Twas the best of times indeed...Boris Johnson, A Geert Wilders style libertarian Tory has won the Mayorship against incumbent Ken Livingston (a hardcore antiwar socialist who has saddled up with the Islamo-Fascists in Britain.)
From the White Sepulchre:
An Eton-educated libertarian with a reputation as a bumbling, fumbling comedian is running for mayor of London. Here is Boris Johnson, as quoted in Time magazine: "I'm a libertarian. I think people should get on with their lives as far as possible independently of bossiness and intrusion of all kinds."
From the London Daily Telegraph:
Senior Conservative sources said they would be “gobsmacked” if Mr Johnson did not win the mayoral contest and even Downing Street aides appear to have conceded that Ken Livingstone has lost. Confidence of a Tory win was boosted after one bookmaker announced it was paying out on a Boris Johnson victory hours before the official result is expected later this evening.
Paddy Power said the "mauling" Labour had received elsewhere in England and Wales suggested the Conservative candidate was on his way to City Hall.
Winning the London mayoral contest is expected to cap an historic electoral win for the Conservatives with David Cameron’s party on course for more than 44 per cent of the national vote. Labour is now expected to finish with as little as 24 per cent, humiliatingly pushed into third place by the Liberal Democrats on 25 per cent
Full story on local elections in England
Clifford Thies, Senior Editor of Libertarian Republican blog has the full story of the Tory victories across England over at Worldwide Liberty blog.
UPDATE!
Fox News is now headlining the story of Johnson's win. They are reporting the final vote total of 1,168,738 votes to Livingstone's 1,028,966.
Libertarian Republican blog along with MainstreamLibertarian.com are the ONLY libertarian media reporting on this story.
UPDATE!
The NY Times this morning is reporting on Johnson's win, "Colorful Tory beats Laborite." The article includes this quip:
In his colorful career, the new London mayor has survived public airing of an extramarital affair... has apologized to whole cities, like Liverpool, that he offended in one way or another; and has been prone to saying things like: “Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3.”
UPDATE!
London's Muslims up in arms over Boris Johnson's win
This from Asim Siddiqui of the UK Guardian:
Boris Johnson would be a disaster for London. He is an Islamophobe who has insulted and condemned Islam and Muslims". So said the Muslims4Ken campaign.
"How YOU can help save us from a Zionist Mayor," campaigned the Muslim Public Affairs Committee.
But the unthinkable has happened. Boris is our mayor.
UPDATE!
Art Critic Richard Dorment for the London Telegraph had this to say about Johnson on April 14:
As you may have guessed, I'm going to vote for Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate. When Livingstone's cronies caricature Johnson as a politician of the far Right, it irritates me because what Johnson really is is a libertarian. He just wants to make the city safe and clean, easy to get around, and nice to live in. Then he wants to leave us alone. Let us give him a chance.
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29 comments:
Go Boris!!!.......This caps off the implosion of the anti-American Left in Britain. The Respect Party, the hardcore socialists that broke off from Labour are currently about to split up because of personality issues. The insufferable George Galloway has been proven to thief, he did in fact skim money off the Food for Oil scam for Iraq and now Ken Livingston has gone down in flames. Livingston claims to be a socialist but has spent the last couple of years, bringing into the London Labour Party Islamo-Fascists like Yusef al-Qaradawi who is on public record calling for the death in Britain of anybody who has converted away from Islam or is a homosexual. He and his Muslim Association support legalizing honor killings, wife beating and female genital mutilation. Any one interested in the complete collapse and moral depravity of many on the British Left, consult British journalist's Nick Cohen's "What's Left: How the Left Lost It's Way"
Andrew, this is huge. One Thousand years of history for London England, and they have now elected a bonafide "LIBERTARIAN" as Mayor.
I'm stunned that Reason.com is not reporting this. It's shocking that other libertarian sites have not picked up on the story.
Belusconi in Italy, Sarkozi in France, and now Johnson in London.
It's a virtual libertarian revolution in Europe. No doubt, spurred upon by a backlash against the rising tide of Islamo-Fascism and the anti-Free Speech movements amongst Euro-Muslims.
Indeed, it is huge, London did not had a Tory/Conservative London mayor ever! He seems like a very straightforward, not PC type of politician who is not a micro-manager, but will get specialists. They wanted to picture him as a joke (sounds familiar!), but he surprised all. (He will probably change his hair to a more normal style over time).
London is now rid of red Ken.
Boris is a real hero now. In 2005 he wrote an article
"The war in Iraq was based on a lie - and policing Basra is an illusion" and this is just as true today, if not more so.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/09/22/do2201.xml
"Whatever we achieve in Iraq, we will not have made our own world safer, or made the risk of terrorism less likely: quite the reverse." "That claim was a lie, and whatever good may come out of the Iraq war, we should never forget that it was based on that lie"!
He has so much in common with his US libertarian Republican counterpart! (This must be the biggest shocker to the writer of this thread. A total smackdown. Wonder if it will help him to open his eyes... )
Eric Dondero is known for calling almost anyone a libertarian, but usually makes the condition that the person be pro-war.
Unfortunately for Dondero, Boris Johnson frequently appears on Antiwar.com with his fiercely antiwar articles.
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2008/05/02/london-trades-antiwar-rightist-for-antiwar-leftist/
Boris regularly touted Antiwar.com and LewRockwell.com when he was the editor of the British Spectator a few years ago.
Mr. Garris, your website was a big cheerleader for George Galloway's attacks on Bush and rooting him on while he debated Christopher Hitchens in NYC couple of years ago. Are you and Justin prepared to admit that was a mistake considering Galloway it turns out was a thief and a con artist
What Boris Johnson said of Eric's hero: George Bush II:
He described him as a "cross-eyed warmonger" and "serially incompetent ... maniac" whose re-election was "the most dismal awakening of my life".
Disclosure: I fully agree and endorse the new mayor of London's view!
This has got to be a total smackdown for my friend Eric! Rude awakening.
Andrew:
Justin applauded Galloway regarding his debate with Hitchens. I personally have never been a fan of his.
More recently, we have attacked Galloway on a number of occasions.
Two years ago, Galloway tried to have Justin Raimondo removed as a speaker at an international peace forum when Galloway found out that Justin was going to attack Robert Mugabe.
A few of my favorite Boris Johnson articles:
We must not let Bush wage war against Iran
I'll go to jail to print the truth about Bush and al-Jazeera
Blair's crackdown on freedom is an inspiration to tyrants
The war in Iraq was based on a lie - and policing Basra is an illusion
I remember the quiet day we lost the war in Iraq
Hmmn? Now this is interested. Cause I've read articles all over the net last night where Johnson is attacked as an "anti-Islamo-Fascist extremist." He apparently got in trouble in an incident in Liverpool a while back for criticizing Islamic culture.
He comes across as a Geert Wilders type, opponent of the increasing Islamization of Europe.
If he has a better plan for repelling the rise of Radical Islam in England and the rest of Europe, different from Bush's Military efforts, good for him.
What Mr. Garris and others of his ilk fail to acknowledge is the threat we face from Radical Islam.
Any foe of Radical Islam is a friend of liberty, as it appears Mr. Johnson certainly is.
Welcome to LR Blog Mr. Garris. You will see by the mantle that the purpose of this blog is to "help organize libertarian efforts within the GOP." An original goal of your long defunct LROC was it not?
Anyway, you're free to post here often uncensored. (Unlike some other blogs we know ahem, ahem Antiwar.com ahem, ahem Ballot Access News, ahem, ahem Mises Inst. blog.)
And thanks for following the rules and posting under your own name and not Anonymous.
Maybe one day you can tell us all whatever became of LROC? I always wondered about the group's demise?
Mr. Garris, Thank you for your reply. I do have another question for you. If antiwar.com is truly antiwar, why does it seem it only appears USA, Britain and Israel are it's only targets of criticism. I wish Russia's war in Chentyna was as condemned as the war in Iraq on your website. That China's incurisons into Tibet were taken as serious as Israel's attacks into Lebanon or that during the 1990's, Serbian aggression was dismissed as no big deal by Mr. Raimondo.
Just as a shot, If Dondero is guilty of claiming everybody is a "libertarian", perhaps one day your collegue, Justin can explain to libertarians how Ralph Nader is really one of us or how rooting for Obama to win is a libertarian position. Obama is not "antiwar" and has said so plus he has 100 percent voting record from the ADA. Also one of Obama's top advisors is Zbigniew Breziniski's son. Who just like his father is a staunch internationalist and has nothing but contempt for the non-intervention views of Ron Paul.
Wow.
All of you guys might want to study some rhetoric. Especially the validity of ad hominem attacks.
(ad hominem - statements like "Are you prepared to defend Senator Fatsby's attacks on Global Warming when Senator Fatsby has been proven to be an adulterer?")
Anyway, thanks for the link on my Boris post. I just happened to learn about him from an issues of MacLean's magazine during a Canada trip. I've enjoyed corresponding with some of his British supporters. He seems to be quite a fellow.
Have added you to my blogroll. Hope you can do the same.
Allen in Fort Worth, aka The Whited Sepulchre
White Sepulchre,
Thanks for visiting! Most certainly will add you to our Blog Roll under Pro-Defense Libertarian links. I've actually visited your site before.
You may also want to check out Jim Fryar's outstanding Real World Libertarian blog from Australia.
And our own Worldwide Liberty blog, as well.
Both are linked on the Blog Roll.
Oh, and fellow Brit Quentin Langley whose also a "libertarian" Tory.
Andrew, and let's not forget Garris and Raimondo in the 1980s claiming that Pete Wilson and Tom Campbell and other Moderate Ripon Society California GOPers were "libertarian-leaning" and worthy of libertarian support.
Garris would like to forget that chapter of his and Raimondo's history. Unfortunately for him, I've got a garage full of old issues of "Libertarian Republican" that he and Raimondo published to prove his love for those Mods in the '80s.
Ironically, it was Garris himself who gave me those LR issues.
Dondero,
Ripon Society makes a lot of sense on many issues for libertarians then Barack Obama, Ralph Nader or Pat Buchanan.
Garris/Raimondo were better ooff with Ripon triangulations into libertarian thought then the absurd attempts to place Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan into it
Eric writes: "He apparently got in trouble in an incident in Liverpool a while back for criticizing Islamic culture."
The article published in the Spectator, when Boris Johnson was editor, and which was critical of Liverpool, followed the beheading of a Liverpool man in Iraq.
However, the attack on Liverpool had nothing to do with Islamic culture as Eric claims. It was rather an attack on the tendency of people in Liverpool to wallow in a status of victimhood, borne of welfare depency.
On the matter of Islam, Boris Johnson has asserted the need for moderate voices to condemn those Muslim figures who use the Koran to justify violence. But he also holds views on Islam which are more nuanced than those which are associated with Geert Wilders.
Below are some recent comments by Boris Johnson:
"My great-grandfather knew the Koran by heart and I am proud of my Islamic ancestry."
"Islam is a religion of peace and has made huge contributions to the development of our society."
"I passionately believe that if more Londoners understood the deep relationship between Islam and Christianity, there would be less Islamophobia."
On Iraq, while originally a supporter, he changed his mind, and latterly supported a motion to impeach Tony Blair for "high crimes and misdemeanours" in taking Britain to war.
Boris is a libertarian, but not of the Libertarian Republican variety.
Jon,
Perhaps you missed our interview with the head of Muslims Aginst Sharia last month.
Or you may have missed our article where we slammed John McCain for speaking of and getting the support of Rod Parsley and John Hagee, two extremists who want think all Muslims are alike.
This website is very ecumincal unlike many fo the paleo sites where any deviation from the established wisdom is denounced as "neocon" or "cosmo libertarian"
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/07/16/the_boris_philosophy.html
Clearly he's a mixed figure. Admires Hayek and is critical of the war in Iraq, but would certainly approve of white nationalist thugs beating up a bunch of Muslim/brown skinned immigrants.
That last part is what clearly makes him a "libertarian" in Dondero's eyes.
This Johnson character reminds me too much of Enoch Powell. And it should be noted that 40 years after the "Rivers of Blood' speech the UK is doing just fine.
Sam,
Well if true that may explain why Eric Garris is so excited about Boris then.
His paymaster, Lew Rockwell was a great fan of the late Enoch Powell.
"Powell was a gold-standard man and foreign policy non-interventionist. He should have been prime minister instead of Margaret Thatcher"
Lew Rockwell July 12, 2006
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/010935.html
"but would certainly approve of white nationalist thugs beating up a bunch of Muslim/brown skinned immigrants."
What evidence is there for this, Sam? It's a serious allegation to make.
During his campaign Boris Johnson said he didn't even want the 2nd preference votes of the British National Party, i.e the white nationalist thugs, after the BNP leadership urged its supporters to vote for Boris in order to get rid of Ken Livingstone. In fact he even walked off the stage when the BNP candidate give his speech last night.
He also announced in the course of the campaign that he was sympathetic to an amnesty for long term illegal immigrants, which didn't go down well with conservative-minded supporters.
Additionally he refused to make an election issue out of proposals by a Muslim group to build a huge "mega mosque" in East London, even though it's an idea which concerns many conservative minded people, as well as moderate Muslims.
I voted for him as my 2nd preference, with some reluctance, so I'm not his biggest fan, but your claims against him just aren't an accurate reflection of his views.
Andrew,
Either Rockwell is an ignorant fool, extremely naive or a racialist of the VDare-style....or all three.
Here's the key problem. Most people raving about the decline of Western civilization and culture (or whiteness, or Christianity, or Britishness) implicitly admit that it can't stand on its own two feet. They usually campaign for state intervention like pro-natalist government handouts, immigration restrictions, or censorship.
Same thing goes for people who fearmonger about Islam.
sam,
You have hit it on the head. Rockwell has been in the political bed with the VDARE folks for a long time. they loved the late racist Samuel Francis and have allowed people like Jared Taylor to post on his website.
Taylor had several articles on their website, still listed
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/orig-arch2.html
However, when you go to click ont he article, it says the article has been removed.
Taylor is one of America's foremost intellectual racist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Taylor
As to your other points I agree. Fearmongering about Muslims is wrong. In fact, moderate Muslims die and suffer more each year from radical Islam then do Westerers.
Sam,
Might also explain there fascination with Lincoln. I am no Lincoln fan at all but their focus with the Civil war is almost borderline obessive.
If they devoted as much time to World War One or Western colonialism of ther 19th century, they actually would help their antiwar cause.
Good grief, the Battle of Passchendale in 1917 had more casualties then almost entire American Civil War which was about 600,000 dead.
The Germans lost approximately 260,000 men, while the British Empire forces lost about 300,000, including approximately 36,500 Australians, 3,596 New Zealanders and 16,000 Canadians
Jon, if Boris is "not of the Libertarian Republican variety" as you claim and not anti-Islamo-Fascist, than why are all the Muslim punidts in the UK up in arms over his election? Did you read the quotes from the Muslim columnist with the London Telegraph?
Yes, he's an iconoclast and has some far-out views inconsistent with some strains of libertarian Republican thought. But the bottom line is he's a member of the Tory Party (like the US Republican Party), and a self-described "libertarian."
Which makes him a libertarian Republican any way you look at this.
Just because some extreme Muslim groups call Boris Johnson a Zionist and Islamophobe doesn't make him so!
Why place so much emphasis on what they are saying? Why allow them to frame the terms of debate?
Of course these groups didn't want Boris as Mayor. Ken Livingstone's state-sponsored multiculturalism has served their interests too well, particularly in terms of public funds being channelled to them. They know Boris will not indulge their extremist views in the way that Livingstone did.
Boris has called those groups which use the Koran to justify violence a problem. Do you think Muslims4Ken and the Muslim Public Affairs Committee like this? Of course not! That's why they smeared him. They don't want voices, like those of Boris, raised in opposition to their interpretation of the Koran.
It's not accurate to say that "all Muslim pundits" are upset by Boris's victory.
There are plenty of libertarian blogs reporting this...mine for instance. Boris' concern about the means by which Blair convinced his colleagues to go to war is legitimate whether or not you agree with the fight against Saddam (which I do).
I've done 3 posts on Boris.
Go, Tories, go!
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