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The Libertarian Will to Fail

By Francis Tully

For the past two months, I have been inspired by Rick Stanley to become an activist in an effort to bring attention to the unconstitutional laws in the United States.

A Colorado Libertarian who sent me a message regarding his arrest during a bill of rights rally brought Rick to my attention. The email was trying to garner supporters who would show up at the courthouse to draw media attention to the injustice. I contacted Rick to offer my support and coordinate a “caravan” of supporters from Utah. Rick suggested that I could help better by organizing a Utah Bill of Rights Rally. He said if I would do the first one by myself, that he would fly to Utah for the second one and speak at his own expense. I agreed, and he began to include me in his “Stanley Scoop” distribution.

Initially, I was amused at his brash speech and blunt responses to the readers of his “Stanley Scoop” – a message thread that Rick sent out to supporters and those on his e-mail list. But after a short while, my amusement gave way to action. I forwarded his messages to friends, I took on the responsibility of coordinating the Utah Bill of Rights Rallies, I began submitting editorials to the Internet, and I called into several radio programs and was a guest on radio programs to promote the rallies.

Rick’s ability to rally support was incredible. He was a tireless worker, sometimes replying to emails after 11:00 PM. His messages were always cogent, and his ideas were from the heart. He was displaying more passion, and positive energy than I had ever witnessed in my four-year involvement with the Libertarian Party.

Prior to my introduction to Rick, my experience with the Libertarian Party had been extremely disappointing. The meetings were poorly attended, unorganized, and unproductive. There were no goals, no plans to increase membership, no fundraisers, and no plans to get media attention. When election time came around, it was always a struggle to find someone to put their name on a ballot. I never met anyone who was willing to put a serious effort into trying to get elected – it was just important to be on the ballot. There were always people who were talking about their pet peeves. Of course, they always seemed to be talking to themselves, because the other members of the group had already listened to their tirades hundreds of times and were not really listening, just waiting for their turn to complain about their own pet peeves. They seemed to take great pride in their individualism, not the least of which were their unique dress codes and hairstyles - certainly not an environment conducive to newcomers. In fact, I can think of no better way to scare off a new libertarian-minded prospect than to take them to a monthly meeting.

The meetings that I have attended have never had more than 25 people in attendance, and the average number in attendance is closer to five.

The more I learned about Rick Stanley, the more optimistic I became about the Libertarian Party. He was dynamic, personable, successful, tireless, determined, excited about the prospect of making change, and willing to invest a great deal of time and money to the development of the party and to a political campaign.

In a few short months, he stirred the imaginations of Libertarians and libertarian-minded individuals all over the United States and rallied them to write letters, send emails, call their representatives, send in money to his campaign, organize local bill of rights rallies, and to believe that it just might be possible to get an honest person in office who would be true to the constitution and the libertarian principals. This is the kind of leader that this party desperately needs. I began to look forward to my activist activities, taking great satisfaction for once in the realization that I was not alone. It was almost too good to be true. With Rick as the catalyst, we could actually create a national awareness and get some good people involved in this party who would get off their butts and DO SOMETHING! I was pumped.

Then, the quarreling started. The “drips” and the “fashion consultants” were jealous. They couldn’t stand that the Party was getting positive national attention. They couldn’t stand that Rick was actually bringing more people to the party. “Why, the arrogance!”  “He has only been in this party for two years. Who does he think he is?!”

Rather than capitalize on the fact that he is a LEADER, a DOER, and a PASSIONATE PATRIOT – they choose to complain that he is not nice enough. Rather than accept that his is capable of attracting young enthusiastic people to a party that is in desperate need of some new blood – they conspire to divert support and weaken his campaign. Rather than acknowledging that his personality, although abrasive at times, is more effective than theirs at motivating people to action, they ask him to “tone it down” and be more like them.

Rick Stanley has done what NO Libertarian believed could be done. He could possibly become the first Libertarian to hold a Federal office! We can not afford to let this opportunity to make change at a federal level pass us by. Rather than celebrate his success, his persistence and his dedication to his libertarian ideals – his own party is trying to sabotage his race. An unknown Libertarian candidate is the early leader in the Senate race on his first foray into politics. IMAGINE the kind of positive national publicity that this can get for the party! Perhaps they believe it is in the best interest of the party to have the national media pick up on the fact that despite his early lead that Libertarians are more interested in personal victories and proving their individual superiority and intellect than they are in having a Libertarian in office. I am getting sick and tired of the childishness and self-defeat. As I have said many times, Libertarians are their own worst enemies. This is not a social club – It is a political party! The goal is to put someone in office that will work to make a change; A candidate that will vote the way that we believe; One that will maintain themselves consistent with the constitution and the bill of rights. If you are not about that – get out of the party NOW and make room for someone who cares about the future of the country – not just about winning a pissing match or proving that you are smarter than anyone else in the room. Stop being your own worst enemy. Turn off your TV, put on some clothes from this decade, get a haircut, and go out and tell people to vote for Rick and come to the Bill of Rights Rallies! He is the best thing to happen to the party in a long time. Don’t screw this up.

I urge you to call and write to the Colorado LP and beg them to support Rick and keep the momentum going. Send him $50 and tell him to knock ‘em dead. Write to your newspapers and tell them that libertarians in every state should send Rick their support. We need Libertarians in office more than ever. Put an end to these personal differences and get with the program.

The newest edition of the PGS Newsletter is available online now. www.privategunsale.com/newsletter.htm

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