Very clever. Completely batshit, but clever nontheless.

I feel I must say, I'm gald I live in Canada. At most our political Ad's involve personal attacks. Wit, that's not better.

LOL!! Absolutely, without a doubt, going for the same 'over the top but gets more free name recognition than any normal ad ever could' angle as the demon sheep. And while I wouldn't try to interpret something as complex as an election based on one ad, remember, the candidate that put out that demon sheep ad (Carly Fiorina) won her primary, so any negative backlash from the ad didn't hurt her long term. So yeah, Barber 200000 (hits on Youtube so far), Us 0.

Of course there's always the possibility he's serious in which case he's batshit bonkers and needs to use his campaign funds on a good shrink.

November's going to be a bloodbath for the democrats. It didn't take very long for them to fall apart as soon as they stop hiding their agenda and start acting on it.

Really Jason? You honestly believe that? With the Tea Party simultaneously ripping apart the GOP and exposing themselves as the lunatics they tend to be? The Dems may lose some seats, as most in power do, but it will hardly be a bloodbath.

Yeah, I think a lot of republicans are going to be surprised at just how little damage the democrats take this year.

Must hand it to Barber, the spots are as eye-catching as they are brain-stupiding. Like his follow-up featuring Abraham Lincoln...

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/06/post_572.html

...in which the would-be Congressman bonds with Honest Abe over the evils of slavery. "We shed a lot of blood to stop that in the past, didn't we?" Not in Alabama, you didn't.

Grumpy, they shed a lot of blood in Alabama too, just not for the winning side.

Well, Barber got clobbered. Hopefully that puts this sort of crap to rest.

"Well, Barber got clobbered. Hopefully that puts this sort of crap to rest."

A political tactic will only be used as long as (and in places that) it works. Real democracy tends to have that evolutionary dynamic.

I actually can't believe how many people are dissing on the ad. He's right. I know nothing about him personally. I dunno if the ad is a lie. I don't know what he's done in the past, and if his integrity of his life matches the ad. But purely based on the context of the ad, how is he wrong?

Re: "Well, Barber got clobbered. Hopefully that puts this sort of crap to rest."

So if someone loses, that means he is wrong? Majority is right? What if majority says 2+2=5? Are they right? Of course not. What if the majority wants to take away property rights, or the freedom to pursue their own happiness? Are they right? Of course not.

Just because someone loses, doesn't mean their argument was wrong. If anything, the media and the government (both republican and democrats) has turned most of the population into a bunch of drones. It doesn't surprise me most people don't know the truth and simply don't get it.

If you're going to make correct policy decisions, they should be based on logic and reason, not the majority (the stupidity of the mob) or a small minority (a dictatorship).

Re: "Must hand it to Barber, the spots are as eye-catching as they are brain-stupiding."

If you failed to grasp what he said during this spot, then you are the one that is stupid. When 1/3 to 1/2 of your money goes to taxes, in order to pay for the US debt to the Federal reserve, or to pay for welfare programs, or wars that don't make any sense, or any other kind of program that is meant to be for "the good of the people"... is that not a form of slavery?

Think about it. Do you have a choice about where your money goes when you pay your taxes? What if you said, "no, I'm not paying"? You'd be investigated by the IRS, and probably go to prison at the hand of their guns and police force, or have your property taken from you. You'd be cleaned up dry, and your life would be ruined.

So to avoid such a fate, you pay taxes. A lot of taxes. You really don't have a say in the matter about what to do with a massive chunk of your own money. You are working not solely for yourself and the people who are a value to you, but for "the good of the people" or "the good of the nation" by FORCE. You have to bail out banks, fund wars, and fund social problems against your will. This is not at all in your rational self-interest.

If you don't get this, it is you who really doesn't understand.

I am Australian living in America, and I think Americans ought to stop complaining about taxes. Your tax rates are significantly smaller than the rest of the developed world. Yeah, you get a lot less for less money, but still... everyone in America seems to complain about taxes. I did a little bit of research, and income taxes in the US are at their lowest levels since the 1950s. What gives with all the complaining?

Ken - guess what? That's how democracy works. You elect people to make decisions. If you don't like their decisions, elect someone else. But if a majority of your fellow Americans think it's a good idea to collect taxes to support the less fortunate, or for whatever other reason, that's not slavery. It's the price you pay for living in a democracy.

If you don't like it, you can try to elect people who favor your view, or you can get out. Stomping your feet and complaining that everyone else is stupid for not seeing it your way just makes *you* look dumb.

To Josh - So, if someone comes to your home, and they want to steal $100 worth of stuff, and you settle for only $20 of theft, does that make it okay? Theft is theft. Even if the thief steals 1 penny from you that he did not earn, it's still theft. It doesn't matter how low or how high the taxes are. Theft is theft. It is immoral.

To Powers - Too bad 99.9% of the people up for election are puppets, and the only people who actually want real change are blasted by the media machine, or dumb people who think he's stupid. The media machine is totally doing it's job right if they got you all convinced.

To Powers again - Also, democracy is a flawed system. Look at something like the majority not wanting to allow for gay marriage in a particular state. Yes, majority rules, but they've also voted against the constitution and have violated the rights of a minority group. Just because majority wants something doesn't mean it's right.

If the majority wanted video surveillance in everyone's homes for their own safety to allow government to see what's going on, this is still not right. It doesn't matter if 99% of the people want. The 1% that don't want it and do not consent have their rights violated.

All the media has to do is convince 51% of the drones in the country that something is in their best interest, and that's it - 49% get their rights violated and the constitution be damned.

And let's not forget, most politicians in office don't do anything remotely close to what they said they were going to do when they are elected. Is obama really better than bush? No, he isn't.

Wait, Ken, you're saying taxes equals theft? That's crazy. Every civilised country has to pay taxes. It's what pays for all the things you take for granted on a daily basis.

Just because you label it "civilized" does not make it moral. Also, just because most nations do it does not make it right. The idea of taxes is not proven to be right or "good" just because most nations do it. A lot of nations practiced Tyranny in the past, and it wasn't right then either.

Think about it Josh, if you didn't have to pay your income tax, would you? Almost everyone would not pay it. I would not. Think about why you have to pay them - because they'll put you in jail if you don't, right? That's force. They are threatening force if you don't give them your money. This is basically theft, as anything instigated by the use of force is not consensual. You pay your taxes because of the threat to use force.

The US had it's civil war over a freaking tea tax. A tea tax! (An over-simplification, but accurate nonetheless). And now we have licenses, a pile of taxes and a massive tax code. Let's not forget, we have inflation, which is yet another hidden tax on top of everything else because it devalues the currency you already earned. The US was founded on the principles of liberty, yet today everyone puts up with all of these taxes and licenses... and they got you to believe it! They did a number on you Josh. I'm saddened by this.

Also, none of your income tax pays for things like roads and all the "basic services we take for granted." It does not. It pays the national debt. That's it. Read up on it.

I mean seriously Josh, they won if they got you to believe that someone like me is crazy. The difference between tyranny then and now is that they found a way to pull it off without most people knowing about it.

Do you think it's "good" to pay taxes? Do you think it's your duty? It isn't. You have the right to your life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. You are not obligated or are responsible for anyone else's affairs but your own. Yet, you pay taxes to help people on welfare, fight wars you may not believe in, bail out banks and wall street who deserved to fail, and pay off a national debt that you never created yourself.

Do you think they know better on how to fix the problems than you? Hahaha. They don't. They have no clue, and worse, sometimes they fully know what they are doing and how evil it is, and they do it anyway. The government now has the power to violate your rights, constitution be damned.

If you ask me, they are taking your money for things that don't even concern you at all. Do you really value the people in Iraq? Why should you? You probably can't even pronounce their names, let alone know what the money is going toward. How does giving them money to build a new iraq and take out their leader pursue your own happiness? It doesn't. In fact, it violates your right to property, and actually makes you less safe in your own country because of blow-back.

I'm sure you'd rather give your tax money to your wife who might be sick in the hospital, to your kids for college, a new car, or maybe just to invest it in gold for when the dollar becomes worthless (because it will). Things like these shoukd be your values, not some strangers on the other side of the planet.

The same principle applies to people on welfare. While it sucks that people are in really hard times, why is it your responsibility? So in the name of preventing homelessness, we should transfer the money from wealthier people to support the poor, which actually makes wealthier people poorer? Yeah, that's a great solution to creating wealth and prosperity! Where is the logic in that?!

When the money is gone from rent and food, what wealth was created in it's place? None basically. And in the meantime, you took capital away from people who earned it and could use it to produce more wealth.

Using evil to correct a problem does not bring about the good. It just brings more evil.

Hell, the reason so many people are on welfare or need food stamps is purely because the government messed things up so bad in the first place! Their "solutions" got us here, and will continue makes things even worse!

What about the debt? Why should you pay for a debt you never caused? Shouldn't your tax money go to your own debt from going to college, or taking out a business loan? Why does the nation's debt become one of your priorities for? This is absurd. So a bunch of stupid men and women in congress and senate spend more money than they actually have... and you pay for it?!

None of these things are just, and frankly, you should be opposed to them morally. It is in fact theft. I am not crazy. You are asked to be responsible for things that DO NOT CONCERN YOU at all. Our lives are complicated enough as it is, I don't need to be responsible for everyone on welfare, and financially support a war in Iraq I never wanted to fight, or pay off some debt that pure idiots caused.

The truth is, you *could* make more than enough money from taking a consensual, voluntary % out of all the business contracts in the country to pay for basic government services, like for them to protect our liberties and to have courts.

Doing this would absolutely be enough money to run government, and nobody would have to pay taxes at all. This would be 100% consensual. If you don't want your contracts backed by the courts, then you don't have to pay it. Of course, a lot of people would pay the 0.2% (as an example) to insure their contracts are lawfully upheld. If you didn't, then you're not protected and you can't use the legal government services. It's entirely fair and just. Problem solved.

What we have now is not justice, but it's theft and it's 100% immoral. I really don't think I'm wrong on this. I think they got everyone believing a lie as everything I said makes perfect sense. It doesn't sound crazy at all.

For your own learning and understanding, read something like Atlus Shrugged from Ayn Rand. She goes into pretty good introductory detail about what is good, what is evil, what is theft, etc. I guarantee your eyes will open up after reading it. Every person who desires freedom should read it.

Anyway, I'm not so crazy now, eh? There's a good deal of logically thinking behind what these people say.