Manny Klausner - Government Operative

 I first met Manny Klausner around 1975 when he spoke at the first meeting I organized for the Libertarian Party of West Los Angeles.  We had not yet reached the level of more formal dinner meetings.  Since I could not find a babysitter for my two small children, both still in diapers, I arranged for this to take place at a Shakey's Pizza Parlor close by.  It was generally used by local groups and this was very informal.  There were plenty of tables.

Soon there was a knock at my door.  Evidently, someone had not taken well to what they were hearing discussed and a small ruckus had resulted.  So the several attendees decided to come to my house.  This worked out perfectly well.  I made coffee and provided what refreshments I could and Manny's talk went forward to a perfectly civil discussion.  

I was then the editor for our local newsletter, LiberLetter, an interesting exercise which vastly improved my skills.  Then, I coordinated the petition drive for Roger MacBride, who was our Presidential candidate in 1976.  One thing led to another and I was elected Chairman for Region 12 and then Southern California Vice Chairman, a post I was re-elected to for six serial terms.  

This was a pivotal period in our history.  Roger's focus as a candidate was encouraging local growth and independent local action using free market approaches.  We opened our own pockets for seed money and never asked for the use of the money from memberships paid.

We grew rapidly.  I began to hold Welcome Meetings for new members, set up a card catalog to keep track of members, and called the growing list of members regularly.

At the Welcome Meetings we provided literature on the ideological foundations for Libertarianism.  These were discussions, not lectures.  There was a reading list of books and other materials and these events would continue sporadically, separate from the dinner meetings which I also organized.  

I was having fun.  But I soon encountered individuals who viewed the LP as the means for using deceit, pressure and intimidation to forge a very different agenda.  One of these people was Manual Klausner, who  you likely know as one of the original owners of Reason Magazine, as it was acquired by Robert Poole and Tibor Machan

The fact is this is how Clinton was elected. If they did not continue to know it was a threat to them they would not go to the lengths they do to keep iTV from launching. Their stoppages are not necessarily obvious.

For instance, in the LP this is carried out by operatives who have been placed in the LP. That is also why right at the beginning they were placing these people. Not all are elected officers. Many of the think tanks which are supposedly free market. One of these is Manny Klausner, one of the three men who purchased Reason Magazine. I began to have questions about him myself when as Southern California Vice Chair in 1979 he called me.

I was organizing a Libertarian version of the ACLU since there were many Libertarian attorneys in Los Angeles and I could see this was needed. Manny very forcefully told me he was organizing such a group. That he never did so is irrefutable.

I had first met Manny when I had arranged for him to speak to our local group in West Los Angeles in 1975 while he was still running for the slot of VP candidate for the 1976 election.

I could not find a baby sitter so set up the meeting at a local pizza place. When that did not work out and Manny and the attendees had arrived they realized something unexpected made it impossible for them to have him speak there. So they came to my house which was one block away. I think Manny spoke about the election. I was busy chasing my small persons and providing coffee and such.

I liked Manny and trusted him at that point in time. I believed, without proof, that anyone espousing a belief in the ideas of freedom was a friend and could be trusted. It was long before I realized this was not entirely accurate. Soon after this I moved to a 'trust but check' protocol, that having nothing to do with Manny at that time.

I learned the attraction of power would cause people to act in ways which were not ethical or in alignment with their spoken words. The Internet did not yet exist but I was very practiced with researching a wide variety of things, some academic, some people and events.

Sometimes information comes to you from unexpected sources. I was researching an article on the organizing of the Libertarian Party in California in the late 1980s. Having discovered this took place at the home of Ed And Alicia Clark, then living in Las Feliz, a nice neighborhood in Los Angeles (They later moved to San Marino) This inquiry began when I was told by a fellow Libertarian, Jim Lorenz. an LP member and psychologist named Grosscup, whose place we had used as a nexus point for coordinating at least one ballot drive during this period, that

When Manny did not, himself, start the Freedom ACLU, which I knew we desperately needed, I began to watch him more closely.

You may remember, or you may not as this happened in California, the law suit brought by John Howard, at attorney in San Diego, filed a lawsuit in 1994 in support of free speech against UC Riverside. Article in Washington Post.

About Edward Harrison Crane

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Ed Crane had many people who respected him in the early days of the Libertarian Party.  I was not one of them, my understanding of his principles having been based on several direct experiences with him.  Also, others who had known him from other parts of his life, had also been informative.

Crane had gotten his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and this degree in finance from the University of Southern California not far from his mother's home in the Los Angeles Area.  But he wanted more from life for himself and the Libertarian Party may well have struck him as the opportunity he had been waiting for. Crane's motives for joining the LP may have been in the main, financial; the evidence I had chanced upon certainly made it seem so to me. 

Crane was not making it as a financial advisor and had greater ambitions.  Bruce Staller, who was an activist from Eastern LA County, had known Crane while Crane was struggling to build a clientele for his financial services in Los Angeles.  

Staller was then the head of Bateman, Eichler, Hill Richards in Los Angeles. 

When I first joined the Libertarian Party in 1973 I was delighted to find people who talked about ideas and wanted to take action on them.  My first hand experiences with Edward H. Crane, III, recounted on Facebook and at Freedom Memes  cover some significant periods of LP History.  Noting these events, I saw what impact individuals and their actions had on the direction the LP was taking.   Please do the same, noting what progress is made when the facts are identified and understood.  

You can view the video, made by Jim Turney in 1985 now on YouTube, placed there by Libertarianism.org from this link, 

The Founding, Direction, & Future of the Libertarian Party (Edward H. Crane)

The video above was made by Jim Turney, who I have known for many years through the LP.  

Crane's strategy worked in 1971.  His goal was to meet people with money and influence and built a career through those interested in freedom.  And until he was booted from CATO on October 1, 2012, that is exactly what he did.  

I first encountered an example of Craig's ethical viewpoints at a party in 1975 from a young woman who had direct experience with Crane.  

I walked away from the Libertarian Party, after many years of activism, around 1999, having written a short pamphlet with advice on correcting their present trajectory.  Having read it over, today I would modify it in ways, but the central focus for interaction between people at all levels would not change.  Pamphlet

It was 1973 when I discovered the LP.  I had tuned into listen while I was making baby clothes for my yet unborn child, who would be named Dawn. 

What I heard was electrifying, and that was the voice of Tonie Nathan on the newly formed Libertarian Party.  As you likely recall, Tonie was the LP’s first candidate for Vice President.

I stuck myself with the needle and put down my work, fascinated. 

I had read Atlas Shrugged in one sitting when I was 12.  Mom tried to take the book out of my hands at dinner time.  But I refused to let go.  I heard Dad from the other room say, “Let her read.  She’ll stop when she gets hungry.”  He well knew separating me from a book was not worth the effort.  The rule in our family was, “If you can read the book, you can read the book.”  No censorship. 

I finished the book at dawn and got up an hour or so later, ravenous.  Breakfast was a double portion.  It was not until I joined the LP I found out that Ayn was a woman. 

Enough for the segue; Nolan’s first public action was to write and have published an article in the The Individualist, August – September, 1971.  The article was titled, “The Case for a Libertarian Political Party”. Many freedom-oriented people read it. 

The awareness that neither party was really open to the ideas of freedom had begun to crystallize. More people began to understand they had no home in either the GOP or the Democratic parties. Objections to Nixon’s policies, on financing and the ongoing war in Vietnam were forcing people to think out the ramifications of Nixon’s resulting policies.   

Action was being taken on issues and dialog on the ideas was growing, and these were coalescing from non-political groups.  An example of this was taking place at UC Berkeley with the Alliance of Libertarian Activists.  It was on the Berkeley campus that a college group first used the word, “Libertarian” to identify themselves. 

Rand and Mises were two authors all of us had read. 

In California, and around the country, excited libertarians began organizing locally.  The first local organization I found was in the San Fernando Valley.  Their office was the phone at the home of Shirley Gottlieb. Ed Wolford, then California State Secretary, came to the house to sign me up and hand me my first membership card.  At this time, I also met Bruce Lagasse, who some years later, would host the meeting attended by key activists, which included me, evidently, as I was invited, and by then I was Southern California Vice Chairman.

In 1979 Ed Crane came in for that meeting, held so he could tell us with a straight face he was ONLY in charge of publicity for the Presidential Campaign of Ed Clark.  I think everyone but me believed him. 

I had learned very early that Ed Crane was held views very different from my own. 

My first encounter with Crane Values.

My first exposure to Ed’s unusual use of LP resources took place at the Victory Party held at Sally (Sarah) Foster’s home in the San Fernando Valley.  This was probably the celebration for the successful ballot drive, there were several during that period. 

With two small children, one still nursing, I knew I would be spending most of the evening sitting on the couch.  Next to me was a woman, about my age, also sitting.  Introducing myself, I was told her name was Maureen, or something like that.  It certainly began with an M. 

We fell into conversation, which eventually, after appropriate comments on the kids, turned to the Libertarian Party.  I asked her about her experiences after telling her something about my own.  Well, she said, she had done volunteer work for Ed Crane while he was Southern California Vice Chairman.  My interest was piqued, I asked her what she did. 

Evidently, volunteers, all of them apparently women, were scheduled to come to the HQ, which was Crane’s apartment, every hour.  A half hour was spent doing routine clerical work, filing, typing, and such.  And then, after a half hour, Ed and another woman came out of the bedroom as another woman arrived through the apartment door, and M and Ed went into the bedroom to have sex. 

I was dumbfounded, at a loss for words.  But my hesitant further queries affirmed her experience. Then, she got up and went to refill her wine glass, as I recall. About then, Ayn decided it was mealtime and I began nursing her.   

I had heard of Crane, but this form of volunteerism was beyond my comprehension. I was shocked into silence and gulped before being able to continue our conversation.  

The techniques used to ensure successful breast feeding from La Leche League were very familiar to me and at the time I was training to teach natural childbirth, Bradley Technique.  

Ayn had been born at home.  Although we had planned to have my gynecologist there, Dr. Solomon, he did not make it.  And since Ron was out in the garage tinkering with one of his multiple projects, which he never seemed to finish, I gave birth alone.  It was a beautiful experience.  No problems whatsoever. 

Today Ayn is running for City Council in Irvine, CA.  

Roger McBride’s Campaign for President - 1976

The LP candidate in 1976 was Roger McBride, then the producer of Little House on the Prairie, and the adopted grandson of Rose Wilder Lane, who, as the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, had inherited the rights to both Wilder and Lane’s books. 

Roger was divorced and had custody of the daughter he and his wife had adopted as a baby.  Her name was Abigail and at Roger’s death she inherited the rights to the books. 

Roger had promised us during his first visit to Los Angeles for his campaign, we could host his Election Victory Party if we got him on the ballot, and we had accomplished what seemed impossible, getting him on the ballot.

We had a rally; I, think at someplace adjacent to the airport on his first visit. There was music and a temporary stage at the front, where Roger stood to give his speech, which was inspiring and enthusiastically received.   Roger arrived at the airport flying his own plane, NOFORCE ONE. 

Naturally, I had brought Dawn and Ayn, and we sat right up front so they could see.  When the music started, they started dancing on the floor directly below the stage.  Watching them, Roger leaned down and picked up Dawn, who was the closest to him, asking what her name was.  When she replied “Dawn,” he laughed, and holding her up he told the audience she was a New Dawn for America, that being the name of Roger’s campaign book. Everyone cheered at the joke.

I had told Roger over the phone that my daughter just ate up his book, meaning she had gotten one off the pile before I put then up higher, and carried it around to teeth on.  I think I still have that copy. 

After that, Roger challenged us to get him on the ballot, promising the Victory Party would take place in Los Angeles if we succeeded.  We did it!

The ‘Victory Party’ was held at a downtown hotel, a gleeful celebration that  people came in for it from around the country, as I recall. 

The next year, the California LP held its 1977 Convention at the Viscount Hotel adjacent to LAX.  I was still living in West Los Angeles at the time and was asked by the Convention Manager, Paul Lepanto, to help him out.  This involved doing what Paul thought was needed, mailings and planning events at the convention and picking up speakers and guests at the airport.  One of these was to be Roger McBride, who I had chatted with occasionally after the election. 

I was delighted to be picking Roger up at the airport, but he insisted on carrying his own suitcase.  One of the perks of helping out at the convention was getting to sit at the head table.  Sally Foster was also seated there next to Thomas Szasz, who was also speaking. 

Roger and I began talking about his campaign and what would be coming up next.  A campaign to secure permanent ballot status for the LP for California was also in the planning stages. 

I had made a dress for the banquet.  It was full length with short sleeves and a modest neckline.  Ron, my husband, was at home with the kids and had promised to stay there with them.  All was well in my world. 

Suddenly, someone punched me in the side, hard.  I do not take well to being touched by strangers, much less struck. I turned to look for the guilty party and was astonished to see someone who looked remarkably like my brother, Charles Arthur Pillsbury.  I looked again.  No, this could not be Cappy, my childhood name for my brother.  Cappy or also Chuck, had been released from the Air Force by then and having finished his undergraduate degree at UC Davis, interrupted by the call up for Vietnam, was busy with completing his degree in law while flying for the National Guard and working part time as a legislative aide in Sacramento.

These facts having filtered through my mind, and noticing the fellow’s facial details more closely, I knew this was a complete stranger and said, “You look like my brother.  Go away.”  And he got up and left.  That was my first encounter with Edward Harrison Crane, III.  

I turned back to continue my conversation with Roger. 

Around this time, I think I was elected Southern California Vice Chair, a post I would hold for six years.  

 

1980 - The Crane Machine in Operation

Beginning in the late 1980s I began studying the then nascent materials available on psychopathy, not because of Ed Crane, but because of other individuals I had encountered.  See Life Stealers  for information on psychopathy.  The site includes the most recent insights using neuroscience, these provided by Dr. Kent Kiehl, PhD in Neuroscience.  Kiehl originated the use of the functionalMRI for carrying out brain scans which document whether or not the Amygdala, the small organ seated in the center of the brain is functioning - or not.  The Amygdala is the organ responsible for the human conscience and other emotions which modify our behavior.  

It became a personal routine for me to see what else was appearing on the subject.  Psychopathic individuals make up about 4% of humanity, and have IQs in the same range as non-psychopathic individuals. 

Pivotal Moments in Libertarian History

 

1971 - How it started - David Nolan wrote an article which appeared in the 1971 - July-August -  Individualist - The Case for a Libertarian Party

1972 - Down at the heels Financial Advisor, Edward H. Crane, attends the first LP Convention held in Colorad Springs, CO, and sees an opportunity for himself, introducing himself to Roger McBride, whose Presidential Campaign he will help out on in 1976.  Source:  Head of Bateman, Eichler, Hill, Richards, who knew Crane at the time, Bruce Staller 

Crane returns to California and becomes the first Southern Vice Chairman for the LP.  His idea of organizing and activism are very, very unusual.    

1974 - Ed Crane takes instruction from John Hix, of Fresno, on how to win a Floor Campaign against all odds, and is elected National Chairman. 

What We Cover

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