Free In Idaho!

Do you remember the woman who was beaten on a Baltimore bus last December?  Let’s see if this won’t get you riled up.  Great new idea partially in response to that beating, rewarding kids for NOT acting out and NOT being violent on the public transportation!  What do you think?  From Baltimore we get this

Maryland Transit Administration officials are offering discount cards for area businesses to students who pledge good behavior on city buses, an incentive that transit administrators hope will help curb disrespectful and violent behavior.

That oughta work, don’t you think?  Going to change a lot of bad behavior with that idea, aren’t we.  It would just be cheaper to make a bunch of “Violence Free Zone” signs.  And just as effective.

This reminds me of the wonderful idea of paying the children to show up at school.   Hey, guess what?  It’s the same city!

Earlier this year, city schools chief Andres Alonso proposed a plan to pay Baltimore high school students to improve test scores, something critics also likened to bribery

Paying to get the responsible behavior a society requires to stay healthy… there’s something about that idea that just sticks in my craw.  And paying for just the promise to be good is silly.  Nothing says “we give up” like handing out money.  And lest you think I’m being too harsh on poor old Baltimore, the FBI crime stats show it as the #2 Murder rank, #5 in violent crimes, and #6 in aggravated assaults.  The city has a horrible drug problem underlying these stats.  Somehow, the idea of giving the kids a discount card to Dunkin Donuts just doesn’t seem realistic.  And in case you’re wondering, Maryland has very restrictive gun laws, that make it nearly impossible for most citizens to carry a gun in order to defend themselves (general self-defense is not a sufficient reason for the issuance of a permit).  Criminals, as always, are unaffected by these laws.

As much as I disagree with, and dislike, John McCain, I’m not about to go off and vote for Bob Barr.  This is precisely why the Libertarian Party will never be more than a fringe party

The Libertarian National Convention kicked off yesterday with a tea-and-cookies reception hosted by the Marijuana Policy Project featuring none other than Mr. Barr, the party’s leading candidate for its presidential nomination.

If there was any traction to be gained from this issue with the common people, the Dems would have jumped all over it a long time ago.  But the party that believes in partial birth abortion won’t go as far as the Libertarians on dope

The Libertarian Party platform calls for the repeal of drug laws and the pardoning of nonviolent drug offenders.

“The suffering that drug misuse has brought about is deplorable; however, drug prohibition causes more harm than drugs themselves,” the platform reads. “The so-called ‘War on Drugs’ is in reality a war against the American people, our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is a grave threat to individual liberty, to domestic order and to peace in the world.”

Peace love dove, man.  Wanna toke?

No thanks.

Michelle Malkin gets it

And, now, straight from the campaign trail with Arnold “Move Left” Schwarzenegger, McCain has shed every last pretense that he “got the message” from grass-roots immigration enforcement proponents and is back to his full, open-borders shamnesty push. No surprise to any of you. But his complete regression back to the “comprehensive immigration reform” euphemism is a notable milestone.

John Hawkins finally comes back around

Put very simply: John McCain is a liar. He’s a man without honor, without integrity, who could not have captured the Republican nomination had he run on making comprehensive immigration a top priority of his administration.

What?  You didn’t believe me?  McCain is talking amnesty again, and “securing the borders” out the other side of his mouth.  And you believe him when he promises to nominate good justices?  He’s not honest, he’s Maverick.  Maverick means “screw you, I’m doing what I want”.   Tell me again about why I have to vote for this POS…  you can only take the idea of voting for the party so far.  At some point you have to realize the party isn’t your party any longer.  Pulling the same lever and expecting a different result sounds a bit like that common definition of insanity.

Am I being too big a cynic to suggest they’ll try to ram McCain-Kennedy back down our throats “as a memorial” upon the demise of Mass’s senior Senator?