What did you do for Freedom, Melinda?

 

     First, here is the link to the longish article I shared with David Nolan when we began talking about that each of us had experienced while active in the Libertarian Party in late 2010, not long before he died.
     At this time, the Natural Law Party, which had launched not long before, closed their political operations, having deemed it inappropriate to leave the organization to others.
    I had for some time questioned if political action in a top-down structure an effective way was to change the problems we were facing with government.
    At the time this was written, in 1999, I had watched the LP become a rigid top-down organization; watching unfolding events persuaded me that the top-down model of management is the death of real activism and of freedom.  Only through free markets and individual autonomy can we be freed.

Activists - Activism
      Real activism does not necessarily require a national political organization authorized by government. Take the example of Karl Bray, who strongly opposed the Income Tax.
      I met Karl at the 1977 California LP Convention where I was helping out the organizer, Paul La Panto. 

     Karl was there with Gail Lightfoot, who also admired and respected the steps Karl was taken in opposition to the IRS. He knew perfectly well what the potential consequences to himself could be, and that the IRS was eager to get the information Karl had compiled on multiple groups working to end the IRS.   

    Karl’s efforts were interrupted because he was dying; he immediately knew he must ensure the information about the groups he was working with did not fall into the hands of the IRS agents pursuing him.  He kept this information in a briefcase chained to his arm. At the time, he lay dying off shore.  His father flew in and picked up this critical information and ensured it would be delivered back to the groups.
    This was clearly individual action not associated with the LP. But most of us understood that activism might, in many instances, require direct action and personal sacrifices. Freedom is not free.

     Other libertarians pursued very different independent efforts, which stand as examples.  These efforts also struggled with the means used to keep them from public view through the Entertainment Industry.

    The movies, Harry’s War, produced by Kieth Merrill | Jack N. Reddish and From Freedom to Fascism, produced by A List actor Aaron Russo, also carried profound messages. In neither case were these movies used by the LP to educate non-libertarians.  At the time I was Southern California Vice Chair. a caller asked me to speak before their showing of Harry’s War.  The group had rented a hall to show it that held several hundred people.  I was astonished when I arrived at the size of the group and their enthusiasm for the film. Later, I reflected on the power of film to change minds.  This was a fictional story, what if we could get real stories out using TV and films?

      I never heard if any other Libertarian group watched Harry’s War or showed it.  I hope they did. Harry’s War had introduced me to the potential of film as a means of changing minds.

     It was some years before From Freedom to Fascism was released.

     But even Russo, an A-Lister in the  Industry, could not get his film scheduled into theaters. But Russo did not let that stop him, even though at the time he was also dying. 

    From Freedom to Fascism reached the public through the efforts of Fred Smart. I don’t know if Fred is registered Libertarian, but he is certainly freedom oriented. The means used was to have people around the country make copies of the DVD and either sell or give them to people in their areas.
    Fred made that happen. These are two examples of inaction and the failure of the LP to understand the need to bring ideas, content, and action through every available medium. 

    Clearly, we needed better media. The LP was, and remains, a largely invisible party and this need not be so.

     The LP’s chief media expert is Richard Fields, who produced a local show for a tax subsidized local station.     

    By his own admission, Richard knows nothing about distribution, ad sales or other essential parts of the MSM TV industry.  But from 1992 – 2000 every Libertarian candidate for president was offered media that would have changed this.  See PhoneVoter.us

    Today, we are lining up shows, some now in pre-production with sales for advertisers starting. see Women Leading TV Networks 

Back to History
    Party officials whose activities are limited to attending meetings and talking to other libertarians are not the stuff of change.
   During the many years I devoted time to the LP I made thousands of phone calls to inquirers, organized get-togethers so they could ask questions and get answers about libertarian approaches to freedom on every subject imaginable.  I did this through the LP and outside of it, as an individual and by working with other groups.

    I am pro-life. Therefore, I worked answering the phone for Right to Life until the day they moved for legislation to limit a woman’s right to choose.  Using the force of law is wrong.  I am for equal rights for all, women, men, those who are otherly gendered, of all ages and viewpoints, this without government being involved.  

    I have worked with environmental groups who sought free market solutions to every issue, pointing out the advantages of those free market solutions.  I wrote articles on all of these issues, spent six years doing talk radio, focusing on all of these issues. I did not bother discussing these activities with my LP friends; they were not interested.  
    Activism, to me, means reaching out to people who likely have never heard of the Libertarian Party but do not approve of the direction government has taken. 

   I knew from long experience that Libertarians were viewed as selfish, calloused, greedy, inhumane, and generally male. And their use of a top-down organization and tolerance for unethical behavior, as long as the person involved had money, nauseated me.

   America has not always been ruled from the top down; nothing could be further from the truth. To believe this, I realized we must show them how the free market works. For instance, how we won the American Revolution and the War for Sailor's Rights and Free Trade.

   To change these false assumptions, Americans need to understand our history and objectively examine the Libertarian Party as a direct tool for freedom.
   All too often the Libertarian hierarchy ignored the need to assess themselves and face this question. I came to these conclusions around 2ooo.

  
My Activism
    I joined the LP in 1973, having heard Tonie Nathan on the radio talking about the 1972 Presidential Campaign. I immediately went looking for a phone number, found it, called, and asked how I could get more information. Ed Wolford, then LPC Secretary, signed my first membership card; he came by to issue it. At the time, my daughter Dawn was about 4 months old and what was then Region 12 (West Los Angeles Region) was very unorganized. Ernst Ghermann registered me at an LP meeting that was, incredibly, about the Tea Pot Dome Scandal. I began going to all meetings and soon was putting out a much-needed newsletter for West Los Angeles. Region 12, San Fernando Valley, was much better organized and Shirley Gottlieb had the phone for Los Angeles in her home.  She answered the phone and sent contacts to the Regions in Los Angeles.
    What I wanted was to see action, effective action for freedom. I had a two-child stroller and walked literature door to door with my two daughters. I did this for NORML with my son, Arthur in a snugly as soon as the petitions were out. I made this a fun experience for them by including picnic surprises and stops at the park.  

   Later, I realized all attempts at legalization instead of delegalization were flawed ideologically.
   In West Los Angeles, Region 12, I volunteered to contact all of the people on lists who had expressed interest in the LP in our area. To persuade, we needed something more compelling than Tea Pot Dome audio tapes, so I started planning monthly meetings and finding speakers. There was no title associated with these activities; it needed doing, so I did it. This was a learning experience for me.
   The first time I scheduled a speaker, Manny Klausner, to speak – the libertarians attending had to decamp from Shakey’s Pizza, which I had called to set up their meeting, and for the talk. Instead, they ended up at my home.  I was pregnant with my next child, who would be named Ayn, and giving Dawn her dinner.

    It seems another patron at Shakey’s had objected to their presence, and they were asked to leave.
    No matter. A respectable number of folks had walked in; I made coffee and Manny gave his presentation. Questions were asked and answered. Some of these folks I had contacted by phone!
     But Manny’s talk was about the past national convention, interesting, but no calls to action. My husband, Ron, was not there. There was probably a game party going on, Ron was very devoted to game parties, soon he refocused on Dungeons and Dragons, this did not interest me.
      I filled out a card for each person on our ‘possibles’ list. I stayed connected with them every month and tried to find activist-oriented, interesting speakers. Making calls, doing the newsletter, organizing collating parties, were obviously needed. My filing box eventually overflowed, as I used the back to box to store needed materials. I acquired a longer box.
     Walter K. Olsen, who at that time had finished college at Yale, often came over to help with collating parties or work on some idea we liked.
     One of these struck both of us while we were collating a newsletter. 
     Why couldn’t children object to being chained to government debt and paying taxes? I had a Selectric Typewriter, but we realized we needed a different ball for the machine to make this look like a real news release. So, we took the bus, with Dawn and Ayn, to the stationary store in Culver City and I bought the required Selectric item.   Paper, I had.

    On the bus we agreed that since it was a news event the kids should have some action to take. I bought crepe paper in a roll to make chains they could break at the appropriate time, and they looked forward to the event eagerly.
    The Santa Monica paper showed up on the steps of the Federal Building on the appointed day and time; a reporter and cameraman. We had, I think, a couple of other people who had agreed to come out, and the objections to chaining children to debts by government were enumerated. Then, the kids, ages 3 and 4, ripped off their chains. Naturally, we cleaned all of this up after the reporter and cameraman had departed.
    The other news conference I put on was on the attempt to rescind Prop 13. We announced a wake for the loss of this measure to save people from outrageous property taxes. John Vernon agreed to speak at that event. I wrote the news release. Lighting the candles made a great visual. A few more Libertarians also showed up. 

     I was delighted to hear a group in Northern California, seeing the story, also had a wake, having heard about ours.
    In 1977, I think. It was a few days before the end of registering to run when one of our members, Ron Kell, I think was his name, decided he wanted to run for the State Rep seat. If you were active, then you know this was before we had ballot status. Our candidates faced onerous requirements to get on the ballot, and to do so we would have had to have started much earlier. But Ron wanted to try, so we did, and some signatures were collected – but nowhere near enough. Frustrated, I contacted Ray Henderickson, an attorney, and asked what he could do. And he did it because of the inequality with which candidates from non-approved parties faced. All I did, honestly, was to call Henderickson, but he sure delivered.
     That is what preceded the Crane/Koch funded effort which got the LP on the ballot in California in 1978. Kell should have gotten the credit for that.
    1977 was the year I first met Michael Emerling, who was then working for William Hunscher, a successful businessman who had announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Nomination for President.  

    I was, with others, invited to meet Hunscher at a downtown meeting room. I forget the hotel where this took place. My time was short, as the kids were with a friend, since Ron had an urgent game party to attend.
    I had provided my phone number, requested on the sign-in sheet, chatted briefly with Hunscher and Emerling, and gone home. Literature on Hunscher had been provided and this I picked up from the table. Hunscher had declared early; most candidates did not do this. He also pledged to run for 18 months full-time. I thought this could be useful, more time to contact more potential voters. Hunscher was articulate and seemed well qualified. Also, he had been recruited and endorsed by Roger McBride. I still think Roger’s campaign book , A New Dawn for America, was the best ever written by an LP candidate, so that endorsement had weight with me.
    Emerling called me, I think the next day, and asked if we could have breakfast together. I agreed to meet him at our favorite Mexican restaurant at the Northridge Mall, expecting him to focus on local organizing for a possible Hunscher Presidential Campaign.  He did digress briefly into his contacts in the Gold Bug world.  I listened. 
    Moving on, he talked about himself and the wonderful training he had created for candidates, which he called, “The Art of Political Persuasion.” He wanted me to pay him to train my candidates, 18 of them, and anyone else who wanted to attend. I told him I would think about it and asked him to send me information on his training, which, he said, would run two days. I asked if he would expect us to pay for anything else, and he said no; he was even happy to stay with a local libertarian. 

     The training was very dissatisfying, as it did address style and technique, but not how to illustrate issues.  Doug Thorburn, a member, arranged for a photographer to take professional head shots for all the candidates. 

    When I finally started researching Emerling in 2018 I put up, MichaelEmerlingCloud.com, I realized many of his assertions were simply not true, and seen how corrupt he is.  Other useful insights had become available through Morgan’s deposition made in 2001.  The deposition was needed for evidence to be used for my divorce from Craig Franklin, to whom I had been married for 12 years.  Even retrospectively, knowing the facts is valuable. 

    In December 1977, my family had moved to the San Fernando Valley, and I called to find out when Region 11’s next meeting was to be held their region.  None were planned, I was told. The person who answered my call then asked me to revive it, so I did. I was elected as Chair for the San Fernando Valley Region, No. 11, which was not anything I planned, as I was training to teach natural childbirth, Bradley Method.
   After that, Emerling called me frequently until I knew I could pay his fee, which I did in advance with the money we had raised for the campaign.

  Since we had 18 candidates it was imperative they have some training, literature, and an understanding of how campaigns were run. This went on the agenda for our next meeting.
    It was 1978 and the National Convention was to be held; I realized that Roger would be in California for the convention, which would be held at the Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. I knew that Roger’s birthday, his 50th, would take place just a short time before the Convention.
   Edward Clark had declared his candidacy for the Libertarian nomination before this time.
   We all knew this meant that Crane would be running the campaign if Ed Clark was nominated. This was tough for me because I liked both Ed and Alicia Clark very much and despised Crane. The issue in all of our minds, those of us with any experiences with Ed Crane, was “will Crane be running the campaign?” 

     Crane told us with a straight face he would only be doing the publicity. He lied, as always.
    The most extravagant event for the Clark-Crane Campaign was planned for autumn and was called Alternative '80.

       The idea was a series of events across the United States linked by video hook-ups, urging people to call in and donate.  Today that sounds like nothing much, but then it was a Big Deal. Lots of Koch money had been spent. The central diamond in this tiara of triumph was to take place with a posh event attended by hundreds or thousands of people at the Century City Hotel.
    One thing that totally evaded my attention was the drop in the number of contacts we were receiving. The reason for this dawned on me only recently.
    The Clark for President Campaign shipped in an organizer to handle Alternative ‘80, which was a good thing because we already had our hands full with local campaigns and fundraising.
    The day came;  hundreds of people did in fact turn out for the lavish event and for the great food, for which they paid. The television worked and there were celebrities. Sort of. Honestly, I did not think of Howard Jarvis, who stole Proposition 13 from Libertarians who lived in the San Fernando Valley, as a celebrity. Perhaps my standards are too high, however.
    Howard Jarvis's involvement with Prop. 13 was late in the game.  That movement was  actually started by two libertarians, who noticed a lady in front of a local store gathering signatures. They stopped, and asked what she was doing. This was the lady who actually launched what became Proposition 13. 

   She had opened her tax bill, read it, and practically fainted. She was going to lose her home and become homeless.
    The two libertarians, Pablo Campos, and Earl Gottlieb began explaining to her the steps needed to file a proposition. Support grew.

   On the way out at the close of Alternative ’80, I did have one moment of amusement and illumination. I had attended the event with a fellow activist, Janice Vargo. She and I, without any plan that this would happen, found ourselves climbing into an elevator with Ed Crane and Charles Koch. Just the four of us, but Charles was talking and barely noticed we were there.

     For once, Ed was quiet,  Charles Koch was doing all the talking, rather heatedly. In this way I learned that Alternative '80 had lost a quarter of a million dollars instead of making a profit and, worst of all, Little Brother David had to use Capital instead of Interest to pay for it! (Exclamation point is his and not mine.)
    Even billionaires have their limits. I somehow did not feel sorry for Ed although he looked very sad right then. Charles Koch went on to vehemently demand that Crane either focus on Cato or the LP, but not both.
    It was a good moment. But we discovered that Crane was not going to accept this kind of limitation, even from his own personal billionaire.

 
    Roger McBride had called and asked me to do the floor count for Hunscher and I agreed to do so, though I had come to understand the techniques used by Crane for winning floor campaigns from John Hix, who had shared these with me two years previously. That had explained many things to me. John and I stayed in touch until his death last year. Roger and I were talking when he died suddenly in 1995; Roger had asked me to put on a convention for the new group he was getting started, the Republican Liberty Caucus.    

   John Hix’s other LP clients, along with Ed Crane in 1974,  included Harry Browne, who appears to have passed this on to Emerling, if Emerling did not take fly in to Fresno to be tutored by Hix himself.  

    This is an aside, but during one conversation with John the subject of my poetry came up. I had told him I could write a poem about anything in five minutes. He thought for a moment and said he wanted a poem about the origin of money. I looked at the clock, gave him the present minute and second, and hung up. I called back with 5 seconds to spare.

51. From Shards to Light - for John Hix

From an insight of convenience they drew marks on shards of clay
The goats and sheep and cheeses, thus were counted up each day.
And trader's lives were better, as barter was replaced.
With mites of fired pottery that bore each item’s face.

The marks and shards were money; more fungible to hold.
So, trade and space were easier; what was owned was sold.
Then a cunning taker, marked shards, he was so bold.
The shards went out of favor, replaced by coins of gold.

Issued first by temple and then anointed King.
So, fungible the medium it built a wealth in things.
Accumulation beckoned the greedy onto thrones.
Through money all were shackled, the people would be owned.

A flow of current holdings, in increments of gold
Created flow of currency, and ever more was sold.
Price now marked in shiny bits they trusted not to lie.
But men saw ways of stealing from weight the coins would buy.

So, England then replaced them, their coins had reeded edge.
Clipping and the shaving, became obvious instead.
Money to use and promise, so fluid in its scope.
Kings and those in power wrote promises on notes.

Temptations to debasement, temptations to inflate.
Became the real foundation of the governmental state.
And money still entices us, and draws in those who steal.
Finessing, redefining, the units once were real.

Now with no foundation in sheep or even cheese
The money is all funny, and only Kings are pleased.
The flow of human commerce, so easy to abuse.
Is still the form adopted, that all of us must use.

We count up paper icons, inscribed with those now gone.
We trust in those who make them, despite the fact we're wrong.
We need the fluid functions that money can provide.
While all the self-anointed kings count, and so decide.

(Just added to bring this up to date)
But yet with innovation some strive to set us free.
With Bitcoins and in Hours there is hope for liberty.

    Fundraising for our 1980 candidates’ campaigns began soon after the 1979 Convention.

   The invitations, describing the four delectable entrees and the two desserts, and the price of $10.00 had been written, printed, collated, mailed, and received. I knew this because the day after I mailed them phone calls for reservations began to come in. Costs had been calculated in advance, along with lining up folks to help out. I spent two weeks making crepes and freezing them. It was a great event, enjoyed by everyone.

    We now had $1000 toward our anticipated costs for the 18 campaigns, but my calculations indicated we would need at least another $1000. Emerling also needed to be paid.
    Roger’s 50th Birthday Party took place at an Elks Park in the San Fernando Valley just a week or so before the start of the National Convention.
   Funding for the campaigns had started some months earlier, with the Crepe Dinner hosted at the home of a local Libertarian with a huge entertainment room available. We cleared, after expenses, about $1,000.
   Preparations for Roger McBride’s 50th Birthday Party had begun immediately afterward.
  To ensure optimal attendance, we challenged the rest of the world to come beat us at soft ball. And they did, many carloads came up from Orange County, wearing Rest of the World All-Stars on their Tee-shirts. Dawn, Ayn, and a friend of theirs, all of them aged 4 – 5, were ready to act as cheerleaders, which they did with gusto, not paying much attention to who was winning or losing. But they did wear our Tee-shirts, The Atlas Sluggers, which I designed myself.

    Certificates were issued to the winners, I made those, too.  
   Roger McBride blew out the candles on his cake, which was cut up and served, first to him and then to everyone present. Then, Roger received a case of wine, donated by one of our candidates, who was also a connoisseur of fine wines.
    Some months earlier, Crane had made a trip to California to meet with activists, which included me.

     People were being pretty vocal about their objections to Crane’s involvement. The meeting was held at Bruce Lagasse’s apartment in Sherman Oaks. Crane lied, as usual, saying he would just be handling the publicity. Crane was dependable. He always lied.
    The Crane campaign was everything I expected. Yes, I know that the person actually running was Ed Clark, the head of law for Arco. His law office was walking distance from the Bonaventure Hotel.

    Everyone liked and respected Ed and Alicia. But it was not Ed who was running the campaign.
   That elevator ride had confirmed this for me immediately following Alternative ‘80.  I knew what was going to happen but hope springs eternal is minds less cynical than my own. 

The Southern California Office
   In 1979 we, the group, which was active for Southern California, decided we needed an office for Southern California had decided to start an office for Southern California. For two years we had donated space in a building in Eagle Rock. Then, the owner decided to sell so we found a space on Westwood Blvd. We wanted it to be up and ready for the 198o campaign – and it was. 

Candidates and activists could use it for meetings, collating parties, using the machines we had there for examining voting records, and for restocking literature. We kept a stock of these for all candidates running and also made our own for the meetings we held for newly curious incoming members.
    Where earlier it had not been difficult to ensure the office was always staffed, this had changed. Then, Carol Moore came to me with the suggestion she take this on in exchange for living there. That worked perfectly. 

    In the wake of the 1980 campaign, however, enough people were unhappy enough to want to do something about the solidly packed support for Crane still strong because of Koch money.
   Alicia Clark decided to run for National Chair. She won against Crane’s picked man, Eric O’Keefe.

    I had volunteered to design her campaign buttons. I had gotten the button machine years before and it always came in handy. The Crane machine was in shock, dealt a body blow, which was felt deeply by those who had believed Crane would never lose.
    This resulted in a campaign to persuade influential libertarians to leave the party. I received such a call from John Fund, who had been launched by Robert Novak after his internship at Evans and Novak to the Wall Street Journal. I listened, but knew exactly why he was calling and had not a whit of interest in their scheme.
    I left the LP, finally, in 1990.  For about six years, when I was Southern California Vice Chairman, we had maintained and staffed, an office for the LP, which local people generously supported. Bob Lehman spearheaded this for us.  Our treasurer was Sam Treynor.  But I did not know the entire story.  That, you will find in Part 11, coming soon.      

   For two years, the office had been located in borrowed space in Eagle Rock.  Then, the owners let us know he was selling the building and we had moved it to Westwood Blvd., near UCLA.  

   In 1985 I closed the office and began researching the list of options for pursuing greater freedom which had occurred to me.

   I began looking for activist opportunities outside the LP.  One of these was going into talk radio, which I did for six years.

  Then, I realized that I had failed to see the opportunity which had been available for many years with film.  This dawned on me while thinking about Harry's War and then Aaron Russo’s film.  The reality of how these can be funded, by selling advertising, was a real epiphany.  Film and TV could actually work for freedom, what could be better?

Stay tuned for more!

This is the end of Part 1