Front Group for the Free State Project

Since the Concord City Council Meeting on August 13, when the Free Staters gave full voice to their victimhood, they've been mighty quiet. Perhaps even they, as tone deaf as they are, finally understood that all of their thin skinned self pity was beginning to wear.... thin. 

Maybe the fine cartoons done by Mike Marland at the Concord Monitor (August 19, and again on August 21) had something to do with it. I'd link to them, but I can't. I've already gone through my freebies at the Monitor, and I can't afford a subscription. "Live Free and Overreact to Everything" was a thing of beauty. 

But that silence is misleading. The FSP has just created a front group, intended to be untainted by their name. The group that has claimed "we're all Free Staters now" seems to be coming to terms with the fact that they are about as welcome as herpes. 

The front group is called No More Bearcats . There's a petition for Concord residents to sign. Apparently the FSP learned that having a lot of out of towners testify to their victimhood at the Concord hearing wasn't the best strategy. 

The group doesn't identify who they are. An ordinary group of local concerned citizens would make a point of identifying well known opinion leaders in the group as a means of attracting others. This group does not. What it does do is link to 4 videos from the night of the August 13 hearing. All four videos have one very important thing in common. All were produced by a Free Stater named "Biker Bill." 

The site is very carefully designed to avoid any taint of Free Staterdom - but they blew it with the videos. And they blew it by having it be over designed and sanitized. 

The City Council will be voting on Sept. 9. 



For more about the poor victims of the Free State Project and the mean Concord PD:

The cult of perpetual victimhood

The non-aggression principle.

Free Staters and that Pesky First Amendment

Scenes from the Concord City Council Meeting

This was the crowd in front of City Hall when I arrived at 6:15. All of the fliers and notices I saw about the protest said to be there at 6:00 pm. About a dozen people were milling around in the little park near the City Hall Annex next door:

This is Will Thomas (of NH Veterans For Peace) and his great tee shirt. To Will's front left is a tall man with a blue blazer. That's State Rep. JR Hoell of Dunbarton.  (Dunbarton is not part of Concord)

Finally, at 6:39, a big  procession of Free Staters began coming up the street. They all began to assemble in front of Concord City Hall. (pro tip: if your lit says 6 pm, you should be there at 6 pm)

There was a guy with a bullhorn who sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. I have no idea what he was saying. Carla Gericke spoke. She did not give any of the other groups represented the opportunity to address the crowd, even though there were Occupiers and people from NH Peace Action. This was all about the Free State Project and their BIG HURT FEELINGS. 

This was supposed to be about the BearCat, military contractors, waste, and the militarization of police. 

The FSP does not play well with others. 

The City Council chambers filled quickly. Some of us were stuck in the hallway for a while, and couldn't really hear what was going on. The Council and the City Manager were very polite and welcoming, and clear that if everyone that wanted to testify did, there would be no decision made that night. 

I've already written about FSP President Carla Gericke's testimony. Other notables included Rep. JR Hoell of Dunbarton, and Rep. George Lambert from Litchfield. As I listened, I couldn't help but wonder what Hoell would think if say...Rick Watrous or Mary Jane Wallner came to tell the Dunbarton Selectmen what to do. Hoell wanted Chief Duval to know that Washington DC was turned around by the police getting involved with the citizens of the community. A less charitable person than myself might have found Hoell's comments patronizing. 

Even better than Hoell was Rep. George Lambert. Lambert wants to be our next governor, so he's seizing every single opportunity to get his face on camera, in a bid to increase his non-existant name recognition.  (note to Lambert: not all publicity is good publicity.) 

Lambert told the Council and the assembled throng that they should watch the video of the man who was tased out in front of the State House in June "for using his right to free speech." Lambert actually wanted to play them the video! The voices in his head told him that if folks saw this video, they'd understand injustice and police brutality! I was at the event in question, and I'm pretty sure that if the Council had seen footage of that near riot, they'd approve that BearCat (and possibly a few more) without further consideration. Apparently verbal harassment, resisting arrest, and grabbing at cops are all part of the famed Non-Aggression Principle that our FSP colonizers are so fond of citing. 
And of course, just like Hoell, one can't help but wonder what Lambert would make of Concord State Reps appearing to tell the good people of Litchfield what they ought to be doing. The exercise of free speech appears to be a one-way street for the Free Staters and their allies. 

A suggestion was made that the grant application be changed to remove the language that was offending people. Somehow that turned into a sidebar in the corner with a City Councilor, Carla Gericke, and desperate attention seekers Lambert, and Hoell. This went on for quite a while until another member of the Council objected strenuously to the sidebar, and the possibility of some sort of secret deal. The sidebar broke up. Lambert and Hoell lacked sufficient shame and grace to walk away. They hovered right there in the corner where the Council sits. 

That's them in the far right (!) 

I left at 10. I'd heard enough, and I was feeling sickened by the whole thing. I'll write more about that later on. 

The Council adjourned without decision, and have since stated that they'll have a special session on this matter in September. 

***

Anyone who wants a refresher on the gun nuts staging a near riot in front of the State House in June will find pictures and video in these links:

Photos from the Gun Melee in June 2013

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2013/06/ayotte-ayotte-ayotte.html

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2013/06/shame-on-you-wmur.html

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2013/06/names-on-list-sociopath-heckling-women.html

The Non-Aggression Principle

(Carla Gericke, President of the Free State Project, speaking in front of Concord City Hall last night before the City Council Meeting began.)

The Non-Agression Principle (NAP) is what members of the Free State Project always point to as an attempt to illustrate to us that they are peaceful, nonviolent individuals. They are adherents of this principle, therefore they come in peace. That they are armed and claiming peaceful intent isn't supposed to occur to us, because hey, they're non-violent! They say so!

This is from the NAP wiki:
The non-aggression principle (NAP)—also called the non-aggression axiom, the zero aggression principle (ZAP), the anti-coercion principle, or the non-initiation of force—is a moral stance which asserts thataggression is inherently illegitimate. NAP and property rights are closely linked, since what aggression is depends on what a person's rights are.^[1] Aggression, for the purposes of NAP, is defined as the initiation or threatening of violence against a person or legitimately-owned property of another. Specifically, any unsolicited actions of others that physically affect an individual’s property or person, no matter if the result of those actions is damaging, beneficial, or neutral to the owner, are considered violent or aggressive when they are against the owner's free will and interfere with his right to self-determination and the principle of self-ownership.

Supporters of the NAP often appeal to it in order to explain the immorality of theft, vandalism, assault, and fraud. In contrast to nonviolence, the non-aggression principle does not preclude violence used in self-defense or defense of others.^[2] Many supporters argue that NAP opposes such policies as victimless crime laws, taxation, and military drafts. NAP is the foundation of most present-day libertarian philosophies.

It's not exactly clearly defined. And there's a huge component missing from it - verbal aggression. The Free Staters are very verbally aggressive.  

Last night, Free State President Carla Gericke spoke to the Concord City Council, concerning the poor FSP's wounded feelings about being named as potential domestic terrorists in a grant application by the Concord PD. The Concord PD is trying to get an armored vehicle. The folks turning out to that meeting last night were supposed to be there to protest the militarization of police and the wasteful spending by the Dept. of Homeland Security, but Carla and the Free Staters managed to turn the whole issue into being about them. 

From my notes:

Ms. Gericke was allowed to speak first. She started off by saying that the Free Staters are productive citizens moving here to be part of the shared values of the state. By then she was warmed up, and began to get loud. I hate the word shrill as an adjective because it's so often applied unfairly to women, but she was shrill.  She accused the police chief of perjury. "We're good people. I volunteer for Concord Reads at the Concord Library, and I am deeply offended by this misleading, fraudulent, secret application!" She bellowed that as President of the FSP, she has called for the retraction of this grant and a letter of apology! The people in that room didn't respect her enough to respond to her! And here's where she reached operatic heights: "I will be filing a complaint with the Dept. of Homeland Security!" (An agency of the very gubmint she claims disdain for) She called for the public resignation of all of the people involved with this application. When people make false statements, the penalty is PRISON. 

She was screaming by the end of her comments. She was red faced and angry when she left the room. 

If her intent was to show the City of Concord that the Free Staters are peaceful and nonaggressive, Carla failed in an epic manner.