Withdraw Consent!

A mere twenty-one percent of Americans believe that the US government has the consent of the governed. Twenty-one percent. One out of five Americans believe that the government has legitimacy. Absorb that for a moment. The oversized federal government has finally met its day of reckoning. Simply put, it's too big. But not too big to fail.

Three out of five find the government illegitimate. An overwhelming majority of Americans have rightfully denounced the empire. Despite anyone's stance on social contract theory, this clearly shows that a new government, if any, is needed, for whatever the reason may be. 

What predicament does this put us, the American people, in? What choices do we now have before us? It is very unfortunate to have ever reached a point like this, but we are ultimately left with just two choices: to stand idle and continue to watch the federal government grow, or to withdraw consent. Both are dangerous but for far different reasons. Continuing to submit to the federal government will inevitably lead to an oppressive regime (or maybe it already has) that neither upholds nor admires individual liberty, free markets, and peace. Here, it is the oppressive regime that is the danger. Withdrawing consent, however, will ultimately lead to a much smaller state, if any at all. The benefits of a small, even nonexistent, state are plenty: individual liberty, free markets, and peace. The danger, if this path is to be taken, lies in the uncertainty of how to achieve these ends.

Gallup: Conservatives outnumber both moderates and liberals

The new Gallup poll shows that more Americans self-identify as conservatives than liberals or moderates.  This should send a massage tothe GOP that success at the polls won't come from running Lindsay Graham-type conservatives.

Read the rest of Gallup's results here.

Support for Afghan War Drops

The LA Times' Top of the Ticket blog, which regularly covered Ron Paul throughout his presidential campaign, reports that support for the Afghan war has hit a new low:

Fifty-two percent of the 1,001 adult Americans polled Nov. 12-15 now say the war there has not been worth the cost, down 13 points in the last 11 months....

Once, Obama's war policies were his strongest poll suit (63%). Now, only 45% approve of Obama's handling of Afghanistan; more (48%) don't. His war support among independents, a crucial ingredient in the Democrat's election victory 54 weeks ago, has slipped to 39%.

Apparently Mr. Obama has not yet realized that more of the same isn't popular among people who (thought they) voted for change.  In other good news, the hawkish "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" argument is losing ground too, even as the current administration recycles that old line from the Bush years:

Ominously, for Obama, however, less than a quarter of Americans now buy that argument. Nearly two-thirds (64%) currently say the risk of terrorism at home is the same whether we continue to fight there or withdraw.

Read the rest here.