A new beginning: The start of the "Live Free Revolution"

The Libertarian Party of Manatee County is geared up for the 2016 election year!

We're expecting a veritable deluge of angry, disillusioned voters, and we're going to give them some place to go.

We'll be reaching out to energize the current Libertarians in Manatee county to be ready to greet, embrace, comfort and educate the angry masses as they watch the clown show going on in Washington.

Be ready!

We're even going to have the Freedom Festival in October, just before the election, and we need to be on the spot making connections and relationships that will last far beyond the election.

That's how we win.  We talk to people in their time of anger and need, and show them a better way.

Please join us and be part of the "live free revolution".

Welcome to the Revolution

Some of us can pinpoint the exact moment we knew something was desperately wrong with our Country, with our two-party political system. For others, it's not so cut and dry. The feeling of discontent grew slowly, rising from time and again feeling unrepresented by our leaders. This sad realization was spawned by the bi-partisan passage of legislation like The Patriot Act and the NDAA's Indefinate Detention Clause, that we knew were in direct conflict with the Constitution on which this Republic was founded. When one looked at the actual voting records, the line between right and left, Republican and Democrat, is largely non-existent. One used to depend on the right to keep the fiscal end of government in check, and the left to protect our individual liberties. Neither are any good at either of those things anymore. Both sides consistently vote for higher taxes and regulations, more deficit spending, and if they can manage to swindle away our individual liberties along the way, you can always count on them to do exactly that. I had always been a registered Independent, only changing my party affiliation a few times over the years to vote in primaries. I changed my party affiliation to the LPF after the 2012 RNC Convention in Tampa, where I witnessed the real hands of power at work, changing rules on the fly to keep Ron Paul's delegates from being seated. I was furious. I was sick to my stomach. I wondered what country I lived in. Certainly it was no longer a government composed Of, By and For the People. I was pissed off. Although I had identified and aligned myself with the Libertarian philosophy and platform for several years, it took that incident to spark me to change my registration. Interestingly enough, it still wasn't enough to get me to get me involved, that would take a little while longer. For the next year I read and I researched. I really started paying attention. My government became more brazen and unapologetic. I lamented to anyone who would listen and got even more angry. New agencies were growing in their scope and power to restrict our civil liberties; the TSA, the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA. Our local police forces started resembling combat teams, loading up with excess military gear from the Pentagon for use in our hometowns. With these realizations, I became more and more fearful of my own government. The IRS was outright criminal in the targeting of political groups. The mass survellience by the NSA, collecting digital profiles on virtually every American in direct violation of the fourth amendment to our Constitution. The Federal Reserve, which is a private banking institution, continued to perpetuate unsustainable monetary policies. The list goes on and on, and continues to grow by the day. My last shred of confidence in the two-party system was completely and utterly annihilated that year. I knew without a doubt the American People were being enslaved, and blatantly sold out to the corporate oligarchy over and over and over again. I felt angry. I felt betrayed. I felt scared. Mostly, I felt helpless to do anything about it. I felt like giving up. I had all but given up. I had been toying with the idea of attending a meeting of my local LPF affiliate for about 6 months before I actually went. Like most people, I had a slight reluctance to new things, new ideas, new people. I was also new to political activism. The last campaign I worked on was Ross Perot's Independent bid for the Presidency in 1992. I was just 23 years old. I really had no idea what to expect. The first meeting I attended was in June of 2014. I immediately knew I had found a home. This small group of intelligent, driven, like-minded freedom lovers were to change the course of my life in many ways. It wasn't long before I was asked to step in and fill the vacant Vice-Chair position. This was a big step for me, after all, I'm a libertarian, I just want to be left alone to my personal pursuit of happiness. There comes a time in life when you have to do more than be left alone to insure that. For me, that time had come. With the midterm election cycle in full swing and an incredible candidate for governor to campaign for, our local affiliate held 8 campaign-specific events over a four month period. Our membership grew. Our active members and volunteers grew. Voters for Adrian Wyllie grew. Manatee county ended up garnering almost twice the state average for Adrian Wyllie. Some precincts showed numbers just shy of 10%. That is an amazing accomplishment for a third party candidate. This is what we are now capitalizing on and moving the message of Freedom into the future for Manatee County, the state of Florida and beyond. With each meeting and event I have participated in, my resolve to make a difference for my children and grandchildren has grown deeper and more passionate. The strides we make as an organization by steadily bringing the message of The Libertarian Party to our community will be the catalyst of real, lasting change for our futures. To be able to present an alternative voice to a populace that has lost faith in our system, like I had, is incredibly gratifying. To be able to inspire others to stand up and take action is even more exciting. This is exactly what is happening, and with every new member, my faith grows. With every new party registration changed to LPF I know we are that much closer to making a big dent in a corrupt system. Each day that goes by I know we are that much closer to delivering our lives back into our own hands, precisely where they belong. If you are here and reading this, Welcome to the Revolution. It's time to take a stand.

Underdogs of Cortez find a Voice in Wyllie

http://www.thebradentontimes.com/news/2014/11/03/opinion/underdogs_of_cortez_find_a_voice_in_wyllie/#.VGdBvLG9KnN

County Chairman Jim Fallin and Secretary Char-Lez Braden at StarBucks on 14th and Cortez working to ban Redlight camera's in Manatee county officially launch "Club Redlight Manatee".

Bring Your Gun And Clean It Night!

I will have three safety experts on hand: Former USMC Rifle Instructor, Former Army Sniper Instructor and Former Manatee Sheriff Detective.

Random Ramblings

I admit, I'm a news junky. I love watching the news. My TV is always on Fox News, and when I have time, I love reading the New York Times. How many people out there watch Fox News and read the New York Times? Not many, unfortunately.

The reason Fox News blows away the other news networks is because it is more in-tune with the American population than it's competitors. I'm always in favor of free market competition, and I'm glad we're a center-right country, but I really wish more people would watch MSNBC, and better yet, Al Jazeera.

I've been watching Al Jazeera English for a little over a week now (ever since #Jan25), and yes, their journalists and interviewees range from disliking America to outright hating us. Kind of like MSNBC is with Republicans, and Fox News is with Democrats.

Herein lies the only caveat of being a free society. We're free to watch what we please, and free to not watch what we don't want to see.

If you only watch Fox News, you'll have a much different view of America than if you only watch MSNBC. If you only watch Al Jazeera, you'll have a much different view of America than if you only watch American stations.

I'm convinced every Libertarian goes through a moment of Enlightenment. Something happens to us where suddenly our eyes open to an entire world outside of the box we have been living within our entire lives.

Wisdom is a powerful weapon. To the politicians, we are all "Useful idiots". Politicians create chaos to keep us occupied, so we don't go digging around for information they don't want us to know. Fortunately, the Democrats and Republicans each have their idea of what you should and shouldn't know, and they are almost always inversed. That's why I enjoy the New York Times and Fox News, because it's usually hard to believe the story they are reporting is actually the same story.

The situation in Egypt is much different on Al Jazeera than it is on Fox News or MSNBC. Which one is telling the truth? None of them. They're all spinning the events to their target audience. Fortunately, by watching all three, we can use our own judgement to infer the real story, a talent sadly lost on most people.

We know most people are Libertarians who simply haven't realized that fact yet. So how do we convince them? Well, I don't think we can. It's a lot like hypnosis, it only works if the subject wants it to work. Until they have been Enlightened, they will have no desire to leave the comfort of their box.

If you know of someone who is passively-active in politics, ask them to do you a favor. Say you're doing a research project, and ask them to watch two nights each of Bill O'Reilly and Chris Mathews. On the first night, have them write down only positive things about the show. What they liked, what they agreed on, and so on. Then on the second night, write down only negative things about the show.

For a select few, this one simple task will be enough to lead them down the path of Enlightenment towards Libertarianism. For the rest, their results will be extremely revealing, and you will be able to use their answers to try and help them along the journey of Enlightenment.

Libertarians Call for Democrat Party Chair Karen L. Thurman to Step Down

The Libertarian Party of Manatee was amused to see Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer announce his resignation because it likely represents no change at all, and even if it does mean a substantive change in the Republican Party it very likely won't be one in the direction of liberty if recent history is any guide.

In his resignation latter Jim Greer cited "the conservatives" as a prime reason for his leaving. It is important to note that when Jim Greer says "the conservatives" what he really means is "those few Republicans that are sick of people like me, Charlie Crist, John McCain and all the other democrat lights who only oppose big government spending when we're not the ones doing it."

OK, so that's what he says, but his own people say his lack luster efforts at fund raising and dubious party spending are the real problem.

Either way, he should go.

While the GOP is doing some house cleaning it should also do some soul searching, and perhaps some reading of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and lpf.org for good measure.

The only bad news is that we have to wait until February 20th to actually see him depart. Talk about the longest exodus you've ever seen.

What does all this have to do with the Democrat Party Chair and why are we calling for her to step down? Solidarity. The Republicans and the Democrats share so much in their ideology that she should immediatley step down, as well as resign her position in the US congress, to help show her GOP tax and spend friends that she hasn't forgotten them.

So please, call Karen L. Thurman at 850-222-3411 and ask that she please step down.