Clearly, the name of the Help America Vote Act was truncated. The actual title was Help America Vote For Republicans.

I mean, really, why else would it not mandate a paper trail?

I voted today and apparently California has added paper receipts that you can review but not touch. A good move, but we’re still using proprietary voting hardware and software.

Perhaps the Loyal Opposition has something to say? Yes, Mrs. Clinton?

“Only that I quite agree that we absolutely mustn’t have flag desecration; oh, my goodness no, there’s got to be a law against that! Oh, and remember, I’d still have gone to war against Iraq, knowing what I know now!”

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to conjecture what would have happened had Kerry been installed as our Tyrant in Chief. Some even speculate that had Gore won, 9/11 would not have occurred. God only knows.

The problem isn’t, in my opinion, Bush or Kerry per se, my outrage over stolen elections notwithstanding. The real problem is the power that’s been amassed by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Who among us, even a saint, could withstand the temptations that come with that kind of power?

As Hoppe has pointed out, at least monarchs had an incentive to preserve their kingdom for their heirs, but an elected official in a democracy? Grab what you can for you and your friends, and get the hell out.

I frankly don’t see any peaceful means of reducing that power, either. The bigger they come, the harder they fall, and as empires go, we’re about the biggest the world has ever seen.

When — not if — this empire falls, it’s not going to be pretty.