Ed Clark, Satan Worshippers, and Rap: A Message to the Libertarian Party

 

By R. Brownell

I joined the Libertarian Party (LP) because I was tired of Republicans and Democrats, that’s the same story shared among many members of the LP. Yet, every time I encounter a small “l” libertarian and we start talking about the LP, it’s always pretty much the same conversation, “the LP doesn’t win elections, the LP is too chaotic.” I get it, I’ve seen it, I hate it, but I have hope because I know in my heart that we have the best message for America and that it’s worth working through in order to eventually get it right. I believe in the Libertarian Party so much, I dished out some reasons a while back, all before the this goat incident….

From Casey Bennett’s recent article discussing the LP senatorial candidate in Florida:

“Journeying on foot, Invictus apparently traveled roughly 2000 miles from central Florida to the Mojave desert in California, spending a week fasting and praying for survival. Upon his return to Florida, Invictus slaughtered and drank the blood of a goat as part of a pagan ritual to give thanks.

Invictus admits to his participation in the ritual, stating…“‘I did sacrifice a goat. I know that’s probably a quibble in the mind of most Americans […] I sacrificed an animal to the god of the wilderness […] Yes, I drank the goat’s blood’“.

This type of bad press is the last thing we need (even though Hillary Clinton is responsible for far worse, just ask Chris Stevens…) and is part of the reason many libertarians that would join us simply don’t. Florida LP chairman Adrian Wyllie at least tried to rectify this whole dilemma:

“He is the absolute exact opposite of a Libertarian. He’s a self-proclaimed fascist. He’s promoting a second civil war. It’s absolute insanity. We must explain to people this is the opposite of Libertarians. This guy has no place in the Libertarian Party.”

 Yet, what if more people got involved and made the changes they wanted? What if new blood came into the body of the party and brought back the excitement of when the LP first started? I think the problem is we don’t give the LP enough credit, credit that even the conservative National Review even understands:

“Reagan said as much many times in his career, but perhaps the most telling is in the moment many conservatives love to quote, the moment from his debate with Jimmy Carter where he defused an attack with the famous line “there you go again”… In effect, Ed Clark was right: If the extension of federal power in the 20th Century, not the manner and extent in which it had come to be exercised, was the source of America’s problems, there was no difference between Reagan and Carter. The current GOP in-fighting is, in essence, about one of two things. Either it is a debate about tactics, personalities, and marketing, or it is about principle. If it is, as many involved say, about principle, then it must be about this principle. It must be that many suspect that the solidly Reaganite GOP leadership is at heart comfortable with a size and scope of government that is much larger than was the case prior to the mid-20th Century, that it is comfortable with the idea that the federal government can be involved with running large entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and the like if only it changes their form. They suspect this is true – and they don’t agree.”

Ed Clark, the first Libertarian Party presidential candidate to crack 1%, understood that in a big tent party, bringing in everyone from anarchists to classical liberals under the “Big L” Libertarian banner, meant striking at the simple differences between the LP and the other two parties and making sure that everyone could get behind a mission goal that no one could argue with: minimum government, maximum freedom. Overall, this message and mission is the reason for the party’s recent surge in membership. Ed Clark commented on this momentum during the 2012 election cycle:

“I think this year is like 1980, which was a tremendous year for Libertarians. Everybody was turned off by the government because of Vietnam, people were turned off by the inflation of the 70s, and people in California were turned on to the thought of small government by Prop 13. That made a lot of people available for another alternative in 1980. I think there is the same potential here…To establish the Libertarian Party as an alternative in this election, I think, really opens the door for fantastic opportunities four years from now.”

More importantly, the best way to draw people in and show them you’re best side is simply to have fun! When was the last time a Republican did a rap video?

Ed Clark’s “major new coalition” as he called it back in 1980, is still growing, and as any parent can tell you, sometimes you need time for a child to mature before it reaches its full potential. Nothing is ever perfect, but what I can tell you as someone who has only voted Libertarian, at least I understand the Libertarian Party is fighting for your freedom every time, all the time.

LP, shake off the haters and learn your lesson. Small “L” libertarians, consider coming back to the only chaotic political family that will fully accept the beautiful hot mess you are, with arms wide open, and I promise as Clark once said, “we’ll grow and grow”.

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