As expected the majority of Libertarian delegates at the party's National Convention threw away their principles to nominate former Republican Congressman and reactionary carperbagger Bob Barr as their candidate for president.  The author of the Barr Amendment effectively prohibiting medicinal marijuana in the District of Columbia, and head cheerleader for the Clinton impeachment fiasco, will now carry the banner of the Party which purports to stand for individual liberty against neoconservative wars and oppressive social policies.

I just saw this exit poll from Kentucky and I'm struck by the idea more Clinton voters would vote for McCain than Obama.  If true it has to be scary for the Obama side.  OTOH, if these are Reagan Democrats, they probably voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004.  The poll does not suggest how they voted in previous presidential elections.  If Clinton/McCain voters supported Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004 then Obama does have a problem.  My guess is these are Reagan Democrats who register as Democrats and vote Democrat in state and local races but tend to support GOP candidates for the White House.  I may be wrong but, for Obama's sake, I hope I'm not.

Third Party Watch, a website devoted to coverage of alternative political parties and their candidates, announced that they have been acquired by reactionary wingnut fundraiser Richard Viguerie.

Bob Barr, former Republican Member of Congress from Georgia and phallic Libertarian candidate for President whose love affair with liberty begins and ends with the second amendment, issued a statement condemning Gov. Mike Huckabee’s recent remarks at the National Rifle Association’s National Convention.   According to the former Congressman who authored a bill shielding gun manufacturers from lawsuits,  "To suggest, as Governor Huckabee did, the misuse of a fire arm toward a political candidate is reckless. His attitude toward proper, legal and safe use of fire arms was demeaning to all of us who advocate the right to bear arms. His reprehensible use of a threatening and violent scenario involving a firearm at the NRA’s National Convention was beyond belief."

Perhaps Barr's new campaign slogan should be, "A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage and a gun in every closet; just don't joke about it."

Check out the latest nonsense from  "New Jersey conservative Republican leader Dr. "Maverick Murray" Sabrin, the Garden State’s strongest advocate of limited government and individual freedom and the front-runner for United States Senate":

In Pennsylvania we saw Hillary reinvent herself as a gun-toting, beer swilling, bible thumping good-time gal just being friendly with the good ol' boys.  With West Virginia coming up, and Hillary refusing to go down with the ship, my guess is her recent comments about white support were meant to boost her numbers in this Tuesday's primary election.  She's throwing raw meat to the "stars and bars" on the pick-up crowd.  

With everything she's done so far would anyone be surprised if she went all the way and put on the white hood and sheet so she can prove she can burn a cross as good as she can chug beer and pack a pistol?

NJ-GOP Senate candidate "Maverick Murray" Sabrin issued a press release asking taxpayers to send him their rebate checks so he can "stimulate" the economy by spending their money on his campaign ads for the June 3 primary election.

Political bodyguard to Mike Huckabee and poster boy for tough-guy Rethuglicans, Chuck Norris has suggested a final solution to the problem of "terrorist importations":

Ron Paul arrived in New Jersey yesterday to help his uber-pal Murray Sabrin raise money to take on the GOP's country club establishment in the June 3 primary for US Senate.  To help promote the event Sabrin's campaign offered a free autographed book by Ron Paul.

It looks like Obama won't have his old nemesis Alan Keyes to kick around in the presidential debates this Fall.  The Keyester, who quit the GOP two weeks ago to stand for the Constitution Party nomination, lost by a three-to-one margin at the convention in Kansas City.  

Check out live video coverage of Barak Obama's worst nightmare, Alan Keyes, at the Constitution Party's presidential nominating convention in Kansas City.   Keyes, who quit the GOP last week, is seeking the CP nomination for president and the chance to have another shot at debating Obama this Fall.

I guess there are a few things I need to get off my chest.  First I really like Obama.  He represents a breath of fresh air in the electoral process.  Like Gary Hart, George McGovern, Eugene McCarthy and Adlai Stevenson he brings an intellectual openness lacking in most mainstream politicians.  Secondly, I don't like Hillary.  She reminds me too much of Richard Nixon; say anything and do anything to get elected.  In Gore Vidal's production of "The Best Man" from 1964, Hillary is the personification of the ruthless presidential candidate Joe Cantwell (portrayed by Cliff Robertson) to the intellectual moderate Bill Russell (Henry Fonda) who best represents Obama.

A GOP congressman has proposed cutting all federal funding for ex-President Jimmy Carter's Carter Center because of his current trip to meet with leaders of "terrorist" organizations.  According to Rep. Joe Knollenberg, The Coordinated American Response To Extreme Radicals (CARTER) Act would prevent federal dollars from being used to finance discussions and negotiations with "terrorist" groups.  He estimates taxpayers already have given Carter's think-tank foundation some $19 million and is suggesting no more.

The wild and wacky NJ-GOP senate race got even wilder and wackier when Murray Sabrin, who now calls himself "Maverick Murray", issued a press release demanding that US Attorney Chris Christie immediately investigate his opponent, former congressman Richard Zimmer, for alleged corruption related to the filing of candidacy papers to replace Andy "The Bean" Unanue (who is still vacationing in Colorado) on the ballot.

The prominent Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of university students that the 9/11 attacks were good for Israel.  Netanyahu is the leader of the reactionary Likud Party and the poster boy of the neoconservative chickenhawks who planned and promoted the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

A political website called Third Party Watch has "An Open Letter to American Conservatives" from Libertarian presidential candidate George Phillies, who wants reactionary wingnuts to support his campaign to keep Bob Barr from winning the Libertarian Party nomination:

John McCain must be losing lots of sleep lately.  Not only does he have to fear a jihad from the religious right led by Alan Keyes on the Constitution Party ticket, but he may have to contend with an even bigger threat from the looney Libertarians if they nominate former Georgia Republican Congressman Bob Barr to be their standard bearer.  A recent poll has Barr receiving seven percent of the vote in a three way race.  Assuming most of those votes come from Republicans means McCain could get hurt in a close election.

Barr, the former head cheerleader of the Clinton impeachment fiasco, is about as libertarian as John McCain.  But that hasn't stopped him from pursuing political advantage by joining the Libertarian Party, just as the latter won't let contrary beliefs get in the way of a celebrity spokesperson to symbolize their cause and, more importantly, bring in new members and more money.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, Bob Barr and Alan Keyes were featured as themselves in cameo roles for Sascha Cohen's "Borat" movie.    

In the New Jersey GOP Senate primary race we start with Mean Murray Sabrin, Jersey Joke Pinnocchio and Annie "the Nebish" Estabrook.  First, Murray attacks Annie, Annie gets all famished and flubs her lines, then Annie has a stroke and everyone else in the GOP gets agita.  To cure the agita the GOP big shots turn to Andy "The Bean Baron" Unanue who, they later find out, is really a nightclub owner from New York who lives with his parents in New Jersey so he doesn't have to pay taxes, and then is fired from the bean factory by his own cousins who claim he was drunk on the job.