Activism Photo-Journal, Page 1
|
The below photo-journal contains images or descriptions of events that I have attended in chronological order. March 2000: My first-ever Libertarian meeting I met the first ever known, self-identified Libertarian at a March, 2000 meeting of the Libertarian Party of Metro Milwaukee. Folks I remember meeting included Bob Collison, Bob Schramm, Linda Stanley, and Tim Peterson. April 2000: Libertarian Party of Wisconsin State Convention At the annual Libertarian Party of Wisconsin State Convention, speakers included: Eric O'Keefe (President, United Term Limits; former National Director of the Libertarian Party), Gary Aldrich (Founder & President, Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty; former FBI agent for 26 years), Nathan Barton (Chair, Libertarian Party of South Dakota; jury rights advocate), Jim Lark (candidate for National Libertarian Party Chair), Donald W. Gorman (seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for President), and Harry Browne (also seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for President). I associated mostly with Jim Lark, Kris Cudnohoski, and Herman Tollenaar. June 2000: Libertarian Presence in Gay Pride Parade Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Tim Peterson, Michelle "Mikki" Keshel, Steve Baumeister, and myself represented the Libertarian Party -- and freedom-lovers all over -- by marching in the Gay Pride Parade in Milwaukee. The Pride Fest had the honor of kicking off Milwaukee’s festival season. The parade was on a Friday night and proved to be a huge success with more people watching along the route. Aaron Biterman and Steve Baumeister held up the Libertarian Party banner in the extremely heavy wind while Tim Peterson handed out flyers and pamphlets. Michelle "Mikki" Keshel, dressed up as a Playboy Bunny, also passed out Tim Peterson for U.S. Senate pamphlets. After the parade, we set out to get the 1,000 signatures that were required to get Tim Peterson on the ballot. I came across some "born-again" Christians who tried to "save" me. Being skilled in religious studies, I spent an hour debunking the lies perpetuated by one particular gentleman. In the process, I saved the individual from being arrested for trespassing. It was an interesting time and we collected upwards of 200 signatures in a single evening. Tim Peterson took Baumeister and I to "Hooters" to celebrate the event afterwards. Libertarian Party views on sexual rights July 2000: Signature-Gathering for Tim Peterson Mike Stanley, Don Carlson, Tim Peterson, and I headed to Greenfield to gather signatures to put Tim Peterson on the ballot at the city fair. I was challenged several times by Republicans for being "too young" to know what I believe and for "wasting my vote." Oh well ... August 2000: Aaron Biterman's First OPH Experience My first Operation Politically Homeless booth was at the Wisconsin State Fair. The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin has had a presence at the State Fair for years, so it was a great opportunity to show people that our ideas are neither radical nor extreme. I had the fortunate opportunity to work with Ron Emery, the former State Chair of the New Mexico and Wisconsin Libertarian Parties, and his son. We answered questions about the party, passed out literature, and handed out balloons to small children. It was a great time. September 2000: Curfew Protest Time! 
I assisted in organization of a series of protests in Racine, Wisconsin, organized by Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions and The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin. We protested against the Racine Curfew, which -- like all other curfews -- is discriminatory against young people. After the curfew protest, I told the Racine City Council why they should repeal the curfew law. They each voted "Nay" to the proposal to repeal the curfew -- seemingly without any thought or hesitance. I was interviewed on the local ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates regarding the event. I was also featured on Wisconsin Public Radio for an hour on the topic of curfews. Articles related to the event include: Curfew law doesn't address the real problems Curfew repeal effort faces an uphill fight Youth activist argues for end to city's curfew Youths to petition for repeal of curfew Libertarians oppose curfew Letter opposing curfew change City council affirms 11 pm curfew LP News Coverage ACLU Coverage Group seeks recall of Racine mayor July 4, 2001: Fourth of July Hemp Coalition I was in Washington, D.C. for the annual Washington DC hempfest. The primary purpose of the event is to fund and organize the annual Smoke-In Rally, Parade, and Concert in D.C. The Rally began at "High Noon" in Lafayette Park (North Side of the White House). Speakers I viewed included: John P. Pylka, Event Coordinator, Fourth of July Hemp Coalition Keith Haderman, Libertarian Party of Maryland Gary Reams, Libertarian Party of Virginia Lt. Governor Candidate Spear Lancaster, Maryland Libertarian Party Gubernatorial Candidate I came to the event early and was looking for other Libertarians. Gail Magnum approached me asking me if I could sign a petition to get Spear Lancaster on the ballot for Governor. Gail was wearing a Libertarian Party of Maryland t-shirt, so I knew I had found my people. I met up with Dave Margolis, Kevin Wolf, Debbie Wolf, and Gail Magnum. We worked together to get signatures for Spear Lancaster's 2002 Gubernatorial ballot access. Gary Reams, a Libertarian candidate for Lt. Governor in Virginia as well as Spear Lancaster, a Libertarian candidate for Governor in Maryland, spoke to festival-goers. At 3:00 PM, The Robert Randall Peace Mile Memorial Parade To End the War on Drugs began. Everyone brought a red rose along on the parade to be placed at the War on Drugs Memorial that was constructed at 23rd & Constitution NW. Later that evening, after the event festivities, despite a downpouring of rain, the Maryland Libertarian Party in combination with the D.C. Libertarian Party hosted an Operation Politically Homeless booth. Other attendees included Bonnie Scott of New York, Drew Williams of Maryland, Glenn Howard of Maryland, Ron Crickenberger of Virginia, and myself. We collected the names of 268 potential Libertarians. Articles or photos related to the event include: The Lesson: A Short Story The 2001 Rally The 2001 March on Washington July 20, 2001 -- One Man Hungers. A Nation Prays. On July 3, 2001, We the People Foundation's Bob Schulz began a hunger fast in defense of his essential right to petition the government for a redress of grievances (and government's obligation to answer). He said he would continue the fast until he died or until the federal government agreed to send its experts to meet with researchers from the people's tax honesty movement, in a public forum, to answer questions raised by those researchers -- questions which challenge the legal authority of the IRS to force employers to withhold the income tax from the paychecks of their employees or to force most Americans to file a tax return and to pay the tax. He was soon joined by Roland Crouteau, a successful businessman from Oklahoma. On June 11, 2001, a letter was delivered to President Bush, to the leaders of the Congress and to Commissioner Rossotti to inform them of Mr. Schulz's decision to do this. Click here to view a copy of the letter. I attended a July 20, 2001 hearing with Bob Schultz, Roland Croteau, and others where the government agreed to answer the questions in a public forum and Bob ended his fast. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and a representative of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) each read statements. Rep. Ron Paul's Statement from Schulz's July 17 Press Conference is available OnLine. From a journal entry: "Bob's spirit is determined but his voice and energy level have dropped perceptively over a number of days. This office has recommended to Bob to conserve his energy by sitting more, taking cabs and walking only if necessary. Conversations with the home office early today were described as encouraging, but somewhat strained as the effects of the fast affect Bob more each day." End result of the Hunger Strike: Bob Schultz still has not been given the hearings from the government. Still, I congratulate Bob on his efforts. August 2001: Montgomery County Fair -- OPH Booth I took the Metro and a shuttle (public transportation!) to the Montgomery County, Maryland Fair. I arrived around noon and began collecting signatures for Spear Lancaster for Governor. Jay Baker, Chip Spangler, Spear Lancaster, Gail Magnum, and Bill Buzzell were also present to assist in the promotion of liberty. Even coming from Wisconsin, I must say that Montgomery County, MD is the most socialistic place I've ever encountered. Public this and public that. More government social programs. More government spending. A man from the Democratic Party booth came over and gave us some hell for a while. Overall it was a productive afternoon. I must thank Bill Buzzell for the ride he gave me from the fair back to NorthWest D.C. February 16, 2002: Ilana Freedman Ballot Access Ilana Freedman, our beloved candidate for U.S. House, District 5. Alex Knapp, Libertarian Party of Massachusetts Campus Coordinator, picked me up at 9:30 AM and drove to North Billerica, Massachusetts. We arrived at the home of Richard and Ilana Freedman, where a group of activists were gathered to help Ilana gain the 2,000 signatures necessary to attain ballot access against Democrat Martin Meehan in the 2002 November elections. Libertarians at the event included Craig Mathias (now no longer with the party), Dan Wylie-Sears, Jim C. Perry, Tristan Lewis, Alex, Richard, and Ilana. We were split into groups with designated locations. Richard Freedman, Tristan Lewis, and myself gathered our petition clipboards and headed to Chelmsford, Massachusetts. We spent the afternoon introducing voters to Ilana Freedman and her cherished libertarian beliefs. By days end, we gained well over 100 signatures between the three of us. February 23, 2002: Boston Libertarian Event Summary and photos at http://chelm.freeyellow.com/LPEvent.html. April 6, 2002: Libertarian Party of Massachusetts State Convention On April 6, 2002, I attended the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts State Convention. I woke up at 6:50 AM and met Ron "Rocky" Jepson picked me up (thanks, Rocky!) at the Endicott College entrance sharply at 8:00 AM (as we had planned in advance). At 9:00, the convention was scheduled to begin. We arrived at quarter to nine and proceeded to register. After registering, I met and mingled with Sharon Harris (who I had been e-mail-corresponding with for many months in advance), Alex Knapp (LPMA campus coordinator), Stephanie Farrell (Massachusetts Liberty Editor), Eve Maler (LPMA State Committee), and Kamal Jain (LPMA Executive Director). I grabbed some munchies and orange juice, sat down, and awaited the opening ceremonies. The first speaker was Sharon Harris, who spoke about the infringement of liberties and the crisis situation we are currently in. A summary of Sharon's persuasive and important speech is available OnLine. After Sharon's eloquent speech, it was time to either endorse or not endorse statewide Massachusetts Libertarian candidates for public office. The candidates each spoke, asking us (the delegation) for their vote. There was Carla Howell (introduced by Steve Olson) seeking the Gubernatorial nomination, Rich Aucoin introducing the Lt. Gubernatorial nomination, Michael Cloud (introduced by eve Maler) seeking the U.S. Senate nomination, and Kamal Jain seeking the State Auditor nomination. I was one of two out of 276 delegates who had the knowledge, ability, and persistence to vote "None of the Above" for Carla Howell, Rich Aucoin, and Michael Cloud. 93.5% of the others voted "Aye" for the nominations. I've long been an advocate of two things: (1) Ballot Status and (2) Running candidates who have the possibility of winning. The candidates I voted "Nay" for do not have the ability to do either. Thus, I oppose their campaigns, will not donate to their campaigns, and will encourage others to ignore/chastise their spend-more, money-grabbing campaigns. After the candidate endorsements arrived the Business Session, our opportunity to revise our by-laws or officer reports. But we did neither. Everyone else was more interested in moving along than actually reading the reports given by the LPMA Executive Officers. Libertarians are supposed to be known for their stubborn dissent, not their unquestioning agreeability. Next on the agenda was voting for the LPMA State Committee and voting for Delegates to the National Convention (to be held in Indianapolis on June 4-7, 2002). I was disappointed to learn that Rocky Jepson, who gave me a ride to the convention, was not re-elected to the State Committee. Rocky is Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee in Saugus, Massachusetts, and was one of the first elected Libertarians in Massachusetts. It's a shame that the party does not value those who have real experience in actually winning elections. I was also disappointed with the vote for Delegates to the National Convention. Clearly it was a popularity contest and certainly not a merit-based vote. I donate most of my free time to promoting liberty, but I was not one of the many who would be allowed to the Convention. I was an "alternative." Not good enough for me. I will be attending the Convention as a "delegate" from my other state party, the Wisconsin Libertarian Party. Back in Wisconsin, they value me much more so than do many in the Massachusetts party. After the voting was the luncheon, with John Lott as the featured speaker. Professor Lott provided insightful commentary into the long-term question of the right to self-defense and the current question of the status of weapons of self-defense in relation to the "War on Terrorism." A summary of his informative and important speech is available OnLine. After the Lott speech, the LPMA delegates to the Convention split up into our group sessions. I only attended one group session, addressed by my friend and mentor Sharon Harris: Communication Tips by Sharon Harris. After the Harris speech on Communication Tips, I socialized with Bonnie Scott, Dianne Pilcher, Bob Berg, Ron Crickenberger, Michael Cloud, Carla Howell, Ilana Freedman, Peter Kuntz, Nat Brown, Jeff Vachon, and company. After socializing for an hour and a half, I attended a student session hosted by the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts. There were about a dozen of us present, including Alex Knapp, Brian Knapp, Julio Machado, John Durant, Bonnie Scott, Tristan Lewis, his sister, a girl named Julie from Harvard, Ben Carl, and one unknown. This lasted from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. At 6:30, it was time for dinner. The dinner speaker was Governor Gary Johsnon (R-NM), who spoke on drug legalization. A summary of the speech is available OnLine. |
 |
Homepage |
