About Contact: [email protected] Real Name: Michael Todd Handle: theCL Legal: Privacy policy, comment policy, and everything else can be found here. "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul." - Mark Twain What exactly do you mean by Classic Liberal? Good question! The answer can be found by clicking here. Blog Description: The Classic Liberal Blog may be considered too "conservative" for libertarians, and too "libertarian" for conservatives, yet both conservatives and libertarians can find much to offer on this blog. Yeah, I know ... so let's get into a bit of detail. For starters, you'll have to stick around for awhile and read numerous posts before really understanding our overall theme. The posting schedule can be a little erratic, the topics often change whimsically, and theCL's dry sense of humor, difficult to catch-on to in person, can be even more difficult to catch in written word. It is highly-recommended that you give us 6-8 weeks worth of reading (commenting would be even better!) prior to drawing conclusions about the opinions expressed here. What differentiates us? For Conservatives: We believe conservatism was defined most accurately in Barry Goldwater's manifesto, The Conscience of a Conservative. To borrow Barry's words, we believe "the Conservative's first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?" Because this is our first concern, you'll find a couple of things unique here in comparison to the average conservative blog: 1) We believe Conservatism is a philosophy, not a political party. So you will at times find us playing apologetics to the Republican Party, you'll also find us treating them as what they are, a mere political corporation. 2) As Christians, we strongly believe in personal morality. We do not, however, believe it can or should be legislated. In fact, we believe that "legislating morality" denies God and harms the soul. For Libertarians: We believe in the Non-Aggression Axiom, however, since so many people define this axiom in differently, the definition we follow is: No person may initiate or threaten to initiate the use of coercive physical force. 1) We do not believe the Non-Aggression Axiom rules out the use of force, but only that it rules out the use of force in violation of an individuals inalienable rights. 2) We believe that every individual has the right to his or her own property, and also the right to exclude others from use of said property. 3) We do concern ourselves with morality, however, we are against the use of force in order to create compliance with said morality. We are also pro-life. Science tells us that an unborn child is not an actual "part" of a woman's body, but is an individual body within her. We believe that without the right to life, nothing else matters. Patriotism is something we believe in strongly! We believe it is essential to both individual liberty (all across the globe), and our American way of life. To us, patriotism is both a committed belief in the American Creed, as well as a committed belief in yourself as an individual. Patriotism is not, however, any sort of allegiance to a government, whether that be the American government, or any other. While we certainly believe in loyalty, and will gladly root the "home team" on, we do not do it blindly. The American Creed comes first, everything else is secondary. We do believe in American Exceptionalism! This does not mean we think less of any other people, from any other country. It simply means that we believe the American Creed, as defined in the Declaration of Independence, offers the best way of life, to all individuals everywhere! In summary ... regardless who you are, you have your own unique opinions. We wouldn't want it any other way. So expect to both agree and disagree with the authors of this blog. Besides ... who wants to read the same opinions, which we exactly agree with, all the time? "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine theCL: A little about your humble host, editor, and primary author. I'm a Gen Xer. I have a BA in Finance. I'm an economics nerd and political junkie. My professional career has been spent as a stockbroker, entrepreneur, and bank officer. And I'm a music junkie who prefers hard rock, but ultimately enjoys a very eclectic taste in styles. I was born, raised, and live in Michigan. I believe that if you've never ridden a sled (snowmobile), then you've never truly lived. I can't stand putting on a suit. And I'm a self-described "red-neck." Words of Wisdom: "I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution or that have failed their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is "needed" before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents "interests, " I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can." - Barry Goldwater