I have a link to ChiefWanaDubie's website on my blog. Sometimes I debate with myself about whether I want it there or not. I'm a fairly "respectable" "conservative" Christian who doesn't smoke or drink, and has never even been in possession of any controlled substances. I ask myself if someone who might possibly vote for me would say, "No, Kevin Craig's blog has a link to a goofy pro-pot website; I'm not going to vote for Kevin Craig." I may have removed the link at one point. I admit I'm borderline paranoid. I wonder if any voter in "the real world" really thinks that way.
A person who wouldn't vote for me solely because of my tangential connection to Chief Wana Dubie wouldn't vote for a Libertarian anyway. A person who asks me why I have a link to ChiefWanaDubie.com will end up voting for me, I am confident. Without the link, I may not get asked.
I just read this interesting article about the struggle Missouri Libertarian Party leaders are having over Dubie's desire to run for governor as a Libertarian:
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-01-30/news/libertarian-s-don-t-wana-dubie/
Seeing the photo of Dubie with marijuana tattooed to his forehead always makes me reconsider the link on my blog.
Here's an excerpt (more or less) from the article:
Even Dan Viets, an attorney who coordinates the Missouri chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), says his organization wouldn't endorse Chief Wana Dubie.
"I guess I could call myself Chief Wana Abortion and declare myself a candidate and try and to get Planned Parenthood to help me, but they'd stay a mile away from me," says Viets. "[Wana Dubie] doesn't do anything to further the debate on [the issue of medical marijuana]. I can't see that he does a [darn] thing other than bring attention to himself."
For probably 60% of all Missourians, having their attention drawn to Dubie is more "political involvement" than they will ever have. (I don't consider "voting" a mark of "political involvement" any more than I consider going to church on Easter "being a Christian.")
But this line from that article really struck me:
Dubie says he has a long history of pot-related arrests, most notably in 1994 when he planted 135 marijuana plants in the front yard of his Salem home and then "seceded from the United States and declared pot legal." The rebellion, though, was short lived. State police arrested Dubie, who eventually spent five years in prison.
Yeah, I think one homeowner "seceding from the Union" is kinda goofy.
Assuming a year in prison costs the taxpayers $40,000, plus trial costs, this represents nearly a quarter of a million dollars of money taken from taxpayers in the State's war against some harmless goofball who plants weeds in his front yard.
That's worse than "goofy."
That's clinical.
That's evil.
What kind of irrational religious fanaticism locks a man in prison for five years for planting weeds in his front yard? using up prison space that would otherwise be given priority for a murderer, rapist, or armed robber??
Answer: these fanatics are members of a dangerous cult.
So I'm asking myself, Will keeping Dubie off the ballot "deprogram" these cultists? What is the PURPOSE of the Libertarian Party? Is it to look "respectable" in the eyes of people who are so manifestly disfunctional?
Or is this the purpose of the Libertarian Party:
We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.
I think I agree with Dan Viets, that Dubie's just in it for himself, and isn't serious about being persuasive and actually changing the minds of his fellow Missourians. I've never asked Dubie himself. But is the LP at war with the Dubies of the world, or against deranged cultists armed with prisons and nuclear weapons? Whose side are we on?
America's Founding Fathers denounced being "respectable." They were willing to risk their lives, their fortunes, and their reputations. Were they here today, they would take up arms, even if some would call them "radicals" or "extremists." I'm not willing to take up arms, but the least I can do is shout and bang the table.
The link stays.
Kevin Craig
Powersite, MO 65731-0179
www.KevinCraig.us