538 Ways To Live, Work, And Play Like A Liberal

As a standup comedian and political activist, I traveled the tea party circuit in New Jersey, and around the country to collect the grist for my comedy mill. I am often with conservative, libertarian Republicans, tea party people and right-wing extremist looney tunes people that would make Christine O'Donnell look normal.

So it is a pleasure when I get to hang out with creative, critical thinking liberal progressive Democrats.

I had the opportunity of meeting Justin Krebs for the first time about two years ago at his theater The Tank in New York City. I had heard a lot about Justin over the years as the producer of “Laughing Liberally”, a comedy production that traveled the country featuring some of the most outstanding left of center political comedians in the nation.

However, the first time I got a chance to really sit down and talk to Justin, was at the Netroots Nation Conference last year in Pittsburgh and this year in Nevada. I was very pleased to hear but he put down his thoughts about being a liberal in the book: “538 Ways To Live, Work, And Play Like A Liberal”.

Right now he is traveling the country joining Drinking Liberally groups around the nation promoting his book. As Justin says, “if we're going to succeed as a country, and as a society, we need to understand we're all in this together. Being liberal is the belief that were better off when we live for each other then when we live only for ourselves and it is the only philosophy that can change the world for the better.” An excellent thought from a critical thinking liberal.

Some of the tips in Justin's book include:

• Watch MSNBC instead of Fox news

• Where the flag with pride

• Make progressive financial investments

• Support liberal businesses

• Embrace a political conversation with a relative rather than avoid it

• Bring independent films to a local movie theater

• Start a Drinking Liberally chapter and try some of the group's signature drinks

Well, that's only seven of the total 538. You've got 531 more to go in this great book of tips. Maybe you can get the book for a conservative libertarian friend for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, or a birthday.

The book is available on Amazon.com here.

Go hypocritical ‘libertarians’!

I served on the Flemington Borough Council for twelve years, eleven of them with Mayor Ken Kustcher. Ken in his professional life is a cardiologist. As a doctor, he was an ardent anti-smoking advocate, and he took this activism very seriously in his role as mayor.

Before he left office at the tail end of 2005, Ken tried to enact a ban on smoking at close outdoor gatherings in our town. When that failed, he attempted to create by ordinance a smoking section at outdoor events. Without getting in to the merits of the issues, suffice it to say the Republicans and the more libertarian residents and libertarian business owners in town fought him tooth and nail on the issue. So it goes.

Both the Republicans and libertarians are great at opposing what they look at as "too much government interference" in their lives when the issue is one that does not affect them personally. However, they love big government when they need to protect their own personal interests. Then they immediately define the issue as one in the “public interest”. Go hypocritical ‘libertarians’!

Anyway, the state eventually banned smoking in all indoor facilities [except for the AC casinos], and Ken was ahead of his time on the issue.

I don’t usually like to print an entire article from the news media, but this one caught my eye, and needed no comment:

Former supervisor suing Tropicana for firing him

ATLANTIC CITY - A former supervisor at the Tropicana Casino & Resort who says his lung cancer was caused by decades of exposure to secondhand smoke is suing the casino, contending it fired him for speaking out in favor of a smoking ban.

Vince Rennich was fired from the Tropicana in March, when he was the most vocal supporter of a proposed smoking ban that the City Council was considering. Originally set to ban all smoking in the city's 11 casinos, the council later agreed to a compromise in which 75 percent of the gambling floor had to be smoke-free. It took effect April 15.

"They tried to silence me," Rennich said. "It's not going to work. It was wrong, and I'm going to prove it. I'm still speaking out against smoking throughout the country."

The Tropicana had no immediate comment on the lawsuit, a spokeswoman said.

Rennich, 49, of Somers Point, has become for many the face of the casino antismoking movement, and has sought to publicize working conditions on the casino floors.