Rumblings from the Mountains of Liberty (A look into the Libertarian Party, 1987-1988)
Transcript of Governor Ed Crane's address to the Idaho State Capitol, February 17, 1987
Ed Crane: President Abraham Lincoln once observed that a democratic society does not need to fear threats from the outside. No tyranny has ever withstood the forces of democracy united in righteousness. No, Abraham observed that the greatest enemies of democracy come from within. Fellow Americans who, despite enjoying the fruits of freedom, seek to subvert it for personal gain and a desire for power. What would Mr. Lincoln say, over a century later, to see his words be vindicated by his own party, by his own descendants?! (a few members of the Republican and CV branch jeer, but are shouted down by the Libertarians). The Republican Party once believed in equal rights for all man, and the freedom to prosper.
But today, those lofty ideals have become a mere shroud for a machine of militarism, exploitation, and oppression. The Grand Old Party, driven by the ruinous Rumsfeld administration, has replaced open dialogue with oppression. They've replaced liberty with a system of penal labor and cultural suppression. They've replaced diplomacy with imperialist threats. They have ignored the Constitutional checks, and have allowed American lives and resources to be spent on endless war. They replaced free enterprise with monopolies that attack competition in a manner that would sicken the most venal gangster. And they've replaced the franchise with a political system that robs people of their voice.
Men who believed in the free market system have been rewarded with their property and possessions robbed. Men who once believed in free expression now find themselves shuttled off to prison.
Even the once proud mantra of state's rights has become nothing more than a twisted spectacle. For when the people of California chose to re-elect their governor, Donald Rumsfeld chose to defy their will, and force his own man into California. And his cronies in the Senate chose to impeach the people on the Supreme Court who protected the right of Californians. Now, the nation's largest state, one of its jewels must separate itself from the nation. It must drive itself from the so-called government of the free to be able to enjoy liberty once more.
Martin Niemoller, in a simple poem, explained how to ignore an atrocity is to invite our own doom. I will not wait until we Idahoans are dragged off to the concentration camps. I will not rest as more states are driven to fear and terror, til another court can decide that the votes of the people of Idaho don't matter, and that a pretender is forced upon you all. For this, I will take the stand that our ancestors took centuries ago. Today we must stand for liberty!
The Idaho Ordinance of Refusal-Passed by the Idaho Legislature- March 8, 1987
The people of Idaho do embark on the solemn duty of refusal. The state of Idaho, effective March 15, shall henceforth refuse to heed the demands of the United States government. The United States government, through its unlawful and craven abuse of the Constitution, has violated the principles under which the people of Idaho Territory ratified the Constitution. The people of Idaho declare the current Congress, inaugurated January 3, 1987, has been elected through unlawful means and the result of the unconstitutional 28th amendment, to be illegitimate and thus worthy of refusal. The people of Idaho declare that the current Supreme Court, appointed through narrow partisan interest, to be dedicated toward the demolition of the Constitution and thus worthy of refusal. The people of Idaho declare that the current state of refusal shall stand until such conditions are met:
1. The repeal of the 28th Amendment, and the immediate resignation of all those who have gain Congressional office from it.
2. The resignation of Donald Henry Rumsfeld from executive power.
3. A constitutional convention, whose main purpose is the restoration of executive power to its limited constitutional role, as well as to clarify current flaws in the new Constitution.
4. The resignation of the current members of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Office of Edward Crane, CATO Institute Boise Offices, March 17, 1987
Butch Otter, adviser to the Governor's Office, arrived to see Governor Ed sitting at his desk with a look that combined focus and anger.
"So Butch," the Governor said, "how many soldiers can we can count on to stand by us if Rumsfeld stops playing nice."
Otter gave him a nervous look.
"Well," Otter said, drawing out the word, as if to delay an inevitable moment ,"The Home Guard is full of Libertarians. The women especially would be loyal to you, because of your vocal support for gender equality. But most of them are young and have little experience. The state police, as you know, love you for promoting police community relations. The sheriffs are staffed-"
"What about the national guard and Mountain Home", interrupted the Governor. Otter gave a saddened look.
"They're still at Rumsfeld's call. A lot of them aren't even from Idaho or Libertarians. My sources say that some of them are uneasy about situation, but we can't take chances." The Governor leaned back into his chair and sighed.
"So your saying I need to wear a bullet proof vest under my sweater," said the Governor with a hint of despair.
"Look, this is why I said we should leave the military out of the ordinance," said Otter. "We want to emphasize that its the pretenders in Washington that are the enemy, not our brothers and sisters at arms."
"The army is part of the problem," said the Governor ,"they've help Rumsfeld stick his fingers everywhere. Washington knew the danger of foreign entanglements,".
"Ed," Otter said forcefully, "I've heard the same damn dogma from you ten thousands times. It's getting old. The bottom line is, we need to make as little enemies as possible if we want to ride out Rumsfeld." The Governor looked at him with a grimace, but it quickly become a grin.
"That's what I like about you spuds. You may have sticks up your ass, but you've got your heads on the ground. And you'll talk back to the guy who signs your paychecks," the Governor said.
"You potato heads would walk off of a cliff if someone threw a brownie over it," replied Otter. They two serious men suddenly began laughing happily. In that moment, the fears wore off. When the laughter ended, they got solemn.
"I feel like Washington if the British were just at his doorstep," said the Governor sadly, scratching the back of his head. "Libertarianism is about granting freedom in the belief in the basic decency of the common man. But the last few years has really put a dent in that belief."
"Hey, in '82 all of us in the capital were ready to lock you up in an asylum, and the Idahoans were ready to bring the straitjackets" said Otter with a grin. "We certainly came around, haven't we. I've gone from your rival to your babysitter."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Crane with a proud grin.
National Libertarian Conference, Montana State Capitol, Helena, Montana, May 7, 1988
"Crane, your acting like a damn fool," shouting Libertarian Party chair, David Nolan, at the sweater clad man sitting in the chair sitting on the opposite side of the table. To Nolan's chagrin, Governor Ed, remained steadfast.
"I am not supporting Denton's bullshit amendment," replied the Governor with conviction.
"Is this about that the goddamn Refusal," asked Nolan with more scorn. "Look, now that Rummy's gone, maybe you compromise a little-,"
"It's not about the refusal, I refuse to be part of tampering with the goddamn Constitution," replied the Governor.
"We're not delaying the election by a century," replied the red-faced chairman, "we just need to give Congress a year to sort everything out." Nolan knew that having the most influential Libertarian governor could help convince the stubborn Libertarians to endorse the amendment, but it was proving to be impossible.
"You mean give them another year to shred the document more and more? David, you've seen what those stooges pretending to be Senators and Congressmen are like? You think they actually care about liberty. Tell him Ron," the Governor said, turning his head to the other occupant, in the room, who looked annoyed at being dragged into the argument.
"Well," Senator Galtieri said reluctantly, "Some of the Republicans wanted to restore the Constitution. But the others are either in the pockets of Rummy's corporate backers, or Rumsfeldian holdouts. To tell you the truth David, they don't seem interested in anything but protecting their blood money." His face twisted into a frown at Nolan's angry look. "Don't start with me David. You weren't there dealing with these idiots screeching about the free market in a debate about relief aid. Talking to them is like banging a head against a wall. Even the legitimate Republicans are not easy to deal with. I'm the one who had to listen to that asshole Helms cackling over the "socialist criminals Rummy put away". I also had to endure that prick Lott defending the innocent little megacorps.". He paused. "I kind of have to agree with Ed that those people are as reliable as poison is for food."
"Not only that," said Toni Nathan, who was walking into the room. "Those motherfuckers misused our words, just to rob people. We'll destroy our ideals by shaking hands with those Orwellian sons of bitches. And fucking Phyllis "women belong in the kitchen" Schlafly is on the Supreme Court." Nolan sighed, getting the point.
"Aren't you at least going to meet with Denton," asked Nolan warily.
"Denton's also part of the problem," said Crane. "I did praise him for ending our hand-holding of Malan and all those other fascists," Crane said. "But sooner or later, he'll send those Holy Battalions to shut us down."
"What makes you say that," asked Nathan.
"He's CV, Toni," replied Crane as if he said something obvious. "The CV have said nothing but apeshit things since the beginning about us. They've called us the devil for supporting abortion. They call Idaho "the sodomite capital," they called you 'a wicked harlot who deserves to be Satan's whore.' You think they won't crush us if given the chance" Crane sighed.
"I know," Toni said, flustered ,"but Denton said he doesn't want to do anything more than serve out the-,"
"Those Christ bastards believe in their twisted idea of God, not in honor. They'll gladly throw out a deal if it means pleasing the little green alien they consider god. Hell McCloskey, a man people think is more sane than I, won't put one toe out of California. If he can't trust Denton, who can?" He leaned into the table. "Haven't you heard Denton's speeches."
"Yeah," said Nolan ,"and he talks about restoring-"
"Yeah," shouted Crane with mockery," 'restoring glory', 'saving the American family', 'making us great again'. You know those are just the same dog-whistle bullshit those right-wing asses have been using in their war on freedom, Toni." Toni shook her head in agreement. "Even if Denton isn't crazy, his CV supporters, who handed him power, definitely are. If he wants to stay in power, he'll have to appease them somehow. We could be the thing he throws under a bus." The simple political truth hung over them like a filthy smog.
"Even if Denton leaves, who says we'll be facing a sane person," asked Toni. "Another corporate stooge could become president, and try and shut us down for his corporate backer."
"Okay, so if we can't deal with the feds, than what?" asked Galtieri.
"Well since that cost-cutting strategy the Legions were performing in Cuba was revealed," everybody frowned in anger over that horror, "the military here are disillusioned, and thus more open to our ideas. McCloskey, I hear, is working out an arms deal with the Japanese. He said he might get us a few guns. With the hardware we have now, and the stuff we could get from the Japs and give to the Bozeman communes, we could build an army." He saw their anxiety about open rebellion. "Look, we need a fallback in case I'm right about Denton and the loons, something that proves we're ready to defend ourselves. An army of libertarians proves we're not just stoner Republicans, but people ready to defend ourselves from tyranny. Because the honest truth is, we haven't been doing that for seven years, and we got to make up for that."
A brief silence hung over that truthful statement, before David Nolan broke it.
"He's right," a sad Nolan said. He stood up, with a snarl on his face. "Despite all our talk, we all got taken in by Rummy's corporate free market BS. Yeah, you can argue we were a very small part of it, but we still supported those laws that allowed Rummy's cabal of assholes to plunder and poison our population." Galtieri flinched, remember the horrific legislation he voted for. "We let him drag people into those gulags, and snubbed the Dems and WTP because we let Hughes convince our constituents they were commies. We did nothing to stop Hughes disinformation, and thus we enabled that sordid little rip in our Constitution." He paused. "If we had just worked with Democrats 3 years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess." Everybody in the room stewed in their own sorrow.
Nolan suddenly became proud, the pity party coming to an end. "The Libertarian Party will issue statement claiming we're committed to Liberty, and will press for immediate restoration. Nothing more". He smiled even more. "And by ensuring security, we could bring more people to our land, and woo them to the Bozeman way. More people means more soldiers and useful skills for building our society."
"Now you're talking," said Crane. "So how does it feel being a revolutionary?"
"Like sex," said David, which earned him a smack on the head from Toni.