Cobb County LP Chair Matt Godown Gets Quoted at Poli-Tea

It's a media ripple folks.

Cobb County LP Chair Matt Godown did an interview with James Swift of the Smyra-Vinings Patch yesterday and that got picked up by one my favorite blogs, Poli-Tea, today. Nice echo Matt.

Matt was one of the stalwarts for Liberty that worked with Libertarian Chuck Donovan's attempt  to unseat republican Senator Johnny Isakson this year and is working hard every day to grow the Cobb County affiliate in size and strength. The original interview is up at the Patch and the excerpted interview with additional analysis is over at Poli-Tea.

The readership is encouraged to read both and then if you're in Cobb County contact the Cobb LP affiliate and hit their next meeting to climb aboard the Liberty Train.

Top 10 Libertarian Political Events of 2010 in Georgia

OK, maybe not 10, but at least 7 or 8.


It's the end of 2010, we've all survived the election and the holidays and so it's time for the very first Bludgeon & Skewer Top Ten Georgia Libertarian Political Moments of 2010. When you're runnin' and gunnin' with Libertarians, you learn to look for small victories and silver linings as conventional victory, i.e. "Hey! Whadda you know, We Won!" just ain't in the cards. 








#1. Libertarian Taylor Bryant runs TWO races in 2010!

We'll start the review with Augusta's best known Libertarian, Taylor Bryant. Taylor started this year in a special election for State Senate District 22 and garnered 8.9% of the vote in a 4 way race to force a runoff that resulted in Hardie "Checks in the Mail" Davis in securing the traditional democrat State Senate seat. Anybody think Hardie will flip to republicanland in 2011? Not content to rest on his laurels, Taylor took the field again and sought a seat on the Augusta School board and received 32% of the votes in that race. Everybody notices the trend line right? 




#2. The Georgia LP nominates and runs candidates for every statewide office in Georgia at the April Convention. 

A first for the Georgia LP! An entire slate of Libertarian candidates for every statewide office in Georgia had never been attempted before 2010. The entire slate is listed below:


Governor: John Monds
US Senate: Chuck Donovan
Lt. Governor: Rhonda Martini
Attorney General: Don Smart
Secretary of State: David Chastain
School Superintendent: Kira Willis
Insurance Commissioner: Shane Bruce
Agriculture Commissioner: Kevin Cherry
Labor Commissioner: William Costa
PSC (2nd District): Jim Sendelbach


#3 Libertarians push Nathan Deal over the line for the Republican Nomination for Governor.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. When crunch time came in the republican run off's, Bludgeon & Skewer led the way by calling for a Libertarian intervention in republicanland to make sure that Nathan Deal got the nod. Since the race was decided by 2400 votes, it's well within reason that Libertarian crossover voters played a role in Nathan's victory. A concurrent effort to secure a spot for Maria Sheffield as Insurance Commissioner did not succeed.


Hindsight being 20/20, we probably should have lined up with the Handelista's but I personally doubt that it would have made any difference in 2010. If you ran as a republican last time out, you won. It's the "independent" pendulum thingy that bears watching although I think the LP needs to look at the 50% of registered voters that just don't vote. As long as us and the republicans and democrats are haggling over the 50% of registered voters that do vote there is no hope of doing much better than 4% at the polls.






#4 Georgia Libertarians actually qualify with the SecState

It cost a cool 38K to qualify our slate of candidates. We got it done. Sure there was some hand-wringing, bitching and kvetching but the money got raised and the money got spent and we were all on the ballot officially.














#5 Libertarians influence the the terms of the debate.

Horse racing in Georgia? Ballot Access? Death penalty moratorium? Equal treatment under the law for ALL citizens? Cancer survivor health care co-ops? Smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom? All this and more was injected into the statewide races in 2010 by the presence of Libertarians on the ballot. Some of our opponents saw fit to co-opt some of our concerns, none of our opponents discounted them. That is a measure of victory for Liberty.

#6 The size of the Georgia LP grew in 2010.

We're still small, nimble and agile but the 2011 convention looks to be a bit crowded. The activities of our candidates in the 2010 race did yield an increase in the number of card carrying, dues paid Libertarians in Georgia. We've also added a couple of county affiliates in 2010 and are looking for more in 2011. Growth is growth and growth is positive

#7 Libertarians actually received some earned media

Granted, it was late in the cycle but our candidates did get some earned media coverage. Libertarian candidate for Governor John Monds was in most of the major media televised debates in the last month of the campaign. The rest of the state-wides had their moment in the sun courtesy of the fine folks over at GPB and the Atlanta Press club. I've never looked into the overnight ratings of those debates to get a feel for how many Georgian's got some exposure to Libertarian politicians as a result of those programs, but it was a positive for all our campaigns. 

#8 All Libertarian Candidates survive the General Election cycle.


It might sound like small potatoes, but every Libertarian candidate survived the general election. When you consider that each and every one of our candidates ran as part timers and held down their actual day jobs, family commitments and the host of other things that make up the lives of ordinary citizens it's absolutely remarkable that none of us landed in the loony bin or re-hab. Toss in the fact that none of the Libertarian candidates had more than a smattering of volunteer staff and all of us were under funded or just plain unfunded and it's more remarkable. 


#9 The final tally of votes on November 2nd revealed that about 4% of Georgian's who vote that support the Libertarian Party platform. Unfortunately, in Georgia you need 50%+1 if you intend to run the show. 


#10 Libertarian Will Costa is running for the Chairmanship of the Gwinnett County Commission after finishing a grueling race for Commissioner of Labor. Looks like Taylor Bryant won't be the only Libertarian to run two races in one year!


That's the first Top Ten List from Bludgeon & Skewer folks, if the readership would like to offer their thoughts feel free to do so.

Libertarian Will Costa now faces three opponents for Gwinnett County Commission Chair

Say Adios to Bob Clark.


Bob who? Bob Clark has withdrawn from the impending fracas for the Gwinnett County Chairman's race set to explode after the first of the year. This important news was revealed over at the mighty, mighty AJC and even they couldn't find a picture of the dude. 


This latest development does not affect my outlook on this race, it's going to boil down to Will Costa and Charlotte Nash as the oh so short campaigns begin and end. As an update, Will has a strong internet/facebook/pick up the phone and call the guy presence while Charlotte is holding her minions and underlings in reserve. Of the leventy-five-million Charlotte Nash's on FaceBook, none of them were running for Gwinnett County Chair.


So don't delay, contact Will Costa today and share in the victory ride!

Diebold Menace Update, Georgia Edition

Just in from the indefatigable Garland Favorito, a solution to Georgia's unverifiable electronic voting systems!


Yeah it costs some moola, not as much moola as the state spent on boat ramps, the Oaky Woods debacle or anywhere near the amount that Georgia Power's gonna skin all of us for over the next ten years until they get the nuke plant built. The question is, how much is your vote worth? I'm willing to bet that the Handelista faction of the republican party of Georgia wishes there was some kind of recount system that actually worked in place. So do us Libertarians.


Another startling bit of info is the news that the mighty, mighty Diebold TS R6 equipment the state so foolishly purchased is about to hit it's preprogrammed 10 year life span self destruct cycle. It'll be a real hoot when the entire system crashes in 2012 and reveals that Mickey Mouse is in fact Georgia's choice for the Presidency of the United States. And an audit of the system by the system will reveal that that was the way Georgian's voted, case closed, STFU, STFD.


Here's the latest from Garland:

New Study cites cost effectiveness of opti-scan vs. DRE voting

VoterGA Supporters,

You may remember that election officials have contended for years that new voting systems will cost Georgia $100 million dollars and have no savings benefits. We have countered saying that the costs  are only actually only 25-35% of that and the multi-million dollar annual savings would pay for the machines in about five or less election cycles. A new December 2, 2010 study conducted for the state Maryland, which has the same equipment as Georgia, now confirms our basic claims.

Replacement of the statewide Diebold TS R6 electronic voting equipment with optical scan equipment would pay for itself in about five election cycles according to the study. The study projected a $14 million initial cost with a savings of over a million per year. Georgia has about 50% more equipment, thus the costs using the same equipment change would be about $20 million and the savings nearly $2 million annually. We had originally estimated a cost closer to $30 million including ballot markers for the visually impaired, and savings of nearly  $3 million a year. In any case, the machines will pay for themselves in 10 years even if the state did not purchase any new electronic voting equipment.  That is considered a good return on investment by most any investor.

The Maryland legislature previously passed legislation to require the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail systems be implemented there but governor, Martin O’ Malley, blocked the implementation citing a funding shortfall. The study also pointed out that life span of the TS R6 equipment, (which Georgia implemented in 2002), is 10 years. A link to the full study can be found on the VoterGA home page or here:

Maryland Optical Scan-DRE Cost Study

Garland

www.voterga.org

News Flash! Libertarian Will Costa will be facing 4 opponents in the Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Special Election.

The competition just got a little smaller.


Candidate for Gwinnett County Commission Chair Timothy Swiney has dropped out of the race to replace outgoing County Commission Chair Charles Bannister citing family reasons. We're sad to see the field reduce itself before any campaigning begins, but family is family and that's hell off a lot more important than politics. Good on you Mr. Swiney and we'll be looking out for you in the future.


That means that the current race has become a two way affair between Libertarian Will Costa (Good Guy) and Charlotte Nash (Career Appratchick), the three remaining candidates are still in stealth mode as of today with no further web presence than they had last week.


In additional news, the Gwinnett County GOP will host a  two hour forum for however many candidates are left on 24 JAN 11at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration center on Langley Drive in downtown Larryville. OK, Lawrenceville. They listed Will as a candidate, will they invite him to the forum? 

Will Georgia Become a One Party State?

Is it something is the water?


You get home from the work gig and lo and behold, yet another elected democrat has changed his stripes and slipped over the border into republicanland. I can't blame them for wanting to change stuff, but shape shifting from democrat to republican colors ain't change. Both of those parties are the same side of the same coin.


Obviously us Libertarians have been remiss in that we haven't managed to snag a single defector... er, turncoat...er, renegade...er, Rogue! Yeah rogue!  Not a single rogue elephant has managed to find his way to LibertyLand as they've fled from their democrat plantations. Why is that?


It's true that donning the robes of Liberty hasn't got a payoff in the near term or the long term. We as a party have candidates that aspire to political office but because none of us have succeeded, there's no way a sitting politician from either party could expect that sweet committee assignment of a generous contribution from the swollen coffers of the State Party Apparatus. As a matter of fact, there's talk floating around LibertyLand that the state LP is seriously considering ceasing and desisting from offering any financial support to the next crop of candidates for office. No golden ring there for the political rogue looking for a new home.


We do offer a quite simple political philosophy of smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom. That philosophy resonates with about 4% of the Georgians that vote and that's just not enough to win in a two party, winner take all state. You could look at Libertarians as a critical vote segment, but only in a state that actually has a vibrant two party system and that's not the State of Georgia at the moment. One of the biggest disappointments from the last election was the absolute implosion of Georgia's democrats, a rolling implosion that continues to occur one elected official at a time. What do we do when there are no elected democrats in Georgia? 


Well folks, the Libertarians will still be here. We've been in the wilderness so long that we kinda like it. We're gonna continue to dance with the Ten Amendments and the Constitution, keep up with our brothers and sisters scattered throughout this great nation and keep looking over the horizon at the bright and shining future we can all share.


If the body politic can ever shake that republican/democrat label thing.

Bludgeon & Skewer is now carried by NewsTex.Com

It's Horn Blowin' Time!


The merry crew here at Bludgeon & Skewer are pleased to announce that the recruitment process is done and we have joined NewsTex.Com's gia-normous family of bloggers as a subscription only feed. NewsTex has been banging away at the aggregator bizness since 1994 and provides high quality blog feeds to audiences around the world.


We're happy to be one selected as one of their contributors and it's nice to see folks like Ballot Access News, Liberty Maven, Planet Moron and a host of others riding the same horse.


So we'll break the news here that there is a Bludgeon & Skewer movie in the works based on all the flipcam video's shot during this years campaign cycle. The format's a little rough, the artistic direction a bit foggy, and it's yet to be settled if it's a docu-mocku or rocku-mentary. Maybe all three.


Like the donate button, we'll put up the trailer some time soon.

Libertarian David Montane is in the News at the AJC and on the Air with WGST!

DeKalb County's very own David Montane is back in the news with recent comments on the ongoing woes of the DeKalb School Systems current financial mess. In yesterdays article at the AJC by Megan Matteucci:


"David Montane, chairman of the Friends of DeKalb Schools, said the school system is not in a position to give out such raises.

"I'm definitely concerned about that," said Montane, who also is vice chairman of the Libertarian Party of DeKalb. "When there are people getting laid off all over the place in the private sector, and people are getting demoted or their pay cut, this is no time for raising the salaries of public servants."

Expenditures like that are one of the reasons the Friends of DeKalb Schools, a group of concerned residents auditing the district's finances, is pushing to have the schools' check registry posted online, Montane said. The group plans to ask the board to vote on it early next year. "

Way to go Dave! And the fine folks down at the Rob Johnson Show on WGST will be talking to Dave on Monday Morning at 8:20 on the same topic! Double whammy!

And for all you DeKalbite Liberty Lovers, keep in mind that the Friends of DeKalb Schools will be meeting at the Famous Pub on 4 JAN 11 to continue the effort to publish the school system check register online so all the citizens of DeKalb County can see what the moneys going for. 

Local politics, local action, local involvement!

Libertarian Chuck Donovan Supports Georgia House Bill 3, The Constitutional Tender Act

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. 12/17/2010 IT'S TIME FOR HONEST MONEY IN GEORGIA Dear Shane, The Georgia Assembly has before it a piece of legislation that will financially benefit our state.  Bill Greene, PhD, is the author of the Constitutional Tender Act (HB3).  I've read HB3, heard Dr. Greene speak, and read his papers including the paper he presented at the MISES Institute.  I believe HB3 is the single most important piece of legislation before the Georgia legislature for 2011.  It forces the State of Georgia to comply with Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution. "No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility." Our Federal "representatives" have decided to ignore this part of the Constitution.  Georgia HB3 begins returning our country to honest money by holding The Georgia State government to a verifiable and Constitutional standard. House Bill 3 needs cosponsors and supporters to get passed the Georgia Assembly and signed into law by the Governor. This single Bill will force the Federal Reserve from our lives thereby protecting our retirements from the ravages of inflation.  Vladimir Lenin said; "The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation."  Let us fight against the crush of our failing dollar. When this Bill passes you will hear a rush of new bank accounts opening in Georgia thereby halting bank failures all over the state. Dr. Greene tells us the most powerful way to over come the banking lobbyists in the State of Georgia, who oppose this Bill, is the number of letters we get onto the desks of our representatives.  I ask that you get your family and friends, acquaintances and neighbors to write their representatives and ask that they co-sponsor this Bill. Follow Steps 1, 2, and 3 below.  Ask at least two other people to do the same.   Imagine 500,000 letters on State Representative desks between now and the opening of session in January. The fight for liberty never ends.  This is a small thing for you to do that will benefit your fellow Georgians, their families, their prosperity, and their freedom. In liberty, CHUCK DONOVAN The mission is liberty. The vision is now. Follow these steps - at least to Step #4 - to give your fellow Georgians an opportunity to conduct business with honest money: 1. Find your Georgia State Representative:  http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/FindLegislator.htm 2. Phone, email, and Facebook contact for your representatives: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/house/alpha.html 3. - Use the online letter here to copy and send via email: http://constitutionaltender.blogspot.com/2010/12/contact-your-ga-representative.html     OR     - Print the HB3 Letter to Georgia Legislators and mail the letter to your representative.         Be certain to sign the letter and put your name and the name of your State Representative or State Senator on each letter. 4.  Have at least two of your friends do the same.  We want as many Georgians contacting their representatives as possible. 5.  Follow the progress of the bill here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmropTJjc6wqdHFrWlJXTzltdEtIcER6R0JCelhHcWc&hl=en&authkey=COjBuboD To get more informed on this issue, here is the single best book to read on the subject:         "What has government done to our money?" by Murray Rothbard,             Free Text and pdf version: http://mises.org/Money.asp             Free Audio version, great for mp3 players:  http://mises.org/media.aspx?action=category&ID=92?afid=21

Another Look at SecState Kemp's Elections Advisory Board from Garland Favorito

Like I said, the rest of the board just doesn't measure up to David Shock.


The real stunner is Cecil Stanton, the cat who runs a Warner Robbins TV station that snubbed all of us Libertarian candidates in this years election cycle by not inviting us to appear in the critical Warner Robbins TV debates that happened right after the GPB debates. Garland wrote about that here. I'm not at all familiar with Mike Jablonski, but if Garland smells something fishy, you can bet there's a reason.


Here's Garland's Press Release:

VoterGA Supporters,

Secretary  of State, Brian Kemp, has announced his Elections Advisory Council that he promised roughly two years ago to establish. Below is an article from the Albany Journal that identifies the council members. The council was supposed to be non-partisan, however, half of the 16 members have direct ties to the Republican or Democratic parties.  The remainder of the council consists of local election board officials plus two more independent selections including:

·         Independent State Representative, “Rusty” Culver Kidd, co author of the HB1257 ballot access bill that would have removed petitioning requirements for candidates in Georgia. (That bill was not supported by Secretary Kemp and died in the committee chaired by another council member Mark Hamilton)

·         Associate Professor of Political Science, David Shock of Kennesaw State University, a Libertarian who was also the treasurer for Secretary of State candidate David Chastain. (Chastain was the only candidate in the race who advocated for a return to voting that can be verified audited and recounted properly)

Two particularly disturbing selections are:

·         Republican State Senator, Cecil Staton, co-owner the Warner Robins Patriot news outlets that barred all statewide Libertarian candidates from participating in their 2010 debate series. (Who could be more partisan than that?)

·         General counsel for the Democratic Party of Georgia, Mike Jablonski, who has refused legal assistance to 2008 Douglas County Commission chair candidate and Douglas County Democratic chairman, James Quarterman even after evidence showed that the county manipulated the results of all 25,000 Election Day ballots. (I believe that this may be the single greatest case of potential election fraud the state has ever seen)

These two individuals appear to come into the council with their own agendas that are clearly not in the best interest of the people of Georgia. Although Secretary Kemp promised at the last State Election Board meeting to give a voice to some civic organization members who regularly attend and speak at the meetings, no election integrity activists, ballot access advocates, computer professionals or security experts were included on the council. Thus, in diametric opposition to the Secretary’s business council, the new elections council has almost no representation from the general public.

The council will likely serve to delay for another year, any serious consideration or attempts to pass true non-partisan election initiatives.

Related information can be found on the Voterga web site.

Garland

www.voterga.org

Gadzooks! Libertarian David Shock made the Cut to be on Georgia's Elections Advisory Council!

He's older than he looks.


Mega-Super-Uber congrats to Libertarian David Shock for being appointed to SecState Kemp's Elections Advisory Board. It's the big news of the day for all Liberty lovers in Georgia. Who is the mysterious Mr. Shock? One of the Georgia LP's most dependable, reliable and trustworthy members, I've been with the party since the fall of 2008 and David was an old pro by then.


This appointment will ensure that the Georgia LP's  stance on ballot access and ballot integrity will be heard as this board conducts it's affairs in the coming months. And the rest of the panel ain't exactly chopped liver, not that they measure up to David, mind you.


Here's the rest of the crew:

• Secretary of State Brian Kemp
• State Senator Cecil Staton (R – Macon)
• State Senator Hardie Davis (D – Augusta)
• State Representative Mark Hamilton (R – Cumming)
• State Representative Rusty Kidd (I – Milledgeville)
• Anne Lewis, General Counsel, Georgia Republican Party
• Mike Jablonski, General Counsel, Democratic Party of Georgia
• David Shock, Associate Professor of Political Science, Kennesaw State University
• Todd Blackwell, Baldwin County Probate Judge and Elections Superintendent
• Beth Kish, Elections and Registration Manager, Cobb County Board of Elections &
  Registration
• Deborah Marshall, Columbia County Elections Director
• Charlotte Sosebee, Hall County Interim Elections Director
• Nancy Boren, Director, Muscogee County Office of Elections and Voter Registration
• Jeff Sinyard, Dougherty County Commissioner
• Richard Barclift, Elections Superintendent, City of Chickamauga
• Charles Schwabe, Mayor, C

The Atlanta Libertarian Cigar Club Meets this Wednesday Night at Dantanna's Cigar Lounge

It's time for Christmas Cigars!


That's right folks, the Atlanta Libertarian Cigar Club is lighting 'em up again this Wednesday night at DanTanna's Cigar lounge in Buckhead. Come on down!


Here's the official announcement courtesy of ALCC Chair, David Chastain:





Tobacco smoke, like silken web,
Suspended in the restful airs,
To me and mine, in soothing rhymes
A dainty, artless burden bears;
Let cares rage on--let hopes renew--
The yesterday, tomorrow be--
But we are wise, the smoke and I;
We cease regrets and troubles flee.
                               - A. B. Tucker

Dear ALCC Members and Friends,
Please join us this Wednesday for our last ALCC gathering of 2010. The weather outside may be cold, but it shouldn't be frightful. Plan to come by to warm up, light up and drink up.
  AND, Check out our Group photo at the Cigar Aficionado web site.  We don't know if/when  our mugs will appear in the magazine, but they are now on the web.  Click HERE.

If this is your first visit, we meet in the back room at Dantanna's Buckhead Cigar Lounge. All we ask is that you purchase your smoke from the BCL humidor. Tell Mike at the register you are a Libertarian Cigar Club attendee and get a 10% discount.
ALCC meetings are the third Wednesday of every month and annual dues are $25.00. Our treasurer is Roxanne Karnick.



Happy Holidays & Best Wishes
 for a Great New Year.

Cheers!
David Chastain
Chairman
dfchastain@gmail.com
770-630-8294 cell/text

State of the Race for Gwinnett Commission Chair: Libertarian Will Costa Takes an Early Lead

We've got the players for the impending special election for Gwinnett County Commission Chair, so who hit the ground running?


This particular media sweep was looking at several items of interest for most political aspirants, Web sites touting the particular candidate, FaceBook Campaign Page presence and google search hits on each candidates name with a selective filter of the last week.


Without further ado, here are the results of this weeks State of the Race Review!

Libertarian Will Costa
FaceBook Campaign Page? Yes.  Will Costa for Gwinnett County Chairman
Friend/Like count: 61 likes
Campaign Website? Yes.  Will Costa Libertarian for Gwinnett County Chair
Google Page rank, last 7 days: Page 1 ranking out of 877,000,000 returns, 4 of the first 10 returns mention Will Costa in the title

Timothy Swiney
FaceBook Campaign Page? He's got a FaceBook page up that's focused on this race but only notes his name. Lots of posts, some discussion, but technically there is no campaign FaceBook page. Yet.
Campaign Website? Yes. Elect Timothy Swiney Gwinnett County, Commission Chairman
Google Page rank, last 7 days: Page 1 ranking out of 127 results, 1 article mentions Timothy in the title.

Charlotte Nash
FaceBook Campaign Page? Not that I could find
Campaign Website? Nada
Google Page rank, last 7 days: Page 1 ranking out of  452,000 returns, 2 of the first 10 returns mention Charlotte in the title of the article.

Larry Gause
FaceBook Campaign Page? None up for the Gwinnett Contest, Still has the old FaceBook page up from his attempt at the 4th Congressional District race.
Campaign Website? Nuttin'.
 Google Page rank, last 7 days: Page 1 ranking out of  448 returns, 2 of the first 10 returns mention Larry in the title.








No clearly attributable pictures
Robert (Bob) Clark
FaceBook Campaign Page? Zilch
Campaign Website? Nope
Google Page rank, last 7 days: Page 1 Ranking out of 5 returns, none of the articles mention his name in the title.


No clearly attributable pictures
Gerald Duane Kissel
FaceBook Campaign Page? No.
Campaign Website? Bupkis.
Google Page rank, last 7 days: Page 1 ranking out of 52 results, 1 article mentions his name in the title.


OK Folks, that's where we're at on the impending special election to replace Gwinnett County's outgoing commission chair. To my slightly biased eye it looks like Will Costa is currently fielding the most complete campaign and if todays research is any indicator the race will be a three way contest between Costa, Nash and Swiney. The election itself will be held mid March so there's plenty of time for things to shift around, but don't let that delay your efforts to assist Libertarian Will Costa.


You've got his website and facebook page links, hit 'em and head over to add your input!

Libertarian Will Costa gets Major FaceTime at the Gwinnett Daily Post

This cranked up on the 8th?


Libertarian Will Costa jumped into the Gwinnett County Commission Chairmans race last Wednesday and has been quoted by Cammie Young over at the Gwinnett Daily Post. He's also gotten coverage at That's Just Peachy,  BobGriggs.com , The Weekly, The Independent Political Report , Peach Pundit and of course here at Bludgeon & Skewer.


Not too shabby for a three day old campaign.


What can the readership do to assist Will in his run for office? First things first, head over to the Will Costa for Gwinnett County Chairman FaceBook page and friend the man up. Then reach way down and see if you have some time or talent or treasure to donate. 


You'll be glad you did.

LP National is Looking for a Few Good 20 Something Video Gunslingers, How About a Few 50 Something Video Gunslingers Too?

I'm just happy to be here.


Imagine my surprise when I noticed on FaceBook that the National LP has kickstarted a fundraiser to hire a couple of guys out of Ohio to produce videos oriented towards gen Y preaching the Libertarian gospel of Lower Taxes, Smaller Government and More Freedom.


After I fell out of the chair upon seeing the 50K price tag involved in this effort, I decided to do a little reconnoiter into the work the of Mr. Irvine and his associate Mr Lyons and it ain't bad. They're funny at times, they appreciate the narrated traveling shot and are not shy about self depreciating humor. Good on 'em.


I also understand the never ending fascination political types have with the mythical youth vote and the quest to discover the magic required to get their attention and then get off the couch and away from the X-Box long enough the vote. Rockin' Barry O's crew was pitching that concept hard way back in 2008 and after his victory crowed mightily that they had the secret of perpetual political power locked away on their blackberry's. Then the 50 somethings knocked the stuffing out of that concept in 2010.


Should the National LP hire on a couple of 20 something video gunslingers? Sure, why not? If the online fundraising effort works and all the 20 something Libertarians pitch in it could be a great thing. If it grows our party I'm for it.


Just don't forget the 50 somethings, we vote, we volunteer and most of us don't need a stipend. I ran for statewide office here in Georgia in 2010, got 96,000 votes with a budget of about 280 bucks and shot and distributed 80 plus videos in the process. Granted, hardly anybody's seen 'em but that doesn't take away from the fact that they're done, online, and available for your viewing pleasure.


And my first documentary/mockumentary/rockumentary is in the 2nd edit stage.

Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC)! Oh My!

Just in from Thomas L. Knapp and Rational Review News Digest!


Looks like joining up with the WikiLeaks Cyber Army is the cool-i-o thing on the block this week as tens of thousands of people have downloaded something called a Low Orbit Ion Cannon and promptly proceeded to launch Denial of Service attacks against their newly acquired enemies. Targets include but are not limited to outfits like PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and others who have responded to our government's efforts to squash the current Wikileaks story.


Granted, my aging cranium and lack of the requisite cyber ninja skill set precludes me from joining the fun, but as a aficionado of asymmetric, cellular action I can certainly enjoy the show. For the whole scoop on this particular event a great place to start is Greg Keizer's article over at Computerworld.com. 


Wish there was a Low Orbit Liberty Cannon.

The Libertarian Party of Atlanta Affiliate issues a Press Release on the Atlanta Eagle Bar Raid

Hot outta the inbox from the guys and gals over at the Libertarian Party of Atlanta Affiliate:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, December 9, 2010

CONTACT
Brad Ploeger at (404) 939-0367

ATLANTA – The Libertarian Party of Atlanta hails the settlement of a
lawsuit filed against the City of Atlanta and officers of the Atlanta
Police Department stemming from the unlawful search, detention and/or
arrest of patrons of the Atlanta Eagle Bar on September 10-11, 2009.

“We are very satisfied with the settlement and hope it sends a message
to other law enforcement agencies in Georgia that government agents do
not have the right to use their positions of authority to intimidate
and harass innocent citizens,” said Josiah Neff, Chairman of the
Libertarian Party of Atlanta. “The only negative aspect of the
settlement is that the citizens of Atlanta must bear the
responsibility of paying for the misdeeds of the officers in
question.”

Under the terms of the agreement approved Wednesday by U.S. District
Court Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. the City of Atlanta will pay
$1,025,000 to the plaintiffs in the suit. Also as part of the
agreement the City agrees to revise standard operating procedures for
the Police Force to meet Constitutional requirements.

“The patrons were yet another victim of the government’s misguided
‘War on Drugs,’ which frequently violates our civil liberties, while
doing little to stem the drug trade,” Neff added.

The case is Calhoun et. al. vs. Pennington et. al., No. 1:09-CV-3286-TCB

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The Libertarian Party of Atlanta is committed to the establishment of
liberty as the central focus of political debate. As citizens of
Atlanta, we primarily concentrate on the issues that directly affect
our city, striving to bring liberty and individual freedom into focus
for our local government officials. We are an active group determined
to make a difference. If you believe in our mission, we want you join
our team.