Ahoy me hearties!

I guess the pirates have abandoned us along with the ninjas? One Iowan pirate is running an independent campaign for a House seat.

From CNN:

Pillaging, plundering and grog, sweet grog — James Hill is happy to discuss the finer points of pirate life. Just not before you hear him out on lobbying reform.

“Lobbying should be illegal,” said Hill, a self-professed “drunken pirate” who is running for Congress as an independent in Iowa’s 1st District. “It amounts to taxation without representation.”

…(snip)…

It may sound strange coming from a pirate, but Hill insists his campaign is about ideas, not imagery.

“Before we were a country they — pirates — were running mini-democracies. We need to get back to that,” he said, adding an unsolicited promise that he will bring more “swashbuckling” to Congress if elected.

To many, the pirate’s campaign is just a lot of yo-ho-hum.

Hill’s major opponents — Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Mike Whalen — have more or less ignored his candidacy in their intense fight for the open seat. Hill also has struggled to get local media coverage and has managed only one debate invitation so far.

Yes, you read that right. They will let pirates into debates, but they have to think about it when a million-dollar Libertarian campaign would like to debate.

The good news? Stan Jones probably lost the “Worst Debator” Award for 2006.

posted Oct 17th, 2006 by Stuart Richards
  • http://eachvoice.blogspot.com/ Seth

    Maybe he picked up on the news last year that North Carolina State University elected a “pirate captain” student body president:

    http://www.wral.com/news/4378301/detail.html

  • Stuart Richards

    Shit, maybe that’s the key to politics. We should stop dressing up in chicken suits and start dressing up as pirates.

    How do you say “non-initiation of force” in pirate cant? LOL

  • IanC

    Stuart: The Flying Spagghetti Monster loves Pirates, donchya know.

    There is direct corrollary information between the rise in global temperature and the fall in numbers of pirates.

  • http://c4ss.org/ paulie cannoli

    “Why is our flag black? Black is a shade of negation. The black flag is the negation of all flags. It is a negation of nationhood which puts the human race against itself and denies the unity of all humankind. Black is a mood of anger and outrage at all the hideous crimes against humanity perpetrated in the name of allegiance to one state or another.”

    Howard J. Ehrlich (ed.) – Reinventing Anarchy, Again (Edinburgh, AK Press, 1996), p. 31

  • http://c4ss.org/ paulie cannoli

    Of a certain William Davidson, we are informed: “at a demonstration he protected the black flag with skull and cross bones, ‘Let us die like Men and not be sold like Slaves,’ the flag said.” Davidson was a black man born in 1786 and executed in 1820. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica – erstwhile ‘wickedest city on the earth’ and notorious pirate capital.

    He spent three years at sea, was a trade unionist, read Tom Paine and may have had some connection to Toussaint L’Ouverture and the revolution in Haiti. He was finally executed on Mayday 1820 with others for being part of the ‘Cato Street conspiracy’ to assassinate the entire cabinet while they were at dinner. This was intended to lead to attacks on Mansion House and the Bank of England, the seizing of artillery and to give the spark for a revolution in Britain!

    Be Proud to fly the Jolly Roger!

  • http://c4ss.org/ paulie cannoli

    The classical age of piracy coexisted with imperialism. Imperialism required merchant vessels to transport goods and warships to protect the trade ships from pirates and privateers.
    wikipedia

    So, the goods they plundered in many cases were plundered to begin with.

  • Stuart Richards

    Oh, I’m not anti-pirate as they existed in classical history. I’m just saying this is ridiculous-fringe groups get to debate but we don’t.

  • http://www.mainstreamlibertarian.com Eric Dondero

    The article says nothing about his views. Not one thing. Perhaps he leans libertarian? One would assume that he’s a bit of a social libertine, giving his penchent for the pirate’s life?

    BTW guys, catch my article on “Swinger Republicans” over at http://ericdondero.blogspot.com

    Seems a Nudist, Marijuana-tarian, who comes from the Libertarian Party is now the Republican nominee for Vermont State House!

  • http://freestateproject.org/talklikeapirate Seth

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that on Sept 19th, the Free State Project became the Free State Pirate Project. The Pirate/Liberty connection is well known. See this essay for more info: http://freestateproject.org/talklikeapirate

  • paulie cannoli

    Seth,

    Good article!

  • http://hessforgovernor.com/donate Seth

    Thanks paulie. I wrote it (heavily cribbed from sources quoted) and was the porcupine pirate responsible for the goings on that day.

  • Joe

    So they let this guy debate but the best candidate for governor in Ohio can barely even get newspaper recognition?