Category: Beliefs

On October 18, millions of people across the nation took to the streets to protest the Trump administration’s trampling of the rule of law. This is the speech I gate at the Houston gathering at City Hall.

I don’t want to be here today. I’d much rather be with my wife and daughter right now watching our daughter’s friends perform in a play. But I felt compelled to be here, like all of you. Each of us has seen things that we know are not in keeping with our nation’s laws and ideals. Each of us have felt incredulity with each passing day at the disregard for individual rights as they are trampled by the very government that is supposed to uphold those rights.

I am a bit different from the speakers you’ve heard already. I am not a Democrat, nor a progressive. I have serious philosophical differences with many of the stances for which those groups advocate. But those differences pale in comparison to what they share with me…and not only me, but the millions of us here and at protests around the country today: people who voted for other candidates, people who didn’t vote at all, even people who voted for Trump and now regret it…and the number of those people rise every day. The thing that we all share is the belief that the repeated actions of President Trump and his administration in violation of our Constitution constitute high crimes and misdemeanors and are deserving of the legal remedy that our Constitution stipulates: impeachment, conviction, and removal from office.

The Trump administration has called the folks attending the protests today…a lot of names. But the most apt name I can think of is patriots. You are taking a stand as defenders of due process, the rule of law, and our Constitution, and that is true patriotism. I encourage you all to welcome others as they find the courage to join us. And it does take courage to join this movement, especially to go against previously held beliefs and to go against pressure from friends, bosses, or business associates. But with each new travesty of justice, more and more of us stand up to be counted as patriots. And soon – very soon – we shall be triumphant in restoring our nation to the path on which the founders set it almost two hundred and fifty years ago: a path of increasing liberty and justice for all.

Since May of 2022 a group called the Mises Caucus has had control of the Libertarian National Committee and a number of state affiliates. Their first order of business was to make the party welcoming to bigots by striking from our by-laws our anti-bigotry language. Since that time the MC have actively recruited those whose words and actions I find reprehensible, and have used their positions to enrich themselves and to sell out the party.

A large number of LP members left after the MC takeover: membership and donations have both plunged while they have held sway. Many of us fought to retake the party at our national convention this past May, but the numbers of the faithful remaining were not enough to dislodge MC’s grip on power.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the time, will, or energy to fight.

I am resigning as treasurer of LPHarris, and will be putting my lifetime memberships in both national and LPTexas in abeyance while the Mises Caucus has power in the party. I cannot in good conscience continue to be associated with their vileness and self-serving abuse of the party I had been proud to call mine since 2013.

I hope I am able to return someday.

  1. Do not call numbers that that appear in pop-ups warning your computer is infected/compromised/&c. It is a scam.
  2. Do not believe web pages that say your computer is infected/compromised/slow and to download X now to fix. It is a scam.
  3. Do not accept calls from Apple Support/Windows Support/Microsoft/IRS. It is a scam.
  4. Do not call the first support number you find in a search. It is an ad.
  5. Do not believe emails that say they have your password or phone number and video of you misbehaving, or that there is a bomb. It is a scam.
  6. Do not believe emails that require you to enter your username and password to see an attachment. It is a scam. 
  7. Do not believe emails that say your account has been suspended. It is most likely a scam.
  8. Do not click on Unsubscribe in a email in another language or advertising Viagra or from an outfit with whom you’ve never dealt. It will only get you on more spam lists.
  9. Do not install Flash Player. It is a huge security risk
  10. Do not install programs or extensions or add-ons from outside your platform’s official source unless you have a Very Good Reason and you know exactly what it does and trust the source you are clicking with all of your life’s information.
  11. Do not trust sites that are missing the lock icon in the address bar.
  12. Do not share anything in an email or chat that you wouldn’t want to see in the news or shared with your family, friends, and coworkers.
  13. Do not repost something you haven’t verified. When you share a lie, you are the liar.
  14. Do have a unique, strong password for every site.
  15. Do use a password manager (Keychain, LastPass, Dashlane).
  16. Do apply updates.
  17. Do wait for the .1 release to do upgrades.
  18. Do ask if you are unsure.

Will update from time to time.

I’ll be doing this.  I hope you will, too.

DEAR USERS OF THE INTERNET,

In January 2012 we defeated the SOPA and PIPA censorship legislation with the largest Internet protest in history. Today we face another critical threat, one that again undermines the Internet and the notion that any of us live in a genuinely free society: mass surveillance.

In celebration of the win against SOPA and PIPA two years ago, and in memory of one of its leaders,Aaron Swartz, we are planning a day of protest against mass surveillance, to take place this February 11th.

Together we will push back against powers that seek to observe, collect, and analyze our every digital action. Together, we will make it clear that such behavior is not compatible with democratic governance. Together, if we persist, we will win this fight.

 

https://thedaywefightback.org