, and some may vote for Kerry, I seriously doubt everyone endorses 'none of the above'. So who comes up with the actual endorsement?

[Madog]

The problem is that Badnarik is an ass. Why, oh why do they keep picking the worst charachter.

[Cletus Nelson]

JB:

There's no link between Peroutka and CR per se, but it would seem that there ARE elements within the CP willing to explore the concept of "theonomy."

Check out the thread below:

http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=18;t=001316

[Jason Bourne]

Cletus Nelson,

That doesn't shock me, because I know that the National Taxpayer's Union somehow spawned the Constitution Party, and I know some NTU folks were heavy into Rushdoony, etc.

Thanks for the URL. Looks like it will provide for interesting reading.

[Jesse Walker]

the National Taxpayer's Union somehow spawned the Constitution Party

I don't think so. The Constitution Party was originally called the U.S. Taxpayers Party; you're probably confusing the two.

Of course, NTU people might be involved in the CP. The party itself was founded by Howard Phillips, the longtime conservative activist and creator of the Cthulhu mythos. (*)

[Jesse Walker]

(* That was a joke.)

[ILAH DUNLAP LITTLE]

You Republican butt kissers would call anybody that the LP nominates an "ass".

And don't give me the crap about the LP having too many loonies. Hang out in Republican or Democratic activities for just a little while and you'll see that they have their fair share too.

Compared to what the two majors have put up, there was nothing nutty about Badnarik, Browne, or Marrou. In fact, it is almost implied that these guys are nutty simply because they got only 1% of the vote.

So, Bush, Kerry, Clinton, etc are respectable because they got a lot of votes? Swell.

[Akria MacKenzie]

"The party itself was founded by Howard Phillips, the longtime conservative activist and creator of the Cthulhu mythos. (*)"

"(* That was a joke.)"

And on that note....

http://www.cthulhuforpresident.com

[Ruthless]

We could debate whether None of the Above, or not voting, or the LP candidate sends the strongest message to the Establishment.
I argue for not voting.
Pollsters need to identify conscientious non-voters. How hard could it be?
I see the potential for mine being the coolest group to be a member of.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Damn, I read all these comments and didn't get to find out what joe thinks. I'm pissed.

[JDM]

For a bunch of guys that claim not to care about endorsements, you seem to be posting about an awful lot of them.

[Lowdog]

Maddog - why is Badnarik an ass?

Please, oh please, all you LP bashers, tell me why Badnarik is such a worse choice than Kerry or Bush! It's just ridiculous. I'm with Ilah - you must be Bush supporters, being disingenuous, or lying to yourselves in thinking that somehow the LP has waaay more nuts than the Repubs or Dems.

[Jim Walsh]

The day I opened a magazine and saw Paris Hilton telling me to Vote Or Die was the day NOTA became my candidate.

[Jason Bourne]

Jesse Walker,

Yes, I flubbed that indentification. Thanks for the correction.

[SM]

"why is Badnarik an ass?"

Because he believes that the Kyoto Protocol is a magic fix for all kinds of groovy environment related stuff. And because he wants to amend the constitution to save the defintion of marriage. What ? That's not Badnarik ?! Oh, well.

[Dan]

"None of the above" is my preferred candidate as well, but unfortunately the USA doesn't have California-style recall, so I'm stuck voting for Bush.

[Lowdog]

Dan's "stuck" voting for Bush.

Dan, if you don't like Bush, don't vote for him. No, I'm not saying vote for Kerry or Badnarik, just don't vote for Prez. Or write yourself in.

You're not "stuck" voting for anyone. You have a choice to make.

[Isaac Bartram]

Lowdog

Let's see. One party's candidate thinks his imaginary friend in the sky told him to invade a country that represented no danger to us. The other's is making promises that could only be fulfilled by someone with magical powers. And their followers are lapping it up.

So I concur, there is no way the LP has more nuts than the Repubs or Dems.

[Lowdog]

Thanks, Isaac.

[James Kabala]

Jason Bourne:

Thomas Fleming, the paleoconservative editor of Chronicles, says that Peroutka has cited Rushdoony as an influence. Giving this as his primary reason, Fleming, unlike his colleague Sam Francis, refused to endorse Peroutka and has also endorsed none of the above.

[James Kabala]

Jason Bourne:

Thomas Fleming, the paleoconservative editor of Chronicles, says that Peroutka has cited Rushdoony as an influence. Giving this as his primary reason, Fleming, unlike his colleague Sam Francis, refused to endorse Peroutka and has also endorsed none of the above.