My Take of the Libertarian Party of Alabama Meeting (Talkers vs. Doers)

I was recently on The Alternative Lifestyle Show with @pennsif while he had Adam Kokesh on as a guest. During the end of the interview Adam asked where I was from since I didn't have an accent like @pennsif. I told him I was in Alabama, so he asked if I was going to attend an event that was happening in Birmingham. I was somewhat aware of the event, because I've been looking for ways to get more involved with the party, but this had slipped my mind.

I have been kinda low on funds lately, and in the middle of 2 car repairs, so..... I was originally not going to attend. I made up my mind Friday night to go, I asked a couple friends if they wanted to join and bought my ticket to attend. I couldn't drum up anyone else to go, but made it down to Birmingham in my limping car.

It was good I didn't have anyone with me I think, because I was able to meet several new people. I found the libertarian group that was from my area of Huntsville/Madison and took a seat with them. I finally got some of their contact information that was lacking from their organization page on FB.

After meeting some of my local guys and chatting for a bit I walked around and talked with Ash who was checking off the attendees to the event. She has been involved on the state level of the party for a little while and invited me to come hang out for drinks after the event. (I ended up bailing, I thought I went to the bar they were going to, but they must have changed venues, I ended up limping my car back home to crash)

I spotted Adam over by the food table and interrupted him talking to Elijah Boyd one of the local members from Madison. I tapped him on the shoulder and introduced myself as the dude he talked to on @pennsif's show the night prior. He seemed a bit surprised, he said it was good to meet me and thanks for coming. He complimented my sweet Murray Rothbard tie I snagged a while back to wear at all libertarian events. He asked if I had grabbed any food yet, and I hadn't, so I went to load up my plate before the speakers began.

The meeting was kicked off by the National LNC chair candidate Joshua Smith who started off the night with his ideas on why he would be a good choice for LNC chair. He comes from a grassroots activist background and wants to get the Libertarian party connected with crypto currency to help with coordination and funding. He has been talking to several people in the space, most notably with the developers of Nexus. I really enjoyed Josh and his personality, he also seemed to have a great grasp on the fundamentals of being a libertarian.

Another member of the Libertarian national party was in attendance and gave her speech to the audience. Caryn Ann Harlos aka "The Pink Flame of Liberty" she is a candidate for LNC secretary and has been the guardian of the Party historical documents which are in the process of being archived. She told us how much she has a passion for keeping the history of the party in tact and how she came into the role serendipitously. I really loved her passion for the minutiae and reasoning to preserve the historical documents of the party.

Between every speaker there was an auction for some items to raise some funds to go toward ballot access petitioning in the State of Alabama. Alabama has some BS rules that any third party candidate must have "X" amount of signatures to be on the ballot.

Other notable speakers included:

Frank Dillman: LPA Candidate for Macon County Commission. He has led a very noteworthy cause for an initiative and referendum bill. This would give more say to the people of Alabama to bring state and local spending under more public scrutiny. http://letbamavote.org/

John Sophocleus: An economist at the Mises institute at Auburn University. He gave a great speech to encourage the youth to get active and become the Libertarian that speaks out in their town.

Leah Graves: She is the founder of the Alabama NORML chapter, fighting for legalization of cannabis, and raising the awareness for how harmful the drug war has been on the people of Alabama. She was jailed for over a year for possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Luke Von Trapp: One of the Founders of the "Uncivil Liberty Podcast" and recently wrote/published "The People vs. The State Using Jury Nullification to Defeat Unjust Laws". He had some great things to say about helping others and growing the connection of the heart to the philosophy of Libertarians. They raised some funds through the Libertarian Party and the podcast to bring school supplies to children in need.

Adam Kokesh was introduced by Luke Von Trapp and an empty seat was in place for his possible opponent, Bill Weld whom did not show up. Adam gave his speech, tying in what Luke and others had mentioned previously about the public perception of Libertarians. He conveyed that to have any weight you must stick to your foundational principles. If something is evil and unjust you should not allow it to continue. The Federal Government has grown so massive and onerous it will either collapse, which leaves an immediate vacuum, or it can be peacefully dissolved.

To my surprise this actually caused a few in the room to object and emotionally react to what he was proposing. I would have thought that Libertarians steeped in the philosophy would be in favor of this proposal. It seems there is still some cognitive dissonance to the notion of dissolution of the behemoth central government.

Adam kept his composure through the grilling of some of the members and was able to close out his remarks with respect from the audience. He made an important point to many in attendance that I think rang home for some. There are the Libertarians that talk which don't really do much else, and then there are the Libertarians that do. The doers will push forward regardless of the talkers, but everyone needs to realize the goal is the freedom of humanity, and the re-connection to each other with love as the foundation that unites us all.

Ron Bishop ended the night, his speech encouraged everyone to stay involved and grow. He ran as a write in candidate for the special election for Governor during the 2017 election as a libertarian. Many in attendance would like to get Ron back on the ballot for the next election for Governor of Alabama.

At the end of the night everyone broke off and exchanged information on what projects they could help with from the speeches. I signed up for the National Party with Caryn Ann and she hooked me up with a shirt.

I got to talk with Adam for a second as I was signing up for the national party. He seemed quite despondent by the reaction from some in the audience earlier. I told him I was working to provide his press secretary Marcus some European media contacts. I pretty much just turned into a geeked out dude, as I'm standing in front of one of my long time personal hero's. Adam's book FREEDOM! solidified in me just how evil and unnecessary government is. His book led me to question my entire worldview and indoctrination in to the years of the religion of government. I highly recommend giving FREEDOM! a read https://thefreedomline.com/freedom/ before you melt down in cognitive dissonance from years of indoctrination.

Adam made the rounds and talked it out with most every person that had an issue with his platform. That was something I witnessed that not many are willing to do. Many tend to avoid conflict when someone confronts them and does not share their perspective. Adam took his time to continue his dialogue one on one to reason out his conclusions.

At the end of all that, I asked if he would sign a copy of his book I won in along with a package of some handmade soaps from Fairhope Soap Company check em out! http://fairhopesoapcompany.com/. It meant a lot that he signed the book for me by the end of the night.

Anyway......To conclude, Adam Kokesh for Not President 2020!

If you liked this post, Follow, Up Vote, and Re-Steem to all your peeps! Lets all work to be doers in even the small things, smiling, giving a hug, and random acts of kindness in this fight together, as we grow connection and love.

We are such a powerful force united by the root energy of the universe, which I believe is pure love.