I first saw Alannah Myles black velvet in late 1990 or early 1991 when I was a freshmen in high school. And I was blown away by the video. The blues rock sound was about as good as anything I’ve ever heard from Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen, my two favorite blues rock artists. I was also blown away about how sexy Alannah looked in the video. The concert footage of the video with her in that black leather motorcycle jacket and the black leather chaps over black denim jeans and the black leather biker boots. She looked like a classic rocker chick in the video and the way rocker chicks should look.
VH1 played this video from when it came out in 1989-90, to early 1992 or so and the song did very well. But the thing that I’ve never understood about Alannah is how come her career isn’t bigger. With that beautiful blues sounding voice that goes great with blues and classic rock and how well written Black Velvet was written. I’m not an expert on the music business obviously, but you would think those qualities and her beautiful sexy look, would’ve led to more opportunities.
Alannah Myles career to me at least is a “what could’ve had been”. Because she is a talented writer and singer, but her career just quite hasn’t taken off. Joan Jett who I do like, whose been in the business going on forty years now, is not as good as Alannah. They have slightly different sounds and Joan is more of punk rocker than Alannah. But Alannah has a better voice and has better music, but right now over twenty years later , she’s basically a one hit wonder. She is known for Black Velvet and that is about it.
Professional career women and no not that kind of professional women that you might be thinking about, (stop thinking with your dick) but real professional women who have college degrees and are perhaps cops, teachers, doctors, construction workers, bankers and so-forth. Who work hard and are productive during the day and week. But also no how to have a good time at night. Beautiful sexy biker babes on the weekend and perhaps at night.
This is what sexy women look like and are. Not that all sexy women are biker women, but women who are intelligent and do not need to be sexy to make a good living. Do not need to work on a street corner trying to sell their bodies and satisfy their pimp. Or have to work at a strip club to make a good living, but real women with real intelligence. Who also happen to be beautiful and sexy and are because they take care of themselves and know how to have a good time.
I’m a Liberal and when I hear the term ‘Modern Liberal’ today it makes me a little angry. Because today’s so-called ‘Modern Liberals’ would be called Socialists in any other country. Because they have a collectivist view of society and believe that government should always be looking out for the society as a whole, even protecting people from themselves. Both an economic and personal point of view, instead of allowing the individual to make their own decisions. Today’s so-called ‘Modern Liberals’ are really collectivists or Democratic Statists if that makes any sense. Instead of Liberals or perhaps even Progressives.
When people hear the term Classical Liberal and they are pretty familiar with American politics, they tend to think of Libertarians, but the problem with that is that Libertarians tend to be anti-state and anti-government really all together. Liberals aren’t anti-government or even anti-Federal Government, but we are anti-big-government. We don’t want government trying to manage our own lives for us and invading our privacy. We want government doing the things that we can’t do for ourselves. And that isn’t practically everything for us and it is not practically nothing either.
If you read the Far-Left or what are called Progressive blogs and publications today and I read them online everyday, they have a role for government to do practically everything for us. They come short as far as nationalizing the entire economy, but would nationalize some industries and nationalize some things that state and local governments do as well. But liberalism or classical liberalism is not about a big state. But having a liberal amount of freedom as well as responsibility for the individual.
Liberalism is a very pragmatic and mainstream political philosophy especially in America. Even though it would be viewed as pretty radical in most of the rest of the world. Canada, Germany and Switzerland would be exceptions. But it is about defending and expanding freedom for the individual and seeing that we all have freedom over our own lives until we hurt innocent people and that is when our freedom would be taken away. But that all of us have the opportunities that we need to live in freedom. Creating an opportunity society for everyone.
One thing that I respect about Muhammad Ali is that no one pushed him around for the most part. Except for Don King perhaps with all the money he screwed Muhammad out of as his promoter in the 1970s. And Muhammad perhaps the most famous athlete in the world not just in the United States in the 1960s. Who was at the heart of the American civil rights movement because of his race.
But also because of Muhammad’s intelligence and the attention that he could bring to himself and because of how honest he was and wasn’t nice to the American establishment no matter the race. And always said exactly what was on his mind so when he said he was against the Vietnam War in the mid 1960s. Like most people in his generation and was not going to fight against a country that never harmed him. Or denied him his freedom and constitutional rights because of his race and his complexion to fight against a country that never hurt him.
Muhammad wasn’t going to fight for a country that was trying to hold him down and when he said “I’m not going to fight for a country that’s been trying to hold me down, because of my race to fight against a country that never called me Nigger”. And so-forth and he was being honest and serious. Muhammad was the Malcolm X of professional sports as far as someone who knew American history and the state of the African-American community.
And what African-Americans were going through and wasn’t going to take trash from anyone and be pushed around. Just like Malcolm X even if it meant his life. Malcolm was assassinated something that Muhammad has avoided. Muhammad was going to live his own life and try to help people that he felt he could and make a positive difference where he could and because of his intelligence. And his personality that he wasn’t going to sacrifice his own freedom. And his own constitutional right to stand up for what he believed even if it meant getting his boxing career back. To fight for a cause that he believed was unjust.
What you see in this interview is Muhammad Ali being himself. And the interviewer bringing up for example all the money that not taking part in being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War and so-forth and losing his World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. And his boxing license and the millions of dollars that came with that and Muhammad saying that “yeah I could have that”. But I’m not going to take it at the cost of my freedom. Muhammad Ali wasn’t going to be bought.
There is a debate in the United States about what is America according to our own Constitution. Are we a republic or a democracy, the fact is we are both, but then why are we both and how are we both. A republic is not necessarily democratic or authoritarian, but it is a republican form of government, small r. Where the people are governed by civilians for the most part, not by the military or a monarchy or religious leaders. But you can have democratic republics and you can have authoritarian republics.
America is a democratic republic, China is a communist republic to use as examples. A lot of times when people tend to think of democracy, they automatically think of voting the right to vote and majority rule. But the fact is that is only one aspect of democracy. Democracy even depending on what type of democracy, what you are talking about is about freedom and people having freedom over their daily lives and not being harassed by government because they are seen as enemies of the state like in Syria, Egypt or Iran.
America is a federal republic which means we have a federal government as well as state and local governments. Rather than one big government that essentially runs the entire country which is common in authoritarian states. But even at least to a certain extents in big government social democracies. Where a lot of power is centralized with the national government. America is a federal republic in the form of a liberal democracy where not everything is done by majority rule. Elections for the most part yes, but where we are governed by a large extent by a Constitution with three branches in the Federal Government.
As well as our state and local governments that have responsibility for seeing that our Constitution is equally enforced. Where we all have constitutional rights that are supposed to be equally enforced. So we can’t lose our constitutional rights just because they may seem unpopular or get in the way with whatever the current party in power has planned for the country.
That is what Thomas Jefferson and the other Liberal Democrats who are our founding fathers created more than two-hundred and thirty years ago. A federal republic in the form of a liberal democracy that comes with a lot of individual freedom. Set responsibilities and authorities for government, but where their number one responsibility is to protect our freedom and constitutional rights equally under law.
I like what the guy said in the video. That we have a federalist form of government, but where the Federal Government is part of that system, but not the only government. That we don’t have a unitary government that is common in Britain, Egypt and perhaps Russia. Where so much power is centralized with one central authority. And you have states or provinces, but really only in name only, but not without much authority over their own affairs.
In the American form of government the Federal Government is obviously part of that. But our states and localities are real as well with real power over their own affairs. With the ability to govern themselves, with the Feds being able to aid with federal funding. But the Federal Government is mainly there to handle national affairs. Like national security, foreign policy, terrorism, interstate crimes, regulating interstate commerce.
Interstate infrastructure would be another good role for the Federal Government, but where the states have the authority to manage what happens inside their own borders just as long as they are within the United States Constitution. With the Federal Government handling the issues that effect the whole country like as it deals with interstate crime and terrorism. And interstate commerce.
Build it and it will come, which is a famous line from a baseball movie. But Montreal needs a modern baseball park that can support the team and allow for the team to be popular there. And then the people of Montreal and the Province of Quebec need to support this franchise, with a management group with the resources and commitment to winning and baseball can be successful in Montreal and always be there.
But even if that all happens and that is still and if and a major if, Major League Baseball with the way it is currently set up with twenty-nine franchises in America, would probably not be the right home for the Expos. Not saying that they should be a AAA club. But playing at least half of their games every year in another country and taking long road trips to play just their division games in the National league or American League like they use to, might not work again.
If Canada wants professional baseball again, let alone major league baseball, then they’re big cities, including Montreal, needs to step up and say: “We are ready for professional baseball again and perhaps even Major League Baseball”. And build their own Canadian League with MLB being part of that and expanding in Canada. Eight to ten clubs in Canada with two divisions and a national series.
If that were to work, then MLB might be able to expand in America again to support the new CBL and you could see an MLB-CBL merger and create a real North American Continental Series to decide the pro-club championship of North American baseball. But putting the Expos or whatever the new Montreal club would be called back in the National League or moving them to the American League long-term, I don’t believe would work again.
Canada needs to step up with major league caliber ballparks in their big cities, like Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and perhaps even in Toronto the Blue Jays long-term and put the Blue Jays in this new major Canadian league to be able to compete long-term with America when it comes to Major League Baseball. And the way pro baseball would succeed again in Canada and be there indefinitely.
To put it simply, what killed the Montreal Expos was lack of support. Lack of support from the fans by the late 1990s they were drawing 5-10K fans a game for their home games. And Expos fans might say that the team wasn’t very good, but when you’re only drawing 5-10K fans a game and you do not even have local media contracts like TV and radio, its hard to have the resources to put good teams on the field.
But even with the lack of support from the City of Montreal and the Province of Quebec, Montreal was a solid, but never a great baseball market in the late 1970s and 1980s and to a certain extent in the 1990s. But by the late 1990s when you are only seven thousand fans a game with is a AAA minor league crowd, you aren’t going to have the resources to compete with the big clubs that are consistent winners who are drawing thirty thousand a game or more like the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. (To use as examples)
Then you throw in the fact that the Expos were basically stuck playing their home games in a football stadium that was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics, that held sixty five thousand fans after moving from a baseball park in Jarry Field, you are now playing in a big stadium where people do not want to go to watch baseball. But would go to watch Canadian football and rock concerts.
But not a very good baseball environment where the seats were far away and where people in Montreal had better things to do. And you add that baseball is probably the third or fourth most popular sport in Montreal behind hockey of course, but football and even soccer. The Expos weren’t built to last at least in Montreal Olympic Stadium. Had they ever gotten a real ballpark that seated 35-40 thousand fans and had a management that was committed to winning and staying in Montreal and spending money, but spending money wisely, the Expos are probably still in business today.
I think both Thom Hartmann and Michael Medved hit it on the head in their opening statements and perhaps the first and last times they’ll agree on anything in their lifetimes and they are about the same age. But they said it as well as it could that this debate is really about what the role of government should be in America. And they both said that the role of government should be about protecting our rights and that’s exactly what the role of government should be.
So then the question should be what are our rights. And what Americans have the right to in America and the right to life is exactly that we as Americans have the. Right to our own lives and the right to live our own lives. Not run the lives of other Americans or harm or take the lives or run the lives of others. And that it’s the job of government to protect our right to live our own lives. Not to run our lives and try to protect us from ourselves or to try to say what’s good for us and what we should be doing with our own lives. But protect our right to live our own lives.
This means that we have the right to freedom, but not that freedom is given to us by government or anyone else, but that we have the right to get the freedom for ourselves to live our own lives and we have the right to live our own lives as long as we aren’t infringing on the rights of others who are innocent from, living their lives. In other words hurting innocent people.
Where government comes in is to regulate how we interact with each other so we aren’t hurting innocent people. But not there to run our lives or protect us from ourselves and the other role of government is to create and keep up an environment where we all can use the freedom to live our own lives. And that means things like an effective and affordable infrastructure system. Universal access to quality education and a safety-net for people who fall through the cracks of the private enterprise system so we can get on our own feet and take care of ourselves.
That’s really the only right that Americans have the right to. Life and the right to live in freedom and live our own lives and. The only thing that government has is to protect out rights to life and freedom. And everything else that we get in life has nothing to do with our rights to those things that we get. But we get things based on what we do with the freedom that we have and the freedom that we have is based on what we do with the opportunities in front of us to live in freedom.
Mises Daily: Blog: Anthony Gregory: The Real Liberal Heritage
A lot of Americans when they think of Liberalism and Liberals, they probably tend to think of people who believe in a big state in the form of the federal government that collects a lot of taxes. Because these so-called Liberals do not trust the states and individuals to make their own decisions wisely. And that the Federal Government would spend those resources better than the states or individuals. And that we need a big state and high taxes to have as just of a society as possible so no American is left behind.
As a Liberal myself I can tell you there’s nothing liberal in what I just wrote there. But what I just wrote there is what social democratic parties in Europe or the New Democratic Party in Canada which is a Social-Democratic Party, or what Social Democrats in America tend to believe people we tend to call Progressives. Who build their political philosophy around what government can do for the people. Rather than what can the people do for themselves if they just have the opportunity to do so.
A lot of Americans when they tend to think of Liberals, tend to think of MSNBC and its lineup and hosts and guests. Other than maybe Chris Matthews, as a Liberal I do not recognize a single Liberal on that network. Occasionally they’ll have a liberal guest like Dick Durbin the Assistant Leader in the U.S. Senate. But generally that network tends to showcase people as far to the left as Ralph Nader or Michael Moore or Dennis Kucinich or Bernie Sanders.
Current and former Progressive members of Congress and todays so-called progressive-activists. MSNBC represents the Green Party, the Democratic Socialist Party and the Progressive Caucus in the Democratic Party. And in a lot of cases so-called Progressive Democrats who are only in the Democratic Party to have a major voice in a leftist party. But most of the money in the Liberal Democratic Party as you could call it, is raised by and for Liberal Democrats to keep them in power and elect them to office. With Progressives trying to get what’s left.
To actually get to what Liberalism is and why I’m a Liberal. Liberalism is about the individual and protecting the individuals freedom to be able to make their own decisions and choices. Both from an economic and personal point of view. Not putting so many restrictions on them so they can’t make bad decisions at all. Which is what you tend to get from both the Far-Right and Far-Left in America.
It’s not the job of government to protect people from themselves, but protect innocent people from those who would do us harm which is different. That if you put all the information out there, people by in large will make the right decisions regarding their own personal and financial lives if we are all educated with all the good information and facts as possible. Which is why we should subsidize success and freedom and not try to stop people from making bad decisions. Just try to stop and punish people who hurt the innocent.
Liberals are not anti-government, which is what todays Libertarians tend to sound like. But we are also not pro-government, which is what todays Progressives sound like. We have a healthy skepticism of what government can do for us better than what we can do for ourselves. Which is why we want government limited to only doing the things that we need it to do. We even believe that government should help the disadvantage in society. But empower them to be independent and be able to take care of themselves. Rather than making and keeping people dependent on government for their financial well- being.
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