He fled the "People's Republic of Massachusetts" to escape tyranny. Now he strides the campground in a plaid kilt and mirror shades, an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle across his torso, an immense Scottish sword sheathed between his shoulders.
Out here, though, the only signs of danger are the ones warning drivers to watch out for moose. Could it be he senses a threat we're not seeing?
"Not expecting," says the swordsman, who calls himself Doobie, grinning broadly. "Just ready."
Really?! Really!?! The words "smear job" come to mind. Although he goes on, later in the article, to discuss a few of the actual ideas that stand behind the libertarian movement, I can't forgive him. Since the majority of people stop reading news stories after a few paragraphs, they would click away to something else thinking libertarians are all nuts. No wonder most people - when they find out you're a libertarian - immediately think of crazies like "Dobbie" and come to the quick conclusion that we are nothing more than a group of fridge extremists who want everyone to own 16 guns (oh, and we want 6 year olds to carry guns too, and do drugs, if possible, while they are being filmed for a kiddie porno).
And just to clarify....I don't oppose "Doobie's" right to dress like that or to carry his sword and guns around with him. He can do whatever he wants, up to the point where he violates my life in some way. Well, by allowing himself to be the center of that story does actually impact my life, so thats why I'm kind of angry with him.
By the same token, Geller has every right to write mindless piles of crap like that and try to pass it off as journalism. And I have every right to hate him for it. Regardless of what you believe, it should never be okay to slander an intellectual, political, movement by casting a spotlight on the most extreme and least-well-educated-about-the-meaning-of-the-movement parts. It's basically the same thing the media did to Ron Paul in the last election by tying him to the 9/11 Truth movement and never looking at anything else.
Also, I don't have any problem with a kind of "Libertarian nirvana" as Geller puts it. In fact, it sounds like a pretty awesome idea. But a weekend-long convention is hardly Galt's Gulch, and I doubt the people who were there (if they were anything like "Doobie") could actually survive for very long in such a place.
When I first found out that Ayn Rand hated libertarians, I couldn't understand why. I think "Doobie" just showed me a pretty good reason.
But let's not forget who the real bad guy is here.
**The following is directed solely at Adam Geller**
Geller, you must be one of the scummiest reporters that the AP employs. How anyone who calls themselves a journalist could pass off that crap as being an honest representation of reality is beyond me. I'm sure there were plenty of libertarian crazies at that event in New Hampshire this weekend, but I'm sure there were also some serious people who would have loved to talk to you about the ideas that have driven them to their viewpoint. If not, if the only people there were "Doobie" and his gun-belt-wearing, kilt-wrapped, sword-brandishing brothers, then how dare you simply accept that they must be representative of all libertarians? Did you ever think that maybe you should make a few phone calls, do a little research, and maybe uncover the fact that all libertarians are not barbarians clinging to some random semblence of philosophy?
You, sir, are an idiot, and as soon as I can find your contact information I will let you know as much.
**ok, now back to your regularly scheduled program**
Actually, Geller isn't the only person I'm mad at....
Shame on you, "Doobie", just because you think its cool to dress up like you're going to a renaissance faire and pack more heat than an entire SWAT team, that DOES NOT give you the right to speak to the media. Did you ever think for a second that you (and your assinine ideas about what being a libertarian means) might not exactly cast the rest of the movement in the best light? No, you didn't think. You just said what you wanted and did what you wanted, because thats what being a libertarian is all about, right? 'Yeah, dude, lets just all go to New Hampshire for the weekend and carry our guns around and get high and talk about how much the government oppresses us.' If you want to wear a kilt and carry a sword, go to Comic Con; if you want to be a libertarian, do some actual thinking.
And finally, the American public are to blame as well. Because people have such sort attention spans, it allows the media to get away with simple, narrow, representations of complex ideas like:
Ron Paul = 9/11 Truth
Libertarians = gun-toting crazies who don't want to participate in civil society.
The libertarian movement will never be anything more than a sideshow until people like Doobie realize there are minds and ideas behind it. And until complete douches like Adam Geller stop trying to make it look like all libertarians are crazy losers.
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