Posted on 04/24/2003 11:58:31 AM PDT by churchillbuff
COMMENTARY More activists have eye on state Our View: Libertarians' Free State Project looking around for what it hopes is fertile territory --- Don't look now, but another group of fringe political opportunists is seriously considering moving to Idaho en masse and co-opting its political machinery.
The Free State Project is smitten by Idaho and Wyoming.
Organizers view the two states as bastions for smaller government and individual liberty – and a good fit for as many as 20,000 Libertarians who are yearning to be free of Big Government. Idaho is the favorite among the "bigger" states – population around 1.2 million – being viewed as potential migration sites. Wyoming has an edge over New Hampshire among the smaller ones.
Indeed, Idaho is a live-and-let-live state that prefers smaller government. But it won't be an easy touch for an outside band of activists with ulterior motives. The Aryan Nations misjudged Idaho – and spent a quarter of a century fighting a losing battle with human-rights activists. In Idaho, Free Staters would be squeezed by anti-abortion conservatives, aggressive newspapers, the Republican establishment, and the Mormon church in the south.
They should think again about rating Idaho so high on their list.
At this point, Free State Project has signed up 3,000 activists who are willing to move to a designated state to work to transform government into their image. Once they recruit 5,000, the Free Staters will pick their state.
According to www.freestateproject.com, Idaho ranks high because, among other things, it has a strong predicted job growth. It votes for conservative and Libertarian presidential candidates. It cherishes gun freedom. It has the initiative and referendum process (for working around stubborn legislatures). It's a right-to-work state. And its teachers' union is weak.
The Free State Project, of course, is far more benign than Richard Butler's Aryan Nations. But it's making the same mistake Butler did when he launched his "territorial imperative" – a whites-only homeland in the Northwest. Butler thought the monocultural region would be fertile ground for his creed. He didn't count on the task force of human-rights activists that fought him until his dream was left in the ruins of his razed compound.
Unquestionably, the Free Staters would find some sympathizers for a political philosophy that mixes extreme fiscal conservatism with social liberalism. In Idaho, third-party candidate Ross Perot, after all, almost edged Democrat Bill Clinton for second place in the 1992 presidential election.
The Free Staters, of course, can move to Idaho or anywhere else. But they might not find a red carpet waiting for them.
• "Our View" represents the editorial voice of The Spokesman-Review. It is written by members of the editorial board.
That is true. But it is also true that neo-nazi groups and groups with terrorist connections have looked at the free state project with undisguised greed. I'm afraid the project is done for, unless it hires a large and ruthless bouncer.
You mean they've infiltrated the group, or they will head to whatever state the free-staters go to? I'm not sure what you're saying.
The mumblings I've seen suggests they are keeping an eye on the project with a view to join up. It is a theme that surfaces when the Free State project is discussed where they congregate.
Some years ago a group of Mormon transplants from Utah had the bright idea of making the rural county in southern Idaho to which they'd moved, a dry county to suit themselves. The area ranchers objected. Well, "objected" is a bit of an understatement.
It just ain't polite.
Or how about Arizona? Much nicer climate.
Everything is down...incomes are down, travel is down, spending is down (all taxed items) so tax revenue is down. It has nothing to do with what we got back two years ago.
Nampa is okay, but the last mayor we had let her developer cronies (she was a realtor) develop every last bit of land in the area without alleviating traffic problems (I'm for growth, but it's damned impossible to get from one side of town to the other anymore).
Caldwell is Nampa's little sibling and growing. Both are bedroom communities to Boise. However, more and more smaller businesses are locating to these cities as costs are lower than Boise.
Most people are conservative in the outlying areas. Night life is non-existent in Nampa or Caldwell and most offerings are in Boise/Meridian area. Good racing at Meridian Speedway, Chapparal and Firebird Raceway. Idaho Steelheads (minor league hockey) are great. Got the Snake River Stampede in Nampa every year (rodeo). Lots of good people.
Let me clean that up a bit...
Not at all.
In both cases, the activists overestimate just how well their message would be received.
Idahoans are, by and large, very conservative socially. That doesn't mesh very well with the Libertarian Party's views on things like prostitution, drugs, gambling, et cetera.
In fact, the best thing the Libertarians could do is group together in one state and make it a small-government, low-tax haven.
The one state that they'd have a prayer of doing it in is Wyoming.
I once thought so too. But it won't work there, or anywhere else in the US. The fed would never allow such a thing within its borders. Heck, it doesn't even like other countries within the western hemisphere to enact libertarian type laws. It would try subterfuge at first, and if that didn't work, crush it with outright violence.
The Civil War forever ended any independence states once had. The 9th and 10th Amendments are flagrantly ignored, to the point where higher ups in government drop their usual charade and will openly admit to it.
The is only one way to institute a libertarian state. L(l)ibertarians must purchase land from a willing seller, or claim it from the sea like the Dutch. And then they have to acquire the military might to defend it from hostile powers. I don't see anything like that ever happening.
I think the one thing they share with each other is an interest in smaller, more responsive government. So far as I can tell, that's an idea that most Freepers can feel comfortable with too.
So, are all Freepers Libertairians? Are they Nazis? No, they're not even all conservative. Free Staters, like Freepers and Libertarians, come in all flavors, all colors and all persuasions.
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