Blue Skinned Libertarian

For further proof that running any idiot who wants to run for office under the Libertarian banner is bad for the Libertarian party brand, one need look no further than Stan Jones of Bozeman, Montana. Jones ran as the Libertarian candidate in a hotly contested Senate race where Democrat Jon Tester won by just 2,565 votes. Jones's vote count of 10,324 was more than enough to cover the difference between the Republican and Democratic candidates. By virtue of his ten thousand vote pull, Jones is being given credit for shifting the balance of power in the senate. It is an honor he does not deserve. Was the notoriety and press coverage generated by Jones good for the libertarian party? I don't think so.

He is also a man who accidentally turned his skin blue by drinking a homemade antibiotic laced with silver.

He first took the medicine in 1999, he said, fearing that the year 2000 would wreck computers, spread terrorism and disease, and make prescribed antibiotics unavailable. He concedes now that he miscalculated.

Source: Washingtonpost.com - A True Blue Libertarian

One: He has blue skin because he thought the world would end in 1999.

Two: he makes his own antibiotics and uses himself as a test subject.

Jones is a quirkily conservative kind of libertarian -- opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage

Three: He holds positions on important issues that are counter to core Libertarian values.

Since 2000, he has run twice for governor and twice for the Senate.

Four: He's a perennial losertarian. He takes up space on the ballot but offers little in the way of content.

Until the next Senate race rolls around in 2008, Jones said, he and some libertarian buddies are planning to place a series of initiatives on the state ballot to enforce the literal meaning of the U.S. Constitution.

"We plan to organize the constitution police," Jones said, breaking into a broad, bluish smile. "We are going to drive the secretary of state crazy."

Five:  Jones is apparently crazy too. Wasting time on fighting the constitute is a complete waste of time. With no political power, the fight is pointless.

During the senatorial debate held on October 9, 2006, Jones stated that a conspiracy of the European Union and North American political elites was on the verge of forming a "one world communist government".

Source: Wikipedia - Stan Jones

Six: He actually thinks there is a conspiracy to form a communist world government.

I'll ask again: Was the notoriety and press coverage generated by Jones good for the libertarian party? NO! We look crazy. His messege is the wrong message: Libertarians are crazy, they are against abortion, they are against gay marriage, and they dream crazy conspiracies while the rest of us worry about the economy and the war.

Enough of this crap - Kick the Stan Joneses of the world out of the party, tear up their membership cards, and publicly disavow their pointless political games.

 

Technorati tags: Libertarian politics, libertarianism, Stan Jones