LPM OnlineAugust 22, 2000 |
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To all Michigan LP, Browne volunteers, etc.... Please forgive me if you receive multiple copies of the notice- I am sending it to every list I have, and you may be on more than one... Harry is coming to Michigan this Sunday August 27th to speak at the Brass Roots Brass Cajones awards dinner. He will be arriving at Metro Airport, on American Airlines flight 1816 from Dallas/FtWorth at 4:36 in the afternoon. We need to have a large group of people there to greet him, for the benefit of the media, and the others at the airport. We have secured permission from airport authorities to greet him at the gate as he steps off of the plane. Please plan on joining us!!!!!!!!!! A big crowd of enthusiastic supporters is really important !!!!!!! Those who wish to carpool to the airport will meet at the Michigan LP office in Hazel Park promptly at 3:00pm. Those who wish to go directly to the airport, can meet us at the gate. Signs will be provided. Call me at (313) 418-5256- cell or (248) 355-5058 -home if you have questions. Also, please call me to let me know you are going to be there, so I can stop worrying that we won't have anybody show up..... Please! We can only notify the media that this is happening if I am certain we will have a huge group! Please Come and bring a dozen friends if possible! If you have any local affiliate meetings coming up this week, please copy and distribute at your meeting!
The next meeting of the Ballot Access Retention Committee/Harry Browne for President will be on THURSDAY, August 24th at 7:00pm at the Michigan LP headquarters in Hazel Park. We will be planning for Harry's upcoming appearances in Michigan, discussing our statewide outreach, and plotting a new fundraising scheme. Please come! All who are receiving this note are welcome to participate - WE NEED YOU!
FROM ANN ARBOR NEWS The stage is apparently set for Ann Arbor voters to once again decide whether to loosen the city's pot laws. The Nov. 7 municipal ballot will probably include a question that would legalize the medical use of marijuana if the city clerk's office validates at least 4,300 of the 5,970 petition signatures turned in Tuesday. Local Libertarians who launched the year-long petition drive should find out in the next few weeks whether they were successful. Full story at... http://aa.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20000816apotballot.frm
In a segment questioning the health benefits of organic foods, first aired in February and then repeated in July, Stossel reported that a test conducted on vegetable produce for ABC News found that there was no pesticide residue on either conventionally-grown samples or organic ones. But after an investigation, ABC concluded that no such test had been done. ABC has stated that Stossel was relying on inaccurate information that had been provided by a staff member. The segment's producer apparently mistakenly believed that a test done on chicken had also been done on vegetables. The producer has reportedly been suspended for thirty days and Stossel himself will make an on-air apology on Friday. (Hence the rescheduling of his documentary "Is America Number One?") In short, it was an innocent mistake that is being dealt with to the highest standards of journalistic integrity. We all know that much of what passes for news and information on television is tainted by more than just moments of uncharacteristic sloppiness, so this error would hardly seem to justify a major response. And yet this mistake has stimulated a drumbeat for Stossel's dismissal, showing up both on the ABC bulletin board site, and here and there in the press. Why this kind of response? Because Stossel has made a career out of exposing hypocrisy and falsehood among some of the most powerful groups in America -- the eco-Left, the moralistic Right, trial lawyers, career politicians, and the media itself. There's is arrayed against him a virtual who's who of modern collectivism. No wonder they call it a drumbeat. Why should you care about all this? Because John Stossel isn't just another major libertarian TV journalist. He's the *only* major libertarian TV journalist. His recent free speech special commanded an audience of over 11 million. His previous specials have touched upon and argued for decriminalization of victimless crimes ("Sex, Drugs & Consenting Adults"), defended capitalism ("Greed"), and exposed the self-serving nature of the child welfare system ("Why Don't the Kids Have a Voice?"). These kinds of points are dear to the hearts of libertarians, and they are seldom seen elsewhere. That's why it's important to voice your support. Here are four ways to do so: 1) Participate in ABC's online bulletin board on this subject. The board is currently dominated by Stossel's enemies. That's bad because it may be seen as an indicator of public sentiment on the subject. The board is here: http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/. (Select the "Stossel: Organic Food Feedback" link under LIVE EVENTS at the top.) 2) Send an email of support via the ABC feedback system. You can do so here: http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/email.html. (Be sure to select the "John Stossel Reporting" button.) This only takes a minute! 3) Mail a letter of support regarding Stossel to ABC. Physical letters take more time but they're also taken more seriously for just that reason. Here's the address: Network Programming ABC Inc. 77 West 66th Street New York, NY 10023 4) Forward this email to friends. There's a reason why attacks like this take place. It's because they work. Please take just a moment to voice your support for John Stossel.
The Libertarian Electronic Activist Group just lobbied to get Harry Browne included in the online poll at: http://www.run4president.com/POLL/ Browne is behind the other candidates and I encourage you to visit the poll and cast your vote for Harry. Most Americans don't know who Harry Browne is and cannot identify his name. The more websites they see him on the higher his vote totals will be.
The following article is the latest in a series of Op-ed articles written by LPM Executive Director Tim O'Brien and submitted to news outlets across the state for publication. This current article was published on August 17, 2000 in the Detroit News and can be viewed on their web site at: http://www.detnews.com/EDITPAGE/0008/17/oped/oped.htm When Michigan voters amended the state constitution in 1992 to limit the terms of most state level elected officials there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth among professional politicians and central planning visionaries. What a tragic loss of knowledge and experience! What a danger to the republic to be governed by amateurs! But now that term limits are actually taking hold, it appears the concerns of the pundits were unwarranted. The professional pols will not be so easily put out to pasture. The "institutional memory" isn't being lost. It is merely being reshuffled. A good case in point is my own term-limited state senator, George Hart (D-6th). Having recently lost the Democrat primary to become the (shoo-in) candidate for Wayne County Treasurer this November, he will undoubtedly just continue his quest for new opportunities in public service. This was already his second effort to keep a place at the public trough since Michigan voters made "Move along, Bossy" public policy. Four years ago Hart was one of half a dozen contenders to succeed scandal-plagued U.S. Congresswoman, Barbara-Rose Collins. And that particular contest provided an exquisite example of the absolutely essential knowledge and experience the electorate stands to lose if the good services of professional rulers are denied us. In order to enlighten voters on the contenders' qualifications to serve in the U.S. Congress one of Detroit's major dailies, as part of an interview with each, gave them a little pop quiz that included five questions on some basics about the U.S. government. Here are the questions along with Sen. Hart's answers:
1.) Who is the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court?
2.) What is the CBO and what does it do?
3.) How many amendments to the Constitution are in the
Bill of Rights?
4.) How much is the U.S. debt?
5.) What is the federal income tax rate? In fairness it should be observed that none of the six passed the test. In fact correctly answering three of the five questions (or 60%, an "F" in anyone's gradebook) was the highest score any of them was able to manage -- which doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the credentials of those who would govern us at gunpoint. Still, special mention must go to Hart -- the only contender who managed to get every single answer wrong and score a perfect 0%. Needless to say, his bid to go to Disneyland-on-the-Potomac was no more successful than his recent try for the Wayne County Treasurer post. Stuck in the Michigan senate with half of his terminal term now expired, the clock keeps ticking on the public tenure of the Honorable George Hart. Two years and counting. And we must feel some measure of compassion for his plight. His chances look even worse in the private sector. After a lifetime of public service, what is he actually qualified to do? Aside from kissing hands and shaking babies (and schmoozing or shaking down campaign contributors) what marketable talents do politicians really have? What likelihood is there that someone like Hart can acquire any useful skills necessary to the production of goods or services that people would buy voluntarily? Whatever else he may be, Senator Hart is clearly not the brightest crayon in the box. Forget professional pols. How many people in everyday life do you know who think Sandra Day O'Connor is Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court? Of course, neither the pressures of term limits nor the response to them is unique to Democrats. It was only a few months ago that Republican Secretary of State Candice Miller, whose name was being trial ballooned in the media to contend with U.S. House minority leader David Bonior this fall, announced that she would stay in her current position. Asked by a reporter if this was to keep her options open to run for governor in 2002 (as John Engler is constitutionally barred from seeking a fourth term) Miller unabashedly admitted that since she, too, would be disallowed an additional term in her current office, she would certainly be "looking for other opportunities." Here's a wacky possibility. I know it sounds kind of crazy and extreme. But how about this? GET A REAL JOB! Then, of course, there is the old tried-and-true method of at least keeping certain public offices in the family. The tag team of Sal and Sue Rocca in Macomb County is doing an excellent job of taking turns with different elected positions and wresting power from any pretenders. Perhaps the most inventive approach for those who have sought to make a career out of governing the rest of us is to find another incumbent with good name recognition in the district and just swap offices. This maneuver was successfully carried off by term-limited State Representative, Joseph Palamara, two years ago when he and Wayne County Commissioner, William O'Neil, simply traded positions. Now it's Commissioner Palamara and Representative O'Neil. An economist by the name of James Buchanan won the 1986 Nobel prize for his "Public Choice" theory in which he conclusively demonstrated that politicians are motivated by the same kind of self-interest as the rest of us. And they are just as resourceful in satisfying those interests. They will build their careers, expand their domains, spend their budgets into the red, make deals with allies and stab rivals in the back with the best of corporate ladder climbers. Term limits is simply another challenge on that particular career path. A new obstacle to be overcome. Still, even with all the shenanigans don't let anyone tell you that term limits wasn't a fabulous idea. As evidence of its efficacy just look at all the whining and moaning from the philosopher-kings (and their media handmaidens) who feel ordained from on high to be our public masters. Unfortunately, the plan didn't go quite far enough. The lifetime ban from ever serving again in the same office needs to be extended to a ban on ever serving again in ANY elective office. As it is the members of the ruling class have simply resorted to a glorified game of Musical Chairs. And when they play it just right, no incumbent is left standing when the music stops.
I went to CBS.com, NBC.com and ABC.com and used their feedback form to send the following letter to all three: Hello, I am very disappointed that during this election cycle the Libertarian Party is once again being given little coverage by network television news. And a lot of my fellow Libertarian-leaning voters are similarly disappointed. Why do parties with less organization and less of a cohesive platform (like the Green Party and Reform Party) deserve so much more coverage, other than maybe because of their flambouyant, celebrity candidates? Isn't the object of your news program to give a balanced overview of the presidential election to the American public? The Libertarian Party is on the ballot (to my knowledge) in all 50 states, has more than doubled its membership in recent years and has earned significant coverage by C-Span and PBS. Please consider giving them a nod in the upcoming weeks. Thank you! Darryl Schmitz St. Johns MI |
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