I have already cast my vote for Bill Peirce and I have never been more sure of the moral and political correctness of any ballot I have ever cast prior to this. I urge you all to seriously consider voting for Bill and start making the change now that our country so desperately needs.

Dear friends:

I am writing to you today to urge you to vote for me, Bill Peirce, for Governor of Ohio in Tuesday’s election and to ask your friends to vote for me.

If you believe the polls, I will not win the governorship in tomorrow’s election. So why should you vote for me? Because much more is at stake than just the governorship.

What is at stake in Tuesday’s election? Freedom. The Libertarian party is the only consistent defender of freedom today. Where was the outcry when Congress abolished habeas corpus as part of the Military Commissions Act? Where was the protest when Homeland Security announced that the “no fly list” would be extended to all arrivals and departures by land or sea to or from the U.S.? How long before it will be a crime to be caught without your Identification Papers? How soon will it be a crime to own an animal without an implanted chip?

Closer to home, who objects when the State assumes control of wage rates? Who questions writing a monopoly on gambling into the constitution? Can any voice be heard defending the right of a property owner to allow people to smoke in his building? Bit by bit, our rights are chipped away—and neither major party raises a voice in protest.

What is at stake in Tuesday’s election? Ohio’s economy. The economic plans of both major party candidates are based upon the belief that bureaucrats and politicians are able to spend your money more wisely than you can. The results are obvious in the lagging growth and sagging employment in Ohio. The direct relationship between low taxes and growth and between freedom and prosperity is shoved aside in favor of “pay to play” for the benefit of the politically powerful. The young people understand what is happening and are streaming out of Ohio. It is not another college scholarship program that will keep them here. It is freedom, low taxes, and the economic growth that results.

What is at stake in Tuesday’s election? Ohio’s future.

Voting Libertarian sends the message that the people do care, that we are not sheep grazing placidly until it is time for shearing or slaughter. Every vote cast for me sends a strong signal that voters are fed up with the direction in which this state and the country have been moving.

Voting for either of the two major parties sends a message, too: it tells the major parties that we are content with things the way they are and that we are content to elect the lesser of two evils, election after election after election.

I urge you to make a difference. I implore you to make your vote truly stand for something. On Tuesday, I ask you to vote for Bill Peirce for Governor of Ohio.

Sincerely,

Bill Peirce

Actually, this is how I voted in the 2006 election and why. That's right--Uncle Josh voted absentee this year so he could get his ballot early and I think this gubernatorial race is one of the most important in the nation and will be a sneak peek of how the national political winds are shifting for 2008.

I voted for Bill Peirce (Libertarian) for Governor and Mark M. Noble for Lt. Governor. I voted for Bill because he is by far the most qualified candidate and because he's not a Republican or a Democrat. Here's the bottom line--if you vote along party lines, that is likely because you can't think for yourself to see that the two-party system of government is strangling this country and it is only when people begin to vote on the individual merits of candidates who choose not to align themselves into a particular party, when we as citizens begin to turn things around by seizing the power we have been bestowed by the Bill of Rights.

If you still need help deciding on who to vote for, try this little handy 30 question quiz that will match your answers up to those of the four major candidates running next Tuesday. Of course, being the individualist I am; I would never deign to tell someone else who to vote for. But I will tell you that if you vote for Bill, you'll earn my thanks and my respect for having the courage to politically act outside the box and send a clear message to the two major parties that we are mad as hell for what they've done to our country and we're not going to take it any more.

It has been put forth by many prominent anthropologists that the concept of god was born from the voice of thunder as frightened man-apes went running from the enormous booms.

Well this past Wednesday night, an enormous storm descended upon my great city and did a fair amount of damage. My own home fell victim to the outrageous plum-sized hail that pummeled my poor home on its western facing side. As you can see below, the hail punched several holes in my sliding screen door, ripped two screens right out of the window (I still haven't found one of them), chipped several pieces of vinyl siding, and smashed the hell out of an old ice cream bucket that my son keeps all of his outside rocks in.

There weren't any tornadoes despite the warnings but this storm still left my family (dog and cats included) huddled up in the basement with a flashlight, a jug of water and my police scanner.

I don't know if it was the voice of god or not but I do know whose going to foot the $500 deductible to fix all this shit and it isn't his royal majesty on high. Somehow Jesus and his father always seem to hit the bathroom when the check comes.

Oh yeah, the Buckeyes won too.

In the year 1818, Columbus Ohio was an up and coming village that had been founded by Lucas Sullivant, a territorial surveyor of the West during George Washington's second term as President.

There were less than 2,000 residents of Columbus in 1818 when William Neil came to Columbus from Kentucky. The war of 1812 had only been over for two years and there was a lot of opportunity for a big boisterous man like "Billy" Neil. Some called him a sonofabitch, some called him a beneficent leader of the community but everyone called him The Stagecoach King.

He started a small inn across the street from the state capital building on High Street. He was an honest man but a hard man as well. God help you if you crossed him.

He started putting his money into stagecoaches and in a few short years what were many coach lines became few and guess who owned them?

Anc once the King of Stagecoaches was living comfortably, he started putting his money into land--the only thing they weren't making any more of.

In 1824, Columbus had a lot of low lying wetlands which bred mosquitoes by the thousands. These mosquitoes brought a plague to the residents and killed off many of the first generation of Columbus's finest.

One of these fine citizens owned a huge farm just north of the village proper. Billy Neil bought the land when he died. The Neil farm ran from First Avenue to Lane Avenue and from High street to the river we all know, love and call the faithful Olentangy. The Neil farm in the mid-1800s was the showpiece of Columbus--the jewel in the crown of central Ohio.

Billy's wife Hannah was one of the most kind-hearted citizens Ohio has ever known. She founded the Hannah Neil Mission and Home for the Friendless as well as the Columbus Female Benevolent Society, a charity which continues to provide for the needy to this day in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1863, possibly in anticipation of the Civil War smoldering down to its inevitable conclusion, the Neil farm house caught fire and burned to the ground. Hannah became sick with pneumonia shortly after and died. Billy followed her seven years later. The Neil farm was then used as a site to found the brand new Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College which changed its name in 1878 to The Ohio State University.

They started a small football team in 1890.

The Ohio State University is now the third largest arena of higher education in the United States and not only has the best football team in the nation, it has the Best Damn Band in the Land.

So, when we're all downtown watching the Buckeyes kick ass this weekend, let's remember old Billy Neil and his saint of a wife who made Ohio a better place for all of us. Actually, it's hard to forget Billy Neil because his farm had a private drive that one had to travel on to reach his farm house. It was named after, well, Billy Neil. It's still around today only now we call it Neil Avenue.

Here's a salute to the people of Columbus. Even though I can't stand your friggin' asses in rush hour traffic, Monday through Friday; I sure do love you bastards on Buckeye Saturdays.

Go Bucks!

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The Ohio State University Billy Neil William Neil The Stagecoach King Columbus, Ohio OSU Buckeyes football