We are happy to present the first American Sage Blog Carnival on American Politics. What is a Blog Carnival? It’s a collection of writings from blogs around the world on a particular topic. Carnivals are intended to broaden the horizon of the reader by bringing them articles that they might otherwise not find. Here are the articles we found particularly interesting; we hope you enjoy them.

Congress Weighs Landmark Change in Web Ad Privacy, by Straight Shooters Radio

The Web sites we visit, the online links we click, the search queries we conduct, the products we put in virtual shopping carts, the personal details we reveal on social networking pages — all of this can give companies insight into what Internet ads we might be interested in seeing…

End Corporate Personhood, by Phil for Humanity

Corporations are not people. Corporations do not have citizenship. The Constitution of the United States of America does not even mention corporations. As a result, corporations do not have any civil rights, including the rights to free speech or to vote…

Freedom is Not a Political System, by Wisdom from Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket

“Globalization and unfettered capitalism have been swept into the history books long with the open-market theory of the 1920s, the experiments of fascism, communism and the New Deal” (i.e., interventionism). Doesn’t leave much, does it? The above quote is typical of many attempts to counter the economic “recovery” claims which are popping up like the proverbial “green shoots”…

The Declaration of Independence, by Don’t Tread on Me

The first thing I have observed is it is a shorter read than I expected. The 13 colonies of America represented in creation of the  document.  I remember now these dates and topics being covered in high school but the teacher was not gifted nor knew how to exude his passion for history to engage us further than read the book, a small lecture a day, and read the paper while we did our class work.

We can not let a Good Crisis go to Waste, by Varg Freeborn

Anyone who is paying attention to the problems we are experiencing as a country today would agree that we are in a crisis in America. We are in the midst of the worst economic situation since the Great Depression. Federal government is printing billions of dollars and picking winners and losers in the financial markets. Socialistic moves are being made in the form of the partial nationalization of private corporations and public policy.

The Danger of Ambiguous Legislation, by Everett

Friedrich August von Hayek CH (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992), was an Austrian and British economist and philosopher known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought.

Divert and Conquer, by Brock Ventura

Dear American,

Intelligence is brutal when calculated with intent. True intelligence manipulates itself into illiterate disguise. The diversions of this administration since January 20th have bounced conservatism into a frenzy of defense after defense leaving it exhausted.

The Bottom Line on Socialism and the Future of Our Country, by Bob Brooks

If you look at the evidence, it is pretty clear that the politicians in Washington (for the most part) are about one thing – HUGE governmental control and power over everything. The problem with socialism is where it leads.

Bad Goals, Bad Solutions, by Jared Rhoads

Nearly seven months later, we have half a dozen bills in progress. Not a single bill shows any evidence that comprehensive free market solutions have been seriously studied or considered.

Are the Negative Rumors about the Obama Health Care Bill True?, by John Mastro

So many different views, rumors, assumptions and arguments are ongoing about the ”America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009“. The nation is very divided and there are very passionate supporters and opposers on both sides.

What Will I Do For America?, by Living Documents

I was born in Washington State and grew up in the rural town of Grapeview. The area is wide by miles but poor in tax revenue, still remaining absent of a mayor and police station. The population is around 400, spiking slightly in the summer when the city folk come to their vacation cabins. The men volunteer at the Fire Station, and if they don’t have sons, then they enroll their daughters.

The great American virtue of liberty is dying and the healers are drunk with apathy. In 1776, our founders proclaimed liberty the primary American virtue. This declaration brought with it unlimited potential and unlimited responsibility for every American. All the achievements of mankind have depended upon one essential condition: liberty, a condition in which one has the power to act without confinement, servitude, or control. It has been, and will continue to be, through liberty that the creative power of the human mind is unleashed by experimentation and entrepreneurship. Today liberty is dying. New laws, ordinances, and regulations conjured up by politicians are eroding our foundation of liberty under the illusion of good intentions. Encroachment or degradation of liberty leads to the stagnation of the people because it robs them of their ability to learn through agency and experience. If unchecked, this stagnation grows into, at minimum, dependence upon the state and at worst, slavery. Few scenarios justify this forfeiture of liberty. Scenarios requiring the encroachment of the liberty of the people demand serious thought and vigorous debate before liberty is sacrificed. There are two justifications for this sacrifice: the protection of the liberty of the people as a whole, and the protection of an individual’s liberty. In America today, our lawmakers disregard these limits; they find innumerable ways to reach into our lives and rob us of the inalienable right of liberty.

First, let’s clarify the two cases in which liberty may be appropriately infringed. Liberty of the individual may be temporarily restricted when the liberty of the people as a whole is at risk and protection from imminent threat is required. When threatened in this way, mechanisms for the rescinding of these encroachments must be put into place to ensure the liberty of the people, as the proper state, is respected and restored. A clear example of this occurred during WWII for our national defense. President Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Services Act of 1940 which drafted citizens into our military forces, an encroachment of individual liberty. This action was justifiable because of the clear and present danger of Germany and Japan to the survival of our nation and its people. The act had important restraining provisions including the limiting of service to 12 months and the conscientious objection clause. While some may debate whether these provisions went far enough, they are an acknowledgement that even in times of national emergency all aspects of liberty may not be wholly discarded and that time limits on encroachments of liberty are proper.

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