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Thirty years ago, Kemmerer native Madonna Longs life changed forever.

Long, then a senior at Kemmerer High School, was one of 38 passengers in a school bus returning from a ski club trip in Utah. The driver lost control, resulting in a devastating accident that killed two people.

Long was critically injured in the crash, leaving her paralyzed and prone to spasms.

Eventually, she turned to medical marijuana to treat her spasms. Since then, Long has become a leading advocate for medical marijuana legalization. That includes her home state of Wyoming, one of just 13 states without medicinal or decriminalized cannabis.

Long was among several dozen people to deliver paperwork to the Wyoming Secretary of States office on June 11 announcing their intent to pursue two ballot initiatives to legalize medical cannabis and decriminalize its recreational use.

If successful, the signature drive would allow Wyoming voters to decide whether they want to pursue legalization, rather than leaving it up to the Wyoming Legislature. Several legislative attempts have stalled out.

Advocates say it will be a significant victory for cannabis-using patients in a state that currently prescribes some of the nations strictest penalties for users, particularly as Wyoming is now surrounded by states that have already legalized its use.

Medical marijuana has been such a great treatment for a lot of people like me and people all around Wyoming, Long said. This is a peoples act, and the people will pass this.

Advocates likely face an uphill battle. Ballot initiatives are notoriously difficult to pass in Wyoming, which maintains high signature requirement thresholds. To make the ballot, petitioners must gather a number of signatures equal to 15% of voters who voted in the previous election in at least 15 counties. Those signatures then must be verified and, ultimately, affirmed by state elections officials.

Wyoming has failed to even consider a ballot initiative much less pass one in roughly three decades.

The task will likely be more difficult in 2022. After the record turnout for the 2020 presidential election, a ballot initiative effort will now require nearly 42,000 signatures statewide to be successful, approximately 38% more than were required after the 2016 and 2018 elections.

Unlike efforts by local activists to get marijuana on the ballot in 2016 and 2018, however, advocates will have help this time around. In addition to longstanding marijuana advocacy groups like NORML, the effort will be assisted with backing from the National Libertarian Party as well as groups like the Utah-based organization Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education, or TRUCE which helped advance a medical marijuana program there.

The leaders of both organizations attended the Cheyenne rally on June 11.

Nationally, the ballot initiative approach has been the most successful method for legalization. Of the 36 states to legalize medical marijuana, 19 did so through citizen-initiated ballot measures, while 13 of the 17 states to legalize recreational marijuana accomplished legalization through a ballot measure.

Apollo Pazell, a political consultant working with the Libertarian National Committee, said the party plans to offer legal and institutional support for the ballot initiative, as well as assistance in organizing several political action committees committed to galvanizing public support for the measure. These PACs, he said, will target groups like law enforcement, patients and political organizations.

All were doing is providing support to what they are doing, Pazell said. They will do all the political work involved in building the campaign. Theyll do all the radio ads, all that stuff. Were just going to be supporting door knockers and canvassers to make sure it gets on the ballot.

Advocates believe there is sufficient support to pass the measure should it get on the ballot. A December 2020 poll conducted by the University of Wyoming showed a significant majority of Wyoming voters in support of legalizing medical cannabis, with a slim majority in support of its use for recreational purposes. And in the 2021 legislative session, a legalization effort led by a tripartisan coalition in the Wyoming Legislature managed to pass committee before ultimately failing.

Freshman Rep. Marshall Burt (L-Green River), a co-sponsor of the failed House Bill 209 Regulation of marijuana, said that outcome helped prompt advocates to pursue a ballot initiative.

The Legislature knows that this is coming, he said at the rally. During the session when we talked about the bill, we let them know if we didnt pass [HB] 209 that the next measure was to take the ballot initiative to the people.

The Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, which has previously run public awareness campaigns arguing there is No Debate about marijuana use, said it is likely to revive similar initiatives to counter the legalization effort.

We have not had a conversation on the new initiatives, yet, WASCOP director Byron Oedekoeven wrote in an email. I would imagine we will again offer factual education material as we have in the past around the harmful effects and the newer style of marijuana products.

Proponents for legalization are confident in their ability to gather the necessary signatures in time for the 2022 election cycle.

We will have people on the streets. And we will collect signatures, Burt said. And then when the time comes at the next election cycle for 2022, we will allow the citizens of Wyoming to carry their voice, either in support or against.

Excerpt from:
Will Wyoming voters be the ones to legalize marijuana? - WyoFile

I am always wary of those who purport to speak for their respective generation, and a recent New York Post op-ed by a self-espoused libertarian student at New York University put on full display exactly what the Republican Party must abandon in the years ahead.

In close to 700 words, writer Rikki Schlott calls for the GOP to compromise on social and environmental issues and stand up to leftist extremism, ignoring that these two are different sides of the same strategic coin. Schlott concedes a talking point that merely assists the left in its campaign to smear Republicans especially those in Gen Z as operating in extremist fringes who need to be like their predecessors and champion old neoconservatism.

As the GOP rebrands in the post-Trump, post-pandemic era, it has a huge opportunity to make inroads with this new, open-minded contingent, she writes. But appealing to Gen Z will require significant modernization and compromise. Calls for progress are coming from young voters of every political persuasion. In fact, while Gen Z Democrats are almost politically identical to their older counterparts, generationaldifferences among Republicans are far more stark.

Even if we are to submit to polling that finds Gen Z is driven by anti-Trump backlash and more Independent than categorically conservative appealing to Gen Z and its supposed more moderate nature should be far from the primary, secondary, or tertiary objective of the Trump-shifted GOP. As Evita Duffy pointed out in The Federalist last year, polling indicates Gen Z, even while in their likely most liberal youthful years, are significantly more socially moderate than millennials.

Thus, the idea that appealing to Gen Z will require significant modernization and compromise is ill-supported, and a losing strategy. Conservatives who wish to target the lefts institutional monopoly and overhaul of morally shared principles would lay themselves a booby trap by continuing to compromise with the radically left Democratic Party of today.

The GOP ought to instead focus on reinforcing social conservatismas advantageous. Not doing so is a naive rejection of the last four years, which proved there is a massive constituency for taking on the culture war rather than conceding it. Republicans in the past have neglected these voters in favor of the same old fiscal promises that never materialize.

If the GOP can deliver viable, free-market alternatives to the restrictive environmental policies coming from the left, their appeal to Gen Z would skyrocket, Schlott argues. Pushing for innovation and offering economic incentives to businesses fighting climate change is just one way the GOP could show its on team green.

The very last thing Republicans should be doing is keeping governments dead hand on the scale to push one scientific understanding of climate change and its effects, which Democrats have universally campaigned on as a means to expand government and harm the American worker. Worse, Schlott also claims it would be wise for the GOP to join this effort to destabilize the energy industry and provide more opportunities for corporations to yield even more power. In making this claim, the writer cites John Olds, the president of the essentially liberal group Gen Z GOP.

Olds says, If the GOP were to reshuffle its priorities a little bit to address generational issues and present conservative solutions, they would make huge progress with Generation Z, producing a blanket statement all too familiar from the work Gen Z GOP does.

As Saagar Enjeti rightly pointed out last summer upon the group releasing a promotional video, Gen Z GOP is basically Bidenism-lite and a product of the corporate elites who have run the Republican Party for far too long. More than just playing the old game of conservative defense, Schlott and Olds essentially call for Republicans to not be conservative at all. In all this, one wonders as always what is the point of being Republican if it is, as Phyllis Schlafly once said, merely an echo of Democrats rather than offering voters a clearly different political choice.

Meanwhile, Gen Z Republicans say society does not do enough to accept gender non-conforming people at a rate three times higher than some older Republican generations, Schlott writes. Many Gen Z voters imagine Republicans as rigid, evangelizing traditionalists. By adopting a more live-and-let-live philosophy in favor of cultural conservatism, the GOP would appeal to more young people.

A live-and-let-live philosophy is exactly what propelled America into the mess we find ourselves in today. While American jobs got shipped overseas, leftists manipulated language, sexual anarchy took over the country, and Big Tech and Big Business grew into oligarchies, Republicans pushed tax cuts and never seriously cut federal spending.

If appealing to more young people means forfeiting a moral society in favor of worshiping the application of market activities through open borders, the killing of the unborn, and allowing critical race theory to hijack the education system, you can count me out. If a free market means putting the force of law behind constituencies that demand bake the cake, bigot, its clear once again that libertarian slogans are being deceitfully deployed to destroy historic American freedoms.

In short, the GOP should work on rebranding as the modern, reasonable, solutions-oriented party, Schlott concludes. If Republicans succeed in crafting this new identity, it will make enormous strides with young voters and secure its future.

Schlott is operating on a very different definition about what is modern and reasonable than those seeking a GOP that works for more than just Wall Street. The way to solve Americas issues and connect with conservative voters is not to parrot libertarian talking points.

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No, Republicans Will Not Win Anything By Bowing Down To The Left - The Federalist

By Tom Harper, Las Vegas

Monday, June 21, 2021 | 2 a.m.

I applaud House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her commitment to an investigation after the majority of Republicans in the Senate voted against a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission. How can the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and those Republicans reconcile their actions with the preamble to the Constitution, which the Republicans swore to protect and preserve and which states, We the people ... in order to form a more perfect union ... insure domestic tranquility ... promote the general welfare ...?

Compare this to the flag held by many insurrectionists the Gadsden flag which depicts a coiled rattlesnake with the words Dont tread on me. Me: the selfish cry of the libertarian, is antithetical to the We of the preamble and the Declaration of Independence, which recognized that laws are for the public (i.e. common) good.

If the Gadsden folks believed they had the right to commit insurrection resulting in the deaths of five people and property damage in excess of $1million, how do we know Republicans were not complicit? Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., raised a fist in solidarity with the insurrectionists, and Republican members of Congress gave tours before the insurrection.

The snake is an apropos symbol for the Gadsden folks. A snake can mean a deceitful and treacherous person; traitor; turncoat. Criminal investigation and prosecution will take care of the Gadsden folks. A full investigation will expose all of the traitors involved in this heinous and despicable event.

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Insurrectionists picked the right flag - Las Vegas Sun

Timothy Holdiness, Letter to the Editor Published 9:48 a.m. CT June 22, 2021

Everyone should get the COVID-19 vaccine, though I can understand any uneasiness tied to it.

Our government hardly ever gives anything out for free, which can cause some concern when the vaccine is being provided for free. The proof of vaccination that comes with it shouldnt be seen as a tool to segregate anyone. I have not personally been asked for proof of my vaccination, even though I have it readily available on my LA Wallet app that includes my drivers license.

Those who refuse the vaccine should know that they are putting others at risk by going to events where they could contract the virus or pass it on to others.

To say that citizens are being pitted against each other over race and political beliefs is nothing new. We must remember that the civil rights movement has not ended.

The separation between political parties has become increasingly divided which should bring to light the need for more than two parties. The Green and Libertarian parties should be included in national politics instead of being blacklisted and excluded from debates. Having only two controlling parties is just asking for this division between citizens.

The claim that the military is weeding out anyone who doesnt agree with global warming, agrees with the Second Amendment, and has conservative opinions is incorrect. The military is trying to keep extremists from enlisting, not simply refusing all Republicans.

Having claimed that critical race theory is purely Marxism is incorrect. It is not a political faction, rather it is teaching the youth of the country about how racism shaped the way we live and how our public policy was shaped by the racism that has run rampant in our country for hundreds of years.

The First Amendment is one of the most well-known across the country, and it must be known that there are consequences when used to make statements that are hateful or incite violence. Just because we have the right to speak our minds freely, does not mean that people should be allowed to be hateful online with no repercussions. When anyone can post anything online without moderation, online environments will become toxic and ineffective at their goal of giving people a commonplace to have a voice virtually.

No time soon do I see the citizens of The United States of America losing their freedoms. If anything, we will have more individualized freedom away from the exclusive ways of the past.

Timothy Holdiness

Bossier City

Read or Share this story: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/opinion/readers/2021/06/22/letter-freedom-not-being-lost-united-states/5304329001/

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Letter: Freedom could be more individualized, but not lost in the United States - Shreveport Times

Getting down to the specifics of these bills, they range from bad to ugly, said Patrick Hedger, vice president of policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, which is funded in part by groups connected to the Kochs. Americans for Prosperity, a Koch group, called the antitrust package a jumble of legislative proposals [that] targets American companies [and] treats them as guilty until proven innocent.

The critics are arguing, in part, that the bills are antithetical to GOP values, which traditionally emphasize the free market and oppose regulatory intervention.

These bills represent a huge intervention into the U.S. economy, said Jessica Melugin, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institutes Center for Technology and Innovation, which has received tens of thousands of dollars from Koch foundations in recent years as well as funding from the major tech companies. This is not on-brand for Republicans.

The Houses top Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, weighed in against the legislation on Wednesday, saying it only gives Democrats in the federal government more power to tip the scales. McCarthy, a California lawmaker, has received tens of thousands of dollars from Google, Amazon and Facebook, as well as the Koch Industries PAC, in recent years.

But traditional Republican aversion to meddling in big business saw serious erosion under Trump, whose Justice Department filed a major antitrust suit against Google. The antitrust bills right-leaning supporters say the Koch groups are simply out of touch with a populist GOP base that feels censored and silenced by the tech giants.

The Koch group and all of these pro-big tech people on the right, they do have an advantage, which is inertia, said Jon Schweppe, the director of policy and government affairs at the populist American Principles Project, which has received money from the Mercer family. The Republican Party for a long time has been a party opposed to any antitrust or concern about concentrated power. But the divide here is that the base definitely wants to break up Big Tech.

One sign of the anti-tech messages growing appeal among the GOP caucus: Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, the top Republican on the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, co-sponsored all five of the antitrust bills, along with North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn and Texas Rep. Lance Gooden.

Buck said he believes that the legislative efforts are an extension of his outreach to blue collar voters.

When I go back to my district, I hear a lot of people talk about the fact that what Big Tech doing is wrong, he said. They dont necessarily know they cheated this particular company in this way, but they have this gut feeling that these companies are too big and theyre cheating. So I do think that we will reach out to a broad spectrum [with these bills].

Democrats behind the legislation have welcomed the support from Republicans, seeking to ride the populist wave to garner lasting support for their agenda.

Ultimately, its a fight for the future of the Republican party Trump-style populism vs. traditional conservatism and the Koch network isnt going down without a fight. As soon as the bills were introduced last week, Koch-backed groups including Americans for Prosperity, the American Enterprise Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, the Open Competition Center, TechFreedom and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation came out with statements and campaigns condemning the legislation.

Aside from the tech companies themselves, the Koch groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have been some of the loudest voices blanketing Capitol Hill urging Republican lawmakers to oppose the legislation, according to two aides familiar with the conversations who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss private conversations. (Many of the groups that receive Koch funding also receive money from Facebook, Google or Amazon.)

I dont think Koch is out on their own on this, said Zach Graves, head of policy at the Lincoln Network, a right-of-center tech advocacy group. I think they have a lot of alignment with relatively powerful industry groups not just tech, but also just general Chamber of Commerce types who dont want to see massive expansion of the antitrust regime and giving big new powers to the [Federal Trade Commission] and DOJ.

Each of the bills has at least one Republican co-sponsor, but the legislation will need more GOP support to push through the Senate. Thats left undecided Republicans in the middle of a tense debate.

For instance, the Heritage Foundation, which is building out its tech policy apparatus, has chosen to stay out of the public conversation for now as it weighs how to thread the needle between taking on Big Tech and maintaining a hands-off approach to government regulation.

As with any other meaningful policy debate, Heritage is carefully looking at the issues inherent to the Big Tech debate in order to come up with policy recommendations that address legitimate concerns about censorship and the growing influence of Big Tech platforms, said John Cooper, the Heritage Foundations associate director for institute communications. To argue that these are issues that dont require some sort of action is simply unrealistic at this point, though its important policymakers act in a way that doesnt give the federal government undue authority that Americans will regret giving to bureaucrats down the road.

Another crucial dynamic is the fact that the Koch network and the Chamber of Commerce, once two of the most important forces in the Republican Party, fell increasingly out of favor with GOP backers during the Trump era. The Koch network alienated a huge swath of formerly devoted Republican followers as its political arm expressed new openness last year to backing Democrats, and the Chamber drew fire for backing several Democrats as well.

The Koch network and Chamber crowd have zero influence right now, said one House Republican aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly. Most of the House Judiciary members and their staff couldnt pick out their people from a police lineup.

But on the other side of the schism, many traditional conservatives and libertarians feel theyre defending the core of their party against Trumps influence. That includes growing GOP calls for a government crackdown on social media companies that they accuse of censoring conservatives, a theme that Trump pressed repeatedly during his time in the White House.

I reject the premise that this is the right is divided, said Berin Szoka, president of the tech- and Koch-funded think tank TechFreedom. People accusing tech companies of censorship, he added, are seeking to compel social media sites to host the most despicable people and content imaginable.

The Democratic-led bills H.R. 3816 (117), H.R. 3825 (117), H.R. 3826 (117), H.R. 3843 (117) and H.R. 3849 (117) dont include prominent anti-tech proposals that Trump and other Republicans had championed, such as stripping or reducing the online industrys protections against lawsuits over user-posted content. But anti-tech activists on the right have made it clear that they support the House antitrust bills in part to punish the major tech companies alleged censorship.

Conservatives are being canceled by Big Tech, we are being kicked off these platforms, we are being silenced and censored, said Mike Davis, founder and president of the right-wing Internet Accountability Project, which receives some funding from Oracle. Conservatives need to pick a side theyre either with everyday Americans or theyre with these Big Tech monopolists and their D.C. lobbyists.

Both sides agree that theres nowhere near as robust of an apparatus on the right for supporting antitrust changes. Whereas a swath of academics and groups on the left have taken up trust-busting as a priority policy area, only a few groups and figures are devoted to the issue on the right.

I think its going to take a new generation of folks, said the House Republican aide.

So far, most Republicans in Congress have not weighed in publicly on the legislation. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the pro-Trump ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee with a more libertarian bent, has been actively whipping against the bills, targeting their Democratic roots.

On the other side, lobbyists for News Corp. and fellow Murdoch-owned company Fox have been working Republican lawmakers to vote in favor, according to two people familiar with the dynamics. And the tech giants themselves some of the biggest lobbying spenders in Washington are caught in the middle.

There is going to continue to be a battle on this, and it parallels the realignment, Schweppe said. The Kochs have always been this more libertarian wing. I dont think thats the main thrust of the party anymore.

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How the Houses Silicon Valley smackdown is dividing conservatives - POLITICO