The government is not the only organization that can exert control on you and limit your freedom. By controlling the market some are capable of eliminating choice on services which in turn have a drastic impact on people's lives. If you cause enough financial harm to others you take away their ability to compete freely with you. Though it is more subtle, it does have a direct impact on personal freedom. To say that regulation is equivalent to censorship is a horrendous misrepresentation.

If I had the points I would mod you up. Well said.

Interesting, one of the things blamed for declining CD sales was the increasing use of concerts by artists to make money. Content producers often do want monetary recognition of their work, though this is not universal, but the truth is that they are screwed over more by the content controllers than by P2P. Associations such as the RIAA were not formed in order to protect artists, they were formed because protecting artists was profitable and they wanted money. They protect artists whether they want it or not.

Heh, the point was that while they were from NH they did not recognize it and wanted to be independent. This lead to the splitting of NH and the formation of Vermont.

We cling to it because in the long run it works. We have a problem with expanding executive power, but its emphasis on personal liberty above governmental power is a necessary check that protects us from irreversible damage to our system in periods of brief instability.

There is a difference between Conservatives and Classical Liberals. Classical Liberals highly valued education and disagreed with each other quite openly. The connection you are making between the two would be more convincing if conservative celebrities like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter did not coordinate their messages so thoroughly. Why is it that after major political events they describe them with the same wording? I agree that hate speech laws are often supported by Liberals, for which I am ashamed of them, but I do not agree that they do not value dissent. What is the origin of the joke: "I don't belong to an organized political party, I'm a Democrat"?

I haven't been trolled recently so I'll bite. While I have no knowledge of any studies about how informed different voters are about the issues involved in elections, I have to disagree with the claim that Republicans are better educated. In fact, Democrats comprise a greater part of the college educated segment of the population. Isn't this why we are always accused (in many cases quite justly) of educational elitism? I thought this was why Republican candidates try to fit the everyman image while Democrats make much of their educational background.