Libertarian Party: End Dangerous Sanctions Now; Peace Through Free Trade

WASHINGTON - Libertarian National Committee Chair, Mark Hinkle, released the following statement today:

 

"As relations with Iran deteriorate, President Barrack Obama and the Bipartisan Senate Committee are making things worse: inciting yet another war in the Middle East through economic sanctions.

 

"On February 2nd,  2012 the Senate Banking Committee unanimously approved increased sanctions against Iran. Not willing to wait for a full Senate vote, President Obama increased sanctions by executive order on February 6th.

 

"The United States must stop meddling and return to our traditional libertarian foreign policy of free trade in order to give peace a chance in the Middle East.

 

"Trade sanctions are proven failures. In the 1990s, Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton enforced trade sanctions against Iraq which led to the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent men, women and children.

 

"Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in an appearance on 60 Minutes in 1996, was asked about the child deaths from sanctions, and replied "I think this a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it." Albright's willingness to sacrifice Arab children to achieve US policy goals was broadcast throughout the Arab world and was cited by Osama Bin Laden as a key motivation for the 9/11 attacks.

 

"Now the US government is doing the same thing to Iran, a country that not only has never attacked the United States, but has attacked no other country in over 200 years.

 

"Sanctions don't work. They unite the people of a country behind their political leaders, no matter how bad that leader may be. By meddling in foreign affairs, U.S. politicians turn foreign citizens - who support the United States - against us.

 

"Rather than repeat failed policies of past presidents, we must use the successful policies of those who kept us out of war.  Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson kept the United States out of the bloody French Revolution and allowed us to make peace with our archenemy, the British, by pursuing Free Trade and a noninterventionist foreign policy.

 

"The Libertarian Party calls for removing all restrictions on trade. Free Trade is the best way to foster peace in the Middle East.

The Definitive History of the Presidential Turkey Pardon

President Obama Talks Turkey

 

Americans have been sending turkeys to the White House for the holidays since Ulysses S. Grant was President. But today, President Obama will spare a beautiful bird from the Thanksgiving dinner table - in keeping with modern tradition.

 

Each Thanksgiving, the President “pardons” a hand-selected turkey, sparing the bird from someone’s dinner table and ensuring the rest of its days are spent roaming on a farm, doing whatever it is turkeys love to do. Twenty-two turkeys have been pardoned, and today, President Obama will pardon one more.

 

You’re probably wondering: Where did this very serious business of the Presidential turkey pardon come from anyway?

 

Americans have been sending the President turkeys for the holidays since at least the 19th century. Beginning in 1873 during Grant’s presidency, a Rhode Island man named Horace Vose was responsible for “selecting with the utmost care” the “noblest gobbler in all that little state” for the President’s Thanksgiving dinner, a tradition he carried out for more than 25 years according to The New York Times. In 1947, the National Turkey Federation took on the role of official turkey supplier to the President, delivering a 47-pound bird in time for the Christmas holiday.

 

That year, the White House also began holding a turkey receiving ceremony, usually in the Rose Garden, providing a photo op that many confuse with the beginning of the pardoning tradition. Back then, however, birds were more likely to be destined for the White House dining table than the easy life on a farm. In 1948, President Truman said he would take the gifted turkey home to Independence, Missouri, where his 25 relatives “require a lot.”

 

So then when did the pardoning start? Here’s where it gets tricky. Tales of spared turkeys date back to the Lincoln days. According to one story, Lincoln’s son Tad begged his father to write out a presidential pardon for the bird meant for the family’s Christmas table, arguing it had as much a right to live as anyone. Lincoln acquiesced and the turkey lived.

 

In 1963, President Kennedy decided to send that year’s gift from the National Turkey Federation back to the farm where it came from. “We’ll just let this one grow,” he said. Sometime around the Nixon administration, the President began sending the turkey to a petting farm near Washington after holding the traditional receiving ceremony and photo op, although no formal pardon was given.

 

President George H.W. Bush was the first to actually offer a turkey pardon. On November 14, 1989, he announced that year’s bird had “been granted a presidential pardon as of right now.” He sent the turkey on his way to the perhaps unfortunately named Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia, and with that, a tradition was born.

 

Since taking office, President Obama has pardoned two turkeys, although in 2009, he admitted Courage, that year’s top turkey, came dangerously close to gracing the White House table. “Thanks to the intervention of Malia and Sasha – because I was ready to eat this sucker – Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate."

 

"I'm told Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson actually ate their turkeys," Obama said. "You can't fault them for that; that's a good-looking bird."

The Passing of Ambassador Jerome Shestack

Hillary Rodham Clinton

I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend Jerry Shestack. He was a committed public servant and a dogged defender of human rights. Countless women and men are better off because of Jerry.

Jerry served the cause of human rights for more than half a century. He made a lasting impression as Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission where he launched the UN Working Group to investigate disappearances under oppressive regimes. Under President George HW Bush, he served with distinction on the delegation to the Moscow Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and on the Presidential-Congressional Commission to Improve the Effectiveness of the United Nations. As president of the American Bar Association, and in the years following, he set the standard for how civil society leaders can promote human rights.

He was unwavering in his commitment to the highest of American values and international human rights standards. Jerry was an effective advocate for the causes—and people—he cared about because he had a rare mix of wonderful qualities: optimism, resilience, humor, a thick skin, and a way of making everyone feel at ease.

Today my thoughts and prayers are with Jerry’s beloved wife, Marciarose, and their two children, Jennifer and Jonathan.

Race to the Top Commencement Challenge

The Race to the Top Commencement Challenge is back and we’re asking public high school students from across the country to tell us how their school is preparing them for college and a career. In return, we'll make sure one high school has a graduation they'll never forget – including a commencement address by President Obama himself.

The deadline for applications is February 25, 2011. Learn more and apply today at http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement?utm_source=021611&utm_medium=intro&utm_campaign=daily.

Image: President Obama talks with former President Geirge H.W. Bush.