| ——Michigan Libertarian—— January 2013, Volume 42: No. 01 |
(To view this newsletter in your browser, click here) Online newsletter for the Libertarian Party of Michigan Subscribe/Unsubscribe Instructions |
Greeting
From the Chair—Action Plan
From the National LP Executive Director
Affiliate Web Template Available
Livingston County Affiliate Activities
Libertarian New Year's Resolutions
Gary Johnson: The Book
Image of the Month
Quote of the Month
Past Blast
Letters
Book and Movie Reviews
Contacts
Calendar
[main]
Welcome to the January 2013 issue of the online newsletter of the Libertarian Party of Michigan, the Michigan Libertarian. The newsletter is our main vehicle for sharing what's happening for Libertarians in Michigan. You may manage your subscription by going here or visiting our Web site www.mi.lp.org (same as www.michiganlp.org).
Action Plan 2013!
Denee Rockman-Moon
chair@michiganlp.org
Join our Team
Hello Libertarians, 2012 is about to pass, we have to begin NOW to look at our future of the Libertarian Party of Michigan! With the growth of 8% this last quarter, we continue to make some great strides. The Libertarian Executive Committee is looking to achieve much higher expectations over the next couple of years. With 2013 right around the corner and I NEED YOU ON MY TEAM!
We are beginning to put some teams in place to help foresee these expectations, advancements, and to fulfill the goals of this GREAT PARTY – That wants to serve YOU! We already have in the works a new Website to be up within the next couple of months, Facebook additives are in the works, potential candidates standing by, and volunteers waiting to work on your team! Here are the following teams that we are putting together. Please take some time and to think about what area you would be best in to help volunteer in our growth.
- 2013 State Convention Team – usually held around beginning of June
- 2014/2016 Campaign Team – to help the success of our Candidates
- 2013/2014 Fundraiser Team – to help coordinate 2 to 3 fundraisers each year.
- 2013 Membership Team/Personal Relations - help with the growth and contact of members within the party as well as outside the party
- 2013 Write for our newsletter – help oversee articles and ideas to help grab readers and audience attention.
If you are interested, please send me an email (denee.rockman-moon@live.com or chair@mi.lp,org) with the following information by January 15, 2013: 1) the team you want to join, 2) email address to contact you, 3) phone number and best time to reach you, and 4) any questions you have.
LET’S SHOW THE PEOPLE THAT WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A THIRD PARTY, WE ARE THE RIGHT PARTY!
In Liberty,
Denee
The good, the better, and the best of LPM Election 2012!
by Carla Howell: whall@wnj.com
Was 2012 the Best Year Ever for our Libertarian Party Candidates? The numbers say “Yes!” What do you say? 1,272,105 Votes for Gov. Gary Johnson. 2012 Libertarian Presidential Candidate Sets a New LP Record for Highest-Ever Vote:
- Gary Johnson Shattered Ed Clark’s 1980 Vote Record of 921,128 Votes for President of the United States.
- 2012 Libertarian Presidential Ticket of Gov. Gary Johnson and Judge Jim Gray More Than DOUBLED the 2008 Vote Total of Bob Barr and Wayne Root.
- They More Than TRIPLED the 2004 Libertarian Presidential Vote Total of Michael Badnarik and Richard Campagna.
Item: Republicans Blame Libertarian U.S. Senate Candidates Andrew Horning and Dan Cox for Republican U.S. Senate Losses in Indiana and Montana. Each Libertarian Candidate received more votes than the Republican candidates lost by.
Item: Republicans Blame Libertarian U.S. Congressional Candidate Dan Fishman for Republican Loss in Massachusetts.
Item: 2012 Libertarian Votes Give LP Ballot Access in 30 States + the District of Columbia. Saves LP over $400,000 in 2016 Petitioning Costs.
Item: Seven Libertarian Candidates Each Get Over One Million Votes
- Gov. Gary Johnson for President: 1,272,105 votes
- Mark W. Bennett (TX) Court of Criminal Appeals: 1,326,526 votes
- William Bryan Strange (TX) Court of Criminal Appeals: 1,313,746 votes
- RS Roberto Koelsch (TX) Texas Supreme Court: 1,280,886 votes
- Jaime O. Perez (TX) Railroad Commissioner: 1,122,792 votes
- David Staples (GA) Public Service Commission, District 5: 1,082,481 votes
- Tom Oxford (TX) Texas Supreme Court: 1,030,735 votes
Question: Why are these Libertarian Party campaign results even more spectacular than they look? Because an overwhelming onslaught of Money and Media were unleashed against us.
Money Fact: Republicans and Democrats Spent $2 Billion on the Presidential Campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Libertarians raised and spent $3 Million for the Presidential Campaign of Gov. Gary Johnson. Romney and Obama Outspent Gary Johnson 667 to 1.
Media Fact: News Media Showered both the Mitt Romney and Barack Obama Campaigns With More Than 1,000 Times the News Coverage that they Devoted to Gov. Gary Johnson and his Libertarian Presidential Campaign.
With these facts in mind, aren’t our 2012 Libertarian Party Election Results even more amazing? Adding to our Libertarian Party progress, voters across the country voted overwhelming in a libertarian direction on ballot initiatives – on taxes, on the ending the insane Marijuana Prohibition, and more. America is more receptive to Libertarian ideas than ever before.
...
Don’t let this 2012 Libertarian campaign momentum run down, or grand to a halt. Help us harness it and use it to build the Libertarian Party. To recruit, educate, activate tens of thousands of new LP members. To help us provide the LP Tools and Training needed to make more and more Libertarian breakthroughs in 2014 and 2016. Please make your most generous donation of $250 or $150 or $85 today. You’ll love the results.
We need you. Help us help you get the Libertarian Party elections results in 2014 and 2016 that you got a glimpse of this year. If you can donate $5,000 or $2,500 now, will you please do it now? If you can give $1,500 or $1,000, or $850 or $500 to this high-leverage, high-payoff project, will you please do it now? If you can give $240 or $150, $75 or $50, you will make a huge difference. Whatever you can afford, it helps. Will you please? Please either click and donate now or mail your donation to the address below with "I’m on board" in the memo.
Carla Howell,
Executive Director
Libertarian Party
ed@lp.org
Website Template Available from for LPM Affiliate... from Livingston County
Tim Keirnan (mailtim@sbcglobal.net)
There is no such thing as a free lunch, but there is such a thing as a free website template. The WordPress template for the new website of the Livingston County affiliate is available to any LPM affiliate that wants to use it, free of charge. Just substitute your own affiliate's name and information in it and you're good to go. We designed our new website to resemble the national LP site's branding, as well as support outreach to our county and serve the needs of a small volunteer organization that is growing larger.
Take a look at this new site at www.livingstonlibertarians.org
If you want a site like this one, contact Tobby Smith, our web developer. He'll provide the template to you, and you can use your own web hosting service or use Tobby's (as we do). Tobby's contact info is on his website: www.tobbysmith.com. Tell him Tim sent you.
Cool T-Shirts 'n' Stuff from Livingston
Pamela Anderson
I wanted to let you know what has been up with Livingston LP.
We ordered 20 tee shirts with the LIVE FREE logo on the front
on the back it says 'Fiscally Responsible, Socially Cool'.
We pay $6.75 a shirt and the rest is going to our affiliate. We have sold 30 so far and have more requested in different sizes that were not available. Let me know if you want to buy some!
We are in the process of ordering more shirts—not sure if they will be ready by Jan 3rd—they should be but I will let know (we also ordered hoodies). Please come out and visit our affiliate meetings, first Thursdays 7PM at Cleary's Pub in Howell. Next one this Thursday, January 3. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. The shirts are $15.00, that gets us $$$ for our affiliate for the next campaign season!
If an affiliate would like to order a quantity of 25 or more we will charge $10.00 each. Hoodies are $25. They are quality shirts - pre shrunk 100% cotton Contact me ASAP for orders. See you next year!
New Year's Resolutions
by Harry Browne (LP presidential candidate 1996 and 2000)
- I resolve to sell liberty by appealing to the self-interest of each prospect, rather than preaching to people and expecting them to suddenly adopt my ideas of right and wrong.
- I resolve to keep from being drawn into arguments or debates. My purpose is to inspire people to want liberty — not to prove that they’re wrong.
- I resolve to listen when people tell me of their wants and needs, so I can help them see how a free society will satisfy those needs.
- I resolve to identify myself, when appropriate, with the social goals someone may seek — a cleaner environment, more help for the poor, a less divisive society — and try to show him that those goals can never be achieved by government, but will be well served in a free society.
- I resolve to be compassionate and respectful of the beliefs and needs that lead people to seek government help. I don’t have to approve of their subsidies or policies — but if I don’t acknowledge their needs, I have no hope of helping them find a better way to solve their problems.
- No matter what the issue, I resolve to keep returning to the central point: how much better off the individual will be in a free society.
- I resolve to acknowledge my good fortune in having been born an American. Any plan for improvement must begin with a recognition of the good things we have. To speak only of America’s defects will make me a tiresome crank.
- I resolve to focus on the ways America could be so much better with a very small government — not to dwell on all the wrongs that exist today.
- I resolve to cleanse myself of hate, resentment, and bitterness. Such things steal time and attention from the work that must be done.
- I resolve to speak, dress, and act in a respectable manner. I may be the first Libertarian someone has encountered, and it’s important that he get a good first impression. No one will hear the message if the messenger is unattractive.
- I resolve to remind myself that someone’s “stupid” opinion may be an opinion I once held. If I can grow, why can’t I help him grow?
- I resolve not to raise my voice in any discussion. In a shouting match, no one wins, no one changes his mind, and no one will be inspired to join our quest for a free society.
- I resolve not to adopt the tactics of Republicans and Democrats. They use character assassination, evasions, and intimidation because they have no real benefits to offer Americans. We, on the other hand, are offering to set people free — and so we can win simply by focusing on the better life our proposals will bring.
- I resolve to be civil to my opponents, and treat them with respect. However anyone chooses to treat me, it’s important that I be a better person than my enemies.
Seven Principles of Good Government... still applicable
Referred by Will White
whitewi5@msu.edu
Gary Johnson makes the most consistent and compelling arguments for limited government of any politician on the American scene today. Even if you don’t agree with everything he advocates, his new book is worth reading for its common-sense policy proposals and intellectual honesty. Silver Lake Publishing is proud to announce the release Gov. Gary Johnson’s SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. CLICK HERE to get this book at the best price available anywhere. Johnson is the former two-term governor of New Mexico. He made headlines during his tenure as governor for supporting school vouchers, a freeze on all state taxes, real cuts in government agency funding and the decriminalization of marijuana. In 2012, he is running for President of the United States on the Libertarian Party ticket. He will be campaigning aggressively through the fall in all 50 states.
Beware!
To touch these wires is instant death.
Anyone found doing so will be prosecuted.
— Sign at a railroad station
Take a stroll down memory lane with this excerpt from one of the longest-running state Libertarian newsletters. Today, check out New Year issue of 2003. Click on this link for the full PDF version of this newsletter.
Former editor and LPM archivist Greg Stempfle has compiled the entire body of available Michigan Libertarian newsletters up on this page of the LPM Website.
Letter: 29 November 2012
Richard Winger richardwinger@yahoo.com
In the 30 states with registration by party, the Libertarian Party's registration has increased 20% since February 2012. We managed to poll over 1,000,000 votes for US House again this year (the 5th time we have done that) despite having all our candidates for office other than president kept off the ballot in California this year for the first time (due to the top-two law).
I haven't got into the percentages for office other than president this year because two-thirds of the states still haven't certified their final returns. But I know we got over 6% for three different US senate races, which is certainly a first for the LP.
Richard Winger
415-922-9779
PO Box 470296,
San Francisco Ca 94147
Humor
Probably older than whale feces, but the Webmaster hasn't heard it.
Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of five years replied, "And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
[Submissions of reviews are solicited for this Michigan Libertarian Movie and Book Review feature.
Please contact us via webmaster@michiganlp.org -- ed.]
Movie Review
Hombre (1967)
The best small Western of all time? ___ 9/10
Review by Brian Wright
John Russell: Lady, up there in those mountains, there’s a whole people who’ve lost everything. They don’t have a place left to spread their blankets. They’ve been insulted, diseased, made drunk and foolish. And you call the men who did that Christians and you trust ‘em; I know ‘em as white men and I don’t….
Jessie: Russell, if nobody ever lifted a finger until people were deserving the whole world would go to hell. We’d better deal with each other out of need and forget merit. Because none of us have too much of that, not me, not you, not anybody.[1]. [Full Review]
Book Review
Our Enemy the State (1935)
Trenchant insights from an original Liberty Master
by Albert Jay Nock
Enemy is a classic work on individual liberty. Nock (1870-1945), like H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), was primetime while the American Super-State (ASS) came into its own. The watershed year for the ASS was 1913, when the Federal Reserve system and the 16th Amendment for the so-called income tax were deviously established. Nock was sort of a private-enterpriser scholar, and he delivered Enemy as a series of public lectures at Columbia University (New York) in the 1930s. His foundation idea is humankind has two basic methods of survival: what he calls the social power and what he calls the State power. [Full Review]
LPM Leadership Kalamazoo Area LP |
Affiliate Contacts (counties served, continued) LP of West Michigan (Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Ottawa) |
January 2 – LP of Washtenaw County Monthly Meeting -7 to 9 pm at Classic Cup Cafe, 4389 Jackson Rd, Ann Arbor (In the Parkland Plaza west of Ann Arbor). The LP of Washtenaw County meets on the first Wednesday of every month. You can see more announcements and information regarding the LPWC at its new website, http://lpwc.wordpress.com, or its Facebook page—“like” us at Libertarian Party of Washtenaw County! Contact LPWC Chair, Larry Johnson, michlibertarian@gmail.com.
January 3 – Wayne County LP Monthly Meeting – 7 p.m. - Kiernans Steak House, 21931 Michigan Ave, Dearborn (at Monroe). Contact Ray Warner, 313-598-3666 .
January 3 –Livingston County LP Monthly Meeting - 7-8:30 pm. The Livingston County LP meets the first Thursday of each month at Cleary's Irish Pub, 117 E Grand River Ave, Howell 48843. Join them to discuss local and national news from a Libertarian perspective. Contact Pam Sanderson, factorylady@yahoo.com, for details.
January 8 –LP of West Michigan Monthly Meeting – 7 pm, 6:30 pm. Join the LPWM on the second Tuesday of the month at Branns Restaurant on Leonard St. at US 131 in downtown Grand Rapids. Contact Nick Sundquist, Nicholas.sundquist@yahoo.com, 231-750-5468.
January 14 – Capital Area LP Monthly Meeting – 7 pm at former LPM office, 2722 E Michigan Ave, Ste 22, Lansing (park and enter in back). Contact Will Tyler White, 517-349-3806, whitewi5@msu.edu.
January 16 – Monthly Meeting of the Libertarians of Macomb County – 6:30-8:30, All members of the Libertarian Party, their friends and family, and anyone interested in learning more about the LP are invited for good food and conversation on the third Wednesday of every month. Contact Keith Edwards keithmarni@wowway.com.
January 16 – Libertarian Party of Oakland County Monthly Meeting – 6:30 pm dinner, 7:30 meeting. Sila´s Restaurant, 4033 W. 12 Mile, Berkley (2 blocks east of Greenfield on south side of 12 Mile). Contact Jim Fulner, fulner@gmail.com.
January 20 – Libertarian Executive Committee Meeting –4 pm by telephone conference. Call 218-844-3366, access code#576532 (long distance charges may apply depending on your phone plan).The state executive committee meets the 3rd Sunday of every month. All LPM members may dial in to teleconferences or attend face-to-face meetings. Contact Denee Rockman-Moon, chair@mi.lp.org.
January 24 – Kalamazoo Area LP Meeting – 7 pm, Portage Public Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage. The new Kalamazoo area LP meets the 4th Thursday of the month. Contact Dennis Miller, drmiller94@gmail.com, 269-270-7747.
January 25 – Deadline for Michigan Libertarian –Get your article, advertisement, or event published in our online publication. Send them to: e-newsletter@michiganlp.org or Emily Salvette at salvette@umich.edu.
February 6 - LP of Washtenaw County Monthly Meeting -7 to 9 pm at Classic Cup Cafe, 4389 Jackson Rd, Ann Arbor (In the Parkland Plaza west of Ann Arbor). The LP of Washtenaw County meets on the first Wednesday of every month. You can see more announcements and information regarding the LPWC at its new website, http://lpwc.wordpress.com, or its Facebook page—“Like” us at Libertarian Party of Washtenaw County! Contact LPWC Chair, Larry Johnson, michlibertarian@gmail.com.
February 7 – Wayne County LP Monthly Meeting – 7 p.m. - Kiernan's Steak House, 21931 Michigan Ave, Dearborn (at Monroe). Contact Ray Warner, 313-598-3666
February 7 – Livingston County LP Monthly Meeting - 7-8:30 pm. The Livingston County LP meets the first Thursday of each month at Cleary's Irish Pub, 117 E Grand River Ave, Howell 48843. Join them to discuss local and national news from a Libertarian perspective. Contact Pam Sanderson, factorylady@yahoo.com, for details.
February 11 – Capital Area LP Monthly Meeting – 7 pm. Meets the 2nd Monday of the month at the former LPM office, 2722 E Michigan Ave, Ste 22, Lansing (park and enter in back). Contact Will Tyler White, 517-349-3806, whitewi5@msu.edu
February 12 – LP of West Michigan Monthly Meeting – 6:30 pm. Join the LPWM on the second Tuesday of the month at Branns Restaurant on Leonard St. at US 131 in downtown Grand Rapids. Contact Nick Sundquist, Nicholas.sundquist@yahoo.com, 231-750-5468
February 17 – Libertarian Executive Committee Meeting – 4 pm by telephone conference. Call 218-844-3366, access code #576532 (long distance charges may apply depending on your phone plan). The state executive committee meets the 3rd Sunday of every month. All LPM members may dial in to teleconferences or attend face-to-face meetings. Contact Denee Rockman-Moon, chair@mi.lp.org.
February 20 - Libertarians of Macomb County Meeting - 6:30 for dinner, 7:30 business meeting, at Loon River Café, 34911 Van Dyke Ave, Sterling Heights. All members of the Libertarian Party, their friends and family, and anyone interested in learning more about the LP are invited for good food and conversation on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Contact Keith Edwards, keithmarni@wowway.com
February 20 – LP of Oakland County Meeting – 6:30 pm dinner, 7:30 meeting -The LP of Oakland County meets the third Wednesday of the month at Sila's Restaurant, 4033 W. 12 Mile (2 blocks east of Greenfield), Berkley. Contact Jim Fulner, fulner@gmail.com
February 25 – Deadline for Michigan Libertarian –Get your article, advertisement, or event published in our online publication. Send them to: e-newsletter@michiganlp.org or Emily Salvette at salvette@umich.edu.
February 28 – Kalamazoo Area LP Meeting – 7 pm, Portage Public Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage. The new Kalamazoo area LP meets the 4th Thursday of the month. Contact Dennis Miller, drmiller94@gmail.com, 269-270-7747.
More... For all events, see the full online calendar on the Website:
http://www.mi.lp.org/Shared Documents/Calendar.aspx The Michigan Libertarian ONLINE is distributed on the first of each month. Send calendar events and news articles by the 25th of the prior month to: e-newsletter@michiganlp.orgNote: The final print edition of the Michigan Libertarian is available online at http://old.michiganlp.org/Past%20Newsletters/ Michigan%20Libertarian%2038.2%20summer%202009.pdf
About the Michigan Libertarian |
The Michigan Libertarian is published/posted on the first of each month. Send calendar events and news/articles to e-newsletter@michiganlp.org by the 25th of the prior month. The Michigan Libertarian is one of the longest-running Libertarian newsletters in the country, debuting in 1973 shortly after the founding of the Libertarian Party of Michigan. The "new" Michigan Libertarian (a predominantly online version) debuted on August 1, 2009 and replaced the weekly LPMOnline and the printed-and-mailed ML. We will post the newsletter on the Website and deliver via email on the first of every month. A printed version of the new Michigan Libertarian will be sent free to anyone who signs up, which you may do at the LPM web site www.mi.lp.org (or www.michiganlp.org).
LPM members who need a hard copy may request one be mailed to them by contacting
e-newsletter@michiganlp.org or calling the LPM toll-free number 888-Free-Now.
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201301_ML.html
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