LIVING FREE: ‘Pro-liberty’ groups take different paths to goal

[ilaughatrightwingers]

New Hampshire has many attractions, from natural beauty to relatively low unemployment.

But for some, it’s the “Live Free or Die” image that has them packing up the moving van and heading to the Granite State.

In addition to an active state Libertarian Party, New Hampshire is home to several growing “pro-liberty” organizations that share many of the same ideals.

These include the Free State Project and the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, which take different approaches to the same goal: more freedom.

And then there’s Free Keene, a loosely arranged group of local residents who’ve caused quite a stir in recent months, most notably by playing a drinking game during a City Council meeting in August, which was the group’s way of protesting the city’s open container law.

Although the participants said they weren’t actually drinking beer, two members of the group were arrested during the meeting when they refused to let police inspect their beverages.

Free Keene often protests what participants call “victimless crimes,” such as public drinking and drug possession.

Free Keene member Heika M. Courser, 26, of Keene joined the group in June almost by accident, she said.

“I met some regulars (of the group) through work and started hanging out,” she said. “I met all these other people, and it was very cool, very fun, and we shared a lot of views and values.”

Courser became an activist in July, and has since been arrested twice; once on a charge of violating the open container law and once on a charge of obstruction of a public meeting, when she and other Free Keene members were protesting the open container law outside during a city meeting, Courser with a bullhorn.

She was sentenced to nine months in jail, which was suspended.

Courser’s new-found friends caused a rift between her and her other friends and her family, she said.

“I was actually uninvited from a friend’s wedding because they were worried about what the other guests would think,” she said. “After my first arrest some of my friends wouldn’t be seen in public with me. I’ve reconciled with some of them, but not so much with my family.

“It was shocking to them, because all of sudden I’m getting arrested and I’m in trouble with the law,” she said.

Courser toned down her actions recently, partially due to her suspended sentence, she said, and partially because of feedback she’s received.

She still attends protests around the state, and goes to court to support people facing charges of drug possession, she said.

But after the drinking game during the council meeting, Courser decided “to try it Keene’s way,” presenting a letter to City Council, asking the councilors to reconsider open container laws forbidding people from drinking alcohol in public.

Another Free Keener arrested after his involvement with the drinking game was Ian Bernard, 30, who goes by the name Ian Freeman. Bernard is the founder of the Free Keene website, freekeene.com, and hosts a syndicated radio talk show called “Free Talk Live.”

“I started Free Keene in 2006 to bring more coverage to the issues going on in this area,” Bernard said.

Bernard’s stance is that the American system of government is “antiquated, barbaric and thousands of years old.”

Bernard, who moved to New Hampshire from Sarasota, Fla., wants people to know there’s more to Free Keene’s agenda than overturning open container laws and promoting the legalization of marijuana.

“There’s really only one issue,” he said, “and that’s how people treat other people.”

Intimidation of others by threat of force is far too prevalent in society, Bernard said.

“Force is an acceptable thing to defend yourself,” he said. “But when it’s not okay is when it’s used to get someone to do something you want them to do for you.”

Modern-day slavery can be seen in federal income tax laws, Bernard said.

“Slavery hasn’t really gone away, it’s just not as brutal now,” he said. “When you have to give someone a portion of your earnings, they kind of own you, because they’ll throw you in jail if you don’t.”

Moving in

Free Keene’s practice of civil disobedience sets it apart from other organizations that also have libertarian ideals.

The Free State Project, which supports lower taxes, pro-gun laws, and the legalization of marijuana, announced in 2003 that New Hampshire had been chosen by its members as their future home.

The group does not endorse specific candidates or policies, however.

“It’s a fairly simple mission,” said Varrin L. Swearingen of Keene, president of the Free State Project, “and that is to attract 20,000 pro-liberty people to New Hampshire.”

The Free State Project website lists “101 Reasons to Move to New Hampshire,” including no sales tax, no mandatory seatbelt law for adults, no mandatory helmet law for motorcyclists, pro-gun laws, and having “the best representation of any state in the nation with a 400-member House of Representatives.”

Swearingen moved to Keene from California in 2004, but spends a lot of time overseas as an international airline pilot.

Some Free Keene members are also Free State Project members, and although Swearingen acknowledges a “common understanding” between the two, it’s possible Free Keene’s method of operation could be harmful to the Free State Project, he said.

“There’s a couple of concerns,” he said. “One is that their activism might detract from some people joining the Free State Project because they think it’s just people getting arrested and going to jail.

“The second concern is that the actions of Free Keene can lead to people already living here being turned off to the cause of more freedom, because all they see is rambunctious activity and drinking in Central Square,” he said.

The Free State Project prefers to work within the system, and has successfully done so, Swearingen said.

New Hampshire passed HB406 in 2006, which repealed the annual curriculum submission requirement for home schooling families, Swearingen said.

He also pointed to a bill passed earlier this year legalizing the sale and ownership of previously prohibited knives, such as stilettos, daggers and switch blades as a Free State Project success.

“It’s positive change caused by people that are Free State Project participants,” he said.

Change from within

The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance also chooses to work within the system, but in a different manner from the Free State Project.

“We’re really a watchdog,” said Eileen B. Landies, 45, of Bedford and the group’s chairwoman. “We monitor and rate every bill for liberty impact.”

The alliance publishes the weekly “Gold Standard,” which evaluates bills “based on their effects on civil liberties, personal responsibility, property rights, accountability, constitutionality, affordability, regulation, fiscal impact, and taxation,” according to the group’s website.

“We’re up there (in Concord) during every voting session, handing out materials to legislators,” Landies said. “We keep a record of how they vote and we grade their voting record.”

Originally from Ohio, Landies moved to New Hampshire seven years ago.

“I’ve always been fairly Republican/Libertarian-leaning,” she said. “I discovered (the alliance), and just felt I needed to get involved.”

Landies chose New Hampshire over Massachusetts because of its low taxes, individual freedoms and the comparatively transparent legislative process, she said.

She feels the term “liberty” gets a bad rap.

“There’s a knee-jerk reaction that we’re extreme or negative,” she said. “But I think the trend we’re seeing now is people wanting more self-governance, and more economic and personal freedoms.”

Separate, unequal

While that may be the case, historically the “pro-liberty” message hasn’t resonated with voters.

“The public is generally not supportive of these groups,” said Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center and associate professor of political science. “It hasn’t managed to have a real political impact.”

Breaking the two-party system is a tall order, Smith said.

“The Republicans and the Democrats have both been very good at subsuming political energy,” he said. “When they see a growing movement, they pull it into their own realm, like the Democrats with the MoveOn.org effort, and now the Republicans with the tea party.”

Support for the libertarian movement at large peaked in the 1990s, Smith said, and the Libertarian Party hasn’t had official party status in New Hampshire since then, meaning it’s not automatically entitled to a spot on the ballot.

Fighting for support

For the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, the battle is about more than space on the ballot; it’s about resources.

“All of these different groups are kind of competing for the same funding, activists, and attention,” said Richard Tomasso, chairman of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party. “It’s a double-edged sword. Obviously we want policy moving in a pro-liberty direction. But for our interests, we’d like to see more candidates under our banner.

“But we can appreciate that the movement as a whole is growing and getting attention,” he said.

While the Libertarians share some of the positions on issues as the tea party, there are significant differences, too, Tomasso said.

“That movement (the tea party) is in favor of a more aggressive foreign policy,” he said. “Some are in favor of smaller government except for things they like to spend money on, and there’s a fair amount of social conservatism in the tea party that we don’t always agree with.”

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate John Babiarz needed 4 percent of the state’s vote in order for New Hampshire to recognize the Libertarians as a major party, but he received just 2.5 percent, Tomasso said.

“We certainly like to think the message is catching on,” he said. “From our perspective, there’s a huge problem with media coverage. We’re either flat-out ignored or not getting the coverage we’d like.”

But Bernard isn’t buying the argument that Free Keene should direct its energy elsewhere.

“People claim you should pick your battles,” he said. “But I think sometimes those people don’t pick any battles at all.”

Courser still plans to fight her battles, but she’s prepared to take a balanced approach.

“Civil disobedience to a point is great,” she said. “Working within the system to a point can be great. I think you need a little of each.”
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http://www.keenesentinel.com/articles/2010/11/10/news/local/free/id_418142.txt

[BroccoliTowel]

1. freaks

freaks. they're all freaks.
You could be led into an oven to be killed and if your guard had a contract with your signature saying he could do it they'd be OK with it.

If there were a cure for cancer that had gold as an ingredient, the government would probably outlaw gold jewelry and other personal posession of gold, and these freaks would be against that too, regardless of how many lives it saves.