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LITTLE ROCK Ricky Dale Harringtons landslide loss to Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton on Tuesday represents a high-water mark, thus far, for the Libertarian cause in Arkansas and across the nation.

In unofficial returns, with 2,545 of 2,575 precincts reporting, it was:

Cotton.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787,542

Harrington. . . . . . . . . . 393,110

The former prison chaplain from Pine Bluff, thus far, had 33.3% of the vote. Two-thirds of the ballots were for Cotton, a first-term incumbent from Little Rock.

Its a record for a Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate anywhere in the United States. Ever. So were absolutely enthusiastic and appreciative of that showing, said Joe Bishop-Henchman, the national party chairman.

Brian Colas, Cottons political director, said 66.6% is also a high water mark for an Arkansas Republican in a major statewide race.

We wanted to break 60%. We broke 66%, he said. Were thrilled.

Both sides fared well because they didnt have to split votes with a Democrat.

Josh Mahony of Fayetteville, the partys only candidate, dropped out of the race hours after the filing deadline. Dan Whitfield, a Bella Vista independent, failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

That left voters with just two options: Cotton or Harrington.

Until now, Alaskan Joe Miller was the top-performing Libertarian Senate candidate; he captured 29.2% of the vote when he ran in 2016.

Miller was well-known by voters hed lost a Senate bid in 2010, despite winning the Republican Party nomination.

Harrington, on the other hand, was a political newcomer.

Despite having minimal name recognition and even less money, Harrington, 35, captured nearly as many votes in Arkansas as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

He easily outpaced other Libertarians on the Arkansas ballot, including the partys presidential nominee, Jo Jorgensen of South Carolina, who finished with 13,024 votes.

Cotton was leading in 72 of the states 75 counties, but Harrington finished ahead in Pulaski, Jefferson and Phillips counties. All three are Democratic strongholds.

Hal Bass, a political science professor emeritus at Ouachita Baptist University, portrayed Tuesdays vote as an aberration.

It was just a protest vote by Democrats, he said.

That does not indicate that there is a Libertarian constituency of that magnitude in Arkansas. It does indicate that theres an anti-Cotton constituency of that magnitude in Arkansas, he said.

Harrington, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, fared relatively well despite being heavily outspent.

His campaign had collected $68,191 as of Oct. 14; Cotton had collected more than $12.8 million.

Harrington surpassed the most recent pollsters predictions.

A Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College survey Oct. 19 Monday showed Cotton winning, 62% to 27% with 10% undecided.

The Arkansas Poll, released Oct. 28, had Cotton even further ahead, 75%-20%.

Cottons internal polling had pointed to a closer race. In the closing days, he made repeated trips to Arkansas, while also working elsewhere to push for continuing Republican control of the Senate.

Rather than criticizing his opponent, Cotton talked about his own record and priorities. The campaign knew that the vast majority of Arkansans agreed with Sen. Cotton on the issues, so thats what our campaign prioritized, Colas said.

In addition to campaigning in Arkansas, Cotton also campaigned for vulnerable Senate colleagues, making stops in Georgia, Montana, Colorado and elsewhere.

Most of the candidates he backed ended up winning.

Original post:
Cotton win good news, say parties of two rivals - Arkansas Online

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In his thought-provoking book, Meek points out how the 1% has co-opted the United States political system and government, which has marginalized the American People into a separate downtrodden serfdom class of citizens.

The 62-year-old futurist explains that a perfect storm has occurred that has completely adulterated every American Government Institution that includes the Executive, Judicial, Legislative, and the Federal Reserve.

Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, "The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation to the prejudice and oppression of another is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policyAn equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy."

In his abstract, Meek offers solutions to put the power back in the American People's hands. A single financial transaction tax, citizen jurists, universal income, universal education, on-line voting, and reducing the national voting age to 16.

The New Libertarian Party's (N.L.P) platform, also called the Great American Consolidation, along with the rapid adoption of Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence, will revolutionize how our government will operate within the next five years.

Meek states, "For Generations X, Y, Z, the traditional political parties offer zero solutions to a Fascist controlled government that has lost its mind and moral compass.

He further adds, "Nothing will change with the current antiquated infrastructure other than the rich getting richer."

The N.L.P genesis began at a place called Giant Rock, located in the Mohave Desert. Chad C. Meek lived here during this discovery time and witnessed the thousands of people who attended the annual space convention over three decades.

Meek's first novel and a screenplay called Giant Rock were released in 2016 and profiled his family's and others' experiences who made direct contact with extraterrestrial entities.

The people of Giant Rock created a movement led by his uncle George Van Tassel circa 1910-1978, which promoted Peace, U.F.O. disclosure, free-energy, and a non-nuclear carbon-free world.

"The ideas that my uncle and the eclectic group out at Giant Rock were able to channel from the Universal Mind were 50 years before their time."

Books available on Amazon

http://www.nlpamerican.com

http://www.giantrockthemovie.com

Media Contact:Chad Meek[emailprotected]805-308-1949

SOURCE Chad C. Meek

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Chad C. Meek, Author, Futurist Has Just Released a Book Entitled The New Libertarian Party, Revolution for America - PRNewswire

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) There are two candidates running for South Dakotas only seat in the U-S House. One of them is Libertarian candidate Randy Laullin.

KELOLAND News caught up with Laullin on Friday to talk about why hes running for office.

He says he expects the truth from elected officials and from what hes seen, hes not sure if thats what the people are getting.

Laullin says there have been many different strategies dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes things can be run differently.

Whats the truth, thats the question and we are getting that on all aspects of this and I think its very confusing to people and the way we are dealing with it throughout the country, I think its important we deal with it at a local level, Laullin said.

Laullin is running against incumbent Representative Dusty Johnson in the upcoming election.

Theyll both be joining us for a Candidate Forum. It will air the Sunday before the election, right here on KELOLAND News.

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Libertarian candidate Randy Laullin believes things can be run differently - KELOLAND.com

OCTOBER 21, 2020

BEARS HAVE RECENTLY been enjoying a vacation from usual human activity. Wildlife conservationists have noted impressive ursine comebacks during the pandemic. Some of them have wandered down Main Streets. My own town in New Hampshire just threatened $500 fines on anyone who dares to not properly discard trash. We have learned that we must be tough to manage our trash attractants and to ensure that local bears and residents can safely co-exist, noted a stern email.

But just down the road from me in the small town of Grafton, principles like this are anathema to a gun-toting collection of libertarians who try to handle their bear problems a bit differently, as journalist Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling chronicles in the closely reported book A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear.

Grafton made national news in 2003 when libertarians associated with an initiative called the Free State Project began flocking there with the goal of weaning the small New Hampshire town from its already tiny government and proving the merit of their idea that people should live under no government at all. Having extreme political views in America is no rarity, but the actual implementation of a controlled social experiment is rare. Suffice to say, it didnt end well.

Hongoltz-Hetling got interested in Grafton after he heard stories of local bears acting strangely. He follows the situation as it gets weirder, and the book delivers an extended punch line to its joke title, becoming more gruesome even as it gets more humorous.

After the the libertarians did away with Graftons public funds and most rules, bears also wandered in for lunch because of the lack of trash regulations, even as fires ravaged the town in the absence of a properly funded fire department. A surprisingly protective llama named Hurricane launches its own counter-attack on a bear who comes too close to Dianne Burringtons sheep farm, and survivalists living in a tent city nearby put up a hapless sign that reads No Bears Allowed. John Babiarz, a volunteer firefighter who is one of the central figures in the book, is convinced that the bears are watching him, as gullible residents feed bears their uneaten donuts.

Politics lead to policy and policy to consequences. The government-hating residents take bear management into their own hands, which involves cayenne pepper, electrified fencing, motion sensors, booby traps, and radios that constantly blasted out disembodied voices. While some are hell-bent on going to war on the bears, others take to feeding the them as they sat, like rotund and feral wood-gods demanding tribute. The result is as much a fiasco as one would expect, and in 2012, the town experienced New Hampshires first bear attack in living memory.

Grafton was not an illogical choice for a libertarian takeover. It had been tax-averse since its 1761 founding and even once briefly seceded from New Hampshire. Located in a remote part of the Live Free or Die state, it seemed like the perfect place for an every-person-for-themselves tryout. But in spite of the preexisting taxphobic tendencies, many locals were adamantly opposed to the libertarian homesteaders from the beginning. One accused the newcomers of trying to cram freedom down our throats. And the situation evolves from there into what the author calls an unmitigated disaster as the bear behavior becomes more bizarre and rambunctious. [S]omething unusual seemed to be plaguing Grafton, something with the power to pit neighbor against neighbor, freedoms against security, man against beast.

This quirky book about bears is timely and now carries an urgent global message. Conversations around personal freedoms are intensifying with real implications for public health. Viruses, like bears, spread in the absence of a competent collective response, and the vulnerable are the hardest hit by the liberties taken by others. In Grafton, its not the liberators who are attacked by bears, but marginalized women living on fixed means in remote towns who are forced to contend with the repercussions of decisions not their own.

Hongoltz-Hetling takes the time to render the real people of Grafton on the page. The account is stronger throughout because of the fair treatment given to the people whose lives inform the story, a reminder that any political story is necessarily a human one. We learn how beliefs have been shaped by life circumstances, whether theyre a libertarian like John Babiarz with a fear of authoritarian government or a Vietnam-era vet who became an acolyte of the controversial Reverend Sun Myung in the case of Jessica Soule.

The author lets individuals have their version of the story before citing factors excluded by their worldview that make the reality more complicated. The libertarians are never presented as a simplified group, but as individuals with their own backstories. They have reasons for arriving at their political leanings. Some of the best scenes involve the infighting among the Free State settlers. It starts off so early that one of the founders of the Free State Project, Larry Pendarvis, doesnt even make it to Grafton because his difficult-to-defend views like the right to traffic in human organs or organize bum fights stirs up so much controversy among libertarians and locals alike. The states Libertarian Party even accuses him of turning Grafton against libertarian causes, and tells him to stay away from New Hampshire. Pendarvis doesnt give up his views, but he does give up on Grafton.

Hongoltz-Hetling doesnt condemn individuals for their beliefs, but he condemns actions like the killing of 13 bears in hibernation. By turning to the archives in addition to the contemporary reportage, he builds a case that libertarian ideas have little carryover to the real world when it comes to the value of unprofitable public services like wildlife management or firefighting. But he turns his critique to the Fish and Game department, too, for scolding individuals for improper trash disposal, conveniently diverting responsibility from the state. Theyre as much a part of the problem as the libertarians are.

The book is less forthcoming when it comes to suggesting fixes. Both the Grafton project and the book itself peter out to their endings when the Free State Project pulls the trigger on the libertarian plan to host a statewide takeover of New Hampshire. In this scheme, Grafton is just another town, and libertarians moving to the state often end up, ironically, in larger towns with more government-funded amenities. Meanwhile, wildlife attacks continue in the backwoods of New Hampshire (bobcats this time, not bears).

Life continues, or ends. Hurricane the llama dies of old age, and longtime Grafton resident Jessica Soule moves to Arizona. While this may be a disappointment to some, it is the story of a real and messy world in which neat resolutions are rarely realistic. Tying a bow on it would do a disservice to the complex and ongoing nature of this story, both in terms of the wildlife issue and the political angle.

The central observation of A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the insight that there is, in fact, a deep connection between strange bear behavior and the the boldest social experiment in modern American history. By zeroing in on bears as a subject, the book makes a compelling case that even those who believe in freedom above every other virtue are not free of the ecosystem in which they live.

Grafton was a concentrated case study in the philosophy that an individuals actions are solely their own business. The bear attacks were one symbol of the dire consequences that can follow. We are currently seeing the implications of this type of thinking on a national scale, when personal freedom is used to justify shirking public health recommendations around mask wearing, physical distancing, or limitations on gatherings. At a time when we are all being asked to think more about the ways our actions affect others, the personal freedom is getting put to the test in our country as it did in Grafton. For now, the bears are winning.

Amanda Gokee is a writer living in Vermont. Her recent work has been published by Atlas Obscura, the Valley News, and VTDigger, among others.

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When Government Disappears: On Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling's A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear - lareviewofbooks

Just 10 days before the 2020 presidential election, Reason Magazine the choice publication of the particular brand of libertarian intellectualism that brought you a full-throated defense of the child exploitation that occurred during the filming of the controversial film Cuties has an important message for Americans: don't bother voting.

Reason's top headline in its "Election 2020" coverage on Saturday is a video explaining to Americans that their vote doesn't count, and that "It might be better to find something else you'd rather do on Election Day."

Reason Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward explains that "the reasons people give for why they vote and why everyone else should too are flawed, unconvincing, and occasionally dangerous," asserting that "the case for voting relies on factual errors, misunderstandings about the duties of citizenship, and overinflated perceptions of self-worth."

Mangu-ward concedes that there are "some good reasons for some people to vote some of the time," but contends that "there are a lot more bad reasons to vote, and the bad ones are more popular."

"Your vote is wildly unlikely to determine the outcome of an election. It's pure math," she continues before delving into an explanation that a single vote is highly unlikely to sway an election. She then poses the question "So are people who vote irrational, evil, or stupid?"

"Not necessarily. At least not all of those things," she answers.

Although Mangu-Ward begins by making the case that one shouldn't vote because individual votes simply don't matter, she soon contradicts herself, citing philosophy that suggests that "ill-informed" or "uneducated" voters "have a civic duty not to vote" because "even though no particular vote is likely to be decisive," doing so while also being "ignorant" might be an "immoral act."

"If you believe your vote is likely to be ill-informed or that a particular race is likely to yield an unfair, unjust, or otherwise bad outcome, you should refrain from participating," Mangu-Ward explains.

"If you like, you could say the rule is don't vote unless your vote is likely to substantially influence the outcome of the election," Mangu-Ward says, after having just provided multiple figures to back up her assertion that nobody's vote has the power to do so.

Mangu-Ward calls voting the "cheapest form of altruism," and in perfect libertarian fashion, suggests that "Complaining is another way to make good on our civic duty to be engaged, if such a thing exists."

"Ignorant expressive voters, even rationally ignorant ones, may be committing immoral acts. All of which is a pretty steep price to pay for an 'I Voted' sticker," she concludes.

Although Mangu-Ward contends that "one person's decision not to vote, or even to make a video about not voting, is unlikely to substantially influence the tens of millions of people who already vote," she knows that if anybody is likely to be swayed by her video, it is Reason's target audience of the libertarian community, almost half of which is leaning toward voting for Trump, according to an ongoing poll from ISideWith.com.

Results from libertarian voters to the question "If the 2020 Presidential election were held today, which potential candidate would you vote for?" currently show 45 percent answering that they would vote for Trump, followed closely by 41 percent choosing Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgenson. Only 10 percent have said that they would vote for Biden.

This comes on the same day that Reason Senior Editor Elizabeth Nolan Brown decried libertarians who are likely to vote for Trump.

"A whole lotta 'Ron Paul libertarians' were never libertarian in the first place," said Brown in response to a tweet from Austin Peterson asserting that "Ron Paul libertarians prefer Trump."

"Ron Paul brought libertarians a wave of racist dingbats who like liberty in only a few areas, from which we are still digging ourselves out. Good the f**k riddance," said Brown.

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Revered libertarian publication tells people not to bother voting 10 days before election - The Post Millennial