What a week!

August 31, 2007 -- Stay tuned for comments on the resignation of Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General. But for now, I just have to comment on the wild scene in the U.S. Senate and the "family values" folks who have taken over my former Republican party. Apparently there have been rumors about the private sexual conduct of Senator Larry Craig of Idaho for some time. Frankly, I do not care if he is gay or not; but his party and his constituents care a lot. It reminds me of the mess that President Clinton got himnself into over sex several years ago. My thought at the time was that the guy is a Rhodes Scholar -- one of the truly brilliant minds of this country. And yet he could not understand something I though was both simple and obvious: You can be a successful politician, and you can be a great lover; but you really cannot be both. He simply wouldn't make the choice he had to make; and it nearly ruined him.

Here the choice was even more stark. Senator Craig wanted to be a great defender of family values; but there is some evidence (I make no decision as to his "guilt" of the sex solicitation of which he was accused but not convicted) that he tried to lead a double life of anonymous sex while traveling. If this is true, he needs some professional help to sort out things. Being gay is not a crime; and having sex with other men should not be a crime either. But he is accused (and still not convicted) of engaging in high risk behavior (both from a legal and medical view) which just is not becoming a man of his education and intelligence. What a shame.

This is one of the reasons I am a Libertarian. and while I am a politician, I am not a serious one. No, nobody is going to catch me doing things like he was accused of. But whatever I may be accused of, I have my reponse at the ready: "What do you expect from me? I'm a Libertarian." Those who want make a career of campaigning for "family values" had better be awfully careful, or it will jump up and bite them. Mitt Romney quickly fired him from his campaign and said he thought the behavior was "disgusting". Romney may have forgotten the Biblical admonition: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Shame on him for being such a self-righteous jerk. And shame on the Republican Party for its determination to criminalize essentially private behavior. Who, outside of the religious right (which seems to contain its fair share of those with sexual problems) really cares?

Senator Craig needs to come to terms with who and what he is. Then he would certainly be welcomed as a Libertarian, as was former Republican Congressman Bob Barr who finally realized his "war on drugs" campaign was a terrible mistake. Give it some thought, Senator. You have seen what kinds of friends you have in your current party.

Random Thoughts from vacation

August 12, 2007 -- Greetings to the select few who read this blog with any regularity. I am in an internet cafe in Greenwich village, New York City on the last evening of my vacation. Just spent the afternoon in the park singing with some old friends, and will head down to favorite little bar for more music until the wee small hours of the night. Tomorrow I go back to Utah to rejoin the fight to maintain freedom, after 13 days on the road, with stops in Chicago, Montreal, and my cabin in the upstate New York Adirondack Mountains. That place is a wonderful way to get away from the world; but it has had its problems. In addition to the new septic tank we put in this spring, I found no hot water there on this trip, and so put in a new hot water heater. Oh well. Soon it will also have a new roof; and then I will start wondering what else can go wrong.

When I get back, I will have a full plate of fights with the government. Salt Lake City has revoked a businss license they had no busdiness forcing on my client in the first place. The State wants to tax free speech because they don't approve of the message. The division of Family Services is trying to take a client's child because they don't apporve of her lifestyle. We will have oral arguments on an appeal of another business license revocation, again based on disapproval of lifestyle. Utah truly would be a slightly different, and less tolerant place, if I were not there. So, it is back to work I go. About this time in my vacation, I realize that it is time to end it, because there is so much to do that does need doing.

Yesterday, Iowa Republicans held a "straw poll" at their State Fair, where anyone who pays $35 and proves they are an Iowa resident of at least 18 years of age, can vote. Mitt Romney brought in his family, put up a tent full of barbecued food, and paid out a few million dollars to win the "bragging rights" to this bit of silliness. But that is a reminder that politics will continue to creep into our lives more and more over the next several months, whether we like it or not. Please, if you are a Utah resident, make sure you have signed our Libertarian Party petition for ballot access, and that your friends have also. And it is not too early to send a contribution or volunteer to help with my own little campaign to bring freedom to Utah. See my website at www.andrewmccullough.org for details. We need your help. And please get your friends registered to vote. It really does not hurt; and it will give you a good geeling to participate in the democratic process (and the right to gripe when things do not go your way). It is time to get our little revolution going. Pass this blog on to your friends as well, and ask them to do likewise. The "revolution" is coming soon!