ZHARKI, PAKISTAN - Barack Obama bloodied his hands for the first time as America’s Commander-in-Chief, ordering the destruction of several homes in a small village in Pakistan. At least 18 were killed and two homes destroyed by unmanned Predator drones. from PopulistAmerica.com
"Sadly, these people are weak and afraid. They want the military - someone else - to go out and kill whoever they're afraid of. These bloodthirsty warmongers may claim that they're patriotic, but they're willing to throw away everything that's good about America.
They're willing to give up our beloved liberties. They're content to give the government the power to do whatever it wants. They assume, with complete naivete, that doing so will never affect them. They berate free speech with the hope that they can shut up people who oppose war."
... from The America Haters Strike Again, by Michael Boldin
On top of it all,
they have the power
to destroy the entire world
with the push of a button.
_______________
Throughout history,
even kings and queens
have often feared to
act with such arrogance;
but, in "free" America,
presidents do it with impunity.
they have the power
to destroy the entire world
with the push of a button.
_______________
Throughout history,
even kings and queens
have often feared to
act with such arrogance;
but, in "free" America,
presidents do it with impunity.
THE
New American Dream Interview
MICHAEL BOLDIN, 36, lives in Los Angeles, California.
Michael is a senior editor and contributing writer for Populist America.
"Michael Boldin is a gun-toting, thirty-something technology-inclined city-dweller, who is an avid hiker of the San Gabriel Mountains, and is prone to life in the wilderness.
"Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by a politically active family, he developed a distaste for big government early on.
"Michael attended the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Marquette University, and relocated to Los Angeles (where he resides today) to attend the University of Southern California. He left one semester away from degrees in exercise science and psychology.
"For many years, Michael has been a prolific reader, and spends considerable time daily studying the works of Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and many more. He considers the late Harry Browne to be his greatest political influence."
[Source: http://www.populistamerica.com]
More abut Michael Boldin:
____________
The New American Dream Trivia Question:
To win something be the last one to correctly answer the following.
Michael Boldin would rather be ....
a. Enjoying an Old Milwaukee in a chilly seat by the door at Harry's Bar & Grill on Oakland Avenue
b. Sitting in a rowboat in the middle of Lake Michigan, my bobber sitting on the ice
c. Michael Bolton
d. When I told the bus driver, L.A., I really meant La Grange
e. Lost in the Big Lebowski Zone
f. Getting off of this L.A. freeway, without getting killed or caught
Actual Answer:
g. free
____________
"I think any serious discussion of guns, or gun control for that matter, should take a top-down approach. Disarm the executive branch, and maybe….just maybe….there will be a little more peace in this world.____________"At the very least, those 700,000+ people jailed every year by the immoral drug war might be free."
NAD: Michael, hello, thank you for taking the time for this.
The gun-toting thing. Why is that so important?
My brother-in-law is very afraid "Obama will take our guns."
What good are guns?
Is your, is my, is our safety really dependent on having a gun at home?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
Mike, thanks for inviting me to participate – I’m really excited about the prospects for the New American Dream website.
Moving forward - to guns, fear, Obama, toting, in-laws, safety…
I believe that if a person is really concerned about their safety, they have to first recognize what threatens that safety most.
For example, let’s take the presidency of the United States government. Now, I’m not referring to any particular president, but rather, the institution itself.
Let’s see…it deploys troops to every corner of the world, initiates wars without a declaration by Congress, imprisons people without charge, taps our phones, reads our mail, and tell us what it has the legal authority to do, instead of the other way around.
Over the years, presidents have waged wars that resulted in the deaths of millions, bribed foreign leaders, overthrown governments, silenced and kidnapped their enemies, authorized the torture of prisoners, engaged in espionage, imposed crippling embargoes, pillaged our resources, taken our property, and destroyed our economy and our environment.
On top of it all, they have the power to destroy the entire world with the push of a button.
Throughout history, even kings and queens have often feared to act with such arrogance; but, in "free" America, presidents do it with impunity.
Will a handgun protect against all that?
Nope. Not even close. But I still believe it’s my right to have one if I want one.
I think any serious discussion of guns, or gun control for that matter, should take a top-down approach. Disarm the executive branch, and maybe….just maybe….there will be a little more peace in this world.
At the very least, those 700,000+ people jailed every year by the immoral drug war might be free.
NAD: Why did you leave USC before getting your degree?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
I just didn’t get the point of it all.
Maybe I was disillusioned with the “American Dream,” but I don’t remember exactly what the motivation was. What I do remember is in some way, I felt that I wasn’t learning or accomplishing anything….anything real, that is. Since then, I believe I’ve learned far more out of school – through friends, life experiences, books, and the like – than I ever learned while in school.
Are you going back?
I’ve gone for a bike ride around campus a few times. It’s pretty. Oh, I also saw Michael Moore speak there a few years ago – and Ron Paul had a rally there in 2008. I really enjoyed being there for that.
What's so great about Los Angeles?
Wait, it’s great? Wow, you’d better help me out here!
Or, is the real question, “why the hell do you stay there?”
If that’s it, I don’t really know. The sun is beautiful, and so is the air – but only when you get up in the mountains.
My wonderful girlfriend and I have often talked about getting out of Dodge.
Maybe Portland, maybe New Hampshire and the Free State Project, maybe New Mexico.
Who knows, really. Sometimes it’s hard to break free when you’ve developed good friendships with people who are local.
But it seems that more and more of our friends have been leaving too. Time will tell!
NAD: Would you like to choose one of these to answer, elaborate on?
I don't ask this to make fun. I ask because I really seek the answers.
How about I answer four…….
— Are UFOs real?
I guess that depends on where you are. In Iraq, and Afghanistan, and now Pakistan too, there’s plenty of “UFOs” flying around. The US government has a different term for them - “unmanned drones” – and they drop bombs on people and kill them. It’s pretty sick if you ask me.
— Did we land on the moon in 1968?
I didn’t, that’s for sure!
— Did Bush knock down the towers?
I wouldn’t put anything past that criminal. But did Bush himself do it? Nope. He was reading a story about goats…wasn’t he?
— Waco. We burned kids, right? You can see flames shooting out of the tanks. Or not.
I didn’t burn anybody, and I’m sure you didn’t either. But from watching a film like Waco: Rules of Engagement, it sure seems obvious to me that the government people murdered a heck of a lot of people there.
But is that really surprising? Over the years, the government in this country has already enslaved an entire race, nearly slaughtered another, waged war on its own people, and killed countless millions overseas….
A few dozen people to these thugs shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
NAD: Who reads your Populist America pages?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
From the feedback we get, it seems to be people from all over the political spectrum that are sick and tired of the society we live in.
We reach out to everyone from non-voters, to democrats, republicans, libertarians and greens.
That’s possibly because we’re not only antiwar, but strongly in support of individual liberty.
For many, such principles have no political affiliation. There are obviously some serious problems with this country, and the establishment parties aren’t making things better – for us, that is.
How many?
Somewhere between 8-10,000/day…which is still pretty insignificant for the task we’re undertaking – a complete dismantling of the machine that rules our lives today.
We’re steadily growing, have added an upgraded blog to the site, and hope to achieve some big things in the future.
NAD: What is your day job? Which would you rather do ... the website thing or the work thing.
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
My day job is a thing I do that allows me to pay for food and rent…but it’s not something that I define myself by.
I think that too many people do define themselves by their career – and sadly a lot of those people are going to be having a major identity crisis in the coming years.
Oh. The website thing. Hands down.
NAD: Do you have hope in Obama?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
Any society that leaves the fate of its liberty to the potential goodness or badness of its leaders is in serious trouble.
Do I expect Obama to be a good guy?
Nope.
I expect more war at home and abroad, more restrictions on personal choice, more inflation and destruction of the economy, and more power in the hands of the executive branch when he leaves.
But even if he turns out to be a “good guy,” what’s going to happen with the next president?
The problem we face isn’t just finding the right people to wield power over us.
The problem is the power itself. When massive power exists in government there will always be people who will do whatever they can to attain that power and use it against us.
So the real hope for our future really rests in a massive reduction of federal power.
A complete evolution of the society we live in.
NAD: Does your favorite coffee cup have words on it? What are they?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
I don’t own it, but the best I’ve seen says, “Don’t Steal. The Government Hates Competition.”
Or, maybe that was a bumper sticker…
NAD: What did you absolutely have to get done by noon today?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
Today has been a nice day of rest.
How about by Christmas 2009?
I really need to get a copy of “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World” – by Harry Browne.
And yes, I’m seriously trying to not conflate “need” and “want” here.
NAD: What else would you like to add? What else should I have asked?
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
Mike, nothing else to add here and now. Thank you again for inviting me to answer these questions. I hope to do this again in the future.
NAD: If you would like — please insert a link here to something you would like linked to, with a brief tag re: where that link goes:
MICHAEL BOLDIN:
Links! Of course – http://www.populistamerica.com – Populist Party website – I would love for people to stop by from time to time, read some of our positions and articles, comment on the blog, send a ton of money, and other related things.
My morning “newspapers” – a few of the websites that I read almost daily.
LewRockwell.com
Antiwar.com
Mises.org
FreeStateProject.org
CounterPunch.com
DissidentVoice.org
____________
About
THE New American Dream Feature Interviews
If you search the archives below, you will find, in a sort of order [last to first], interviews with:
Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher magazine
Will Braun, editor of Geez Magazine,
Ben Heine, political artist in Belgium
Matt Sullivan, editor of The Rock Creek Free Press
Sam Smith, editor of The Progressive Review
Jarek Kupsc, 9/11 Truth filmmaker, "The Reflecting Pool"
Bill O'Driscoll, arts editor, Pittsburgh City Paper
Gerry McCarthy, editor of The Social Edge
Jim Cullen, editor of The Progressive Populist magazine
Bartcop, old-school blogger from Tulsa
Lee Rayburn, radio show host from Madison, Wisconsin
Aimee England, bookseller in Michigan
Al Markowitz, poet for the working woman & man
Timbre Wolf, a Tulsa peace minstrel goes to Hawaii
Steven Stothard, a radical grows in Indiana
Dale Clark, an artist in the desert
Jacqui Devenuau, Green Party organizer in Maine
Don Harkins, co-editor of The Idaho Observer
Stewart Bradley, independent film producer
Rick Smith, Cleveland area radio host
William P. Meyers, independent book publisher, political activist
Ian Woods, Canadian publisher, 9/11 Truth activist
Richard D. Brinkman, Edmonton, Canada 9/11 Truth
Lynn Berg, New York City actor
Alejandro Rojas, of MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network
Brian Kasoro, publisher of The Liberator magazine
Brother Raymond, walked from Denver to D.C., for truth
Korey Rowe, one of the producers of Loose Change
Dave Zweifel, editor of The Madison Capital Times
Cathleen Howard, expatriate, from Tucson to Mexico, to pursue her dreams
Sander Hicks, Brooklyn radical entrepreneur, writer, publisher
Joe Bageant, America's blue-collar author
Frida Berrigan, a lifetime of faith, hope and love
Denise Diaz, brewing up a revolution, at The Ritual Cafe in Des Moines
Deanna Taylor, Green Party activist, teacher, in Salt Lake City
Rossie Indira-Vltchek, writer, filmmaker in Jarkarta, Indonesia
Nora Barrows-Friedman, Pacifica reporter in Gaza
Delaney Bruce, Friends of Peltier
Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs
Michael Sprong, South Dakota Catholic Worker
Brian Terrell, Des Moines Catholic Worker
Bob Graf, One of the Milwaukee 14
Loren Coleman, Bigfoot researcher
Monty Borror, Sci-Fi artist from Virginia
David Ray, Great American Poet
Jack Blood, radio show host, in Austin, Texas
Danny Schechter, A Real Reporter
Bob Kincaid, host, Head-On Radio Show
Tony Packes, Animal Farm Radio Host, Keeping An Eye on Big Brother
Richard Flamer, Working With the Poor in Chiapas
David Ray Griffin, 9/11 Truth activist author
Barry Crimmins, U.S. comedian, author, social activist
Bret Hayworth, political reporter for the Sioux City [IA] Journal
Lisa Casey, publisher of website All Hat No Cattle
Joe & Elaine Mayer, activist couple in Rochester, Minnesota
Fr. Darrell Rupiper, U.S. priest revolutionary
Whitney Trettien, MIT student, Green Party activist
Meria Heller, radio show host
Phil Hey, professor, poet
John Crawford, book publisher
Steve Moon, Iowa Bigfoot researcher
Carol Brouillet, California social activist, 9/11 Truth
Russell Brutsche, Santa Cruz artist
Kevin Barrett, professor, radio show host, 9/11 Truth activist
A'Jamal Rashad Byndon, social activist in Omaha
Chris Rooney, Vancouver, Canada Catholic Worker, website publisher
Marc Estrin, political novelist, from the left
Peter Dale Scott, poet, professor, author, activist
Anthony Rayson, anarchist zine publisher, works with prisoners
Alice Cherbonnier, editor of The Baltimore Chronicle, an independent newspaper
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