Republicans, Grow Some Vertebrae for a Change

Current mood: annoyed, bitchy, cranky

11/25/2012 9:29 AM:

> A small group of Republicans in the south of New Mexico have the right idea. They are planning to attend the State Central Committee meeting
> and start there to change things. Good for them. It’s the sort of thinking, the sort of effort we should all be doing. But most of us are not.

More than likely, they’ll get the same sort of reception that Morton Blackwell and the Ron Paul Republicans got from Reince Priebus and the RNC at the GOP’s National Convention in Tampa, Florida this past August:

“Shut up and go sit in the corner. When we need your support, you better be there for us.”

> Why is not the State Republican Party talking to us? Why are not the county RPs sending their members messages of future plans?

Why should Monty Newman and Jay McCleskey care in the slightest what the grassroots Republicans think?

After all, the grassroots turned out for Slick Willard Romney and Heather Wilson, after Wilson and Romney were handed their nominations on silver platters by the GOP-E insiders.

Face it – the GOP-E insiders absolutely love you when you’re marching to their orders, no questions asked. It’s when you start insisting that the nominees adhere to certain principles that you get the door slammed in your face.

Just ask Ron Paul, Gary Johnson or Adam Kokesh how this works – either one of them can spell it out for you in detail.

Neither Romney nor Wilson were anything resembling capitalists of the limited-government, free-market orientation. Rather, they are more the sort of false “capitalists” that both Frederic Bastiat and Karl Marx excoriated. Wilson and Romney are more properly called mercantilists as Adam Smith defined the term in 1776.

But we all knew this since February and March of this year.

If you truly want to show McCleskey, Newman and Priebus that you’re serious players and not just waiting for new marching orders, then you need to tell them exactly where in explicit terms where they can stick candidates like Romney and Wilson.

> Why are we not having town halls in major cities so that grassroots Republicans can mull over ideas, consider plans to become a strong,
> solid phalanx and attract more adherents?

A “solid phalanx” of star-spangled jellyfish is what you’ll get under the management of McCleskey, Priebus and Newman.

At least that’s what you’ve gotten in the past from the GOP-E gang.

How will continuing to kowtow to them as you’ve done in the past yield better results for you?

> Why are we not gearing up to educate the population about the virtues of capitalism?

Good question.

When did you start caring about these?

If Republicans truly cared about “the virtues of capitalism,” then why did they nominate the likes of Heather Wilson and Mitt Romney for ANY sort of public office?

If you truly cared at all, then you wouldn’t give Republicans cut from the mercantilist mold the slightest bit of slack, just because they have the magic “Big R” after their names.

What did I see in the 2012 election cycle? Did I see any of that sort of courage and fortitude?

No, I didn’t. Instead, most of what landed into my inbox was stuff like “your wasting your vote,” “Youre either with us or youre with Obama!!!” – stuff like that.

> I do not want to hear more of the same pabulum from the same elected officials that have not stood up for individual rights, limited
> governments and free markets.

What you need to do is tell the GOP-E types where they can stick the pabulum and those who push it.

As long as you continue to support them unconditionally after they give you that pabulum, they see that you’re willing to settle for it. Thus that’s all you’ll really get from them.

> Instead, I’d like to hear Marco Rubio speak and Thomas Sowells, Yaron Brook and Dan Watkins. I’d like to hear John A. Allison talk to us
> about his new book, The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure.

Start raising money – the sooner the better, as all of these potential speakers are likely to charge a pretty penny to show up here in New Mexico.

And make sure to keep the GOPNM State Committee OUT of the loop where bringing speakers in is concerned – or all you will get is more of the same.

For what it’s worth, I will observe with amusement the efforts of the “Ron Paul” and Tea Party crowds to “take over” the Republican Party. I suspect that future efforts in this vein will yield similar results to previous efforts along that line.

Rather, I predict it will be the C4L and Tea Party groups who end up getting taken over and co-opted by the GOP-E types, and thus subsumed into being obedient, servile troopies for them. In short, pawns.

So if you LIKE riding in circles on a bus for a few hours, if you LIKE the MC confirming the votes for the GOP-E candidates while ignoring the votes for your candidates, if you LIKE being told what to say and what to think – then please continue on as before.

Anyway, Republicans – PROVE ME WRONG (No one’s done it yet.)

Hey, no one ever said that living as free people was easy – if it was, then everybody would do it. Sticking to your principles and standing up for what’s right can be costly, in many ways. Sometimes you might have to lose an election rather than put a mercantilist with the magic Big R after his name into public office.

Final notes: Gary Johnson is JUST GETTING STARTED. He plans to do a 2013 college speaking tour, just like he did in the 2012 election. And at his Election Night Party at the Hotel Albuquerque, I asked him to form at least an exploratory committee for the 2014 New Mexico gubernatorial race.

_______________________________________________________________________
Mike Blessing

Who owns you? Who runs your life? Who should – you or someone else?
Freedom is the answer – what’s the question?

“If you wanna live long on your own terms
You gotta be willing to crash and burn”
– Motley Crue, “Primal Scream”

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Copyright © 2012 Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.

This blog entry created with Notepad++.

A Vote for Gary Johnson Definitely Not a Waste

A Vote for Gary Johnson Definitely Not a Waste

by Tom Mahon

Kenneth Brown, an economist, attempts to make the case that Gary Johnson’s libertarian candidacy for president may peel votes away from Mitt Romney. While portraying this as a blow to limited government, he fails to explain exactly how Romney would bring limited government and economic freedom to the White House.

Instead, as seems to be the case with most Romney supporters, the only case they can make for “their guy” is that “the other guy” (Obama) is so bad that supporters of limited government should abandon their principles and support Romney. I strongly disagree. In fact, throughout this campaign, I have seen far more examples of agreement between Romney and Obama.

It is only Johnson who will, if elected, bring the ideas of limited government to Washington.

On the economy and health care in particular, there is virtually no daylight between Obama and Romney. “Obamacare,” as we all know, has many of the same characteristics as does “RomneyCare” in Massachusetts. Now, of course, Romney says he would “repeal and replace” Obamacare, but his record as governor shows that he believes that government bureaucrats, not patients and their doctors, should control health care. Johnson would repeal Obamacare and work to restore free market principles in American health care.

In terms of economic growth, the real problems with our economy today is not the tax burden, rather it is bipartisan, out-of-control spending growth in Washington. Unlike Romney, whose specific budget cuts are limited to Big Bird and a few other trivial items but who wants a massive increase in military spending, Johnson would submit a balanced budget immediately upon taking office and would put the major spending areas – the entitlements and the military – on sustainable footing while eliminating boondoggles like farm subsidies and the War on Drugs.

Continuation of the War on Drugs is yet another area of agreement between Romney and Obama with which Johnson disagrees. Federal spending on the drug war amounts to over $15 billion annually and that isn’t even the real problem with it. The real problem is that the War on Drugs costs all of us our civil liberties, destroys poor and inner-city families (predominantly minorities), and costs us far more in terms of prisons, joblessness and other social harms than what Americans know.

Speaking of privacy, Obama and Romney would do nothing to reform or eliminate the absurd Transportation Security Administration which makes regular headlines groping grandmas and generally making life miserable for travelers, all with little to no impact on our security. Johnson will eliminate TSA, saving taxpayers $40 billion annually. The private sector – airlines, airports, or private security companies – will do a much better job for far less money.

And then there is foreign policy. Nowhere is the difference between Obama / Romney and Johnson starker.

Obama and Romney have pledged to continue this needless war which has no clear objective, has seen American troops gunned down and killed by their supposed “allies,” and will waste another $120 billion this year alone. Johnson will bring the troops home immediately.

Also, while Romney and Obama seem determined to start a war with Iran, Johnson will work to resolve the conflict with Iran peacefully as Iran has never threatened the United States and does not present a military threat to this country.

The case is clear. The only vote you are “throwing away” is a vote for four more years of bipartisan spending, violations of personal liberty and tragic soldier deaths in Afghanistan.

Our former governor, Gary Johnson, is easily the best choice for president!

Original article

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NOTES

1. Reposted –
   1. LPUSA / LPNM – LPNM Blog / [LPNM-discuss] Yahoo! group
   2. The Weekly Sedition – Yahoo!
   3. Duke City Fix / NMPolitics.org

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Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with gedit and Notepad++.

Ken Brown Is NOT a Free-Market Advocate

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Ken Brown Is NOT a Free-Market Advocate
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2012 21:40:47
From: Libertarian Party of New Mexico <lpnm.chair@gmail.com>
To: opinion@abqjournal.com

Re: Vote for Johnson May Help Obama

This isn’t the first time that Kenneth Brown has blown off free-market principles to support the Republican Party, and I suspect it won’t be the last time.

How are the individual health-insurance mandate that’s part of both Slick Willard’s Massachusetts RomneyCare and the ObamaCare that was created from it compatible with free-market economics? They aren’t, yet Brown says that Mittens is the best candidate in the race.

Another part of this comedy of errors is how Romney, Ryan and Heather Wilson are crying that ObamaCare was paid for by looting Medicare to the tune of 716,000,000,000 bucks. Let me get this straight – these “fiscally-restrained” “free marketers” are complaining that Obama’s scheme to federalize health care is being paid for by robbing Lyndon Johnson’s scheme to federalize health care?

How were George Bush’s TARP bailout and Bush’s bailout of General Motors compatible with free-market economics? They weren’t, yet “Mr. Free-Marketer” Brown insists that the same Romney who supported both bailout plans is the candidate that deserves the libertarian vote.

Yes, Mr. Brown, I’m calling you out as a phony where your “free market economics” creds are concerned. Deal with it.

For what it’s worth, I’m proud to say that I voted for Gary Johnson and Jon Barrie on Wednesday, 24 October. When Gary and Jon talk about their Tea Party values, they actually mean it. Imagine that.

______________________________________________________________________
Mike Blessing
State Chair, Libertarian Party of New Mexico
505-249-1248 / http://lpnm.us/wp

Who owns you? Who runs your life? Who should – you or someone else?
Freedom is the answer – what’s the question?

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NOTES

1. Reposted –
   1. LPUSA / LPNM – LPNM Blog / [LPNM-discuss] Yahoo! group
   2. The Weekly Sedition – Yahoo!
   3. Duke City Fix / NMPolitics.org

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Copyright © 2012 Libertarian Party of New Mexico and Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with gedit and Notepad++.

Results from the 9 October UNM Rally

For those wondering how the Gary Johnson UNM Rally for Jobs, Opportunity and Diversity on Tuesday, 9 October 2012 went, here’s some of the details:

I arrived right at about 5:25 PM, after spending about ten minutes looking for a parking lot – the “A” lot was packed. I ended up paying the ∅7.00 for a spot in the parking structure next to the square by the SUB.

Upon arriving at the ballroom, I dropped off my plastic milk crate full of brochures at the LPNM table manned by Mark Curtis, Ron Bjornstad, Elizabeth Honce, Elisheva Levin, and others.

After dropping off the supplies (it was a bit painful to carry that crate from the parking structure to the ballroom), I met Tom Mahon and Todd Myers where “Jack Gault” was parked. They had a spare Sharpie marker-pen on hand, so I signed the van on the front of the hood – dead-center, right above the edge where the latch is located.

At the same time, I made contact with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon representative and made myself available for my speaking slot.

While waiting for my speaking time, I went to the “green room” and had my picture taken with Gary Johnson.

So I presented my speech, came in at 6:20 – 1:20 longer than the 5 minutes I had planned for. While I didn’t get the standing ovations that later speakers got, several people came up to me afterwards and complimented me on my bit.

Next up for the podium was the Independent American Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate, Jon Barrie. If Jon wasn’t running, I suspect many New Mexico Libertarians would be casting blanks come their time at the ballot “box.” Jon talked for about ten minutes, mentioned that the politicians had their chance (too many chances to be forgiven come the election) to fix things, and ended with a standing ovation from the audience.

Following Jon Barrie was Paul Gessing of the Rio Grande Foundation, New Mexico’s only think-tank that supports what the Tea Party claims to support – free-market economics, public-sector fiscal restraint, individual rights and Constitutionally-limited government. Paul talked about what New Mexico needs to prosper as a state.

After Paul, Jim Villanucci of 770 KKOB-AM spoke about how much crap listeners were giving him about his not supporting Mittens. After all, it’s either “you’re for Romney or you’re for Obama,” correct? Not even close – and with that, Jim introduced Gary Johnson as the only candidate in the presidential race worthy of libertarians’ support.

Here’s the video clip on YouTube of Gary’s speech – http://youtu.be/bInmA5MhXTg

What did Gary discuss? First, he talked about his business background – he started Big J Enterprises on his own out of college, built it to 1,000 employees, then sold it in 1999 without having to fire anyone. He said that his business career is just a testament to showing up on time and doing what you say you’ll do for people, maybe a little more.

His unsolicited advice to the audience? Go into business for yourself as opposed to punching someone else’s time-clock – you’ll find it much more rewarding. This dovetails with what I’ve heard from other libertarian entrepreneurs . . . .

Here’s some of his talking points:

• With everything that you do in life, there are obstacles – you just have to keep going.
• When he first ran for office (1994), the GOP leadership blew him off as “unelectable,” but he ended up winning the general election.
• While serving as Governor of New Mexico, he vetoed 750 pieces of legislation – more than the other 49 governors in the country put together. He had thousands of line-item vetoes, taking it to a new level – only two were overriden.
• With those vetoes, he saved up a few dumptrucks-full of ∅∅∅∅∅∅∅ by cutting out unnecessary spending and blocking regulations that weren’t going to make us the slightest bit safer.
• The powers-that-be predicted imminent disaster after Johnson’s vetoes, which didn’t happen. Also, he was an equal-opportunity vetoer – he vetoed bad bills from Republicans
• Of all of the presidential candidates for the 2012 election season, he’s the only one viewed favorably in his home state – “people wave at me with all five fingers, not just one.”
• Of all the presidential candidates, he had the best record on job creation, except that he didn’t create any jobs as governor – any jobs created were created by the private sector. There was certainty in New Mexico’s regulatory environment, and that makes it easier for the private sector to create jobs.
• Out of all of the presidential candidates, he has the most “Liberty Torches” from the ACLU (21 out of 24).
• He’s the only candidate who doesn’t want to bomb or use sanctions against Iran. Iran isn’t the threat to America or anyone else that the hairspray-heads supporting the Imperial District make it out to be.
• China isn’t a threat to America due to the way the two countries trade with each other.
• Bring the troops home from Afghanistan now.
• Military interventions around the world mostly create more enemies for America.
• Marriage equality is a federal issue and constitutionally guaranteed.
• He’s the only presidential candidate who wants to end the drug wars now. Over fifty percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana. Ninety percent of the drug problem is prohibition-related, not user-related.
• If he had been president after “9/11,” hw would have vetoed the USA-PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the NDAA-2012. “Homeland Security” is incredibly redundant. Let’s leave airport security to the airports, airlines, cities, etc.
• We need to balance the federal budget now – he promises to submit a balanced budget to Congress for 2013. Otherwise, with the current out-of-control Federal Reserve, we’re looking at a monetary collapse at some point in the future. What we need is a 43 % cut in spending across the board.
• When someone complains about the idea of a 43 % cut in Medicare spending, the alternative is NO Medicare. (Same goes for the rest of the welfare state, too – tighten the belt or lose your shirt.)
• Cut military spending by 43 % too – the operative word there is “defense,” not “offense,” not “nation-building.”
• The current spending situation is the biggest threat to our national security.
• He’s the only candidate who wants to dump the income tax, corporate tax and replace them with one consumption tax – the “Fair Tax.”
• He’s the onlt candidate that would shut down the Federal Reserve.

Notes and recollections from the event:

• The estimated total attendance was around 500 people.
• Cleanup was rather easy – it mostly consisted of policing up unused campaign supplies that were left behind by attendees.
• I was expecting someone from the GOP to attempt some sort of disruption – bringing in signs for Romney or Wilson, that sort of thing. Luckily, nothing of the sort happened that I saw.
• I found some campaign cards from three Republicans running for State-level judgeships on the floor in the seating area – Miles Hanisee, David Standridge, and Samuel Winder. It was also reported to me by event staff that Judge Winder himself had been in the audience.
• Someone (ID unknown) had apparently issued invitations to both Martin Heinrich and Heather Wilson to appear on the speakers’ list. After all, it’s a non-partisan event, due to SAE being a 501-C-3 entity and all. I was told that while Heinrich declined immediately, Wilson dithered and vacillated around about it for two weeks, declining for sure on the Monday before (8 October).
• About 60 percent of the brochures that I brought with me were picked up by attendees and passerby – which helped a lot on the way back to the parking structure. (Note to self: get a hand-truck for next time!)

All in all, this was the best-attended LPNM event I’ve seen yet in my 18 years with the organization. Thanks to all who made it possible:

The UNM Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Jon Barrie
Ron Bjornstad
Chris Chase
Mark Curtis
Paul Gessing
Susan Ann Holland
Elizabeth Honce
Melanie Hyland
Gary Johnson
Bruce Levin
Elisheva Levin
Tom Mahon
Sean Mallory
Todd Myers
Reviva
Kyle Ruggles
Jim Villanucci
Bob Walsh

Apologies to anyone I’ve omitted – the fault there is entirely mine.

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Copyright © 2012 Libertarian Party of New Mexico and Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.

This blog entry created with Notepad++.

True TEA Party Choices for the NM Races

Current mood: cynical

For those that truly support the Tea Party’s professed values of individual rights, fiscal restraint, Constitutionally-limited government, there’s ONE presidential candidate who is with you – who was with you for eight years as as a Governor – Gary Johnson.

Likewise, there’s a candidate who stands with you for U.S. Senate – Jon Barrie.

Neither one of these gentlemen have used gun owners or LGBT folk (or members of any other “marginal” group) as political soccer balls to be kicked around when politically expedient.

Neither one of these gentlemen have sought to increase the expense and intrusiveness of government over the private sector, as both have been successful in that same private sector

Voting for anyone either than Johnson or Barrie is a vote against gun owners.

Voting for anyone either than Johnson or Barrie is a vote to federalize health-care delivery.

Voting for anyone either than Johnson or Barrie is a vote for bigger, more expensive, more intrusive government.

Voting for anyone either than Johnson or Barrie is a wasted vote.

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NOTES

1. Reposted —
   1. NMPolitics.org

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Copyright © 2012 Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises.
This blog entry created with gedit and Notepad++.

“Accomplishments” and Candidates

Current mood: excited

If nothing else, please forward this on to someone who can use this information.

Sylvia Bokor [ http://sylviabokorcomments.blogspot.com/ ] wrote:

The word “accomplishment” refers to an action that results in a value, offers a benefit or enhances the enjoyment of life. It is an accomplishment to learn to play the piano. It is an accomplishment to be able to provide for one’s family by earning a living. It is an accomplishment to create a lovely garden.

It is not an accomplishment to take from those who earn their living and give it to others. That’s called looting.

It is not an accomplishment to force men to waste their time filling out paperwork, or to force them to take actions over which they have no say and with which they do not agree. That’s called enslavement.

It is not an accomplishment to pretend you have done work you have not done, to make false statements, or to make claims to property that is not yours. That’s dishonest. It’s called cheating.

If the Left’s intention in publicizing Obama’s “accomplishments” was to show how wonderful Obama is, they miscalculated. The lists actually show the extent to which his Administration has violated individual rights, throttled businesses, straight-jacket banking operations, interfered with overseas investment, intruded upon private enterprise compensation practices, established offices of soviet-style czars to harass and control hundreds of business activities.

In short, they constitute a clear picture of what the Left is after: statism.

Statism is the most corrupt of political ideas because it holds that might makes right, that men are slaves born only to serve and enrich their rulers, without benefit to themselves, without recognition of their rights, without recourse to law or justice.

The Left’s ideas are destructive. But come November they could win if those who can fight them and should fight them refuse to fight them.

If you are in a leadership position in a political party and you withhold money from deserving candidates who have major grassroots support, who champion de-regulation, free markets and individual rights, you are refusing to fight the Left’s destructive ideas, statism.

If you are a voter that deplores Obama’s policies but do nothing to support those who oppose those policies, you are refusing to fight the Left’s destructive ideas, statism.

I agree one hundred percent.

So I take it you’ll be supporting the true Tea Party candidates in the general election:

Gary Johnson for president – http://garyjohnson2012.com

Jon Barrie for U.S. Senate – http://jonbarrieforsenate.com

Anything else really is a wasted vote.

I’ve been “Tea Party” since 1996, when I started publicly stumping for individual rights, Constitutionally-limited government and fiscal restraint in the public sector.

Gary Johnson has been “Tea Party” in the same sense since 1994.

Johnson spent eight years as Governor of New Mexico supporting “Tea Party” values – he kept the state in the black for all of that time, while managing to get re-elected in a state that’s 2-to-1 of the opposing party.

During those eight years, Johnson never treated gun owners (or any other group, that I could tell) as a political soccer ball, to be kicked around from the bully pulpit at a whim.

There’s a reason they call it the bully pulpit.

This stands in stark contrast to any other of the candidates for the presidency that I’ve seen. Most of them like to rhetorically stomp on one group or another for political brownie points. Not so with Gary Johnson. None are as . . . presidential as Johnson.

As for the other “big two” – both are anti-gun-owner bigots at heart, and the one who was a governor signed off on a plan to take over health care that was plagiarized on the national scene by the staff of the one who was a senator.

The big differences between them don’t seem to be of philosophy or ethics, but of severity and priorities.

Concerning the U.S. Senate seat from New Mexico that’s up for grabs – New Mexicans can play eenie-weenie-mighty-mo with the two socialist candidates who won the primaries last night. Or they can vote “Tea Party” by supporting Jon Barrie.

I’ve never met Jon, but I’d like to. He’s campaigning as a Christian conservative, yet was recommended to me by a long-time libertarian who’s an enthusiastic pot smoker and atheist.

Jon appears to be running his campaign the way a campaign should be run – by volunteers on a shoestring budget. Thus he needs all the help we can give him.

To start, Jon needs signatures on nominating petitions to get on the ballot. For those inclined to help, he’s got the paperwork all ready to go on his site.

That will be all for now. Thank you for reading.

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Mike Blessing / http://mikewb1971.xanga.com / Phone – 505-515-7015

Who owns you? Who runs your life? Who should – you or someone else?
Freedom is the answer – what’s the question?

“If you wanna live long on your own terms
You gotta be willing to crash and burn”
– Motley Crue, “Primal Scream”

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Copyright © 2012 Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises.
This blog entry created with gedit and Notepad++.

Gary Johnson 2012 — Peace is Cheaper

Current mood: excited

Gary Johnson 2012 – Peace is Cheaper

From the page of the embedded YouTube clip

Republicans are Thelma. The Democrats are Louise. Together they are taking our nation over a cliff. We have a President and a majority in Congress who insist on endless war. But a majority of Americans are insisting on Peace. As our President, Gary Johnson will end the wars and bring our men and women home — where we will rebuild and renew our broken nation together. We the People will have PEACE. Demand it. Donate to it. Elect it. Protect it. The fight for our liberty never ends.

Media coverage of this clip KOB-TV (Ch.4) – Libertarian Party releases first ad featuring Gary Johnson

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Copyright © 2012 Libertarian Party of New Mexico. All rights reserved.

Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises. Webmaster Mike Blessing.
This blog entry created with gedit and Notepad++.