independentsforkerry.org

BURNET, Texas (Feb. 9) – Ken Schoolland, a long-term board member of the International Society for Individual Liberty and associate professor at Hawaii Pacific University, has endorsed Lee Wrights for President and joined the campaign as economic advisor.

In libertarian circles Schoolland is best known as the author of the animated video “The Philosophy of Liberty” popular on the Internet. He wrote the illustrated libertarian primer “The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey,” which has been translated into more than 40 languages.

Schoolland, who was Hawaii LP chair for five years, is also the author of “Shogun’s Ghost,” an expose on education in Japan, where he taught before accepting his current position in Honolulu. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international organization of economists, philosophers, historians, intellectuals, business leaders, and others who favor classical liberalism.

ISIL is a non-profit, non-partisan libertarian educational organization encouraging activism in libertarian and individual rights.

Schoolland issued this statement:

“I like Ron Paul. I like Gary Johnson. I’d probably like all the libertarian candidates running for President. But liking someone isn’t a reason to vote for them. When I became a member of the Libertarian Party back in 1976 I signed a non-aggression pledge. I take that pledge very seriously. That has been my guiding principle ever since.”

“I simply don’t vote for anyone who compromises on that principle, as the Libertarian Party has too often been willing to do in recent years to broaden candidate popularity. I applaud Ron Paul and Gary Johnson for promoting the libertarian program, but if people don’t grasp the underlying principle, then gains will turn to losses in an instant of mob passion. No compromise with principle.

“The libertarian message is rooted in an appreciation of individual rights … not state’s rights, not practical moderation. That is why I enthusiastically join the Lee Wrights campaign and endorse him for the 2012 Libertarian Party Presidential nomination. When I listen to Lee Wrights speak, as he did at the Libertarian Party of Hawaii convention last May – traveling on his own dime – I was reminded of that great, successful libertarian abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, who said:

I am aware, that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hand of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — and I will be heard.”

R. Lee Wrights

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” (Benjamin Franklin)

by R. Lee Wrights

BURNET, Texas (Dec. 31) – Harry Browne was one of the most gifted writers the libertarian movement has ever known. He had a special ability to communicate libertarian ideas and ideals in a clear, direct and concise way so that anyone could understand what libertarianism is all about. One of the finest examples of this is his essay A Libertarian’s New Year’s Resolutions. That’s why I always re-read and reflect on it at this time of year, and urge all libertarians to do the same.

What Harry wrote in 1998 is even more relevant today, and especially relevant to me as I seek the 2012 Libertarian presidential nomination. That’s why last year I was inspired by Harry’s thoughts and words to write my own version, as a tribute to him. Here again are the Wrights’ Resolutions which I offer as the standard by which I will conduct may campaign and live my life in 2012:

First and foremost, I resolve to remain focused on the paramount issue facing the Libertarian Party and our nation – to stop all war. No matter what other issues are raised, I intend to keep returning to the central point that unless we stop all war, whether foreign or domestic, individuals can never truly be free.

I resolve to remain committed to ensuring that whoever is the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 2012 is committed to proclaiming a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war; and that they be equally dedicated to carrying a solid, uncompromised, unfiltered, unequivocal, and unapologetic libertarian message to all 50 states.

I resolve to cleanse myself of hate, resentment, and bitterness, and focus on using the tools of peace, love, mercy and forgiveness against the weapons of war, hate, vengeance, and cruelty.

I resolve to keep from being drawn into arguments or debates on inconsequential issues, and to always remember that my purpose is to increase people’s appetite for liberty – not to prove that they’re wrong.

I resolve to always acknowledge my good fortune in having been born an American, to refrain from dwelling on America’s defects and past mistakes, and to focus instead on how we together can realize America’s potential and promise.

I resolve not to adopt the political campaign tactics of Republicans and Democrats, who use coercion, character assassination, evasions, fear, and intimidation in their unbridled quest for power. Rather, I resolve to remain civil in my political discourse and treat all people I encounter with the dignity and respect that is their due as human beings.

Lastly, I resolve never to cease working to ensure that the Libertarian Party and our presidential candidate in 2012 is committed to proclaiming loudly, clearly and unequivocally – stop all war.

R. Lee Wrights

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

by R. Lee Wrights

BURNET, Texas (Nov. 5) – One of the first things you do when you’re applying for a job is to read the job description to find out the qualifications, duties and responsibilities of the office. After listening to years of presidential campaign speeches and debates, it seems to me that most candidates for the office simply haven’t read the job description for President of the United States. The Founding Fathers wrote it some 200 years ago, and despite some wear and tear, it is still perhaps one of the finest job descriptions ever written for the leader of a free republic.

The presidential job description was drafted, refined and honed during the months of the Constitutional Convention held in 1787. The duties of the President of the United States are outlined in Article II. The placement is deliberate. The first article of the Constitution establishes the Congress, the legislative branch, because the Founders believed the legislative was the most important function of government. As if to emphasize that point, the first mention of the President of the United States in the Constitution is in Article I, Section 7. This section says he must sign a bill passed by Congress before it becomes law. If he does not sign it, or he vetoes it, it can only become law if two-thirds of each House vote to approve it.

So what does the presidential job description say? First, there are three simple qualifications: you must be a natural-born citizen, 35 years old, and a United States resident for 14 years. I am all three. The “selection committee” for the job is technically the Electoral College, composed of people chosen by the states.” But in reality, it is the people of the United States who hire the president. The length of service is four years.

The first thing a new president does is to take an oath. It is a plain and simple oath, similar to the one I took many years ago when I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. The oath states: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” But in those few words lie some very powerful sentiments.

Article II, Sections 2 and 3 of the Constitution lists the specific duties of the president. One of the duties most discussed, and most abused, is his role as “commander-in-chief” of the Army and Navy, and of the state militia “when called into the service of the United States.” That last phrase is usually omitted when anyone speaks of the “commander-in-chief” but it is important. The president only commands the state militia, in modern terms that means the National Guard, under certain circumstances. Nor does this title make the president “commander-in-chief” of the United States, or any of the states, or the people. And it does not give him the authority to declare or wage war.

Alexander Hamilton, even though an advocate of a strong chief executive, made it clear in Federalist No. 69 that the title of commander-in-chief amounted to “nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces” and not to declaring war or raising and recruiting military forces. Such powers were specifically vested in Congress, because the Founders had direct experience of the tyranny that results when the executive, in their case the King of England, can raise and recruit armies and navies, and take the country to war without question.

If you will pardon a civics lesson, here’s a list of the other duties in the job description for President of the United States:

- Nominate and appoint ambassadors, again with the approval of the Senate;

- Appoint other public Ministers and consuls, subject to Senate approval;

- Appoint judges of the Supreme Court, and inferior federal courts, with Senate approval;

- Appoint all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution or by law;

- Fill vacancies during Senate recesses, but only until the Senate reconvenes;

- Give to the Congress “information of the State of the Union,” and recommend legislation;

- Convene both House and Senate on “extraordinary Occasions,” or adjourn either or both of them if they can’t agree on adjournment;

- Receive Ambassadors and other public ministers;

- “Take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” and;

- Commission all the officers of the United States, that is, military officers.

That’s a very short list. Most of the duties simply have to do with appointing people to office. There is nothing in there about taxes, health care, jobs, education or the myriad of other things presidential candidates make promises about. The key point, however, is that all the power given to the president, all his duties, especially the duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” must be understood in the context of the oath of office. As president, I fully intend to take very, very good care that the laws are faithfully executed.

By that I mean that if a law is not faithful to the original intent of the Constitution — if it in fact does harm to the Constitution — I will not enforce it, nor let anyone in the executive department enforce it. If the Congress sends me a proposed law that does not have a direct basis in any of the specified and enumerated powers granted to the federal government under the Constitution, I will veto it. And even if they pass it over my veto, I will not enforce it.

Anyone I nominate to the Supreme Court or to any federal court will have a clear understanding of the concept of original intent. They will believe, as I do, that the Constitution established a government with specific, enumerated and limited power. Anyone I select for a federal office will be willing to conduct their duties with the understanding, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, that “The equal rights of man and the happiness of every individual are the only legitimate objects of government.” In short, I will conduct the office of President of the United States by heeding the advice of the Founding Fathers, who believed that when it came to power, you should not rely on “confidence in man,” but rather, bind him from mischief ” by the chains of the Constitution.”

R. Lee Wrights

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

Following is a communication from the RJ Harris 2012 campaign:

November 2, 2011

With your help and support we are the definite front runner for the 2012 Libertarian Presidential Nomination. We continue to ask for your support in getting the word out. Recently, we won the Illinois Libertarian Convention Straw Poll. We have also been winning over massive support across the country along with Libertarian State Leadership.

Just in case the image with the recent poll up above did not get to you here are the results:

2012 LIbertarian Presidential Poll (October 31, 2011)
CANDIDATES:
Carl Person 2%
Roger Gary 7%
RJ Harris 32%
Lee Wrights 14%
Bill Still 2%
Undecided 43%

Polling Consisted of 240 Likely Delegates +-4% Error

The release does not say who conducted the poll, but the graphic on Harris’ website indicates that a firm called Polipolls conducted the survey. I am unfamiliar with this polling firm, but this Facebook page indicates that Polipolls has been used by at least one other Libertarian campaign in the past.

I e-mailed the Harris campaign with some followup questions concerning the methodology of the poll. I’ll post any response I receive as an update on this story.

[Update 1] Polipolls appears to be the polling arm of The Political Group, a campaign consulting firm that also designed Harris’ website.

Independent Political Report

by R. Lee Wrights

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” -Thomas Jefferson

Several years ago I wrote an article entitled “Is the Spirit of ’76 dead?” My concern then was that the revolutionary fire that once burned hot in the hearts of Americans had been reduced to a smoldering ember. I was afraid that we had lost the necessary desire to question authority. It appeared to me that Americans had been such poor caretakers that the tree of liberty was wilting, its boughs sagging dangerously close to the ground.

This was still on my mind one year ago on July 4 when I began this campaign for the Libertarian nomination for President of the United States. Our nation has been dragged into a perpetual state of deadly and costly war. Our leaders have manipulated every real or perceived threat to instill fear in Americans. Then, they use this fear they have created to divide us and, worst of all, con us into surrendering more and more of our liberty for the vain and empty promise that they will somehow procure our security for us.

This weekend we will inevitably hear pious proclamations and political pronouncements from prominent figures in the ruling class praising the wisdom and foresight of our Founding Fathers. Undoubtedly, many will repeat the words written by Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But their recitation of these immortal words will be hollow, bereft of any wisdom or understanding. They’ll probably gloss over, if they mention it at all, the rest of that paragraph: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

“Just powers” and “consent of the governed” are phrases and concepts modern-day rulers don’t want you to understand, and probably don’t understand or believe themselves. Few politicians will tell you that Jefferson and the Founders were revolutionaries and that the Declaration of Independence was the written expression and explanation of revolutionary ideas. When the delegates to the Continental Congress issued this unanimous proclamation, they knew it wasn’t just an exercise in semantics. The Founders knew these words spoke the beginning of a long and bloody struggle to free themselves from tyranny.

Make no mistake, this Declaration was not drawn up casually or without due consideration of the causes and consequences of the action. The leaders of the American Revolution understood that people are naturally inclined to leave things as they are, willing to endure many hardships and much suffering for as long as possible before taking action against oppression. “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed,” Jefferson so eloquently wrote.

But the Founders also understood that there was a point at which people not only had the right – they had the duty – to change things and to fight if necessary: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” When Jefferson penned these words he wasn’t talking about holding elections.

James Bovard wrote in “Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty,” “Americans need to remember their constitutional birthright and stand up to arrogant government officials who treat them like subjects rather than citizens.” Mr. Bovard is telling us something we must never forget. Citizens of the United States, each individually, are the caretakers for those precious American siblings – Liberty and Freedom.

As I’ve traveled around the country this past year visiting libertarian groups, I’ve been encouraged to discover that the Spirit of ’76 has not been entirely extinguished. While it’s still being smothered by the apathy of many Americans, and arrogant elected officials are still attempting to stamp out its flame, the fire is still alive, cared for and nurtured by a small but growing group of freedom-lovers. This campaign can be a catalyst to rekindle the Spirit of ’76 and set a brush fire in the hearts and minds of all Americans that will engulf and destroy the tyranny and oppression brought to our land under the guise of fighting foreign and domestic enemies.

On this Fourth of July I urge everyone to read the Declaration of Independence aloud to your children, your grandchildren, and your friend’s children and grandchildren. Tell them that the Fourth of July is more than just a time for going to the beach, eating hot dogs and watching fireworks. Teach these future caretakers of American freedom that it’s about honoring the vision and sacrifice of those who gave their “lives, fortunes and sacred honor” so that we might be free by not allowing the flame of liberty die.

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

by R. Lee Wrights

BURNET, Texas (June 26) – There are several times in my life, more than I care to remember, that I have gone into debt. Who hasn’t? Sometimes I just made bad decisions. But every time I went into debt I alone was responsible for getting myself out of the hole. If you find yourself in a hole that is already too deep and you want to get out, the first thing any sane person does is stop digging. If you’re deep in debt, the first thing to do is — stop spending. That’s what responsible people do.

Apparently however, when someone is elected to office they forget or disregard this simple fact of life. They don’t remember what it’s like to live within their means and to balance a budget. They forget that the simplest, surest and only real way to get out of debt is to stop spending. The spectacle of the Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington D.C. purportedly struggling over the seemingly monumental issue of raising the debt ceiling illustrates just how far out of touch the president and Congressional leaders are with the basic economic realities faced by average Americans every day.

Even the name they use to identify the issue, “debt ceiling,” is an example of the way politicians manipulate words to mask reality. The debt ceiling is merely an artificial cap set by Congress on the amount of money the federal government can legally borrow. It was first set in 1917, but has been raised more than 100 times since then, proving that it’s really not a ceiling at all, not even a glass ceiling, but actually as “high as the sky.”

Amazingly, for nearly a century and a half, the United States survived and thrived without a debt ceiling. The federal government lived within its means; Congress had to approve every instance of government debt case-by-case. If the president wanted to spend more money than the federal government collected in taxes, he had to ask Congress for permission. In other words, the government operated just like any business or family.

Sadly, the same politicians who have bankrupted our county are morally and intellectually bankrupt as well. Not only do they lack the courage needed to repair the damage they’ve inflicted on our nation, both parties act like spoiled children each blaming the other for breaking open the cookie jar. In typical fashion, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has attempted to frighten the American people by telling Congress that raising the debt ceiling was essential “to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and avoid catastrophic economic consequences for citizens.”

The truth is we are heading into economic catastrophe anyway precisely because of the irresponsible actions and spending addiction of both Democrats and Republicans, and their unwillingness to address the real problem — unlimited, unrealistic and unsustainable spending for defense and entitlements. Trying to cure our economic ails by raising the debt ceiling is like trying to deal with an opiate addiction by prescribing more morphine. Borrowing more money will only make the problem worse. Remember, when you’re already too deep in a hole, stop digging!

The United States does not have to raise our debt ceiling. We simply must stop spending money. The truth is we cannot even begin to reduce our debt by slowing spending, lowering spending or even cutting spending. Nor can we “nickel-and-dime” our way out of the problem. We must stop the spending.

It’s easy and popular to go after programs like earmarks, subsidies, tax credits and foreign aid, but these are only a small part of the federal budget. We must stop spending on items that make up 60 to 75 percent of the federal budget — defense and entitlements. Until we elect leaders with the courage to address spending in these areas we’ll never be able to get the debt under control, let alone reduce it. One thing is certain, both for individuals and for our nation, we will never solve our debt problem by going even deeper into debt.

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

BURNET, Texas (June 17) – Lee Wrights will participate in the first Libertarian presidential debate scheduled during the Future of the Libertarian Movement Conference in Manchester, N.H. June 19.

The one-day conference is sponsored by the Libertarian Parties of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Three candidates will participate in the debate, Wrights, Roger Gary of Texas and Carl Person of New York. The debate is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. and will be moderated by George Phillies. The New Hampshire and Massachusetts Libertarian Parties will give a first-round delegate vote to the winner of the post-debate straw poll.

“I’m looking forward to engaging with my fellow libertarians in what I am certain will be a lively and informative discussion,” Wrights said. “It certainly will be more enlightening than the presidential debate conducted by one of the so-called major parties in New Hampshire recently.”

The New Hampshire debate is open to all Libertarian Party candidates with an extended continuous record of Libertarian Party activism, who have completed FEC filings, and have substantial campaign team in place.

Wrights has also agreed to participate in a debate in March 2012 at the Pennsylvania Libertarian State Convention in Pittsburgh.

The conference keynote speaker will be Judge John Buttrick of Arizona who will speak at the luncheon. Other featured speakers are Angela Keaton of AntiWar.com and Outright Libertarians; Joe Kennedy, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate; Ernest Hancock, publisher of Freedom’s Phoenix; Mary Ruwart, author of “Healing our World” and member of the Libertarian National Committee, and Don Gorman, past LNC at-large representative, former Libertarian N.H. state representative and the most-elected libertarian in the country.

The conference will be held at the Highlander Inn at the Manchester Airport one day before the beginning of the week-long Porcfest, the annual celebration of freedom conducted by the Free State Project.

-30-

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

“If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then mankind is no more justified in silencing the one than the one – if he had the power – would be justified in silencing mankind.”
- John Stuart Mill

By R. Lee Wrights

BURNET, Texas (June 12) – It is popular and expedient in politics to champion taxpayer rights, state’s rights, patient rights, gay rights, people-with-disabilities rights, even animal rights. Name any group, or make one up, and undoubtedly someone will advocate for that group’s “rights.” The problem is – there is no such thing as “group rights.” Group rights are an illusion conjured up by politicians and special interests to increase their influence and power.

The simple, basic truth is that all rights belong to the individual. You are born with your rights and no power on earth can take them away from you. You cannot give your rights away. They end only when you die, and not a split-second sooner. Individual rights cannot be divided or multiplied; and, individual rights are superior to any other claimed rights.

Individual rights mean you can adopt whatever culture you want and live any lifestyle you choose to live. We have the individual right to worship or not worship whatever god we want without interference from anyone else, so long as we do not interfere with the rights of other individuals to do the same. It is the fundamental and universal concept recognized by our nation’s Founders. As a result of this recognition, the superiority of individual rights became the foundation of the United States government.

The view that our rights are granted to us by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is equally incorrect and dangerous. As important and eloquently written as these two documents are, they grant us nothing. America’s founding documents merely recognized, and seek to guarantee the recognition, of the individual human rights shared by all of mankind. The Bill of Rights does not declare human rights are valid from a set date forward. The Bill of Rights is a proclamation to the world of something that has always been… the sanctity, superiority and supremacy of individual human rights. The Constitution is to serve as a warrantee of those rights, not a grant of privilege that allows us to embrace and enjoy them.

Individual rights are the “self-evident truths” Thomas Jefferson wrote about when he penned the words in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” He was not expressing any new ideas or concepts. He was telling people something that had always been. Individuals have rights by birth that cannot be given or taken away.

Two people, 200 people, 2 million people, even the world’s populations combined do not have more rights than one person. There are no such things as “state’s rights,” there are only human rights possessed by people individually from birth. A “state” may have more influence, more power, and theoretically, a greater ability to protect individual rights. There is certainly strength in numbers, as they say. Labor unions have proven that numbers mean power in politics. But no group of individuals has more rights than any one individual, nor do groups acquire special rights by being organized.

Power and rights are simply not the same thing. The individual right to freedom of association allows people to band together to protect their individual rights. Such associations can become agencies designed to control, limit, restrict or even abolish the individual rights of people who don’t belong to that group. However, even if they are successful, any law that suppresses the rights of individuals can be nullified by the people.

As Jefferson wrote, “…law is often but the tyrant’s will and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” It makes no difference if that tyrant is a single person or a group of people united under common cause. The rights of the many are never greater, can never be greater, than the rights of the few, or even the one. If we accept the illusion of group rights, we also accept the legitimacy of tyranny. That is why when it comes to human rights, no number is greater than one.

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Born in Winston-Salem, N.C., he now lives and works in Texas.

Lee Wrights for President
Contact: Brian Irving, press secretary
press@wrights2012.com
919.538.4548

Independent Political Report

Emailed to contact.ipr@gmail.com and posted at Liberty for All:

by R. Lee Wrights

“The only defensible war is a war of defense.” – C.K. Chesterton

One of the most misunderstood principles of libertarianism is the non-aggression principle. The belief that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being for any reason whatsoever; nor advocate the initiation of force, or delegate it to anyone else including government is the very essence of the non-aggression principle. The misconception starts when we use the phrase “initiation of force.” People tend to focus on the last word and ignore or forget the first.

Most libertarians are not pacifists so our adherence to the non-aggression principle doesn’t mean we won’t defend ourselves. On the contrary, the right to self-defense is inherent in the concept of self-ownership. It is absolutely necessary for every individual to be prepared always to defend him or herself. Your life is too precious to trust it to the hands of strangers.

There seems to be similar confusion with the understanding of the theme of this exploratory campaign – stop all war. That theme was chosen based on the feedback and comments I’ve been hearing from Libertarians across the nation for the past several years. They are asking why the Libertarian Party isn’t out front in the anti-war movement. The questioning was particularly strong and passionate from many of the young people who were delegates to the 2010 national convention in St. Louis.

Since 9/11, I’ve been asking that same question everywhere I have gone and to everyone I’ve met, including members of the Libertarian National Committee, rank-and-file members of the Libertarian Party and fellow patriots in the libertarian movement. It became clear to me that if the message to stop all war was going to become the message of the Libertarian Party as it should be, someone had to step up to make it happen.

That being said, let me be clear. I am not at war, but make no mistake – I am still a warrior. I am not a pacifist – but I don’t have to kill someone to prove it. I don’t oppose anyone using force to defend themselves, their homes, their property, or those they love. If you doubt me when I say that, just try breaking into my house. Self-defense is a part of life, and it’s sometimes necessary for people to defend themselves in order to survive.

But whatever force is used should be quick and precise and the amount of force used should be limited to stopping the attack. Once you have stopped the attack, self-defense does not give you the right to bludgeon the attacker further. Nor does self-defense give you the right to attack someone because you think they may attack you in the future, no matter how boisterous their threats.

Nations should conduct their wars by the same rules. If a nation is attacked, it has the right to defend itself using whatever force is necessary, and using all the power at its disposal to stop the attack quickly and decisively. It may be necessary–on occasion–to invade the aggressor nation. But once the aggressor has been defeated, the defending nation has no right to maintain an occupation force or engage in “nation building.” The cause of national defense does not give any nation the right to conduct a preemptive or preventive war, a policy Dwight Eisenhower called an invention of Adolf Hitler.

While most libertarians strongly support the non-aggression principle, we aren’t pacifists. While we defend the right of individuals, or nations, to use force in self-defense, we adamantly reject any justification for a nation to wage a war of aggression for any reason, under any circumstances. The call to stop all war is simply the logical and systematic application of the non-aggression principle to all areas of government activity. It is a call to stop any activity that involves the use of force not to defend rights, but to impose the State’s will on others.

All libertarians share this core value. All libertarians believe in the message of peace and non-aggression. That’s why I believe that the Libertarian Party must embrace the message and not be afraid to boldly, loudly and unequivocally proclaim now and in the 2012 presidential election – stop all war.

Call it pro-peace or anti-war, they both mean the same thing – stop all war. We have chosen to call for stopping war because that is what the members of the LP have been asking for. We remember how the George W. Bush crowd co-opted the pro-peace slogan to justify sending an invasion force into Iraq. The American people were told it was a war of peace. Of course, it was a lie.

As I said

in late 2002 before we sent troops to Iraq, “It is blasphemy to kill innocent people and have innocent people do your killing for you, all the while proclaiming to the world you are doing it in the blessed name of Peace.” This is why Libertarians understand that we must call for stopping all war. Stop all war is a message that cannot be co-opted and used to justify sending more young people far from home to die.

The Libertarian Party isn’t the entire libertarian movement. It’s only the political arm of the movement. The Libertarian Party represents the larger libertarian movement in the political arena. Without us, Americans have no way of voting for liberty and freedom at the ballot box on Election Day. We in the movement who have made the decision to engage in electoral politics have chosen ballots over bullets in a peaceful attempt to bring about badly needed reform of a government that no longer serves the people but rather has fallen into the hands of tyrannical nannies who wage war on and enslave the very citizens they have sworn to serve.

So I echo the words of my brother Thomas Hill. The message of this campaign is a message all libertarians can and should embrace – stop all war. This is the cause the Libertarian Party must champion in 2012. If we don’t, nobody else will. To spread that message across the country, we’ll need the help of anyone who desires to be free and who opposes tyranny in any form.

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R. Lee Wrights, is a libertarian writer, activist and lifetime member of the Libertarian Party who lives in Texas. He is considering seeking the presidential nomination because he believes the Libertarian message in 2012 should be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war. Wrights has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can be heard in all 50 states. He is the co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty for All.

http://www.wrights2012.com

Independent Political Report