In preparation for my move next year, and for other reasons which I’ll explain, I visited New Hampshire this week, participated in a well-attended protest, and thumbed my nose at government bureaucrats while they watched out their office windows.
It was fun for the whole family, even standing in the pouring rain.
After arriving safely in an undisclosed location where cell phones don’t work, getting thoroughly lost along the way, I spent Sunday night with some friends, and Monday morning it was off to help Keene resident Dave Ridley protest the treatment he received from the Department of Homeland Security when he protested the Internal Revenue Service earlier this year.
Ridley was cited for distributing handbills after he conducted one of his famous silent protests, where he held a sign at the bureaucrats asking, “Is it right to work 4 IRS?” and refusing to say a single word to anyone, not even the police who eventually ordered him to leave the building.
Despite the on-and-off downpour, the protest prior to Dave’s 10:30 a.m. court hearing was well attended, with 17 people showing up at various points in the hour and a half protest. Carrying signs with “IRS” crossed out, “Ministry of Torture” and other slogans, we all were well received by local residents driving by, who generally honked their support.
I didn’t attend the actual court hearing, because I was outside holding the electronics which the court refuses to allow inside. Or at least some of them. And I got plenty of pictures of people’s cars while waiting, both those of the Homeland Security goons who were in attendance (I was later told that security was beefed up because of the protest) and those of Free State Project members who came to the protest. Aside from myself, people came from as far away as Chicago and Atlanta to join the protest. Most of these pictures speak for themselves.
The very brief summary is that while Dave raised constitutional issues with the citation he received, the judge found him guilty anyway, and seemed to be hinting that Dave should appeal. As of Wednesday, Dave is taking steps to file an appeal. To hear all the details of what happened, listen to Monday night’s Free Talk Live radio show (MP3).
After the kangaroo court, I snapped a picture of the restaurant across the street where many of the bureaucrats eat lunch, then we all went elsewhere…
All in all it was lots of fun, and I’m looking forward to my next visit, and to finally moving to the Free State and making more of an impact for liberty in our lifetime.
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Join the members of the Liberty Conspiracy as they discuss issues ranging from the "Incorporation Doctrine" and gun rights, to the NBA, to protests conducted at military funerals, protests that are being challenged by government, and which will be heard by the philosopher kings in the U.S. Supreme Court.
When neoconservative Ben Stein accused Congressman Ron Paul of being antisemitic for merely wanting to ask WHY Islamic terrorists want to attack the civilians living under western governments that have meddled in the Mideast, the members of the Conspiracy could not sit by silently.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.
Video published by this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling+ license.
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BelchSpeak
Nov 16, 2006
Why was it a Kangaroo court? Weren’t there any charges read? Wasn’t there a fair trial? Was it open to the public? Were the laws secret? Or was it just that you disagreed with the verdict? And will your buddy appeal it all the way up the chain of kangaroo courts to the supreme kangaroo court?
J. Bruno
Nov 16, 2006
“Or was it just that you disagreed with the verdict?”
Yeah, right and wrong are only a matter of opinion, Michael. Just change your opinion that the verdict was wrong and then it will be right! Weeeeee! The world is my own private solipsism!
Ryan
Nov 16, 2006
It’s a Kangaroo court when the judge doesn’t respect the constitution. non-violent Protests are a form of free speech. Obviously, when somebody is convicted of these non-violent protests their constitutional rights are violated. Oh sorry, I forgot, the government needs as much money as possible, for wars in foreign countries so we can’t have people challenging the amount of taxes they pay.
Michael Hampton
Nov 16, 2006
It’s a kangaroo court when the judge won’t follow the Constitution.
Nov 22, 2006
Homeland Security contributed bad data to military intelligence database - Homeland Stupidity
Jake Witmer
Nov 23, 2006
Hello Michael,
Love the site. I agree, about the kangaroo courts. YOu’d be much better moving within the 9th circuit, to Alaska. At least there, the judges recognize the 2nd amendment as an individual right.
If you’re dedicated enough to move, you should be dedicated enough to look at the numbers. The numbers (voters, votes, courts, culture, gun rights) favor Alaska.
BTW, this comment entry field is FUBAR on the Win98 machine I’m on. the right side of it is cut off and I need to guess that what I typed is correct. Might want to see about that. Email me if you want to discuss what I’ve posted.
-Jake
Jake Witmer
Nov 23, 2006
Even having said what I’ve said in favor of AK, the whole NH thing makes me want to check it out anyway. Maybe I’ll come there later this year and take a gander.
I was a petitioner for national when the NHLP FAILED to do their duty in putting Badnarik on the ballot. They reported incorrect petition numbers, and I was sent to another state because of this. I viewed this sheer negligence as VOIDING the contract I had signed to move to NH. Moreover, AK was and still is an infinitely more logical choice for any “Free State” plan via organized electoral politics.
The FSP vote got us what every other vote in the US has gotten us:
A moderation of the best choice by the LCD and mediocre among us.
Pack up your guns and move to AK.
Michael Hampton
Nov 23, 2006
As far as I can tell it’s some bizarre quirk of Internet Explorer on Windows 98. Try using a normal browser. :)
I think this is fixed now.
Michael Hampton
Nov 23, 2006
As for New Hampshire, I haven’t the slightest idea what happened to the NHLP. My understanding is that it hasn’t been particularly effective, and libertarian candidates have had much more success getting elected on Democrat and Republican (and fusion!) tickets.
If you want to give NH another look, might I suggest the upcoming New Hampshire Liberty Forum. Come and hear John Stossel, Jack Cole of LEAP, Jim Harper of Cato and many more, and meet FSP members who have already made the move.
OK, sales pitch is over. :)
Dec 19, 2006
Front page news - Homeland Stupidity
Forrest Blank
Feb 01, 2007
As a resident of Alaska, its not all its cracked up to be. Within the last 10 years alone the state is moving to the left. Take the following as proof. Anchorage 2006: City bunglecrats pass ordinace making any child who is under the age of 18 and who rides a non-motorized bicycle without a helmet shall be fined upto $300. City approves another increase in funding to the Anchorage School District, tripling the funding over the last 4 years. Anchorage School District head bunglecrat Carol Comoue, agrees to the National Education Assocations terms of a one year contract including a 7% increase in pay and benefits, a health benefit of $500 to be paid to the NEA per month per member regardless wither the member uses the the health benefit or not, and allows the NEA to continue to not disclose how much funds are in their health benefit account. The NEA today authorized and passed a strike vote violating state law that requires that third party mediation must be completed before a strike vote can be authorized.
Too late my friend. I’m packing my bags and moving to NH in the Nov 07-Feb 08 time frame.
Jake Witmer
Feb 02, 2007
Yep, you can give me an axample of socialist garbage in AK, (as can I) and I can give you an example of socialist garbage going on in NH. YOu’re delusional if you think it’ll be easier there. Freedom is hard work wherever you do it, and I’ve never seen you at one of the weekly meetings, any time during 2005, and I was at virtually every single one of them. Does NH have weekly meetings?
One thing NH does have: numbers horribly skewed against freedom. There are waaaaaaaaaay fewer voters and offices to win than in AK (over 201 LP victories are needed in NH just to control the state leg.). have you even contacted Jason Dowell, or Zach Keeton in Alaska yet? If not, then move if you like, but don’t complain that Alaska isn’t moving towards freedom, if you won’t do anything to help it do so…
Have you helped out with “Stomp the Ban”? http://www.stomptheban.com –I bet you’ll be disappointed when you get to NH, if you’re expecting it to be an easy ride to freedom. It wasn’t ‘pro-freedom’ for Carl Drega.
But hey, it’s a free country (kind of), do what you like.
Scott Kohlhaas, running in district 20 got 97 votes in his State house race. There were 9655 registered voters in District 20. 3094 of them voted 1786 votes won for the Democrat. The Republican trailed with 1205. If someone could have paid me to stay I could have dragged him screaming and kicking into office. Anyone who walks upright, speaks English, and knows what AK voters are all about could have easily done so. His district is amazingly receptive to the Libertarian message.
I worked it hard before I got kicked out of the largest supermarket in his district. It would have been no problem at all, but Scott (yes, the candidate) INSISTED on calling the police (I guess to unthinkingly violate the storeowner’s property rights). If anyone had wanted to run and win office as a libertarian, they easily could have, and still can.
Sara Chambers proved that. She ran a professional campaign, and waltzed right into office, in a hotly contested race in Juneau. If the LP spent enough to hire myself, Eric Dondero, and two other “hardcore PR/petitioners” to move to AK for two years, we’d have victories within 2 years.
Nobody went door to door for Kohlhaas, and he ran a wretched race, focusing mostly on other activities. (And inserted foot into mouth at every opportunity. For instance, not standing for the pledge of allegiance at city council meetings, etc… Yep, virtually nobody’s a philosophical, thinking libertarian –but guess what!? Win office and be one anyway.) He didn’t listen to a single word his campaign manager said (and had no election smarts himself –he ran an educational campaign).
He could have won with some hard work and street smarts.
If you aren’t bringing hard work and street smarts to NH, what makes you think you’ll be successful there? If you do have them, they’d make a hell of a lot more difference in Alaska, plugged into the AK LP, with voters everywhere being about the same in any halfway free state. BTW, we just got online contributions up and running, and we’re redoing the website to be done this month. http://www.lpalaska.org
You can contribute cash if you can’t contribute hard work. it’ll go towards expanding our already rockin’ media coverage. Google: Anchorage smoking ban libertarian … You get info on our repeal initiative that gathered over 12,000 signatures, and successfully qualified the effort.
A lot has been happening in AK. We’d love to see you help out with it. The smoking ban repeal effort is shifting public opinion to our side. Show up at the next weekly meeting, at the Denny’s at DeBarr and Bragaw every wednesday evening in the conference room from 6pm – 7pm.
YOu don’t have to wait until you get to a vastly worse opportunity for individual freedom in NH to fight for freedom, you can start right now. Now’s the time.
Wish I was there now to help, but I’m making money out of State. Working for the LP can’t pay your bills too well.
But if you want freedom, and you have enough money or can make it easily anywhere, AK’s the place.
Scott Kohlhaas
Feb 17, 2007
Yup. No one could do it better than Jake! He fails to mention he abandoned Alaska (in spite of all his talk). He say’s if we paid him he would have done this or that but the truth is you could’nt even pay him to do the work that needed to be done. Talk, talk, talk. Worthless!
Jake Witmer
Feb 17, 2007
Hey there, Scott. It pains me to tell the truth on this one, because I don’t think you’re a bad guy (usually). In fact, I respect the fact that you figured out that freedom has to happen in Alaska. Unfortunately, you’re not the guy to do it, until you open your eyes and get serious about strategy. It may be that you simply can’t “get it”.
You hired Neal Boyd as a campaign manager, and then proceeded to waste any work he did. The problem with you Scott, is that you are a hard worker, but you do not know the first lick about what other people (the voters) are thinking. This is a common problem with Libertarians.
In a hardcore pro-gun, pro-marijuana, anti-tax, anti-eminent domain, anti-federal control state, you managed, repeatedly, and still to the current day, to find all of the issues that are confusing to Joe sixpack, and marginal at best, and all well below 15% public support within Anchorage.
Let’s recap:
1) Exempting Anchorage residents from draft registration (Which I was still naiive enough to work on)
2) Ending the curfew. (targeting those who are too young to vote, and encouraging “pied piper of Hamlin” criticisms)
3) Seceding from the Union (the one you’re currently working on, at this point in time) Talk about getting the cart in front of the horse!
As far as your campaign goes:
Neal Boyd – a “doer” in the US army, was your completely disrespected campaign manager. After months of abject neglect, he stole around $170 of your campaign dollars and used them to effectively get us media coverage. Money very well spent.
Here were some of his very legitimate complaints about you as a candidate.
1) You sat on a week’s worth of solid research that Boyd had collected about your race, demographics of your district, and opportunities, for a month, after refusing to meet with Boyd to plan an active and intelligent race.
2) You refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance during a local community meeting that you attended, as a candidate, making yourself look like an out-of-touch nutbar. (Yeah, I’m against meaningless oaths of allegiance too, but not at the expense of running a serious campaign.)
3) As far as I know, you never went door-to-door, nor did you have any desire to aggressively reach enough people to get elected. So why would I bother, in Alaska’s winter?
Anyone who was a pro-war domestic libertarian had absolutely no place in the party you ran. They were kept out, by your choice (even though the focus should OBVIOUSLY have been local issues where everyone agrees with us.)
Obviously, you couldn’t make it happen in Alaska. Ever since you were removed as chair (a process you tried to interfere with by sabotaging the convention, and calling the speakers and telling them not to show up once you realized there were enough votes to oppose you), the AK LP has moved forward, placing the smoking ban repeal on the ballot -An issue that might not be successful, but one that at least shot the AKLP to the forefront of the local media as a respectable political force.
If they lose the issue on election day, they will have still gained massive positive media attention.
The party is slowly recovering from your mismanagement and single-minded focus on the war to the exclusion of vastly more relevant local issues.
Your primary criticism of me is actually somewhat true, and I never said it wasn’t: I did need to make money, so I left. I still do need to make money. Without making a significant paycheck for myself, I had no real way of implementing my ideas in Alaska, while I was working for you.
Every excellent idea I had, you shitcanned, without a single thought. My ideas were and still are excellent. There were universally recognized as such when the party offered me the chairmanship, right before I left to make money in the lower 48. It was too little, too late.
When I return permanently to Alaska, libertarians will get elected within one year of my return.
Even though I am working out of state, I have had a greater impact than you have had, this last year. Moreover, as proof that I would be more productive than you, given a decent cash flow, take a look at the last time I went to Alaska:
1) A hot local issue made its way onto the ballot, and I and the others involved received massive POSITIVE media attention for our efforts. I gathered the first 500 signatures for the effort.
2) Neal Boyd successfully initiated the protest against the smoking ban. We all spoke in front of a crowd of supporters assembled at the city assembly meeting.
3) Zach Keeton made it happen the rest of the way, without the chairman standing in his way, full time.
4) I spent over 1,000 dollars on national party literature, and a new banner for the meetings, that was handed out at the AK state fair. I also bought the full-color district maps (and had them professionally laminated) for the state party, so if they cared to look professional and intelligent at their meetings (and office), they could do so.
5) I still talk to the people who are doing things in AK every couple of days, and we SOLVE PROBLEMS when we talk.
The chairman of any political party that has no executive director is its mouthpiece. You were silent on every issue that mattered. Therefore, the AKLP could not proceed forward with you at the helm.
That is my criticism of you. You are a horrible strategist.
You are very organized when you want to be, and can get a great amount of physical groundwork done. However, for you to be useful, you must be pointed in the right direction, and seem unable to set aside your personal desires to look objectively at strategy.
MOST libertarians have this defect. They are politically naiive, and unwilling to get serious about playing politics.
That said, the current AKLP people are taking dramatic steps in the right direction. Yes, there are still weaknesses, but at least the chairman goes to press releases, gets on the news, and represents us well. Moreover, he stays out of the way of those who are doing constructive work, and when he is asked to do something essential, he does it (usually).
More than can be said for the complete lack of vision during your tenure as chair.
Stick to fundraising and petitioning, Scott, or, start telling Alaskans what they want to hear about the Libertarian Party, and not the three or four things that make them think we’re NUTS (see above).
Having said that, I am making money faster than I ever have before. Soon, I will have fixed the mess of a life I had made for myself as a radical for capitalism, who was continually ordered into battles that didn’t need to be fought, to the exclusion of ones that did. I will finally be free of working for freedom under losertarians who have not the slightest idea what will cause the public to vote Libertarian, and what will not.
When I come back to Alaska, if it isn’t too late (in which case I’ll happily leave the country), Libertarians will quickly gain control the statehouse.
The Alaska State House is –far and away– the easiest one, by all meaningful numbers, in which to gain libertarian control. The fact that the LP hasn’t focused their resources on Alaska simply shows that libertarians do not really desire freedom. They’d prefer it, but they won’t fight for it like their lives depended on it.
Otherwise, they’d have it already.
This can be said od NH as well, where they need to win 201 State Legislative seats to have a simple majority. Not gonna happen. Prove me wrong, and I’ll jump for joy. I’m not often wrong. (In AK, 21 seats need to be won for that simple majority.)
-Jake