Hello
Freedomphiles! Libertarians tend to bristle when politicians are
deified. We are uncomfortable with huge tributes like Mount Rushmore
and the Washington Monument, because they turn men into gods and act as
altars at which to worship them.

The Founders were just men,
with many flaws. That's what made their accomplishment so
extraordinary. Their deification removes their struggle against the
baser nature of humanity to create something truly remarkable. By
turning them into gods and prophets, we have effectively neutralized
that which is most amazing.

This deification is especially prevalent with military heroes, and often leads to a very distorted view among the populace.

There
is a troubling cult of personality arising around Obama right now, a
pre-legacy deification that should make everyone nervous. Not that this
is the doing of our first black president, but its effects could
embolden him to think he can do whatever he wants.

The
comparisons that he and others have made to Lincoln ought to be
examined, as he is one of the most deified - and least deserving of it
- among American presidents. My friend Garry Reed has a piece out right
now that explores some of the anti-freedom things Lincoln did that got
him nicknamed America's First Dictator...
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Hello Freedomphiles! Lux Interior, frontman for early punk band The Cramps and, with wife Poison Ivy, inventor of "psychobilly," died yesterday of complications from a pre-existing heart condition.

Regulars at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, The Cramps were the artistic forebears of bands like The Meteors, The Dwarves, Reverend Horton Heat and The White Stripes....
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Hello
Freedomphiles! See those images above? The one on the left is a photo
of President Obama, taken in April 2006 by AP photographer by Manny
Garcia. The one on the left is obviously familiar as the Obama Campaign
poster created by Shepard Fairey, am LA street artist, and, according
to the AP, "the image has led to sales of hundreds of thousands of
posters and stickers, has become so much in demand that copies signed
by Fairey have been purchased for thousands of dollars on eBay."

It's really weird for them to be writing
the story, since they are now pressing Fairey for a cut of the
proceeds, saying that the use of the image required their permission....
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Hello Freedomphiles! John Lydon, aka punk godfather Johnny Rotten, has been spotted hawking cheese...
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Hello
Freedomphiles! Politicians are so full of themselves. They have so
little faith in the American public, they'll just pull any old number
out of their arse and spew it proudly amd without fear, knowing they
will probably never be called on it.

Remember what 24-year House veteran Rep. Major Owens said back during the Clinton Administration? Here, check it out....

Hello Freedomphiles! Over at The Huffington Post, in an op-ed entitled Put a Libertarian on the New York Times Op-Ed Page, Andrew Sargus Klein recounts his eye-opening experience at his first libertarian gathering...

Click here to read the rest.

Hello Freedomphiles! Over at Big Hollywood, Jamed Hudnall examines 10 Cliches That Must Die. Coming in at number eight is The Killer Babe:

Hot looking women all know kung fu. A 5′2″, 90lb lady can beat up any man with ease, no matter how big, even when she’s wearing high heels. In fact, the K.B. usually wears pumps all the time, and mentions it after she does something, ”I did it all in heels!” She can even battle superhuman villains with ease. And her hair is perfect. She never has a bad hair day.

Note to Hollywood: OK, I’ll admit to liking Joss Whedon shows. But how many uber-waifs is he going to trot out? His latest show (”Dollhouse”) is just another super-babe, but at least his shows are good. So many others overuse this canard. It started in the early 90s and keeps going....

Points for giving Joss credit for writing good shows, but our writer isn't looking at the killer babe phenomenon with an eye on history....

Click here to read the rest.

Hello Freedomphiles! As a blogger, I work really hard to try and come up with a great product that can compete on the open market. I put myself out there with all the paid sites, hoping that I can measure up. And the conventional wisdom is that content created by an amateur is naturally going to be...well...amateurish.

But web content has really changed the way we do things. Free markets have
brought tools of professional content creators right down to every guy sitting in his underwear eating Cheetos, and it seems the only limitations in creating quality content these days is the drive and imagination of the creators.

Look at those Whedon fans that have been making Buffy trailers and putting them on YouTube. Those are fantastic, and I said at the time that "this person needs to be making trailers for major motion pictures." And this is just some guy with a home PC and an abnormal love (which I share) for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (As an aside, Buffy was in this Hulu Super Bowl ad. Can you spot her?)

Well, in this same spirit, Doritos offered a prize of a million dollars to the citizen who could create the best ad for the Super Bowl, calling it their Crash the Super Bowl contest. And the home-made ad that won is the very same ad that I told you yesterday was the best ad from the big game. I had no idea that the spot put together by amateurs, and that does give me hope...

Click here to read the rest and to see the winning ad...
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Hello Freedomphiles! I'm the master of getting stuff for free. It's because I pay attention. I don't pay for movie rentals.  I got my brother and his wife two free tickets to the hottest New Year's party in St Louis. I got to go see a free sneak preview of Paul Blart: Mall Cop about a week before it came out, and I managed to schmooze a trashbag full of popcorn off the concession stand guy. And tomorrow, I am taking advantage of this....