Libertarian Jonathan Smith announces for Georgia State House District 154

A lot can happen since Saturday.

Libertarian Jonathan Smith was nominated at the Georgia LP Convention last Saturday for a run at the State house seat in District 154. That's way south kids. Turns out he had some stuff ready to go as soon as he got the nod, and it's pretty damn good.

It's a petition race against a incumbent  republican incumbent by the name of  Jay Roberts. Jonathan is going to have to run a petition drive to get on the ballot to mount his challenge and he's going to need every bit of help he can get to make that happen.

You have to wonder what the republicans and democrats here in Georgia are so afraid of that they persist in maintaining our 1943 Jim Crow Ballot access laws. Loss of power maybe?

Nahhh. It couldn't be that.

Hey Kids, It's 2012 Libertarian Convention Time in Athens!

Let the politickin' begin!


The pregame festivities are underway even as I lay index fingers on this gunked -up keyboard in merry old Athens, Georgia. Libertarian Doug Harman and his crew in the Athens LP affiliate have moved mountains to set the stage for a truly great convention for Georgia Libertarians this year.


I'm making my list and checking it twice for tomorrow morning's load out as I head to the morning Bizness session to cast my ballot  for Vice Chair of our party. Lots of interesting speakers on hand and a Presidential Candidate Debate in the afternoon!


Can it get any better?                                                                                                                                                                                

Job Operknockaity

Hot off of CraigsList Kids!


Looks like somebody in Atlanta is looking to get into the suddenly lucrative firearms themed television production industry. The apparent commercial success of Red Jacket, American Guns and others has savvy media types scrambling to find and field their  very own niche programming for the well heeled 2nd amendment crowd.


I stumbled across this today whilst scanning for other items and felt compelled to respond.


The advert:
Major Cable Network looking for expert gunsmith (TBD)

We need the best and baddest gun builder/gunsmith/gun rehab dude for a competition show. We need someone who is schooled in antique guns, who can build one from scratch, who all around loves guns.

BIG personalities are welcomed.

Please send a photo and a description of what your skills are.

My Response:

RE: Major Cable Network looking for expert gunsmith

Greetings All,

Congratulations for having the most interesting post on Craigslist today.

I am intrigued by your advert and would like to know more. While I am very conversant in all the required activities and am in procession of a galactic sized personality, I must inform you that I am not capable of or inclined to build any firearm from scratch.

Want to know how I work on camera? Go here: http://www.youtube.com/user/OODA999?feature=mhee

Want to know how and what I think? Try http://bludgeonandskewer.blogspot.com/

Lastly, What's the first rule of Gunfighting?

Regards,

Shane Bruce

The readership is encouraged to respond to the ad as well as there is no way of knowing just what they might be looking for. I do recall one of our Douglas County LP members fitting the bill pretty well, but sadly, I just can't recall the name of the shop.

Libertarian Wrangler?

Possibly not the best descriptor to use for a functional title, but it beats the hell out of mailboy.


That's right kids, I'm the newly acknowledged Libertarian Wrangler for the DeKalb LP and it falls to me to figure out how to crack the single largest corundum facing my affiliate and all the others in the USA. How do you increase the number of card carrying Libertarians in DeKalb County?


Perhaps free Hats? A recent free beer experiment failed to produce any measurable increase in attendance although it would be hard to prove by looking at the bar bill. Libertarians like to drink, and talk and fume about a host of issues but I have yet to see any serious part time proselytizing like those Jehovah cats do. I'm not sure that model works anyway and who has time or inclination to knock on doors at random in the hopes of locating politically like minded individuals that might be amenable to sign on for a hike through LibertyLand? 


Like I said, it's a problem that has afflicted us Libertarians for the last 30 years but as Libertarian Wrangler here in DeKalb county I intend to conduct some experiments with novel methods for attracting new members to at least catch up with Doug Harman's crew up in Athens.


The readership is encouraged to share any ideas or experiences they have had in increasing membership rolls, at least the ones that worked. Don't worry about ideas that sound absolutely bizarre, we're Libertarians, you can't out-bizarre us.


Hey, how about a Bizarro-Libertarian membership? You don't join the party, you just vote for our candidates when you can. There's 10,000 Bizarro-Libertarians in DeKalb county and 95,000 in Georgia. I know because they cast their ballots for me way back in 2010!


And no, you don't get a free T-Shirt.

News Flash from the Mighty, Mighty Dekalb LP!

Libertarian Party of DeKalb

Meeting follow-up As expected, at the annual business meeting on January 17, we elected Barbara Rickard to continue as our Secretary/Treasurer, and me to be our Chairman.  However, Brian Fenton is currently distracted with personal matters, so we all coaxed one of our regular attendees, architect Boyd Leyburn, to be our Vice Chairman.  Also, unofficially, Shane Bruce volunteered to work on increasing membership this year, using new experimental methods. He'll be known as the "Libertarian Wrangler".  If you have any ideas about how to find new Libertarian Party members in DeKalb County, you can e-mail him atthesocietyforprofit@gmail.com.  Also be sure to check out his clever musings and rants on the "Bludgeon and Skewer" blog (www.bludgeonandskewer.blogspot.com). Attorney Michael Rothenberg couldn't make the meeting, but he will send us his article on the IRS soon. Incidentally, he was passed over for the judge position he was seeking. (He made the semi-finals, but not the final list of two.) Governor Deal chose a Republican loyalist instead. How to Support Ron Paul You don't need to renounce your party membership to join in the excitement of the Ron Paul campaign in Georgia!  Mark Augustyn spent some time with us explaining how Republican delegates are chosen here in Georgia. Most of them are chosen by participants in the party process, not at the state primaries!  The first date to mark on your calendar is the precinct-level meeting on Saturday, February 18, from 9:00 AM to Noon.  You show up, sign a form and pay $25. Then you can either volunteer as a delegate or an alternate for Ron Paul, or you can help elect a Ron Paul delegate and alternate to go to the county-wide meeting in March. Some additional details can be found here:http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/GA-R.  For more information, e-mail Mark atmaugustyn@yahoo.com.  He has also set up a Meetup group. Click here for more information: http://www.meetup.com/Tucker-Decatur-Ron-Paul-Meetup/events/49423332/.

It's Official. I'll be at the LP Convention in Athens on 25 FEB 12

Neat Pic, Huh?


As the title indicates, I've ponied up the $25 and rejoined the Georgia LP in order to attend this years convention in Athens and cast my ballot for the next Vice Chair. Since I'm on a tight budget, I'll be there for the morning business session/chair toss and I'll hang out until the Presidential debate in the afternoon.


After that it's back to Decatur to attend to more mundane family matters. I urge the readership to make every effort to make it to Athens for this years convention and to check out the LP Candidates nosing around for the LP Presidential nomination. It ain't like you'll ever get a grip and grin opportunity with Rockin' Barry O or Mitt Romney with out shelling out the perquisite $25,000 "donation".


Such a deal!

Athens LP Cavern-O-Liberty!

Hey Kids, it's even bigger than it looks!


A proper venue for the earth shakin', future changin', liberty inducin' ideas that will be discussed there the last weekend of  February. Specifically 25 FEB 12.


If you're a Johnson-O-Phile, be there. If you're a Libertarian Be there! If you're one of the 120,000+ Georgians who voted for a Libertarian state wide candidate in 2010, be there!


It's gonna be a blast.


And don't forget your empty holster.


(I'm leaning towards a WWII era tanker's .45 shoulder holster)

R. Lee Wright's latest Video "War Breeds War"

Pretty freakin' splashy Candidate Wrights.


That's as nice a piece of Libertarian agitprop as I've seen lately and it does drive home the Libertarian position on foreign entanglements. You know those nation building gigs we've been on for the last ten years that provided us with thousands of dead troops, tens of thousands of body shattering injuries and a cool trillion or so of expenses so the Iraqi's could resume their national past time of killing each other over right shoe/left shoe arguments the day after we left.


Once again, kudos to Candidate Wrights on his presentation of his campaign's signature issue, please try to use a happy face for the next one!