"And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you--where would you hide...the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast...and if you cut them down...d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake."

- A Man for All Seasons

Memos of former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo assert that President Bush is an omnipotent wartime leader, his authority superseding petty domestic laws and international bans on the use of torture. In one of these memos, a definition of torture is provided, ruling out all acts but the most extreme, which intentionally subject a prisoner to pain likening to that of organ failure or imminent death; clearly, very restrictive standards were imposed.

However, the offering of the definition seems a bit superfluous, for if the wartime powers of the president cannot be assuaged, a definition of torture has little pertinence.

Among the seemingly unfounded complaints against torture has arisen the accusation that the U.S. has employed ships as "floating prisons," detaining those arrested in conjunction with the war on terror, in conveniently intangible locations. While Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Navy spokesman, denied that U.S. naval ships house any detention centers, he did state that prisoners were sometimes held "for a few days" on ships during the initial detention process. When 'a few days' aboard a ship crosses over into an actual detention period, if such would be recognized at all, was not discussed.

Claims that prisoners aboard these ships were beaten worse even than those at Guantanamo are incredibly disconcerting, especially given the manner of treatment to which Guantanamo detainees are privileged. However, if the hidden and beaten prisoners do not feel they are about to die (or that they should be dead already), or if the prison guards are in fact denying their intent, that is, to cause severe and enduring mental and/or physical pain, then torture, of course, could not be occurring. Even if it were, according to Yoo and other similar minded men, this is nothing to complain about.

Be patriotic and don't think; if men in charge say it's permissible, then it must be so.

But one man could not convince the public of this truth, nor orchestrate the vast number of torture cases alone. Even a wartime executive with unfettered powers needs assistance occasionally. Cooperation by the CIA, among other organizations, has helped spread the use of torture while veiling knowledge of its existence.

In recently released CIA documents, where redaction by far prevails over content, the word "waterboarding" is visible -- and only the word. No description or judgment of the practice peaks through the blocks of solid black dominating the documents, offering no more information about CIA practices than was known before attempting to read the papers.

Claims that the U.S. government does not use torture or engage in questionable practices is called severely into question by such actions; if there were nothing to make people balk upon reading these documents, there would not be grounds for keeping information about the U.S. government from its own citizens. The use of releasing documents in this form, other than to attempt to appease those presumptuous people who claim the government, which derives power from its citizens, must be held accountable to these same citizens for its actions, is as clear as the blacked-out documents themselves.

The blatant disregard with which basic human rights have been accosted in pursuit of the safety of freedom is nothing less than appalling. Freedom cannot exist where human rights do not; terrorism cannot be ended by terrorizing. As such, these egregious violations of human rights have no legitimate defense.

From the ACLU:

All right Libertarian activists, it's time to get busy. We only have a few short months before the Nov. elections and we need to build up local bases of operations in our local communities.

Terry of Cape Girardeau, Missouri sent me this email today:

Hi Austin,

I recently joined the Libertarian Party and have started the Cape Girardeau Bob Barr Meetup - http://bobbarr.meetup.com/17.

I am an ex-Republican and feel that both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are headed in the same, wrong direction that will grow the size and scope of government and reduce our freedom and liberty in countless ways.

As for what I plan to do with the information - my desire right now is to build as strong a Bob Barr Meetup as possible. I am looking at what the Meetup can do to spread the Libertarian message and support Bob Barr's candidacy. Additionally, I would like to be able to help raise funds for both Bob Barr and other Libertarians.

Other plans I have in the works are a web site for disaffected Republicans which will be called Republicans Left Me. I have the domain name and just need to start building the site. I also plan on putting up a site about third parties and plan to prominently feature the Libertarian Party.

I appreciate your time and thank you in advance for any suggestions/advice you are willing to offer.

Sincerely,

Terry
Cape Girardeau Bob Barr Meetup
http://bobbarr.meetup.com/17

Great work Terry!

This is exactly the kind of dedication we need in order to make a strong impression this fall. Feel free to contact me at anytime if you are not sure how to set up a group.

In the meantime here are some useful tips to get you on track.

- Have your first meeting at a good social public gathering that is accommodating to large groups. Make sure it's not too loud and that everyone, including those under 21, can get in.

- Call ahead of time to speak to the manager and let them know you will be bringing a group. Don't be shy to ask for discounts on food or drinks, and see if they can reserve you some space to sit for your group.

- Search local Ron Paul Meetups by zip code on Meetup.com. When you find them, email the organizer on the left side of the screen with an invitation to your first event. Inform them that everyone is welcome to attend. Try and follow up with a phone call if you can attain their number.

- Identify your leaders at your meetings. Find out who you can trust to delegate major tasks such as scheduling future Meetups, finding local events to send volunteers for outreach, etc.

As always, I am here for anyone to speak to about local organizing events, and answer any questions you might have. You may email me at austin.petersen@lp.org to discuss any ways to improve Libertarian outreach.

A message from Austin Petersen, LP volunteer coordinator:

In keeping with solidarity:

Hello everyone, Austin Petersen is at your service! I’m hard at work building strong new coalitions across the country for our cause.

Ballot access is coming slowly but surely. I am scouring the internet for volunteers, placing ads, sending emails to Libertarian and Ron Paul meetups in specific states, making promotional videos, and doing the best I can to get people out there petitioning for ballot access. I have been directly emailing college students who are registered as libertarians on Myspace, and have deployed several volunteers using that method. Most of the volunteers I get come in from my direct emails, and randomly from surfing our website. Some have suggested I branch out into Facebook and am looking into that as well.

I recently scheduled an event for next Thursday evening here in D.C. Everyone is welcome. Join the meetup if you haven't already at: http://libertarian.meetup.com/364/

I am still very low on volunteers for South Dakota, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Anyone who is fired up and ready to defend their principles to the last man, should contact me to throw their hats in the ring, and collect signatures in your state. Or for those who filed their income tax, consider donating your stimulus check we borrowed from China to our ballot access efforts.

Join me: http://www.lp.org/action/volunteer.shtml

In Liberty,

Austin Petersen

The following are selected Daily Poll results from last month. A general synopsis of the results are that of those that responded: only 17 percent consider Obama to be a political outsider; most would prefer to face Hillary in the general election; nearly a majority believe McCain's military experience does not give him more credibility as a candidate; the issue Libertarians care about the most in 2008 is fiscal policy; half support the death penalty; the "Fair Tax" is the preferred system of tax reform, though only marginally so; Libertarians want most a communicator for a presidential candidate; and gas prices have impacted the driving habits of a majority of people.

If you have any poll suggestions for May, please email them to Andrew.davis@lp.org as you come up with them, and they may be used.

4/1/08

Do you consider Barack Obama to be "outside" the political establishment? (198 votes)
Yes - 34 (17%)
No - 150 (75%)
Maybe - 2 (6%)
Don't Know/No Response - 2 (1%)

4/2/08

What Democratic presidential candidate would be best for the LP to face in 2008? (98 votes)
Barack Obama - 33 (33%)
Hillary Clinton - 65 (66%)

4/09/08

Should the Iraqis be forced to spend oil surplus revenue on rebuilding their own country? (123 votes)
Yes - 90 (73%)
No - 27 (21%)
Maybe - 4 (3%)
Don't Know/No Response - 2 (1%)

4/10/08

Do you believe John McCain's military experience gives him more credibility as a presidential candidate? (164 votes)
Yes - 62 (37%)
No - 81 (49%)
Maybe - 21 (12%)
Don't Know/No Response - 0 (0%)

4/11/08

Out of these three political issues, what do you consider to be the most important in the 2008 elections? (329 votes)
Fiscal policy - 153 (46%)
War in Iraq - 64 (19%)
Civil liberties - 112 (34%)

4/14/08

Do you support the death penalty? (194 votes)
Yes - 97 (50%)
No - 86 (44%)
Maybe - 10 (5%)
Don't Know/No Response - 1 (0%)

4/15/08

What type of tax reform would you prefer? (125 votes)
Flat income tax - 25 (20%)
Consumed-income tax - 7 (5%)
National retail sales tax - 29 (23%)
"Fair Tax" - 36 (28%)
Other - 28 (22%)

4/17/08

Do you believe the government has a legitimate role to play in stopping climate change? (135 votes)
Yes - 27 (20%)
No - 93 (68%)
Maybe - 11 (8%)
Don't Know/No Response - 4 (2%)

4/24/08

What type of LP presidential candidate do you want? (409 votes)
A "purist" - 30 (7%)
A long established Libertarian activist - 22 (5%)
Someone who can communicate our basic message to voters outside our party - 357 (87%)

4/28/08

Has the price of gas impacted your driving habits? (95 votes)
Yes - 58 (61%)
No - 33 (34%)
Maybe - 1 (1%)
Don't Know/No Response - 3 (3%)

4/29/08

Do you support strengthening the GI Bill to help it cover today's tuition rates? (139 votes)
Yes - 72 (51%)
No - 50 (35%)
Maybe - 7 (5%)
Don't Know/No Response - 10 (7%)

LP Presidential Candidate FEC and Liberty Decides '08 Filings

Wayne Allyn Root
LD '08: $15,764.00
Individual: $29,988.00
Candidate: $4,421.90

Daniel Imperato
LD '08: $10,474.00
Individual: $0.00
Candidate: $0.00

Michael Jingozian
LD '08: $8,490.00
Individual: $13,090.79
Candidate: $0.00

Mike Gravel*^
LD '08: $895.00
Individual: $447,378.97
Candidate: $0.00

Steve Kubby**
LD '08: $1,280.00
Total: $2,951.22 [A typo on the candidate's filing incorrectly stated Election Cycle-to-Date contributions. The correct number is $16,219.77.]

Alden Link
LD '08: $885.00
Individual: $259.00
Candidate: $4,225.00

George Phillies
LD '08: n/a
Individual: $16,727.75
Candidate: $81,527.01

Mary Ruwart***
LD '08: $1,060.00
Individual: n/a
Candidate: n/a

Christine Smith**
LD '08: $2,460.00
Total: $16,244.00

Bob Barr (still in Presidential exploratory phase):
Total Reported by Candidate Web site: $53,163.64

Most Individual Contributions Raised: Root
Most Personal Money Contributed: Phillies

*Numbers reflect previous campaign for President in different political party
**No electronic report available. Only total available is net contributions that do not separate individual contributions and candidate contributions
***No FEC report available
^Candidate had failed to file April Quarterly Report when data was compiled

(LD '08 totals current as of May 5, 2008. FEC Filing data taken from Election Cycle-To-Date totals from candidates' April Quarterly filing. This information can be viewed at www.FEC.gov.)

On Thursday, the LP used a suggestion for its "Daily Poll" on the LP Web site. The question stayed up over the weekend, and quickly became one of the most responded to questions in recent memory. I thought the results were quite interesting, given the large response, but also more importantly, how diametric the results were. I do not wish to add commentary to the results, but simply wish to post the results for those who many not have had a chance to see them.

What type of LP presidential candidate do you want? (408 votes)

A "purist" - 30 (7%)

A long established Libertarian activist - 22 (5%)

Someone who can communicate our basic message to voters outside our party - 356 (87%)

This comes to you from Sean Haugh, political director of the Libertarian Party:

The Libertarian Party has received a lot of positive attention by the high profile defections of former Rep. Bob Barr and former Sen. Mike Gravel from the Republicans and Democrats. Although these events get national attention, this process is happening at the state level as well.

One fine example, is Kent Marmon, our Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in Idaho. Until recently, Marmon was seeking the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by Sen. Larry Craig. After swimming upstream against a state GOP that had already decided for the people who Idaho's next Senator should be, Marmon began to examine his other options and discovered a party which not only would give him a fair chance to win the nomination but also already advocated for everything he believes -- the Libertarian Party.

A lifelong Idaho resident, Marmon previously served on the Caldwell City Council, where elected Libertarian Rob Oates now sits. The list of service organizations in which he is active includes Kiwanis, the Boy Scouts, the National Federation for Independent Business, the Chamber of Commerce, Crime Stoppers and the Early Parenting Support Services. As a city councilman, Marmon is especially proud of winning his battle with the Federal Aviation Administration, forcing them to make good on their promise to expand their local airport. Before he even got on the council, his design for a local Senior Center was realized, although once in the hands of politicians his plan to raise the money for the project from private donations only was abandoned in favor of taxpayer funding.

Marmon's issues are ones that would make any Libertarian proud. When one examines his record and his platform, it becomes clear that he was a Libertarian all along. He just needed our party to become successful enough to catch his attention and welcome him to his rightful political home.

The Idaho Libertarian Party has given us a fine example of how our success in electing Libertarians who serve well in office, like Rob Oates, recruits more successful candidates who are well prepared to take our message to the people.

President Bush announced this week that he was calling for a curbing of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and called for Congress to pass climate-change legislation in a new battle against the assumed threat of "global warming." In a seeming reversal of previous Administration positions on global warming, Bush now appears to be addressing the concerns of environmentalists while stressing that reforms should not cost jobs or harm the economy. Although this new direction the Bush administration is taking has drawn criticism from environmental advocacy organizations, who say it's not enough, Bush forgets that wanting to mitigate the impact new legislation has on the economy, and what actually happens, are two entirely separate things.

Much like many of the tough issues facing Americans, people often rush to the government looking for a solution. And in the day and age where neither Republicans nor Democrats hesitate at taking on new powers, the federal government is all too ready to play the part of the hero. However, reality is much different from Hollywood movies, and far too often these reforms have disastrous consequences. Government manipulation of the free market has consistently made recessions worse and economic downturn more severe, and nobody doubts how ineffective the drug war has been. So, why should environmental regulation be looked at any differently?

It takes a very heady detachment from reality to believe that one can simultaneously protect the economy from any sort of impact while calling for new regulations against the private sector. Instead of rushing to the government, which passes legislation that directly impacts private businesses, the power of the market should be the driving force behind environmental reform. Essentially, leave it in the hands of the people to decide.

Unfortunately, the global warming paranoia created from a hyper-sensationalist news media and Hollywood documentaries that play fast and loose with bad science has created a sense of panic and agitation among the American public. Waiting around for the market to speak is too slow, people say; government regulation is much quicker. However, despite all the past legislation that seeks to stymie the impact of global warming on the environment, little good or change has come. In fact, nearly almost every single piece of notable legislation has all seemed to backfire -- and many with worse environmental impact than the legislation originally intended to fix.

The following list is in honor of the tried and failed environmental-based legislation that ended up causing more harm than good:

Banning the light bulb - Among the mountains of pork in last year's energy bill that received the stamp of approval from the Bush administration was a very surreal ban on the light bulb. Starting to be phased-out in 2012, the incandescent light bulb will be replaced by the compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb, despite it being more costly, requiring different consumer-use patterns, known to cause migraines, complicated to recycle and having a higher mercury content. What the government forgot about was that CFL bulbs cannot simply be tossed out because they pose a significant environmental risk as a result of the mercury levels in the bulb, but recycling centers for these bulbs are not well established across the country and prevent proper disposal.

In response Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has proposed the "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act," which would reverse the ban unless the GAO can prove the bulbs: save money, reduce carbon emissions and don't pose a serious health risk. Though, while based more on the merit of expediency than the actual belief in consumer freedom, Bachmann's bill accomplishes what sensible politicians (oxymoron?) should have considered in the first place.

FlexFuel - One of the first major moves towards going green in the automotive industry was Congressional pressure to move towards biofuels -- namely those fuels like E85 that are mixed with ethanol, which comes from corn. Many car companies, most notably General Motors, has produced variants of their popular models that can run on these biofuels.

Great idea, right? Not exactly. The demand that biofuels has put on the agriculture industry has sent food prices through the roof. "Congress has already authorized billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies for farmers who grow corn and the producers who turn it into the fuel that's pumped into your car," says David A. Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research, in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "Never mind that ethanol is helping spike food prices. Corn prices have already increased by 70 percent since 2005, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects they will rise an additional 10 percent to 20 percent this year."

Then, too, there is the fact that ethanol fuels actually hurt the environment while increasing the cost of any type of food coming from corn or animals that feed from corn. "A second study, by researchers at Princeton University, came to a similar conclusion, finding that corn-based ethanol would produce twice the greenhouse gas emissions as conventional gasoline over the next 30 years," says Ridenour. "The recently passed energy bill is expected to create even greater demand for ethanol, since it requires the United States to ramp up biofuel production to 36 billion gallons by 2022 from 7.5 billion gallons today."

Federal Land Reserves - Is it any wonder that the area of the United States where the federal government owns the most land also happens to be the area of the United States that seems to be on fire the most? Coincidence? Maybe, but it's doubtful. Regulations on federal land often prevent the burn-off or control of debri on the forest floor, which is one of the leading catalysts of monstrous forest fires. While ranchers and owners of private land can safely maintain their property, federal land adjacent to their property quickly becomes a fire hazard.

Of course, interest groups that lobby for anti-logging legislation and wish all federal land to be left alone as nature intended are all for such asinine legislation. There again, many of them have never lost a home to a preventable forest fire, but that's neither here nor there.

ANWR - Almost anyone that drives a car and has to fill up with gas that costs $3.50 or more might not think twice about running down an Alaskan caribou just for spite. After all, if it weren't for the caribou, the United States might have been able to tap into precious oil deposits in the Artic National Wildlife Reservation, bringing in an untold amount of U.S. produced petro into the American market. However, environmentalists unwilling to disturb the pristine environment of a region of the world where most Americans will probably never venture (nor think about) was blocked from drilling, despite the approval of local Alaskans who would benefit from the jobs and money such operations would create.

To get an idea of how small the footprint of the drilling operations would be, check out this map of ANWR. In case it is hard to see, it's the little red dot.

While Americans are dumping their life savings into their gas tank, they're also paying for the idea that there is a little piece of Alaska untouched by man, where caribous roam free and happy. It's really a nice thought, though not worth price.

If you have anything more to add to the list, please email them to Andrew.davis@lp.org.

A message from our National Volunteer Coordinator, Austin Petersen:

This past week I sent out an email to request volunteers for the Ballot Access project and received a very good response. I want to thank everyone for contacting me let you know that someone will be contacting you soon to follow up.

For those of you who might be sitting on the fence and wondering if it's worth your time, I had a thought this morning as I was reading the news. The national debt stands now at around 9.3 trillion dollars, and next year's budget has been submitted to be 3 trillion dollars. The Iraq war is estimated to cost 2 trillion or more by itself -- all of it paid for in "emergency spending." That's around $30,000 for every man, woman and child in America.

This election cycle is crucial, and petitioners are badly needed in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois and Connecticut. If you are still on the fence about volunteering, consider that the Libertarians are the ones who are tasked with ending these wars and out of control spending, as we are the ones who understand the consequences of history.

If we don't do it, who will?

Join me today http://www.lp.org/action/volunteer.shtml.

Sincerely,

Austin Petersen

The following is a message from the Libertarian Party's new volunteer coordinator, Austin Petersen.

Hello everyone,

This is Austin Petersen, the new Volunteer Coordinator! I have lots of ideas and am working on plans to revitalize volunteer efforts nationwide. Soon I will be running an active Meetup Group that will be used for volunteer recruitment, networking, and fun! If you're in the D.C. Area, please join, and encourage others to join, as this will be a great way to make friends, and get active with the Libertarian Party.

As the Volunteer Coordinator, my job will be to make sure that we have ballot access in the following regions: Alabama , Connecticut , Washington DC, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

If you live in one of the above areas and are able to, please register to volunteer with us, so that we can work together to help Liberty minded candidates elected in your communities. It's comforting to know that there are many Libertarians who hold elected office in their hometowns, but we must continue to increase our numbers. That's where you come in. By volunteering a weekend or more, you can make a real difference.

If you have questions you may contact me at austin.petersen@lp.org for more information. Thank you and I am very excited to meet and work with all of you.

Sincerely,

Austin