Free State Observer

The tightknit community of Free State Project early movers is in an absolute tizzy over the recent unanimous Senate committee vote in favor of the anti-RealID bill, followed by Governor Lynch’s vow to sign the bill into law if it makes it through the full Senate.  We are counting the votes, biting our nails, and continuing to inundate our respective Senators with emails, letters and phone calls (I just called mine a few minutes ago).  I have been oscillating between ecstasy and terror for days now.  (You can watch a cool video of the rally in Concord last weekend here.)  But none of that stopped a good 15-20 of us from showing up en masse this morning to help a Porcupine couple move into their gorgeous new home, the purchase of which just went through on Friday. And yesterday I made a brief foray beyond the limits of the Free State to visit our curious neighbor to the west, Vermont.

Vermont is just beautiful. If there’s any part of it that isn’t beautiful, charming or just too cute for words, I haven’t been there yet.  I travelled to the state capitol, Montpelier, to attend the Vermont Libertarian Party annual convention and try to get some new FSP members.  Didn’t work, but I had a good time, anyway.  There was a great slate of speakers, and the VTLP people were more than accommodating, going out of their way to hang my banner prominently on the wall of the conference room, allowing me to address the crowd from the podium for a couple of minutes, and treating my associate and me to a free catered lunch (don’t worry, TANSTAAFL is still in effect; it took almost a full tank of gas for me to make the 300-mile roundtrip drive).  Even the coffee was excellent. 

Big “L” Libertarians (that is to say, members of the political party) have a reputation for being, well, different… and the VTLP’ers are no exception.  Without naming names, let’s just say that the small gathering had its share of “characters”.  Most of the morning was spent debating the adoption of a new state party platform, and Vermont being Vermont, the final product wound up with multiple references to hemp, as well as affirming the people’s right to secession.  At lunch, (which was quite good), we were treated to a guest appearance by none other than Revolutionary War hero and Vermont native son Ethan Allen, who regaled us with an account of some of his more notable battles against the British and the “flatlanders” (derogatory term the native hillbillies use for newcomers from out-of-state; they use this term in New Hampshire, too).  The afternoon agenda featured an interesting lineup of speakers.  First was a representative of the Second Vermont Republic, a group that is actively working to get Vermont to secede from the U.S.  Apparently a good 8% of Vermonters said they support secession in a recent poll, putting the state well ahead of Alaska and Hawaii in public support for secession.   Next was a speaker who talked about how planning and zoning should work, and how it actually does work.  He related several horror stories of VT homeowners being royally screwed by the “Gentry Left” that has taken control of many town planning boards.  Another speaker, representing the organization FreedomWorks, mentioned that his group is going to start producing a legislative reportcard on the liberty-leanings of Vermont legislators;  the influence of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance is clearly spreading.  The final speaker was Frank Bryan, author of Real Democracy and one of the two authors of the Vermont Papers.  He provided an interesting perspective, as he is not so much a libertarian as a “communitarian”. He provided some fascinating insights into the history of the state, its current demographics, and its possible future.  

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On Saturday, April 22, over 150 New Hampshire residents gathered in the plaza at the steps of the New Hampshire Statehouse to show their support for HB1582, a bill that would have New Hampshire opt out of National ID legislation scheduled to take effect in 2008.  The rally, which lasted approximately 1 1/2 hours, featured several speakers, and attendees willing to brave the cold and blustery day received free popcorn, beverages, buttons, balloons and signs.  The rally was organized by the GraniteStateID coalition, a group composed of representatives of several New Hampshire activist organizations spanning the political spectrum, joined in their common cause of getting HB1582 passed into law. 

The rally was MC’ed by Joel Winters, President of NHCASPIAN, the New Hampshire affiliate of a national consumer privacy organization.  One of the primary coordinators of the event, Jenn Coffey, is President of the state affiliate of the Second Amendment Sisters, a national women’s gun rights group.  Both Winters and Coffey are members of the Free State Project and moved to New Hampshire within the past two years.

The first speaker was State Representative Elbert “Bick” Bicknell, the recent President of the Gun Owners of New Hampshire.  The second speaker was Katherine Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN and reknowned expert on RFID chips.  She spoke soberly of the implications of a surveilled society, referencing the Nazi regime as well as the well-documented and lengthy historical record of governments all over the world abusing and killing their own citizens.  Albrecht was followed by the Reverend Garrett Lear.  Dressed in full colonial-style garb, Lear gave a moving and impassioned speech on why Christians should oppose National ID on biblical grounds. Quoting from the Bible, the NH Constitution, and Emerson’s “Concord Hymn”, he exhorted the crowd to remember the blood that our forefathers spilled to defend the freedom of their posterity, and to not let it be in vain.  The next speaker was Carol Shea-Porter, a Democratic contender for the U.S. Congress from New Hampshire, who still honors the Bill of Rights and honestly acknowledges that no government can make its citizens completely safe.  The final speaker was State Representative Neal Kurk, sponsor of HB1582, who reminded the crowd that New Hampshire may be the first to stand up to the Federal government on this issue, but will most likely not be the last.  Passage of HB1582 will be a “shot heard around the nation” and may well result in a chain reaction in other states.

To vividly demonstrate the potential ramifications of requiring all Americans to carry microchipped ID cards linked to an enormous national database of their personal information, NHCASPIAN constructed a checkpoint booth, complete with razorwire and barrier gate, near the arched entrance to the Statehouse plaza.  Volunteers dressed as guards resembling Nazis, only with “Department of Homeland Security” badges on their arms, stopped passersby and demanded to “see their papers”.  Other volunteers dressed as police officers wandered amongst the crowd, jokingly questioning attendees for such activities as taking photographs “without a license”.  Representatives of the group NHFree, many of whom are Free State Project members, stood on the sidewalk with signs, banners and a Gadsen flag, drawing the attention of Main St. traffic. 

The rally was filmed by two independent film crews and covered by a representative of the Concord Monitor, all of whom received press packets.  Photos of the event are available at NHCASPIAN and NHFree.

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My adventures in the Free State continue at an accelerating pace.  Last Saturday we had our first meeting of the Merrimack Valley Porcupines in a new, gun-friendlier venue.  On Sunday I had a nice, if exhausting, walk partway up Pack Monadnock (”pack” supposedly means “little mountain” in a Native American language) and experienced a traditional New Hampshire rite of spring: the birth of the peepers.  Peepers are tiny frogs that hatch in the spring and make a lot of noise.  I’d actually been hearing them around my house for several days and, being a desert rat, figured they were really rambunctious crickets.  A small pond in Miller State Park was so full of them, the noise was amazing.

On Tuesday the coalition fighting RealID in New Hampshire had a conference call to strategize.  I spent Wednesday evening making dozens of Ghostbusters-style RealID badges for activists to wear in Concord on Thursday.  While all this was going on, I was feverishly sending out my last round of letters, emails and phone calls to Senators to fight the proposed smoking ban.  Thursday morning, huddled elbow to elbow with a small group of my fellow activists over a laptop in the State House cafeteria because the pro-ban @#$%ers were saving seats for each other and prevented any of us from watching the Senate proceedings, we learned of our hairsbreath victory.  What an amazing feeling!  It’s incredibly gratifying, knowing that you can, in fact, make a difference in the world (or at least in one rocky, snowy part of it).  And to think that about two dozen unpaid nonprofessionals pulled this off… just think what we will be able to accomplish with a few dozen more.

After the smoking ban victory, I crossed the street to the Legislative Office Building to watch a presentation on National ID being cosponsored by the Cato Institute and the ACLU, unlikely bedfellows brought together by the heinousness of this program.  Unfortunately, the Senate docket was so full that day, the Senators never even broke for lunch, and the speakers found they had no audience except a bunch of Free State Project early movers and friends wearing my spiffy pins.  Luckily for us, they and Representative Kurk, the sponsor of HB1582, were nice enough to give us a command performance. They even let us eat the sandwiches they had bought for the Senators’ lunch!

Today I performed a bit of guerrilla activism, peppering the path from a particular Senator’s house to the nearest freeway onramp with pro-HB1582/anti-RealID signs.  Tomorrow morning when he heads to Concord, he will see them over and over and over.  Then I emailed all the Senators on the committee that will be considering HB1582 tomorrow.  And I still found time to go for a walk in the woods and enjoy a beautiful spring day in New England. I even found an Indian pictograph!!  OK, maybe it was just a rock spraypainted by a kid, but I prefer to think it was a pictograph.

 

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In a clear victory for liberty activists, HB1177 was voted ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate) and killed by the New Hampshire Senate in Concord this morning.  A small cadre of approximately twenty freedom fighters, both outnumbered and outfinanced by ban supporters who were organized on a national level by the American Heart Association, successfully tipped the scales of the outcome by emailing, writing, calling and personally speaking with the members of the Senate, resulting in a razor-thin victory of 12-11.  Keith Murphy, membership director of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, spearheaded the anti-ban effort and was all smiles after the vote. 

A small group of half a dozen anti-ban activists gathered in the State House cafeteria early Thursday morning to strategize.  The Senate vote was expected to be close, and a few Senators were thought by both sides to still be on the fence.  While the liberty activists went from office to office, speaking to as many Senators as they could, a much larger group of pro-ban activists loitered in the hallway, congratulating one another on their expected success.  They then proceeded to take every seat in the historic but small Senate Gallery, forcing the anti-ban activists to monitor the proceedings by streaming audio while huddled around a laptop computer in the basement.  After 1 1/2 hours of impassioned Senate discussion, it remained unclear how the vote would turn out. As the roll-call vote was taken, Murphy quickly tallied the results and proudly proclaimed victory for the liberty side.

During the Senate debate, it was repeatedly mentioned that the pro-ban supporters had bombarded the Senators with “canned” email.  One elderly Senator expressed displeasure with the rude manner in which he, and even his wife, were treated by pro-ban supporters who called him at home, and stated that in all his years as a legislator, he has never been subjected to such a lobbying campaign.  The anti-ban activists received no such criticism.  In fact, one Senator read aloud an email he received from Kevin Craig, an anti-ban activist.  Craig, a resident of Texas, is a participant in the Free State Project and signer of the First 1000 pledge, and wrote to the Senator of his future district to let him know why he intends to move to New Hampshire with his wife and children. He urged the Senator to keep New Hampshire as it is rather than turn it into a “mini-Massachusetts”. 

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On Sunday, March 26, the We the People Foundation presented a free, advance screening of Aaron Russo’s new film America: From Freedom to Fascism in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  The film played to a packed house, with some viewers forced to sit on the floor during the 4-hour film and lecture presentation.  Rough estimates indicate that Free State Project participants made up at least 10% of the crowd, with other attendees driving in from as far away as Maine and Rhode Island to catch the show.

Aaron Russo, who wrote, directed and produced the film, is an award-winning Hollywood producer whose best-known films include “Trading Places” starring Eddie Murphy, and “The Rose” starring Bette Midler.  Russo sought the Libertarian Party’s nomination for U.S. Presidential candidate in 2004 but was defeated by dark horse contender and Free State Project participant Michael Badnarik.

The controversial film covers a diversity of topics, including the dubious legality of United States income tax, the Federal Reserve Bank and the manner in which it centralizes power in the hands of a small group of private bankers, and the growing police state in America.

Katherine Albrecht, internationally-known expert on RFID chips, founder of the consumer privacy group CASPIAN, author of the acclaimed book SpyChips, and New Hampshire resident, is featured in the movie and was in attendance at the film.  We the People founder/director Bob Schulz invited her to address the audience after the film.  Her opening comment, “Many of you here know me because I like to hang out with the libertarians and the Free Staters!”  met with a cheer from the crowd.

All attendees received a free bound copy of the New Hampshire State Constitution.  During his presentation on the We the People foundation and its landmark court case on the constitutional right to petition for redress of grievances, Schulz commented that he is an aficionado of state constitutions and that New Hampshire’s has always been one of his favorites.  He read several articles aloud to the audience.

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