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The 2000 election was no exception. Despite nominating a crook for President (Harry Browne...those of you who read Liberty magazine know all about it, but the mullahs of the LP have remained nearly silent on the issue), the LP did attract a whole slew of new young members. Furthermore, a majority of all members, probably mostly influenced by the new blood, indicated that they wish the party to be "less ideological." This DEFINITELY caught our attention!
All this does not mean that we are against principles...for the individual. One of our own is:
This is why, after over 25 years of "nearly wedded" bliss and the sharing of fifteen children, we...Gypsy and Willy...have never married...that is, have never asked for nor received state "sanction" for our arrangement. Both of us had been married before, making the standard "'til death" pledges...and broke them. We vowed "never again" and have KEPT that pledge.
Nor do we object to the stated "principles" of the LP. Non-first-use of force is a great idea. But why must party members take a "vow" on this issue? As the priests of most REAL religions will tell you, we are ALL sinners. We TRY to keep the faith, but only the most saintly...if anyone...succeed. Does anybody out there seriously doubt that LP members occasionally break with party "principles?" Has none of you ever kicked an obnoxious guest out of your home? Being obnoxious can be really annoying, but it is NOT first-use of force! Expelling annoying people is.
Heck, the national LP has all but banned our column from the eyes of their members. Is this NOT first-use of force? Why are they so frightened to let our views be heard? On the other hand, why did the Taliban beat otherwise devout Muslims who transgressed THEIR principles, like a woman leaving part of her face uncovered or a man whose beard was "too short?" We think the motives are very similar. Once you embark upon the path of enforcing "unbreakable principles," it can only end in force and repression, no matter what you may call it.
There are many examples of how relaxing ideological purity has helped our party. Ron Paul, the Pooblioob Congressman from the 14th District in Texas, once ran for President on the LP ticket. Why did he then run as a Pooblioob? Because he correctly assumed that he COULD NOT WIN as a Libertarian! Did we purge him from our thoughts and minds? We did NOT! He is one of the best representatives of libertarian thought to ever grace the halls of Congress. But there are others. Bob Barr, a conservative Congressman from Georgia, is a libertarian on most issues. Unfortunately, he also pays homage to some of the more disgusting statist ideas of the far right, probably in order to get elected. As things now stand, he couldn't become a member of the LP even if he wanted to. Then there is Jesse Ventura, the "independent" governor of Minnesota. He declared himself a libertarian BEFORE he was elected, but he was not then and is not now "pure" enough to attract the support of the miniscule LP of Minnesota. Why not?
In the Midwest, Libertarians have a HUGE electoral opportunity in the year 2002. Ed Thompson, the brother of Tommy Thompson...the ex-governor of Wisconsin who is now Bush's Secretary of Health and Human Services...has left the Pooblioobs and declared for Governor as a Libertarian in the 2002 race. Polls show that his "might vote for" numbers are currently at 32%. Ventura's were at 13% at a comparable time in his race in 1998. Furthermore, Ventura will run again in 2002 and kick MAJOR ass! His favorable numbers are still way over 50%, despite what you might read in the Pooblioob/Demidupe press. He will win in a landslide, garnering more votes than both other candidates combined.
What does this suggest for the Minnesota LP? We should endorse Ventura and try to get him to openly support Thompson's election in Wisconsin. The two of them could herald the beginnings of a "Midwestern Libertarian Revolution."
Also, after Bush's people finish stripping us of many of our civil liberties in their vaguely defined "War on Terrorism"...for surely that is precisely what will happen once Al Qaida is mopped up in Afghanistan...there will be an enormous opening in 2004 to elect a Libertarian President, or at least to make a good showing. After all, who are the Demidupes going to run? Whatsisname Gore? Zionist Joe Liberian? How about Blow-Dry Bob Kerry or Senator Beach Ball, the honorable Senators from the People's Republic of Massachusetts?
Remember, you read it here first.
One other thing. We have decided that we're "not going to take it anymore." Starting this week, we are going to "push" our weekly articles to Libertarian Party officials all over the country. We did this once before, but when the word came down that we were too ideologically impure for their taste, almost all asked to be removed from our mailing list and we meekly complied. Now, they are going to either have to read our words or spend a fraction of a second deleting them each week...from their email archives and from their small minds. After all, these champions of freedom could hardly object to our exercising our own, especially in the matter of political speech, right?
Talk to you later...
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