Category Archives: Libertarian

by David Webb

David Webb is a veteran journalist who has written for the mainstream and alternative media for three decades. He is now a freelancer who lives in the Cedar Creek Lake area. He is the editor of cedarcreeklake.com. E-mail story ideas to davidwaynewebb@yahoo.com.

The Henderson County Libertarian Party will host a discussion about proposed Texas legislation to legalize the medical use of marijuana at Cedar Creek Brewery, Sunday, April 9, 2017, at 3 p.m.

The event will include guest speaker Brook Bailey of DFW NORML, which is a marijuana advocacy group (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). Bailey also serves on the Texas Libertarian Partys Executive Committee, and she formerly served as chair of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party chapter.

Henderson County Libertarian Party Coordinator Desarae Lindsey said all are welcome at the event regardless of their political affiliations and views.

Even if people dont feel compelled to join our party, I hope they start to pay attention to what is happening in Austin, she said.

For information call 469-418-2757 or email henderson@lptexas.org

For information on NORML visit: https://www.texasnorml.org/

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Libertarian Party of Cedar Creek Lake to host NORML speaker - CedarCreekLake.com

Being Libertarian

The Chief's Thoughts: The Rule of Law and Liberty Being Libertarian Instead, we concern ourselves with this often-elusive concept of 'the rule of law', which is certainly not often discussed among libertarians. So why are a bunch of classical liberals so concerned with the rule of law, when we should all theoretically ...

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The Chief's Thoughts: The Rule of Law and Liberty - Being Libertarian

Issued today by the Libertarian Party National Chair:

The Libertarian Party denounces last nights strikes on Syria.

Purportedly these strikes were a retaliation for the release of a chemical agent which wounded and killed many Syrians earlier this week.

The use of chemical agents against civilians is abhorrent but, according to news reports, the cause of that chemical release is uncertain. It is believable that the Assad regime could have purposefully caused it but when war and peace are at stake, as they are now, we must not jump to conclusions, no matter how natural they may seem.

The situation in Syria is very complex. There is no clear, straight-forward path to peace. Additional air strikes will just kill more people and further inflame an already highly volatile situation.

For decades, the United States has pursued a foreign policy based on the idea that we can play policeman for the world. Time and time again we have seen this fail. Sadly, our intervention into Syria will be no different.

Launching missiles into Syria risks pitting the US against Russia in a proxy war. There is no way in which a proxy war can be beneficial for humanity, the United States, or Syria. Such a war will only elevate Russia on the world stage, further destroy Syria and Syrian lives, and cost the US many American lives and resources.

If the President wants to help the Syrian people, he should facilitate more refugees entering the United States to find safety here rather than demonizing them and hampering their escape from the dictator who is slaughtering them.

Since World War II, American foreign policy has been highly interventionist. This has dragged our country into many wars and conflicts that were not in the best interest of the American people. These wars and conflicts have cost many thousands of lives and billions of dollars and have not made the American people any safer. Our military is very powerful but these issues are too complex to be solved by military might.

The Libertarian Party calls for an end to interventionist foreign policy.

Specifically, the Libertarian Party recommends ending American military aggression in Syria and the rest of the Middle East. Our actions there, while meant to reduce terrorism, instead often serve as a rallying cry for terrorists and facilitate terrorist recruitment.

Nicholas Sarwark Chair, Libertarian National Committee

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National Libertarian Party Denounces US Air Strikes on Syria - Antiwar.com (blog)

Being Libertarian

The Third Largest Political Party: Why the LP Fails Being Libertarian The Libertarian Party often boasts of being the third largest political party in the United States, and seems to think that fact alone is something earned or worth being proud of. But I see it as merely a circumstance, and one that actually bodes ...

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The Third Largest Political Party: Why the LP Fails - Being Libertarian

Being Libertarian

Shortcuts Ampersand Delusions: Fun With the TSA Being Libertarian If a TSA agent is going to just check my waistband for whatever it is he decided he has to search me for, then I demand that he be at least slightly handsome and have breath that smells like something other than asparagus. The TSA agent's face was ... and more »

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Shortcuts Ampersand Delusions: Fun With the TSA - Being Libertarian

On Fridays St. Louis on the Air, Robb Cunningham, the Libertarian candidate for mayor of St. Louis, joined host Don Marsh to discuss his platform ahead of the general municipal election on April 4.

Cunningham makes his living as a saxophonist and considers himself a "rock n' roll Libertarian."

We spoke with Republican candidate Andrew Jones on March 27 and with Democratic candidate Lyda Krewson on March 22. In addition to our conversation with Cunningham on Friday, well also hear from the Green candidate for mayor and two independent candidates for mayor.

Robb Cunningham, the Libertarian candidate for mayor of St. Louis, joined St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh to discuss his platform.

On what "rock n' roll Libertarian" means:

"The rock n' roll part is that I'm willing to work and compromise. I'm not the smartest Libertarian, I'm not the richest Libertarian, I'm not the most politically-educated Libertarian. I consider myself a 'rock n' roll politician' in that I want to get things done and I want to get things done well. The Libertarian message and Libertarian philosophy works. That's the bottom line."

On his platform:

"My lead issue is racial trust. The fact white people are afraid of black people and black people are afraid of white people is just a generalization but unfortunately it is mostly true. The word racism means something different to black people than white people. ... We're going to have a conversation, we're going to get people together, we're going to make it big. We're going to have everyone in St. Louis invited to come in, black people and white people, talking about serious issues: racism, reparations issues, all these things that get people divided and get people heated up. It won't cost that much. We'll bring them into City Hall."

On poverty and violent crime:

"The whole idea of poverty is that we have to bring in jobs. Jobs don't come to St. Louis because of violent crime. Until we get violent crime together, we're not going to be able to talk about the jobs situation. This is one of my more controversial issues: I want to work with the gangs. The gangs aren't all bad. These aren't the guys making armed robberies in the Central West End to get $10 off somebody, but these guys know who these guys are, though. And these guys have more respect for these gangs than they do for the police or the government. If we can bring in the jobs after we bring down violent crime, bring down the murder rate, bringing the gangs to be involved and then we take the slack off possible drug sales. Get violence centered on and get off the drugs.

"We're not going to be chasing down or asking people to snitch about drug sales. If they can have drug sales from where we can bring down the murder rate, that causes murder. Whenever we start trying to get drug sales and getting people to snitch, that's where murders are coming from."

If you want to find out more about Cunningham's platform for mayor, you can find information here:https://www.facebook.com/RobbLibertarian/

St. Louis on the Airbrings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air hostDon Marshand producersMary Edwards,Alex HeuerandKelly Moffittgive you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

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Q&A with Robb Cunningham, the Libertarian candidate for mayor of St. Louis - St. Louis Public Radio

Being Libertarian

Maxime Bernier: is he the only true libertarian candidate? Being Libertarian To be sure, O'Leary is no Joe Clark, but neither is he a libertarian, let alone conservative. He described himself as an expansionist conservative, when speaking to John Ivison, Ottawa bureau chief for the National Post, judging from O'Leary's stated ... and more »

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Maxime Bernier: is he the only true libertarian candidate? - Being Libertarian

Being Libertarian

Shortcuts & Delusions: There Will Be Partisanship - Being Libertarian Being Libertarian If you follow cinema and politics as closely as I do, you should be able to see the analogies and allegories, the figurative dancing upon the literal, contained ... and more »

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Shortcuts & Delusions: There Will Be Partisanship - Being Libertarian - Being Libertarian

Libertarian Stevan Porter is launching a bid to unseat five-term Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-11th District.

Porter, a 48-year-old Herndon resident, announced March 23 that he plans to vie for the Libertarian nomination to challenge Connolly in the 2018 midterm elections. Connollys district covers most of Fairfax County, Fairfax City and some sections of eastern Prince William County.

The current two-party system has polarized our country to the point that meaningful progress is virtually impossible, Porter said in a statement. I will work respectfully with everyone for the good of all of us rather than simply doing what is expedient to keep my party in power.

Connolly ran unopposed in 2016, but Porter is now the second person with plans to challenge him next year Woodbridge resident Jeff Dove announced in Feburary that hed be seeking the Republican nomination.

In a release, Porter says he decided to run because he believes in smaller, more localized government; promoting individual liberty; and defending the equality of all people.

He also believes the nations $20 trillion debt represents one of the greatest threats facing our country today, and he worries that neither of the major parties has taken the necessary steps to reduce it.

Although their spending priorities vary, both Republicans and Democrats continue to embrace big government and deficit-enabled spending, Porter said. We will not be able to reverse our financial course overnight, but we must begin by taking a careful look at where we can responsibly reduce the scope and associated costs of federal programs. The current approaches of raising the debt limit or blindly slashing budgets through sequestration are not viable solutions.

Porter will have an uphill battle in defeating Connolly, however. The Democrat hasnt faced a competitive race since 2010, winning in 2014 by roughly 17 points and scoring a 25-point victory in 2012.

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Libertarian Stevan Porter running in 11th District congressional race - Inside NoVA

Over the weekend, Colorados Libertarian Party, which saw its membership swell in the run-up to the presidential election, rallied for its state convention.

This years theme was Liberty City if you could start from scratch, how would you create your Libertarian utopia? and took place at the Westin in Westminster.

The states third largest political party had a good year in 2016, seeing its membership crack more than 1 percent of registered voters statewide as Coloradans looked for candidates and affiliation outside the two major parties.

Because of that, the Libertarians 2016 U.S. Senate nominee, Lily Tang Williams, was allowed to participate in the first general election debate, held in Grand Junction by the West Slope business group Club 20.

On Election Day, the Libertarian presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, snagged 5.18 percent in Colorado with 144,121 votes one of his best showings of the cycle in a swing state.

Since the election, though, membership in the state party here has actually dipped. By November 1, 2016, the party counted 43,511 members in its ranks. As of the beginning of this month it had 43,441, according to the Secretary of States office.

That said, We had probably the best convention we ever had, says Castle Rock real estate broker Wayne Harlos, who was elected chair of the state party this weekend. We had more participation in this off-year convention than we had last year in an election year.

Harlos attributes the turnout to the conventions content and promotion. Seminars included Tactics for Defending Your Business from the Regulations, The Failed War on Drugs, Liberty and the African American, and When Helping is Hurting: Prostitution. Speakers included former Libertarian presidential candidate Steve Kerbel and Libertarian Nebraska Sen. Laura Ebke.

As for leadership changes, the party and Colorado lost two of its most prominent figures. Its former chairman, Jay North, is moving out of state, Harlos said.

And Williams, a Chinese immigrant who crisscrossed the state in 2016 as the partys fiery U.S. Senate candidate, is leaving Colorado for New Hampshire. She has joined the Free State Project, she says, which is a political migration movement urging 20,000 Libertarian-minded people to flock to the Granite State.

I think maybe I could be more effective here, she told The Colorado Independent from New Hampshire, saying it can be hard to compete in a state as populous and politically diverse as Colorado. (Williams earned 3.62 percent of the vote in the 2016 U.S. Senate election, with 99,277 voters casting ballots for her in the race.)

I know the Libertarian Party is doing great in Colorado, she said. They have a new board and are showing strong leadership. I think they will do great things.

Unlike neighboring Nebraska, Colorados state legislature doesnt have any Libertarians. But the party does count Beau Woodcock, the mayor of Milliken, in its ranks.

The national Libertarian Party was founded in Colorado Springs in the early 1970s.

Photoof Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson campaigning for president in Colorado by Corey Hutchins

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Colorado's new Libertarian Party chair: 'Probably the best convention we ever had' - The Colorado Independent