John Spivey on the Alan Ross Gay/Lesbian Pride Parade

My friend John Spivey, chair of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party, posted story on Facebook today.  I've written about participating in the Alan Ross Gay/Lesbian parade before, and if you've got the time I hope you'll hit this link just to look at the pictures.  Here's my first paragraph:

Since I didn't think our transvestite could walk the entire parade route, I agreed to walk beside the Alamo, which was a good thing, because two different people handed me Jello Shots while I was handing out flyers and freebies, and I couldn't hear myself think because our DJ's on top of the Alamo had AC/DC techno-mixes cranked up to ELEVEN, and most of the crowd was screaming and clapping and shouting, and it was sometimes hard to stay in line behind the gay choir and the bicyclists with Aids.

It was a fun, fun day. 

Rather than repost the same pictures, I'm gonna throw in some other protest pics that I've been saving for an occasion like this. 
Here's Big Daddy John Spivey on that event.  Enjoy ! 

So - Allen Patterson, Michelle, Richard Forsythe and a bunch of Tarrant County Libertarians helped out the Dallas County LP with their float in the Alan Ross Pride Parade - a huge gay event in Dallas. It's a big event each year - and we think it's a pretty good 'recruiting spot' for us as many, many gay folk are fiscally conservative and obviously, socially tolerant. To paint a picture for you...


We're in a float that is shaped like the Alamo, with a sign that says "Remember the Rainbow" (the Rainbow Lounge raid was big news then).

We had Jeff Daiell, an LP Gubernatorial Candidate on board with his wife. He's wearing a nice suit, she's in a conservative outfit. They're just wonderful folks. We also had an awesome DJ on board John John John-Ra Weidenfeller who was playing some AWESOME music. I particularly enjoyed the 'techno version of Strawberry Fields Forever'. We even had our own transvestite!

Well, we had a GREAT time in the parade, as we were behind a giant float with a jungle theme, which featured mean dressed as women dressed as animals. In bikinis. - We gave (threw) pens, candy and other LP logo'ed items.

 At the end of the parade, we were instructed to 'move along - not clog up the ending spot of the parade - and find a clear area to park.

 As I mentioned this is a huge event, so we had to drive around to find a spot. So, Allen and I were up on the rolling Alamo with Daiell and his wife - and John-Ra was still spinning tunes with an awesome (and loud) PA system. Well, we couldn't find a spot so we started driving down Cedar Springs.

We pulled into a Starbucks Parking lot where a REALLY drunk - and flambloyant - gay dude quickly climbed up onto the float and screamed, "Oh MY GOD - I LOVE LIBERTARIANS!!" And started to dance to the music.

He is introduced to Mr. Daiell and began - er, 'overhugging' him. Jeff is a great person and was very nice as this guy attached himself to him.

We had to move from this spot - and our stow-away got trapped on the float with us as we drove around a Tom Thumb parking lot - and as we were dodging low hanging tree limbs, on a giant Alamo, with a overhugging, techno dancing, drunken and very noisy gay guy, "120 BPM 'Strawberry Fields' blaring - - Allen Patterson looks at me and says as deadpan as can be, "You know, this kind of thing happens to me every day."

I've never taken LSD - but I now feel I don't have to. I had a completely sober psychedelic experience.
 
Seriously, you've got to hit this link and look at the parade pics.  It was a fun, fun day.
Here's a pic of me on parade day with some Spokesmodels for a product that doesn't really matter.
 

 

Libertarian Gubernatorial Debate, Southern Methodist University, February 16th 2010

I have about 5,000 good things to say about the Libertarian Gubernatorial Debate that was held at SMU last night. 
Any of the four Libertarian candidates for Texas governor, Jeff Daiell, Ed Tidwell, Steve Nicholls, or Katherine Youngblood Glass, would be a superior alternative to the gang leaders being offered by The Crips and The Bloods.  I'll try to post some opinions about each candidate later tonight. 

Here's what impressed me most, though.  Check out the SMU Libertarian website.  The Southern Methodist University Libertarians have divided up their organization into a variety of interest groups: NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws), GLBTA (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-, Transexual, and I have know idea what the "A" stands for, and I'm not going to speculate here), Tea Baggers (note the SMU mustang's tail on the logo), and Gun Rights.  They listed some other new goups in their intro to the debate, things like Austrian Economics.  This way they have a subdivision for kids who might be passionate about fighting Victim Disarmament Laws, but who might be lukewarm about economic issues.  Good idea. 

I sat behind some of their officers, and couldn't help overhear one particular conversation.  They were sitting in a pack, of course, and one of the leaders stood up and said "Hey, guys, look around this auditorium at all these people.  These are our potential group members.  Leaders don't sit and chat with each other at an event like this.  Let's get out there and mingle."  They got out there and mingled. 

Well said, sir.  We can be a traveling evangelist, or church preachers.  We need evangelists.     

8 or 9 kids were there from Allen, Texas.  They have a Libertarian Facebook group, and were at the debate simply because they're into it.  After the debate I walked with them back toward the parking garage and was pleasantly surprised at how well they caught the distinctive hot button characteristics of each candidate. 
BTW, more than one kid said told me that his/her parents were a bit cynical about their involvement with the Libertarians. 
Hang in there guys.  The Republicrats and Demoblicans are running up a huge bar tab on your credit cards, and I apologize for my generation and the one that came before me.  If you're really lucky, somebody will attack Pearl Harbor again and we can bomb some of our competitors back into the Stone Age and take all their property.  (Kinda joking, but I see no other way out.) 
Guess who the Allen High School Libertarians thought won the debate? 
Jeff Daiell. 
Jeff Daiell has read, researched, campaigned, and fought for the Libertarian Party for ages.  Jeff isn't in the best health and therefore is kind of frail looking, and he's got hair made for radio.   
And one of the Allen High School Libertarians said "Jeff Daiell rocked." 

Our children (my own little Aggie among them) are figuring this stuff out.  They know they're the ones who will have diminished lives if present trends continue. 
I was impressed with all four of our candidates for governor. 
I was blown away by the audience. 

Here's The Who, from 1965.  The Kids Are Alright. 



I feel better about my country than I did yesterday. Thank you, Texas gubernatorial candidates for putting yourselves out there for us.  Thank you SMU Libertarians and Dallas County Libertarians for hosting, Thank you Paul Peterson for moderating, and thanks to the Allen High School Libertarians for improving my outlook.

Harming In The Name Of Helping, from Jeff Daiell

From Jeff Daiell, a fellow Libertarian. I really can't think of anything to add to this:

This day, Labor Day, is the perfect day to reflect on how harshly Government deals with the working class and the poor.

Frederic Bastiat said, "The state is the great fiction by which everyone attempts to live at the expense of everyone else". It is also the great reality by which the privileged and the powerful become more privileged and powerful at the expense of small businesses and Labor.

How much higher would the standard of living of working men and women be were their tax burden not so high? Income tax, sales tax, property tax, both paid directly to Government and in the form of higher prices on goods and services, all reduce that standard.

How much higher would the real incomes of men and women in the workforce be were there no laws and regulations reducing (in some cases, eliminating) competition among businesses, when such reduced competition means fewer jobs and thus lower wages?

How much farther up the income ladder could the children of working individuals rise were education a matter for the private sector, given that government schools favor the children of the already-affluent?

How much healthier would members of the working class be if government did not restrict entry into the healing professions, making health care and health insurance unaffordable to so many?

How much safer would working-class neighborhoods be if authorities did not legislate what substances we may or may not ingest, given that such legislation benefits organized crime and reduces the ability of law enforcement to combat murder, rape, burglary, and child molestation?

There are so many more examples, but the point is: Government works on behalf of the wealthy and works against the rest of us -- small businesses, the middle class, Labor, and the poor.

So next year, vote to protect working men and women, by voting to eliminate the statutes and regulations that harm them; vote to benefit the employed by moving politicians and bureaucrats into the ranks of the un-employed.

For Texas and Liberty,

Jeff Daiell

Go here to read Mr. Daiell's blog.