As we know, Rep. Cynthia Chase and others are known to periodically vent their spleens and their bigotry by raising awful alarms (!) about “the invasion of the Freestaters!” This supposedly monolithic anarchist horde is going to sweep through the state and end government as we know it (!). Well, three strikes and those idiots are out, as follow:
1. The first “Freestater” elected to the NH State House of Representatives, where he holds a seat today, was and is Rep. Joel Winters…elected as…
…a Democrat! Strike one for the alarmist bigots.
2. Rep. Winters tends to vote the Democrat “party line” as laid out by the party leadership. Strike two for the anti-Freestaters.
3. Rep. Winters recently voted with virtually the entire Democrat delegation—and against virtually all the Republicans—to raise state gas taxes by 83%. Damn. Strike three for the reality-challenged, bigoted anti-Freestaters.
The truth? The truth is that the Free State Project is attracting all types of people to the Live Free or Die State of New Hampshire. They are united only by their adherence to the Free State Project “Statement of Intent,” which says that “the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.” That is, of course, what the Founding Fathers believed in, and why they bequeathed us with a federal government of limited powers under the U.S. Constitution (Democrats don’t believe in either one anymore, so it’s no wonder they’re terrified of the Freestaters).
However…there’s one little problem for the Freestaters, and that is how one interprets the Statement of Intent on specific issues. Most members of the NH State House who moved to New Hampshire because of the Free State Project voted against the massive gas tax increase….but not Democrat (and libertarian) Joel Winters, and he’s got a principled argument as to why he voted in favor. So the anti-Free State Project bigots are doubly wrong: Instead of a monolithic mass of screaming anarchists they’ve been wringing their hands over, the truth is that Freestaters aren’t even “monolithic” in their beliefs and activism. They can be—and are—in direct disagreement on some fundamental issues…such as the Democrats’ gas tax and spending rocketship.
As for me, an activist Freestater myself, I think a Republican libertarian should run against Democrat libertarian Joel Winters. And then…may the best Freestater win! LOL!