Very interesting segment on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer tonight. Two politicians, one Republican and one Democrat, announced the formation of the Unity08.com party. The idea is that they will build the platform online, have the convention online, and advance their candidate online. It is worth having a look at their Web site at http://www.unity08.com/

At no time during the interview did anyone mention that there is already a third party in the U.S. (Libertarian), large enough to merit legal registration. When you sign up for unity08’s email group, an optional question is to identify which party you are registered to vote for, yet Libertarian is not on the list (only Democrat, Republican, Other, Independent).

And at no time did the interviewer pose the question about how any third party can survive the electoral college in the U.S.

Shame that the Libertarian party can’t get the kind of national coverage as has this grassroots effort for online party formation.

Aaron Russo’s incendiary political documentary which exposes many of the governmental organizations and entities that have abridged the freedoms of U.S. citizens had its international premiere at Cannes and won a standing ovation.

http://www.cinemalibrestudio.com/

53% of adults want a viable political alternative to the two older U.S. parties, according to a poll commissioned by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. That’s an increase of 3%

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11673

Late last night, as I wandered around the Internet, I came across this interesting little test. It belongs to Bryan Caplan, and he introduces it by saying “This is the Libertarian Purity Test, which is intended to measure how libertarian you are. It isn’t intended to be any sort of McCarthyite purging device — just a form of entertainment, hopefully thought-provoking…..”

I had a score of 108, which puts me somewhere past the middle of the spectrum. I’m curious how others might score on this. Look at it in a spirit of fun, let me know what you think. Do you agree with the creator’s version of Libertarianism?

There isn’t an answer key, but I suspect the answers are obvious if you think about Libertarian Principles.

 http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi/purity.cgi

What is your Dollar worth?

http://www.newswithviews.com/PaulProctor/proctor93.htm

In addition to having a Web site, the U.S. Libertarian Party also has a wiki. You can see it at
http://www.lpedia.org/ 

I’m not quite sure yet how to access the content that I know is there short of entering search strings. However, if you click “Random Page” you’ll find lots of content behind the main page. I’m new to wikis, so if anyone can figure this out, post a comment and help the rest of us out! — Carol