Earlier today, a Facebook/twitter friend of mine, Pete Eyre, was arrested in New Hampshire, the so called “Free State”, where the State Motto is “Live Free or Die”. Pete came to my attention through his work with the MotorHomeDiaries, and has continued that work with LibertyOnTour, among other projects.
His offense?
He wore a “Don’t Tread On Me” hat in the courtroom.
From what I have been told, this rule was posted NOWHERE, and in fact there is a photo from the same courtroom minutes after Pete had been arrested showing a cop wearing a hat in the exact same courtroom.
Here’s the video:
Please check out CopBlock.org/FreePete and FreePete.org, and spread the awareness of this illegal arrest. They have a Facebook/twitter avatar you can adopt (as I have) and ask that you use the twitter hashtag #FreePete to keep track of the discussion. IF you are so inclined, those two sites also have contact information for the local constabulary and judicial systems, and are asking that you express your polite displeasure at this injustice in the most persistent manner you can.
Let’s get Pete where he belongs – out promoting Liberty in everything he does. Not behind bars in a cage because he dared commit a fashion faux pas.
As an added bonus, check out this video a Republican Liberty Caucus friend sent me:
My Facebook feed has lit up today with the news that one of the co-founders of the Libertarian Party, David Nolan, has died today.
Nolan’s contributions to the liberty movement in the United States cannot be stated enough. He was a true man of principle that I never got to meet, but read much of his writings and knew many who knew him. In addition to co-founding the Libertarian Party (indeed, the LP’s official history page shows that the Party was founded in his home), he also developed the Nolan Chart, a more accurate reflection of the political spectrum than the traditional left-right paradigm.
What many outside the LP may not know is that one of his final actions in this life ended nearly three weeks ago when he ran against John McCain for a spot in the US Senate from Arizona and got nearly 5% of the vote. He was also on the Libertarian National Committee as an At Large Representative, and was driving home from a LNC meeting in Louisiana this weekend when he had a stroke and died.
I don’t know what kind of man David Nolan was outside of politics, but inside politics he was an inspiration to many and will be deeply missed.
[UPDATE]: Per Brad Ploeger’s FB wall, we now learn of a resolution David Nolan introduced and had passed shortly before his death yesterday:
“WHEREAS the Libertarian Party can grow only by attracting new members and supporters, and
WHEREAS libertarianism is a unique political philosophy, distinct from both contemporary liberalism and contemporary conservatism, and
WHEREAS we need the support of both former liberals and former conservatives who have come to realize that libertarianism and the Libertarian Party offer a better path to achieving a just, humane and prosperous society.
The Libertarian National Committee hereby resolves that our party, its representatives and staff should always state clearly and unequivocally that we welcome individuals from across the political spectrum who now accept the libertarian principles of self-ownership and non-aggression.”
-Passed by Unanimous Vote of the Libertarian National Committee, November 21, 2010.
I don’t write about National issues that often, for a variety of reasons. Recently, however, one has come up that I decided I wanted to be very frank about.
That issue, if you couldn’t guess from the title, is the Transportation “Security” Administration’s recent decision to begin use of backscatter X-ray machines and enhanced pat down techniques. The first is basically government-sanctioned porn that allows a “security” agent to view beneath clothing to the skin of the person in the machine – and store the images. The second allows a “security” agent to rub a person’s genitals, rather than “lightly” touch them as under older regulations.
Since I first met my wife nearly four years ago, I’ve been trying to get her to fly. There are some places we’d like to go that quite frankly, a flight would be much simpler than driving. I will no longer persue this, and I ask every other man in America to join me with one simple premise:
I am the only person that gets to see my wife nude.
Obviously, this doesn’t apply for doctors or other emergency personnel with a valid reason, or any persons we may choose to allow into our bedroom. (Up front here, that second one isn’t going to happen with us, but I mention it to allow for other couples who may feel differently there.)
I consider it my number one duty as a husband to ensure my wife’s physical safety. Everything else pales in comparison to that one duty. I will NOT allow some stranger who happens to have the sanction of the government I live under to molest her for ANY reason – and I will oppose them using any force necessary. I am not a violent man, and I prefer the path of peace when it is an option. But if violence is necessary to protect my wife, I will be the coldest, most ruthless son of a bitch you have ever seen, if that is what it takes.
It is not the government’s job to ensure my wife’s safety – it is mine. It is the government’s job to prosecute criminals after the crime has been committed – including the crime of sexual assault (and, in the case of minors, child pornography/child molestation/sexual exploitation of a child) that the TSA now allows.
I encourage those who fly to file improper arrest charges, as well as those above, on any TSA agent who uses these techniques and any of their superiors who allow them to. After all, proper law enforcement officers – from your local PD all the way to the Federal Bureau of Investigation – have to have a proper warrant showing probable cause that a crime has been committed signed by a sitting judge in order to do similar invasive searches.
As it currently stands, I can protect my wife from these government-sanctioned molesters and perverts by simply refusing to fly – and so I shall.
Sanford Bishop was supposedly untouchable. A prominent Georgia Republican once told me that a challenge against Bishop wouldn’t get backing from the national level due to the demographics of the GA-2. However, a week ago, Mike Keown damn near nuked Bishop due to voter outrage over things like health care “reform” and TARP I and II. Things definitely shifted. Continue reading Second District rumors: The next candidate?
The following was originally posted over at TomKnighton.com. Yeah, I’m writing a lot more over there but it’s because I’m working more on national level stuff. While the politics of SWGA is still important to me, my focus has been to try and work more on national level issues. If you haven’t yet, please come check it out!
Having a conversation with someone recently, the phrase “gun show loophole” came up. In all fairness, it was a conversation about guns and gun control, so the phrase wasn’t completely random. Unfortunately, as I pointed out to the individual in question, it is mythical. Why’s that you ask? Because there isn’t one. Continue reading There isn’t a gun show loophole
In a recent poll, CNN found that 68% of Americans oppose the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque”. Never mind the fact that it’s not actually on Ground Zero. Never mind that the mosque isn’t exactly new to that community. Let’s ignore all that and make decisions based on emotion, regardless of property rights. Make no mistake folks, this is all this is about. Continue reading Property Rights: An American Anachronism
As some of you know, in 2004 Massachusetts became one of the first States to full-on legalize gay marriage. Under State law there, there is no legal difference whatsoever between a heterosexual marriage and a homosexual one. Obviously, religious groups in the State are free to adhere to different standards, except where they act as an employer.
The problem comes from the fact that there, as in Georgia, many of the citizens are employees of the Federal government – which, per the Defense of Marriage Act passed in the 90s, does not offer benefits to same sex couples.
Therefore, postal workers and other Federal employees cannot place their same-sex spouses on their benefits package, such as employer-provided insurance.
One such couple sued, and a US District Court Judge whose district apparently only encompasses Massachusetts has ruled in the couples favor that the DOMA “interferes with the right of a state to define marriage”.
That quote, in particular, is what makes this interesting politically regarding the 10th Amendment. [Continue Reading]
I normally think of celebrities talking about current issues as I would anyone else – they’re just normal people like you and me expressing an opinion. May or may not be correct, may or may not be actually based on facts, etc etc etc.
That said, when I know a person has a background in a particular field – regardless of whether they are a celebrity or not – I give their opinion a bit more weight than I do some random guy off the street. For example, when a guy tells me he served in the General Assembly for a decade and proceeds to tell me something about the inner workings of the Assembly, I give him a bit more credibility than someone who may or may not know that the General Assembly is the State of Ga’s Legislative branch of government.
Trace Adkins is a country music singer whose music I have been a fan of for quite a while. His biggest “crossover” hit has been “Honkytonkbadonkadonk” – a song you may have been as likely to hear in a dance club in Buckhead as on B100 in Albany. He also worked as a crewdog in the oil industry for a decade before becoming a famous country singer, and 6 of those years he spent working a rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper recently had him on his show, and this is what he had to say: [Continue Reading]
What follows originally appeared earlier today at TomKnighton.com. I hope everyone comes on over and checks it out.
No, I’m not talking about secession or anything of the sort. I’m talking about a different sort of union, the kind that has managed to all but kill the automotive industry in this nation, and is trying to kill any other business out there that they can get their hands on. You know the kind I’m talking about. Continue reading Severing the union
It has come to my attention in recent weeks just how stark the difference is between Rick Allen and Mike Keown.
The primary difference, to me, is that Keown is clearly the GOP establishment’s candidate. Keown, after all, is the one that took the trip to DC with Don Cole to have the NRCC decide which of the two of them should be the GOP nominee – even AFTER Lee Ferrell had already announced his candidacy, and while Cole was still the 2nd District GOP Chairman, which is a clear violation of GOP rules banning GOP officials from taking sides in a primary battle. Indeed, the “Cole Question” at the Lee County GOP Breakfast in April was specifically designed to embarrass every other candidate besides Keown, and several inside the GOP have privately decried the action – even many who support Keown.
Keown is also vocally supported by Brad Hughes, who became the new 2nd District GOP Chairman when Cole resigned amidst the controversy of being publicly condemned by Ferrell for his violation of GOP rules. In other words, Hughes is ALSO taking sides in a primary battle.
But both Cole and Hughes pale in comparison to (until recently) Grady County GOP Chairman Jason Sellars. [Continue Reading]
