As my tenure as chairman of the Libertarian Party of Utah draws to a close, I pass along the following observations:

• While institutionalized aggression continues to metastasize in this heart of red-state darkness, more and more Americans are embracing the libertarian program of peace and prosperity.
• A former U.S. Senator and former U.S. Representative are among those who will likely seek the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination over the Memorial Day weekend in Denver, Colorado. The 2008 Libertarian National Convention will probably be the most widely-viewed event in the party of free agency's history to date.
• With more than four out of five Americans of the opinion that the country is on the "wrong track" -- and they are correct -- never before have so many people been ready to consider the electoral options outside of the irretrievably corrupt, two-party duopoly.

Ron Paul is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party. Ron Paul was the Libertarian candidate for President in 1988. Why? Because Ron Paul and the Libertarian Party share the same values:

* Individual Liberty
* Personal Responsibility
* Limited Government

Although the Republican Party occasionally talks about these values, they certainly don't walk the walk. Nowadays, Republicans are the Party of runaway spending and unending war — that's not Ron Paul at all.

Ron Paul is not the choice of Republican voters either: 97% of Utah Republicans rejected Ron Paul in the February 5, 2008 presidential primary.

Ron Paul is the choice of Libertarians: nearly three-fourths of Libertarians support Ron Paul.

Ron Paul's message is distinctly Libertarian, as shown in the following video recounting his appearance last year on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno":

As Ron said, "The message is powerful. You know, I have my shortcomings. But the message has no shortcomings. The message of liberty is what America is all about."

The message of liberty is what both Ron Paul and the Libertarian Party are all about.

We invite you to join the Party that believes what Ron Paul believes. Join the Party that welcomes you and your belief in the values of liberty.

Join the Libertarian Party. Start by joining the LPUtah. We need every Ron Paul fan to join us and nurture the seeds of liberty that Ron Paul plants every day.

"So long as libertarians withhold their consent from conservative politicians, those politicians can't win."

--Ryan Sager, columnist and blogger for the New York Post and RealClearPolitics.com

In the American political theory classic, Federalist 10, author James Madison proposed controls on the effects of factions:

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote.
...
Either the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or the majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression.

Unfortunately, the bipartisan scheme of oppression most Americans live under today arose as the result of the single-member district plurality voting systems that underlie almost all elections in the United States, which has yielded two dominant political factions. Combined with the advent of "log rolling" -- a technique through which legislators poorly monitored by voters behave in ways that are costly to citizens -- the two-party system has managed to defeat the U.S. Constitution's checks and balances against "the interested combinations of the majority."

A modern example of the majoritarian erosion of constitutional barriers is the receipt of "significant income" from government programs by more than half of all Americans. In other words, the tax eaters -- both from the political left and political right -- outnumber the taxpayers.

How might those who champion the cause of liberty restore the free America envisioned by its founders; an American society as described in Federalist 51 "broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority"?

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats."
--H.L. Mencken

As the handiwork of the 2007 General Session of the State of Utah's Legislature comes online, Utahns have until April 29th to find the exits, or prepare for the next assault upon civil society by the political class.

One tool used by the members of civil society to protect against institutionalized aggression is the jury, an assembly of citizens selected randomly to resolve disputes.

Is it time for juries to make a comeback in the defense of individual liberty?

Random acts of liberty

The classic film "12 Angry Men" dramatizes how one juror can save the citizen accused from being wrongfully convicted.

And because election-rigging Republicans and Democrats continue to cheat all Americans out of more competitive and representative means to choose lawmakers, randomly-selected jurors are among the few individuals who can stop the enforcement of an unjust law.

The Fully Informed Jury Association is one organization working to raise awareness of a juror's powers.

But what if a juror is unaware of his or her power to evaluate the law?

The warden says 'The exodus sold.'
If you want a way out...
Silver and gold, silver and gold.
-- U2, "Silver & Gold"

"Nothing restrains a central government like sound money."
-- Thomas DiLorenzo

News Item: U.S Mint bans melting pennies, nickels

The motivation for the melting and export ban of U.S. pennies and nickels is the reality that the market value for the coins' metal exceeds the faith-based denomination value stamped into them by the federal government. "In God We Trust," indeed.

Why is the federal government in the money business?

Dear Abby:
My father is a businessman who travels.
Each time he returns from one of his trips,
his shoes and trousers
are covered with blood—

but he never forgets to bring me a nice present;
Should I say something?
Signed, America.

--Tony Hoagland, "Hard Rain"

Unless you count yourself among those who own stock in or are employed by the companies that federal, state, and local governments pay to fight the War on Drugs, -- in places such as Afghanistan -- you're a loser in that war.

"The war on drugs is really a war on people -- on anyone who uses or grows or makes or sells a forbidden drug."

--Ethan A. Nadelman, Drug Policy Alliance

What has the rest of America lost, aside from the tens of billions spent at all levels of government to fight the Drug War?

"Big Brother is Watching You"
--From a poster in George Orwell's 1984

Those who defend the ability of the political class to peek into the most private affairs of ordinary Americans routinely invoke the mantra, "I have nothing to hide."

Of the few problems with this standard, one is that the political class regularly enlarges the list of outlawed conduct beyond common law injuries to persons or property. Armed with such a list, nosy neighbors can lead to busybody law enforcement and petty prosecutions.

More importantly, by what authority does the political class claim the right to intrude into your life to investigate wrongdoing? And who watches the watchers?

Are libertarians constitutionalists?

In the past month or so I've been impressed by some of the commentary posted on LewRockwell.com attempting to answer this question.

To answer it for yourself, I invite you to read the essays linked below.

It's a short post on an important topic. I offer my observations at the end.

"Today the Constitution is worse than a dead letter, for it provides the facade of legitimacy behind which government actors are enabled to do as they please."

Memorial Day 2006 marks the anniversary of Liberty for Utahns!

In a year's time, how have the women and men who are serving, or have served, in the U.S. military fared?

"It's always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parade."

--Charlie, "The Americanization of Emily"

In May 2005, there were 1666 U.S. fatalities resulting from military operations in Iraq.

April 19th is a storied date in American history and the fight for freedom. The "shot heard 'round the world" that started the American Revolution was fired in Concord, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.

In Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993, a raid by federal agents left 76 people dead.

Motivated by the events in Waco, Timothy McVeigh admitted to participating in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that left 168 people dead exactly two years later.