The Tarrant County Libertarian Party goes to the Fort Worth Gay Pride Parade AND WINS !!

Howdy. 

The Tarrant County Libertarian Party has long advocated something that I call the Spivey Doctrine.  My friend, and predecessor as county chair, John Spivey, believes that we should go after some of society's sub-groups called "The Four G's".  They would be the Gold, Grass, Guns, and Gays.  (Federal Reserve enemies, marijuana legalizers, 2nd Amendment devotees and Gays/Lesbians.)

I prefer "The 5 B's" - Stay away from my bed, beer, bourbon, babies, bullets and bongs.  But that's quibbling. 

About two months ago, we decided to participate in the Fort Worth Gay Pride parade, to help improve our relationship with that fourth G.  We've been in the Dallas equivalent for years, and thought it time to bring it home.  (Hit this link and this link for some of our better experiences.) 

We worked really hard on this thing, within the constraints of a relatively small budget, of course. 

And we won.  We won Best Not-For-Profit entry.

 Lockheed-Martin, the military contractor, won for Best Business/For-Profit entry.  They had a float with little jets that looked like they were hand made by Obama's Drone-Makers. 

It was an amazing day for us.  We pushed the envelope just a bit by having Dez Lehman, a Dallas Libertarian and cabaret singer/performer, entertain from the top of our float.  That guy worked that crowd like you cannot imagine.  Dez owned that parade. 

In case you're wondering, I'm the guy on the left.  I don't look good in feathers. 

 

Here's Dez with long-time Libertarian and Gary Johnson Texas campaign manager, Elizabeth Miller.  

Here's what we did with the front of Richard Forscythe's pickup.  Two brides and two marriage equality signs. 

Ken Stanford, flying the colors. 

That's one big fat honking Marriage Equality sign. 

 

And we're off.  You really don't get the flavor of this thing without hearing all the attendees screaming "LIBERTARIANS!  HELL YEAH!!!" and "THE LIBERTARIAN ARE HERE!  HOLY F**K!!" 

Plus Dez singing like the world was gonna end.  We had the only genuine music system in the parade.  That always helps.  That's Mike and Shayna Coyne walking beside the float. 

We had kids, politicians, moms, you name it.  All on the float, and dancing. 

 

More than one obsessive-compulsive person commented that our letters weren't "straight".  I just told them that it was a gay parade. 

That's the lovely Teresa Rushing, Tarrant LP Exec Committee Member-at-large. 

You cannot imagine the sheer, undiluted joy that this contraption brought to the crowd in downtown Cowtown.  I wish I could do this again today. 

 

Here's what the Democrat Party had to offer.  Gays and Lesbians, I think someone is taking your loyalty for granted....

 

Here are the Stonewall Democrats. 

Here's John Spivey with Dez.  Both of 'em looking good, don't you think?

We're definitely doing this again next year, and we'll have the float led and followed by our candidates with campaign signs. 

 

Lord have mercy, this was a fun day. 

 

Spiveypalooza

Thousands of Tarrant County bureaucrats, jailers, drug warriors and regulators, feeling a sudden decrease in pressure, slowed down to a crawl, thought about putting their feet on their desks, but then realized they might once again be able to go about their burdensome jobs in peace….


Somewhere in the dark satanic entrails of the Trinity River Vision Authority, J.D. Granger felt a disturbance in The Force. The immense boondoggle known as the Trinity River Vision/Lake Granger just came a little closer to happening…

Ben Bernanke’s printing press on Blue Mound Road, also known as the U.S. Bureau Of Printing And Engraving, started churning out counterfeit currency a little bit faster….

Fort Worth’s big government Republicans and anti-civil liberties Democrats popped corks and proposed toasts….

And Lady Liberty shed a tear, knowing that one of her most devoted sons was moving on to fight elsewhere….

John Spivey is moving to Colorado.

I repeat….John Spivey is moving to Colorado.

We’re going to celebrate the work he’s done with the Tarrant County (and State) Libertarian Party on Tuesday, October 2nd, at the Zio Carlo Brewpub, from 7:00 until they run out of beer. They’re located at 1001 West Magnolia in Fort Worth.

John Spivey was Tarrant County LP Chair from 2006 to 2012. He’s served on the State Libertarian Executive Committee. He put together our recent LP Presidential Debate. We’re going to thank Spivey for taking us to a place where we now have one of the most active counties in the state. And we’re going to keep on going and growing. After all, Barack Obama has almost run out of other people’s money.

We’re going to hand out additional quantities of yard signs and door hangers.

We’re going to discuss how many Cabinet-Level Departments that Mitt Romney has pledged to close as compared to Obama (none).

We’re going to rant about the Federal Reserve, the Drug War, the Porkulus Package, the bans on Gay and Lesbian Marriage, your right to carry a pistol, ObamaCare, Eminent Domain, Gary Johnson, the National Debt, the Constitution, Ron Paul, and everything else that somebody wants to talk about. We’re going to laugh. We’re going to cry. Because John Spivey really is moving to Colorado.

John Jay Myers is now polling at 6%. Gary Johnson is anywhere from 4-7%. Republicans and Democrats are now fighting to keep us off what they think of as “their” ballots. Ken Stanford might win his race for Tax Assessor! Gary Johnson just might take New Mexico away from one of the Obamneys !!

A lot of this can be laid at the feet of John Spivey. Come say goodbye to this fine, fine man with us on Tuesday night, October 2nd. Zio Carlo Brewpub. 7:00 p.m. 1001 West Magnolia in Fort Worth.

“Before Elvis, there was nothing.” – John Lennon

More from the Texas State Libertarian Convention

My buddy John Jay Myers won a 6-way race for U.S. Senate.  He'll be going up against Dewhurst or Cruz from the Republican camp. 

Patrick Dixon won a hard-fought race for State Chair.  Tom Glass is Vice-Chair.  Gary Johnson (not the presidential candidate) is Secretary.  Mike Burrus is Treasurer. 

Another buddy of mine, Peter Cox, is going to be on the State Legislative Executive Committee with me.  As my daughter would say, "He's good people to know." 

Big Daddy John Spivey will no longer be on SLEC.  He will miss the parliamentary wrangling, I'm sure. 

My Co-Tarrant folks, Mikey Coyne and Jeff Lippincott, wanted this playing in the background as you read this.  Enjoy. 

The Tarrant County Libertarian Party has a new chair.

Big Daddy John Spivey has been the Tarrant County Libertarian Party chair for 6 years. 
He has done one heck of a job. 
Now he's stepping down.  He'll still be on the county executive committee, and the state executive committee, but he hopes to spend more time on some of his other passions. 

Thank you, John, for 6 years of great work !

After John's resignation today, the County Executive Committee got down to the business of Spivey's replacement.  They decided on....me. 

This is going to be a fun, fun year.
 
I can't remember a better year of opportunity for the Libertarian Party.  Obama has given us a 3-year primer on the non-effectiveness of Statism, the Republicans seem determined to nominate Mewt, and there are going to be a lot of voters looking for an alternative to whatever those two groups put out there.  We've got some great candidates on our ballot for statewide and local positions this year, but could always use more.   (see my previous post.  And hurry !!)   

I'll probably be writing a lot more about local issues, and posting fewer pictures of Obama picking his nose.  It's time to get serious about this thing. 

We're going to need a lot of help.  If you'd like to get involved, you can go here to join the Tarrant County Libertarians on Facebook.  Here's our Tarrant Libertarian Meetup page.   And here's the official Tarrant County Libertarian Party website. 

So what's the Libertarian Party about?  Here's something from our state website:

It's very simple: Let people live their own lives as they want and get the government out of our business. The Libertarian Party of Texas bases its philosophy on these core principles:


CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. You, as stated by our nation's Founding Fathers, have the inalienable right to live, be free and prosper to your fullest potential without hindrance from any person or entity. You have the freedom to pursue your happiness as long as you respect others' rights to pursue theirs.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. You are responsible for your personal choices, able to take care of yourself and capable to do for others as you expect them to do unto you. Conversely, others are free to live their lives as they see fit and are responsible for their choices. We believe in tolerance toward others and respect for self-sovereignty.

LIMITED GOVERNMENT. Your government's principal function is to protect your freedom, your unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and Property, all crucial rights for building a free and prosperous society. Government should be of the necessary size and scope, as outlined in the United States Constitution, to efficiently support its constitutional duties and effectively maintain the rule of law. The Libertarian vision of government is of a government strictly confined to its constitutional role, a government that respects civil liberties, recognizes that the individual is more important than the State, exercises fiscal restraint and understands that each generation must pay its own debts, believes in free markets and practices a non-interventionist foreign policy of "peace toward all, entangling alliances with none."

The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest-growing political party in Texas and in the United States. It is also the only political party to advocate truly limited government, especially as established in the U.S. Constitution by our Founders.

That's what we're about, and I hope you can help out. 
Hope everyone has a good weekend.  I've got to go buy a new Spivey suit. 

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.
 

 

What 28 ounces of gold would purchase in 1916. And today.

From Tarrant County Libertarian Party Chair John Spivey's Facebook page:

Hey Federal Reserve fans! I just did some fun research - Shortly after the Fed was hatched, in 1916, Chevy released it's "Model-T Slayer", the 490! Very slick, this roadster with the optional "full electrical system" ran $550 or 28.9 ounces of gold. Today, the Chevy's roadster, the Camaro Convertible 2 SS with several fun options runs $47,145... or 28.3 OUNCES OF GOLD! ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME!!!!!!

Having great hair isn't enough

Texas governor Rick Perry has been getting a lot of attention as a potential Republicrat candidate for President of The United States.   

Unbelievable.  Just because he has wonderful, wonderful hair and he says all the right things about Jesus doesn't mean he has any qualifications to be president in these difficult times.  I can't remember anything in government that he has significantly cut, eliminated, or reduced. 

One other thing....Perry once served as Al Gore's Texas Campaign Manager.  If we had a reading, thinking populace, this factoid alone would give Perry the same electoral chances as Casey Anthony. 
 Here's Big Daddy John Spivey, chair of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party, on why Governor Goodhair isn't a good idea.  This is from the Spivey Facebook page. 

#1 Rick Perry is a “big government” politician. When Rick Perry became the governor of Texas in ...2000, the total spending by the Texas state government was approximately $ 49 billion. Ten years later it was approximately $ 90 billion. That is not exactly reducing the of government.

#2 The debt of the state of Texas is out of control. According to usdebtclock.org, the debt to GDP ratio in Texas is 22.9% and the debt per citizen is $ 10,645. In California (a total financial basket case), the debt to GDP ratio is just 18.7% and the debt per citizen is only $ 9932. If Rick Perry runs for president these are numbers he will want to keep well hidden.

#3 The total debt of the Texas government has more than doubled since Rick Perry became governor. So what would the U.S. national debt look like after four (or eight) years of Rick Perry?

#4 Rick Perry has spearheaded the effort to lease roads in Texas to foreign companies, to turn roads that are already free to drive on into toll roads, and to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor which would be part of the planned NAFTA superhighway system. If you really do deep research on this whole Trans-Texas Corridor nonsense you will see why no American should ever cast a single vote for Rick Perry.

#5 Rick Perry claims that he has a “track record” of not raising taxes. That is a false claim. Rick Perry has repeatedly raised taxes and fees while he has been governor. Today, Texans are faced with significantly higher taxes and fees than they were before Rick Perry was elected.

#6 Even with the oil boom in Texas, 23 states have a lower unemployment rate than Texas does.

#7 Back in 1988, Rick Perry supported Al Gore for president. In fact, Rick Perry actually served as Al Gore’s campaign chairman in the state of Texas that year.

#8 Between December 2007 and April 2011, weekly wages in the U.S. increased by about 5 percent. In the state of Texas they increased by just 0.6% over that same time period.

#9 Texas now has one of the worst education systems in the nation. The following is from an opinion piece that was actually authored by Barbara Bush earlier this year….
• We rank 36th in the nation in high school graduation rates. An estimated 3.8 million Texans do not have a high school diploma.
• We rank 49th in verbal SAT scores, 47th in literacy and 46th in average math SAT scores.
• We rank 33rd in the nation on teacher salaries.

#10 Rick Perry attended the Bilderberg Group meetings in 2007 and 2011. Associating himself with that organization should be a red flag for all American voters.

#11 Texas has the highest percentage of workers making minimum wage out of all 50 states.

#12 Rick Perry often gives speeches about illegal immigration, but when you look at the facts, he has been incredibly soft on the issue. If Rick Perry does not plan to secure the border, then he should not be president because illegal immigration is absolutely devastating many areas of the southwest United States.

#13 In 2007, 221,000 residents of Texas were making minimum wage or less. By 2010, that number had risen to 550,000.

#14 Rick Perry actually issued an executive order in 2007 that would have forced almost every single girl in the state of Texas to receive the Gardasil vaccine before entering the sixth grade. Perry would have put parents in a position where they would have had to fill out an application and beg the government not to inject their child with an untested and unproven vaccine. Since then, very serious safety issues regarding this vaccine have come to light. Fortunately, lawmakers in Texas blocked what Perry was trying to do. According to Wikipedia, many were troubled when “apparent financial connections between Merck and Perry were reported by news outlets, such as a $ 6,000 campaign contribution and Merck’s hiring of former Perry Chief of Staff Mike Toomey to handle its Texas lobbying work.”

Texas is doing well because our state constitution limits the power of the governor, and our legislature only meets every two years (they somehow managed to write 1500 laws while in session last time, but you get my point). 
Rick Perry is at least smart enough to ride the wave without screwing it up. 

John Spivey on Memorial Day

John Spivey, Chair of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party, tagged me in this EXCELLENT Facebook note. 

A Few Thoughts About Memorial Day: Our Honored War Dead and Why Many of Them Didn't Have To Die.

Recently, I've done some genealogical research and found quite a few direct grandparents that served in various capacities in many wars. They fought in European wars to the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, World War I, World War II, The Korean Conflict and Viet Nam. Fortunately, no American relation of mine that I've found died during a military conflict.

Like many of you, my late father was a WWII vet and was in the Pacific Theatre. He said something to me one day that I think is very applicable to our situation today. He told me that he could have never imagined that the Japanese would've ever become one of our biggest allies and trading partners - especially after we set off two atomic weapons that killed over 200,000 non-military citizens to completely defeat them - and then occupied them.

Why did he think Japan would never be anything but an enemy, or at best a non-friend? He said that at the time he thought they were all insane and so religiously dedicated to their emperor - they called him "Heavenly Sovereign", after all - that they would voluntarily fly their planes into our strategic structures and vessels in suicide bombing missions. "There's no way, I thought, you can turn people like that around to deal with you rationally", he said.

During and after the Japanese occupation, we eased up on our trade restrictions tremendously to help get their economy going. That REALLY worked, if you haven't noticed. After all, the primary reason Japan attacked us on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor is due to our oil embargo and trading prohibitions against them that severely restricted their acquisition of resources during their war in Indochina. Today we are such a strong trading partner with Japan that they could never dream of restarting a war with us.

Like many Hawks of today, my father couldn't imagine these people, who so deeply infused their political system with their mysterious religious ideology, would or could become one of our allies, much less our BFFs. After we won the war, we occupied and demilitarized Japan, got their industries up and running, liberalized their economy, democratized their government and then left. Yep, just up and left. (Unfortunately, we still do have bases there - but as an ally and not as a threatening occupier)

By the way, today Japan still has the mysterious religion of Shintoism as their primary religion and they have an Emperor who is still the head of the Shinto religion and is considered a semi-deity by some, although his governmental role is largely ceremonial today. He is still called "His Majesty, the Heavenly Sovereign" by his subjects.

This has a deja vu all over again feel to me with our current situation in the Middle East. If we could pretty much do the same thing - that is, leave - JUST PACK UP AND LEAVE AND START TRADING WITH THEM, their urge to 'kill us for our freedoms' would subside shortly after the cash really starts rolling in and life starts getting good for them. Bombing them into submission only gets them to cry "Uncle". Trading them into friendship will get them to cry "Uncle Sam - we love you!"

This weekend is a time to remember and honor our war dead that heroically fought and died for our country - unfortunately at times when free trade would've allowed us to have avoided war when our show of force and trading restrictions all to frequently pushed us into conflict.

TRIP. Tonight. Rahr Brewery. 6:30.

I'm playing guitar and singing with Mike Coyne and Big Daddy John Spivey at the Rahr Brewery in Fort Worth tonight at 6:30. 
It's a fund-raiser for TRIP, the Trinity River Improvement Partnership.  You also get to see a documentary called Up A Creek, detailing the history of the Trinity River and the dangers of the current Trinity River development plan.  TRIP was set up as an alternative to the billion-dollar Trinity River Vision boondoggle set up by and for JD and his mama, Kay Granger.  I'm sure that I'll be posting more about this group as I learn more about it.  Hell, the Granger outfit has already doubled the size of the original budget.  (It's now up to something like 900 million.) 

I'm going to be doing some Buffet tunes, some Jerry Jeff Walker, and a few originals.  Spivey will be singing an original composition called "Mama Tried".  (Guess who that one is about !!) 

Here's the lyrics to one of the songs I'll be doing.  There was an old guy named James Cook who worked on my father's farm, and about three times a year he'd tell me about a little dog that helped his family get through the Great Depression.  I wrote this in honor of Mr. Cook, and his dog, and to get in a slam at Franklin Roosevelt. 
It's called "The Dog That Knew". 

"Back in the Great Depression, I made fifty cents a day,
Just digging ditches, picking cotton, or whatever else would pay.
Had a house full of kids, and couldn't keep 'em fed,
Every night we'd go to sleep, afraid we'd wake up dead. 

Well, one day here's this little dog like I have not seen since,
As if God had crossed a beagle with some kind of barbed wire fence,
And that little dog did something that I've never seen before,
He went and caught a rabbit, and then laid it at my door. 

Well, Daisy took that rabbit and she threw it in a pot,
Then we sat down at the table, thanked the Lord for what we got,
We thanked the Lord for sunshine and them children in the yard,
And we thanked God for little dogs that knew that times were hard.

Had that dog for seven years and Lord, he fed us well. 
That dog could bring a rabbit back straight from the gates of hell,
You see those rabbits ran like lightning up and down that river bank,
Sometimes they ran through gulleys that could scare a Sherman tank. 

And Mr. Roosevelt he said "It's only fear itself",
Well I bet Mr. Roosevelt had groceries on his shelf. 
They said it was a brand New Deal, that's all that some folks had. 
We had us a little dog that knew that times were bad. 

Well, Daisy took that rabbit and she threw it in a pot,

Then we sat down at the table, thanked the Lord for what we got,
We thanked the Lord for sunshine and them children in the yard,
And we thanked God for little dogs that knew that times were hard.

It's been forty years, I guess, since I first heard it said,
About that old man's dog and how it kept his family fed -
You see, my back yard's full of dachshunds, those useless weiner dogs;
Never caught a rabbit, and Lord they eat like hogs. 

Sometimes I'll take 'em huntin', and Lordy what a sight,
There's a man whose little dogs are scared that rabbits bite.
So if y'all see me looking like I don't eat enough,
It's because my little dogs don't know that times are tough. 

So y'all bring me a rabbit, and I'll throw it in a pot,
I'll sit down at the table, and thank the Lord for what I've got.
I'll thank the Lord for sunshine and those dachshunds in the yard,
But I'll wish I had some little dogs that knew that times are hard. 

Hope to see some of you tonight !!!

The Wake Up America Tea Party ! Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth TX

The first Tea Party event in Fort Worth was a somewhat impromptu happening behind one of my favorirte watering holes, The Cowtown Bar & Grill.  There may have been 150 people there. 

That was then, this is now.  We've moved on to the Fort Worth Convention Center.  I don't think the first Tea Party even had a stage.  There was just a microphone on loan from the country-rock band who started the thing. 
The presentation has gotten more professional, while my photography skills have remained the same:

Here's Tarrant County Libertarian Party chair John Spivey, helping our LP candidate for Texas governor, Kathie Glass, convert a few Tea Partiers.

And we have the usual Temple Courtyard full of T-shirt vendors.  These folks had the best selection, my favorite being "Capitalism" in the Coca-Cola logo. 

This is me with The Statue Of Liberty.

A T-Shirt that gets straight to the point....

Here's Dallas Congressional candidate John Jay Myers, trying to convert Mike Coyne into someone who will purchase a T-shirt (John Jay eventually gave us all a freebie).

This guy, Princeton Benson, is affiliated with GAME CHAINgers (more on them later).  They're an African-American conservative group affiliated with Pastor Stephen Broden.  Everyone at this booth has been working out a lot more than I have. 

And this made me happier than an old hog in new slop.  I had heard this guy, Gregory Parker, on a local radio show a few weeks back.  He's written a book called "Global Warming...Really?" 

It's not every day that one has the opportunity to meet a published skeptic.

  

I now have a signed copy.  Will post about it soon. 

That's all for now.  Gonna go inside the convention center and listen to the rants.  Hit "Next Post" below to learn more about the Wake Up America/Tea Party Rally. 

Lordy, I love these things. 

A brief warning about sacrificial offerings

From the Tarrant County Libertarian Partys chair-dude John Spivey's Facebook page:

"It stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there’s someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master."    -  Ayn Rand

Kathie Glass for Texas Governor, Billy Miner's Saloon, Thursday July 29, 2010

W here to begin, where to begin....
Last night I went to Billy Miner's for a Kathie Glass for Texas Governor campaign rally. 

There are a lot of good reasons to support Kathie Glass, but let me get to the no-brainers first. 

The Democrat in this race, Bill White, was Secretary Of Energy for Bill Clinton/Al Gore.  According to several reliable sources, White actively campaigned for The Goracle Of Music City prior to The Goracle's decision to leave politics and enter the environmental salvation racket. 

The Republican in this race, incumbent governor Rick Perry, was Gore's Texas campaign manager in 1988.  Perry eventually left the Democrat party and had a falling-out with The Goracle over climate change. 
Well, at least Governor Perry owns a thermometer.  And compared to Bill White, his hair is stunning.   
But he has defiled himself. 

Kathie Glass, the Libertarian, is the only candidate for Texas governor who has never campaigned for Al Gore. 
'Nuff said. 

A few other reasons:
First and foremost in Glass's 5 Point Plan is a promise to use nullification and interposition to get around ObamaCare and Cap'n'Tax.  What does this mean in plain English?  Texas is a sovereign state.  We have rights.  There is nothing in the constitution that says the federal government can force you to purchase a product from a private company when the purchase has nothing to do with a government activity (i.e. - driving on the government's roads). 
"Therefore, we the Texas Legislature and Governor declare ObamaCare to be freakin' nullified between the Red River and the Gulf Of Mexico."  Next issue, please....

Also included in the 5 Point Plan - stronger protections against Eminent Domain Abuse.  It doesn't matter how well Tony Romo is throwing the football, Kathie Glass isn't going to let the government steal anyone else's house so Jerry Jones can build Tony a new playpen. 

And then there was this guy....
It's safe to call him a "single-issue voter". 
This dude, Larry Kilgore, showed up at Ms. Glass's rally, wound up tighter than a 3-day clock. 
Intense. 
Outraged. 
Long before the QandA session began, I could feel his intensity level overpowering everything else in his corner of the room. 
Hell, I was just there to support our gubernatorial candidate, hang out with Spivey and Coyne, and maybe eat a cheeseburger. 
Larry Kilgore showed up ready to draw a line in the sand, splatter the blood of the traitors across Billy Miner's barroom floor, and secede from The Union. 
Here's a video of Mr. Kilgore in action.  You gotta watch it.  If you get past the first 15 seconds, I promise you, you'll watch all of it. 



Mr. Intensity stood during the Qand A, and asked Kathie something like HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SECESSION ?????  
Glass tried to respond that secession from The Union was an extreme position, and that....

Mr. Intensity was immediately outraged, and went into a well-rehearsed rant about why Texas should LEAVE THE UNITED STATES and stood to leave.  Several other people tried to throw their 2 cents in.  Even with a microphone, Kathie had trouble making herself heard. 

After Spivey restored order, Glass and Kilgore argued back and forth for a few seconds.  Kilgore didn't like the way the argument was going, and once again turned around to walk out. 

Kathie Glass, like the transplanted Georgia Peach she is, calmly and politely said "Don't you walk out on me, sir.  Please don't make me talk about you behind your back !"

But he was gone.  Gone elsewhere to pursue the dream of an independent Lone Star State. 
Glass went on to explain that we have a great system, and a great constitution.  We just need to elect politicians who understand it and respect it. 

Freakin' brilliant.  Don't make me talk about you behind your back.  Some of us think she may have hired the guy to show up.  This was a great night.  Time well spent. 

If I had to pick someone to go head-to-head with The Teleprompter Jesus, it would be Kathie Glass.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Libertarians, 9-12'ers, and The Tea Party Movement. And John Spivey. And Adrian Murray. (plus Dirty Harry !)

I didn't get a chance to look through the Star-Telegram this a.m.

My friends Adrian Murray and Big Daddy John Spivey were both quoted.

Dallas-Fort Worth conservative activists focus more on Republicans

By AMAN BATHEJA

FORT WORTH — Elected officials — Democrats and Republicans — have been routinely and loudly booed at Tea Party rallies and other conservative events over the past year.
But as area activists try to turn that anger into action, they are setting their sights on fellow Republicans more than Democrats.
Members of several local conservative groups that formed last year are focusing on a handful of Republican primary races in the hope of moving the party in a more conservative direction.
"The Tea Partiers, the 9-12ers and the Libertarians all need to come together and work together," said Adrian Murray, an organizer with the 9-12 Project Fort Worth. "It’s the outcome of those primaries that are going to determine what kind of support the Republican Party gets" in November.
They aren’t endorsing candidates, but the anti-incumbent sentiment at rallies last year was palpable and is playing a role in local races. Several Republican challengers in races for Congress and the state Legislature say their appeal to those protesters fed up with the status quo will lead them to a primary win in March.
"A lot of people think that these are Republican groups, but they’re not. They’re actually as mad at Republicans as they are Democrats," said conservative activist Bill Burch, who is running against former Arlington City Councilwoman Barbara Nash in the Republican primary for the state House seat held by Rep. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington.....

Hit the link up top to read the entire article.

....While the spotlight is on the primary for now, it remains unclear what these grassroots activists will do if a Republican deemed insufficiently conservative wins the party’s nomination.
"I would think it’s a mixed blessing for the Republican Party," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "If [activists] think that the two main party candidates aren’t sufficiently conservative, they’ll mount a party challenge."
He pointed to a special congressional election in New York in November in which grassroots conservatives, unhappy with the Republican candidate, backed a third-party candidate instead. In the end, a Democrat won the district for the first time since the Civil War.

It makes me nuts, totally nuts, when journalists, political scientists, or for that matter, my relatives try to raise that particular objection to 2nd-party candidates. The Democrat in that upstate New York election was funded by the Democratic party. The candidate of the Republican establishment (Dede Scozzafava) would have voted like a Democrat, but would've been funded by the Republican party. It's more efficient when the Democrats fund their own candidates, don't you think?

Representatives from local Tea Party groups and the 9-12 Project Fort Worth say they will remain nonpartisan while encouraging voters to back candidates who support certain principles, including limited government and personal liberty.
"There’s nothing more powerful, we feel, than an informed voter," said Angela Cox, founder of the Burleson Tea Party.
John Spivey, Tarrant County Libertarian Party chairman, said many Tea Party and 9-12 Project members lean Libertarian and predicted that they will support the GOP only if Republican incumbents are replaced in the primary with "true conservatives."
"I’m looking forward to post-primary that we may see some support from them for some of our candidates," Spivey said.
Leaders with the 9-12 Project Fort Worth and the Burleson Tea Party expressed doubt that supporting third-party candidates is a viable option.

And if they can't make that an option, they will be forced to support more guys who brag about their ability to reach across the aisle, and who get pats on the head from the mainstream media for making gracious concession speeches. I went to one of Adrian's meetups tonight, and saw a very positive response to Spivey's presentation on the Libertarian Party. People are ready for a change from the false choice between Republicrats and Demoblicans. We can put aside small differences, and find a way to join together long enough to boot out some of the worst-offending Statists.

(Conservative activist Bill Burch)....predicted that conservative grassroots voters would support the Republican ticket no matter who wins the primary.
"If they make it through the primary, your choice is no longer for the individual," Burch said. "Your choice is . . . freedom or socialism."

Mr. Burch, people felt that way until the last three Republican Presidents came in and spent money like drunk cowboys. Your choice is . . . more of the same or something different. I don't know of any Libertarians who supported TARP, the bailouts, or the Porkulus plan. I can't say that about Republicans.

Come on, hold your nose, and come see what we're about. I think we're going to have an interesting melting pot in November.

Click here for the Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup.

Click here for Fort Worth's 9-12 Meetup.

Click here for the Tea Party Patriots.

Harry Reid is coming to Texas for a fundraiser on Friday, January 15 at 11:00 a.m. He'll be at the Las Colinas Marketing Center at 5221 North O'Conner Boulevard, in Irving. Ask yourself....why is Harry Reid, Senator from Nevada, holding a fund-raiser in Texas?

Click here if you would like to carry some signs outside the convention center and help welcome Dirty Harry to Texas.

I bet we can all agree on that one, can't we?

Two Year Blogoversary

I almost let the two year Blogoversary of this thing pass by without comment.

The first post on this site went up on 9-28-07, and I had no real idea what the main focus was going to be.
Since then, I've made it into the Star-Telegram a couple of times. Once with an editorial and once in a feature piece on political bloggers.
I've made some great friends through the Camp Blownstar Blogger meetups.
Big Daddy John Spivey found the site, and got me involved in the Tarrant County Libertarian Party.
That got me involved in End The Fed rallies, a Gay/Lesbian Rights parade, and staffing pro-2nd amendment booths at gun shows.
I've been to more Tea Parties than Lady Astor.
Then people started linking the site on Reddit. Then Facebook. Then it got Twittered. (And Twixted. Whatever that is.)
See that little world map on the right side of your screen, under the incredibly pretentious "A Thousand Points Of Light" header? Click on it, or click here. Depending on the topic of the day, I'll get more hits from Europe and Australia than from the U.S.
Fun stuff, this internet.
Before I started blogging, Dr. Ralph and I knew each other, but didn't hang out together. We recently spent a couple of hours at his place, playing guitars, not talking about politics, and looking at his artwork. (He's got a show in Fort Worth this weekend, BTW. Hit the link. Dr. Ralph can paint.)

When I can get my A-game going, this thing is good for 700-800 hits a day. Whenever I post sub-standard stuff for three days in a row, it drops into the 300-400 range so quickly that it's depressing. You people have the loyalty of tomcats.

If you've ever considered doing something like this, I hope you'll give it a try. Use the right key words in your headlines, and you'll meet plenty of people who love what you love, care about your concerns, and who are fascinating to correspond with. Plus, I don't know how people can claim they know what they think, until they read what they've written for public consumption.

Your voice counts. Unless, of course, you are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG ! !

Dallas and Tarrant Libertarian Party at the Vans Warped Tour

The Tarrant and Dallas County Libertarians joined forces to staff a booth at this year's Vans Warped tour. (Previous headliners at Vans Warped include No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Rancid, Blink-182, Eminem, Good Charlotte, and well, you get the idea.)

Here's some video by John Jay Myers, the Dallas LP chair. Big Daddy John Spivey, the Tarrant LP chair (and "Tarrant Liberty Guy" on these pages) is in the red shirt.



Why, you ask, would the Libertarians spend a day peddling T-shirts, bumperstickers, and handing out political alignment questionnaires to a bunch of kids?

Because the kids are the ones who will eventually have to pay for the mess created by their parents, and the parents have already been co-opted by the system, and therefore are beyond hope. The sooner these little Mall Rats figure out the Hope 'n' Change scam, the better off they'll be.

We Won't Get Fooled Again ! (Revisited)

John Spivey, the Big Daddy of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party, recently asked me for a listing of my favorite Liberty-themed songs. I shot a few back at him and forgot about it.

And then today, this gem is posted on Facebook. Enjoy !

A few days ago I posted a status update asking "What song best describes Obama's first few months?" I thought 'Been Caught Stealing" by Janes Addiction... but mainly because I thought the title was funny. Mike Coyne thought "Make It Rain" by Li'l Wayne was a good choice, while Allen Patterson suggested "Won't Get Fooled Again", which also was a pretty funny title. But, Allen named the EXACT right song - line for line, almost, describing what we're going through now.

I realized this as I sat in my car this evening listening to the radio when those synthesized "Hammond Organ" chords started up, followed by Pete Townsend, Keith Moon and then Roger Daltrey sings the following (my notes in parentheses):

We'll be fighting in the streets (soon will be, likely)
With our children at our feet (Yep, our kids are bearing the burden of our excess)
And the morals that they worship will be gone (life, liberty, property - gone)
And the men who spurred us on (Obama/Biden and crew)
Sit in judgement of all wrong (The new arbiters of morality)
They decide and the shotgun sings the song (Their "philanthropy" are only enforceable by coersion)

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution (really, 'say goodbye' to old one!)
Take a bow for the new revolution (Well, MY revolution is a bit different)
Smile and grin at the change all around (Is this the change that we can believe in?)
Pick up my guitar and play (I like guitars)
Just like yesterday (all my troubles seemed so far away)
Then I'll get on my knees and pray (Please God, we're begging!!!)
We don't get fooled again (Too late. We've been fooled, folks)

The change, it had to come (After GOP led spending and governmental growth & wars)
We knew it all along (Just listen to Jefferson, Bastiat, Paul - they TOLD us)
We were liberated from the fold, that's all (freed from shackles and into a cell)
And the world looks just the same (Yep... no change really)
And history ain't changed (Nope - it's still the same too)
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!)

I'll move myself and my family aside (Individualism and family is second... the state is #1)
If we happen to be left half alive (just half?)
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky (Get your tax records, health records, citizen ID ready)
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie (one of us.... one of us... one of us.... one of us...)
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets (It's been plundered and looted...
Looks any different to me (It does seem like the different side of the same coin)
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye ("Country First" replaced by "Change")
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right (left and right no longer matter)
And the beards have all grown longer overnight (what? I don't get this at all)

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! (SCREAM of frustration!)

Meet the new boss (Hello.)
Same as the old boss!!!

So, instead of a grossly overspending government burning your children's future wages on a non-sensical war in Iraq all while trampling on our freedoms given to you by your creator... NOW, we're still in an expensive non-sensical war AND trampling on different freedoms and now, spending us into an economic nuclear winter. All, STILL at the point of a gun.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss... different side of the same coin, my friends.

Well said, Mr. Spivey.
Here's Mr. Townsend doing the original song:



And here's a link to some unknown genius on YouTube breaking down those guitar licks note-for-note:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyhKB827vl0

And now, a word from Big Daddy

John Spivey is the Big Daddy of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party and the Tarrant County Libertarian Meetup Group. I don't know anyone who has been working harder to advance the Freedom-Lover agenda. He's a frequent commenter on these pages, under the name "Tarrant Liberty Guy".

John doesn't have a website, but when I asked him to Guest Post (while I'm on vacation) about what libertarians need to do differently, he sent in this gem, prefaced with a shot across the bow of the ideologically creaky vessel manned by yesterday's guest blogger, Dr. Ralph:

Being asked to guest type for The Whited Sepulchre is somewhat intimidating as I typically enjoy reading his original witty takes on current events and then making outlandishly long and snarky commentary not unlike the closeted communist, Dr. Ralph. But I digress... I believe I was asked to give my $.02 on the future of the Libertarian Party or libertarianism in general. So here's my take:

As Chair of a County Libertarian Party, I've seen tremendous gains in our local libertarian scene. We've gone from 6 members meeting every two years to affirm a handful of pre-nominated and non-contested candidates to a group whose grassroots ranks are numbering in the triple digits, alliances with philosophically aligned 'major' political party campaigns and supporting candidates who, doggone it, looks like they have a very legitimate chance to win an election to a high office in the county's largest city (population 700,000-ish)! Libertarian straight ticket voters increased by a greater margin than the overall increase in total voters in this Obama-fueled electionapalooza. Straight ticket Democrats increased, but not as much as the overall total. Even with the total turnout increasing by over 60% in our county, straigh ticket GOP voters, DECREASED by about 4%. Seems like the GOP's message of warfare state, daddy-state smack downs of civil liberties and personal freedoms, exclusivity and intolerance is wearing thin. Even in this formerly deeply red county.

However, truth be told, in saying that, it's like saying that our regular savage beatings by two large giants are slightly less savage and by slightly smaller giants. Until we do a few things, we're still going to get smacked, but, as you may have read, David gets his eventually. First, since the LP caters to no special interest group, we're not going to get much in the way of mega-corporate/union 'sponsorship'. No biggie, since Ron Paul showed that you can raise $35 million, one person at a time. The trick is getting those donors over to our side. Tough to do when the LP Presidential candidate, Bob Barr, basically bitch slapped the good Doctor during election time. However, I believe with time, that wound will heal and those Republicans will leave the GOP and find their proper home with us. They bring money, volunteerism and best of all - infectious and rabid enthusiasm!

Also, we're going to have to work to improve our image. Taking the "Apple vs. PC" advertisement as an example, we're definitely the 'PC' guy. We HAVE to get 'cool'. Generally speaking, that means getting celebrities to flog our message. Penn and Teller are OK, John Stossel is better, but what we really need is a Leo DiCaprio or two to bang our drum like they do for Rev. Al Gore. Cultural relevancy.

It will take time. Hopefully not as much time as Cato Insitute studies report that New Deal programs prolonged The Great Depression (eight extra years). But eventually, our message of sound monetary policy, sane fiscal policies, peace and personal freedom will find its place in the mainstream of American politics. It may take some failures of nationalized industries first. Ayn Rand may have not been too far off the mark. I hope we can get going before Atlas goes into full shrug.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that we must take a bottom up approach. We're just going to have to win some local races first folks. That means locally, you'll need to support our candidates with your time and money - and of course, votes! My toast for the new year and for libertarian victory nationally? Bottom(s) up!

John, thanks for contributing, and for all you do. Bottom(s) up, right back atcha.