Flattering article about me...

[Radar]

I was surprised this weekend to have someone send me an article that mentioned me without slamming me. It was actually complimentary and flattering.

Since this is so rare, I thought I'd share....


Birth of a New Civil Rights Movement

L.K. Samuels, LP Northern California Vice Chair

Just as Rosa Parks ignited the Civil Rights movement by refusing to move to the back of a segregated city bus in 1955, a new group of civil rights activists are refusing to let an increasingly intrusive government shove them to the back-burner. This mostly libertarian crowd is gearing up to taunt various government agencies into arresting them for things that most people would consider inoffensive.

Take the case of Mike Fisher, 23, of New Hampshire. On April 9 he walked in front of the Manchester office of the state Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics and broke a law. His hideous crime? He filed a woman's nails without a government license. Fisher endured a night in jail and was ordered to conduct himself with "good behavior" for one year. But Fisher has decided to get others to commit more far-reaching acts of civil disobedience. He has persuaded Russell Kanning of the Free State Project to refuse to show identification when he takes his next airline flight and to make sure everyone knows about it. Fisher is hoping that other airline patrons will join this peaceful protest.

In Los Angeles, Paul Ireland was arrested at the annual April 15th anti-tax demonstration sponsored by various libertarian organizations. His appalling crime? Ireland refused to disperse when a Postal official ordered him to leave the outside grounds. He and others were told to leave because they needed a permit to protest. Ireland refused to budge, arguing that he was on public property and "did not need a permit to exercise his rights." The Postal employee demanded that Ireland walk inside the Post Office so he could be
arrested. Again, he refused, but the government official pushed and twisted at his arm until, with TV cameras rolling, he complied. Inside, he was handcuffed and waited an hour for the Los Angeles Police Department to show up. The police were miffed. They said they had never arrested anyone for such a "crime".

During the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City, the Libertarian Party of Manhattan organized an "unauthorized protest" in Central Park. The government required that all demonstrators get permits for rallies and marches, but often refused to grant them. They wanted demonstrators to be contained in "Free-Speech Zones," as had happened at the Democratic Convention. The Libertarians refused to comply. They claimed that the only permit they needed was the First Amendment. One organizer remarked, "If you have to ask the government for permission to protest, you deserve to be told no." Protestors wore T-shirts that read: "Permits? We don't need no stinking permit!" Park officials watched the protestors cautiously, but did not expel anyone from the park except for an unauthorized street vendor selling sodas out of a cooler.

Even one of the 2004 presidential candidates, Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party, was arrested outside the 2nd Presidential Debate in St. Louis. Claiming that it was illegal for a debate funded by public money to exclude third-party candidates * especially a candidate listed on the ballot in 49 states * Badnarik crossed the police barricades to serve an "Order to Show Cause" to the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). Issued by an Arizona judge, the order sought to remedy the exclusion of other candidates at the 3rd Presidential Debate in Tempe, Arizona. Earlier that day Badnarik campaign staffers had attempted to serve the same papers at the Washington, D.C. office of the CPD. However, security guards blocked them from entering. In frustration, Badnarik decided to cross the police line to protest his exclusion from the two-party debate, arguing that his free speech had been violated.

Rosa Parks did not intentionally challenge racism or government-imposed segregation. She was merely too exhausted to move to the back of the bus when more whites stepped inside. Nonetheless, she sparked a freedom movement that changed America forever. Another such movement is poised to change it again.