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Category Archives: Libertarian

Libertarian Gary Johnson once climbed Everest, but that might be only second-highest hurdle

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MOBILE, Alabama At 61, Gary Johnson is a competitive skier, has climbed Mount Everest and wants to climb the highest peak on all seven continents.

His climbed Everest the tallest mountain in the world on a broken leg in 2003. But another goal might prove to be an even higher hurdle: Getting elected president of the United States as a Libertarian.

The former two-term governor of New Mexico who ran as a Libertarian in 2012 is not a candidate in 2016 yet. But he sounded like one as he worked the room at The Bull restaurant in downtown Mobile on Monday while soliciting donations for his organization, Our America Initiative.

I was born with an overdose of common sense, he told a crowd of about 20 as he shared his views on the economy, health care, foreign policy and social issues.

Johnson apparently also was born with a healthy dose of self-confidence. He predicted he would be a wildly successful president.

Johnson will attend a fundraiser in Montgomery Tuesday afternoon before participating in a forum on environmental policy at the University of Alabama at Birminghams Blazer Hall at 6 p.m. He will close out his Alabama trip at a fundraiser at Riverchase Country Club in Birmingham.

Diehard supporters would like to see Johnson give the presidency another shot. A Change.org petition to draft him has garnered 1,170 signatures.

Dennis Knizley, a Mobile lawyer who serves on the Alabama Libertarian Party Executive Committee, noted that Johnsons experience in high office sets him apart from many other of the partys candidates.

To the Libertarians, hes a godsend, he said.

Libertarians remain longshots

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Libertarian Gary Johnson once climbed Everest, but that might be only second-highest hurdle

N.L.P.D.: Non-Libertarian Police Department

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DavidsonScott15/Flickr

On March 31, The New Yorker published an item in its humor vertical, Shouts & Murmurs, titled "L.P.D.: Libertarian Police Department." At least 31,000 people liked it.

I can laugh along with parodies of libertarian ideology. But shouldn't a reductio ad absurdum start with a belief that the target of the satire actually holds?Tom O'Donnellproceeds as if libertarians object to the state enforcing property rightsthat is to say, one of the very few state actions that virtually all libertarians find legitimate!If America'ssheriffs were all summarily replaced by Libertarian Partyofficials selected at random, I'm sure some ridiculous things would happen. Just not any of the particular things that were described.

That isn't to say that there weren't parts of the article that made me laugh.It got me thinking too.If the non-libertarian approach to policing* was the target instead, would you need hyperbole or reductio ad absurdum? Or could you just write down what actually happens under the officials elected by non-libertarians?It is, of course, hard to make it funny when all the horrific examples are true.

* * *

I was just finishing up my shift by having sex with a prostitute when I got a call about an opportunity for overtime. A no-knock raid was going down across town.

"You're trying to have your salary spike this year to game the pension system, right?" my buddy told me. "Well, we're raiding a house where an informant says there's marijuana, and it's going to be awesomewe've got a $283,ooo military-grade armored SWAT truckandthe kind offlash grenades that literally scared that one guy to death."

"Don't start without me," I told him. "I just have to stop by this pawn shop. It's run by some friends of mine from ATF. They paid this mentally disabled teenager $150 dollars to get a neck tattoo of a giant squid smoking a joint. Those guys are hilarious."

But when I got to the shop the guys weren't in any mood to joke aroundsomething about having lost their gunsagain. That meant I had extra time to get to the raid. En route, I headed through a black and Latino neighborhood, and who did I see on the street? A teenage male who made what I would describe as a furtive movement.

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N.L.P.D.: Non-Libertarian Police Department

N.C. Libertarians meet to discuss next primary candidates

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By Nick Niedzwiadek | Published 22 hours ago

DURHAM As Republicans battle for Sen. Kay Hagan's seat ahead of the May primary, the state Libertarian Party is trying to provide an alternative to Democrats and Republicans.

Prospective candidates Tim DAnnunzio, abusinessman, and Sean Haugh , the former executive directorof the N.C. Libertarian Party, participated in a forum in Durham during the state LibertarianConvention this weekend . About 40 people attended.

The Libertarian Party will hold a primary on May 6, its first since the 2000 gubernatorial election.

Libertarians, which makes up less than 23,500 registered voters out of 6.5 million in the state, is theonly third party officially recognized on the ballot in North Carolina.

DAnnunzio and Haugh are part of acrowded field vying for the U.S. Senateseat currently held by Hagan. Including Hagan, there are 13 candidates running forher seat as this will be one of the most competitive Senate races in the2014 election.

The deadline to register to vote in the Democratic, Republican or Libertarianparty primaries is Friday. The general election will be held Nov. 4.

At the convention, D'Annunzio and Hugh discussed the chances of a Libertarian candidate attracting media and popular attention during the election.

I'll be able to bring up the points and bringout the contrast between me and the Democratic or Republican candidates, DAnnunzio said.

Haugh said he would also focus on the contrast between mainstream and Libertarian Party platforms.

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N.C. Libertarians meet to discuss next primary candidates

Rand Paul considering expanded whistleblower laws for contractors

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Orlando, Florida (CNN) Speaking to a libertarian-leaning audience Sunday about ex-contractor Edward Snowden, Sen. Rand Paul said hes thinking about ways to "expand the whistleblower statute to government contractors."

Weve got so many millions of government contractors that when they see something wrong, they should be able to report it without repercussions, he said in a live video appearance to a Florida conference hosted by the Campaign for Liberty.

The libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky, whos repeatedly said he has mixed emotions on the issue, has taken some heat from some in the libertarian base. While he thinks Snowdens efforts did a service to the country by disclosing the depth of data collection programs by the National Security Agency, Paul still believes Snowden broke the law and has said he deserves a few years in prison.

Many libertarians, however, consider Snowden a hero. In fact, his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, praised the ex-contractor Friday night in a speech at the same Florida conference.

I think we should praise our whistleblowers, Ron Paul said to applause, adding people like Edward Snowden should be rewarded.

While its not new that Ron Paul has been more supportive of Snowden than his son, Rand Pauls consideration of expanding protections for whistleblowers is an approach that would appeal to those in the libertarian base.

Paul, who's mulling a presidential bid, said he still believes there needs to be some state secrets, but there also needs to be a whistleblower program for people to have a venue.

Snowden faces felony charges of espionage and theft of government property in the United States, and he has said he won't return until the U.S. changes its whistleblower protection laws.

Snowden said last month that hes not protected under the 2012 Whistleblower Protection Enhancement, nor by an executive directive made by President Barack Obama two years ago that reformed whistleblower legislation but exempted intelligence community contractors.

The Washington Post ran a fact-check on Snowdens claims and found the Presidents directive, which has been open to interpretation, appears to offer some protections to contractors but those provisions lack clarity, especially on the topic of retaliation.

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Rand Paul considering expanded whistleblower laws for contractors

Paul's remarks prompted by Snowden's statements on protections for government contractors

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ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -

Speaking to a libertarian-leaning audience Sunday about ex-contractor Edward Snowden, Sen. Rand Paul said he's thinking about ways to "expand the whistleblower statute to government contractors."

"We've got so many millions of government contractors that when they see something wrong, they should be able to report it without repercussions," he said in a live video appearance to a Florida conference hosted by the Campaign for Liberty.

The libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky, who's repeatedly said he has "mixed emotions" on the issue, has taken some heat from some in the libertarian base. While he thinks Snowden's efforts did a service to the country by disclosing the depth of data collection programs by the National Security Agency, Paul still believes Snowden broke the law and has said he deserves "a few years in prison."

Many libertarians, however, consider Snowden a hero. In fact, his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, praised the ex-contractor Friday night in a speech at the same Florida conference.

"I think we should praise our whistleblowers," Ron Paul said to applause, adding "people like Edward Snowden" should be rewarded.

While it's not new that Ron Paul has been more supportive of Snowden than his son, Rand Paul's consideration of expanding protections for whistleblowers is an approach that would appeal to those in the libertarian base.

Paul, who's mulling a presidential bid, said he still believes there needs to be some state secrets, but there also "needs to be a whistleblower program for people to have a venue."

Snowden faces felony charges of espionage and theft of government property in the United States, and he has said he won't return until the U.S. changes its whistleblower protection laws.

Snowden said last month that he's not protected under the 2012 Whistleblower Protection Enhancement, nor by an executive directive made by President Barack Obama two years ago that reformed whistleblower legislation but exempted intelligence community contractors.

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Paul's remarks prompted by Snowden's statements on protections for government contractors

Today’s SCOTUS Ruling, Plus a Bitcoin Joke & a new Libertarian Sitcom: GNFSG – Video

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Today #39;s SCOTUS Ruling, Plus a Bitcoin Joke a new Libertarian Sitcom: GNFSG
http://cathyreisenwitz.com/blog @CathyReisenwitz Want more good news? Donate! 1FXPe7rStkCkn6juPnrmy96FH3KXJVbnfx http://www.juancole.com/2014/04/troops-kille...

By: Cathy Reisenwitz

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Today's SCOTUS Ruling, Plus a Bitcoin Joke & a new Libertarian Sitcom: GNFSG - Video

Libertarian state convention starts Friday in RTP

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The state Libertarian Party convention starts Friday, bringing party candidates for U.S. Senate, the legislature, and county commissioner boards to the Triangle.

This is a big year for Libertarians in North Carolina. The party has two candidates facing off in the U.S. Senate primary: Tim D'Annunzio of Raeford, who twice tried for the U.S. House as a Republican, and Sean Haugh of Durham, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2002. This is only the second primary in the state partys history, said spokesman Brian Irving, and the first since its 2000 primary for governor.

DAnnunzio and Haugh will participate in a forum at 4 p.m., Saturday, at the Hilton Garden Inn, 4620 S. Miami Blvd. in Research Triangle Park. Barry Smith of the Carolina Journal will moderate.

Libertarian candidates for federal, state and local offices will appear at a press conference Friday at noon.

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Libertarian state convention starts Friday in RTP

Libertarian's request to be on Ohio ballot denied

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Rescue operations halted for man in Great Miami River Rescue operations halted for man in Great Miami River

Updated: Friday, April 4 2014 9:10 PM EDT2014-04-05 01:10:38 GMT

Updated: Friday, April 4 2014 9:08 PM EDT2014-04-05 01:08:16 GMT

Updated: Friday, April 4 2014 8:27 PM EDT2014-04-05 00:27:32 GMT

Updated: Friday, April 4 2014 6:49 PM EDT2014-04-04 22:49:29 GMT

Updated: Friday, April 4 2014 6:27 PM EDT2014-04-04 22:27:11 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court has denied a request from a Libertarian candidate who was seeking to force the state's elections chief to place his name on primary ballots.

Last month, Secretary of State Jon Husted (HYOO'-sted) disqualified attorney general candidate Steven Linnabary from the May 6 ballot. Linnabary's nominating petitions were successfully challenged on two grounds: that a signature gatherer failed to comply with Ohio law requiring that he be either Libertarian or politically independent and another requirement that he disclose his employer.

Linnabary's attorneys said the man who protested the petitions lacked the standing to do so. They also argued that the state law does not require certain petition circulators to disclose employment because they are independent contractors.

The high court said Thursday that Husted reasonably interpreted the law.

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Libertarian's request to be on Ohio ballot denied

Federal court might be next for Libertarians wanting on ballot

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The Daily Briefing Buckeye Forum Podcast

The Dispatchpublic affairs team talks politics and tackles state and federal government issues in the Buckeye Forum podcast.

A federal appeals court likely represents the last chance for Libertarian candidates for governor and attorney general to appear on the statewide ballot.

The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld a ruling by Secretary of State Jon Husted denying Steven Linnabary the chance to run for attorney general.

Linnabarys election petitions and those from the Libertarian Partys gubernatorial slate were disqualified by Husted because paid circulators who gathered voter signatures failed to disclose their employer on the petitions.

The justices ruled that Husteds interpretation of state law was reasonable in rejecting Linnabarys argument that one of his circulators was an independent contractor, rather than an employee, and not required to list an employer.

The court also found no substance to other issues raised by Linnabary, a Columbus resident, including claims that the First Amendment free-speech and due-process rights were violated.

We are disappointed. This is the first time that qualified candidates were cut off at the threshold because their circulators did not disclose their employment. This deprives Ohio voters of choice, and this is neither right nor fair, said Mark G. Kafantaris, a Columbus lawyer representing Linnabary.

Charlie Earl, the Libertarian candidate for governor, and Linnabary are asking the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a decision by a federal court judge denying them a spot on the ballot.

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson of Columbus ruled against the would-be candidates, ruling that Ohios petition-circulation law places only a minimal burden on free speech.

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Federal court might be next for Libertarians wanting on ballot


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