A security video of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul at a Nashville International Airport checkpoint doesn’t show him being “irate,” as police asserted.  Read The Full Story

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s press secretary Moira Bagley tweeted on Monday that Transportation Security Administration officials were detaining her boss in Nashville, Tenn.

“Just got a call from @senrandpaul,” Bagley tweeted at about 10 a.m. on Monday. “He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”

Texas Congressman and current Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul – Sen. Rand Paul’s father – placed a post on Facebook about the news as well. “My son Rand is currently being detained by the TSA at the Nashville Airport,” Ron Paul posted. “I’ll share more details as the situation unfolds.”

Ron Paul adds, via Twitter, that the TSA detained his son “for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner.” Read The Full Story

Activists: You have a powerful ally in your fight against Agenda 21! The Republican National Committee! The RNC at its Winter meeting condemned Agenda 21, called it socialistic, said ICLEI helps implement it, said it is a threat to national sovereignty and called on this plank to be part of the 2012 National Platform! Read The Full Story

AN INVITATION FROM GOVERNOR GARY JOHNSON FOR TONIGHT



This evening, January 19, I will be hosting an On-Line Conference exclusively for key supporters, such as yourself, in the Southern region. Joining me as co-host will be Victor Kocher the South Carolina Libertarian Party Chairman. We will begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and to participate, just go to www.GaryJohnson2012.com

I am committed to keeping the lines of communication wide open with friends and supporters such as you. I need your input, I want you to be a key part of our campaign strategy, and I want to insure that you have the opportunity to share your views directly with me. We have found that on-line video “chats” such as tonight's are an excellent way to accomplish that communication, and I urge you to participate if you can.

Again, just go to www.GaryJohnson2012.com at 8:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. CST) this evening and join what I am sure will be a great opportunity for us to talk about the campaign, the issues, and the exciting weeks ahead.

Hope to see you on-line tonight!

Gary

Please visit our website at www.Gary Johnson 2012.com

On Wednesday January 18, 2012 www.lpmndc.org, the Nashville Libertarian Party's website, joined thousands of websites worldwide in closing down in protest of SOPA and PIPA.

Wikipedia is back, Google has taken off its blindfold and US Representatives have danced, shuffled and snuck across the aisles as the whip counts waver, leaving the future of SOPA and PIPA uncertain. After online protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act saw multiple sites post call-to-arms messages or black-out altogether, at least seven senators have jumped ship from supporting the proposed legislation. Yet Wikipedia – and others – highlight the fight isn’t over; “we’re not done yet” the online encyclopedia ominously warned today.  Read The Full Story

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.  Read The Full Story

A bill that would limit who could enter public restrooms has been filed in the Tennessee General Assembly. The proposed legislation would restrict access to public restrooms and public dressing rooms designated by sex, to members of that particular sex.  Read The Full Story

Kenny Tan (second from the left) leader of Young Americans for Liberty at Vanderbilt University will be the featured speaker at the February LPMNDC monthly meeting.   The meeting is February 11, 2011 @ 2 pm @ Shoney's 407 Thompson Ln, Nashville, TN.

Freedom of speech might allow journalists to get away with a lot in America, but the Department of Homeland Security is on the ready to make sure that the government is keeping dibs on who is saying what.  Read The Full Story

On January 9, a U.S. District Court held oral arguments in Green Party of Tennessee et al v Goins, a lawsuit in which the Green and Constitution Parties challenge the Tennessee ballot access law for new and previously unqualified parties. The law requires slightly more than 40,000 signatures, due April 5.  Read The Full Story

From the Tennessean

U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes Jr. openly bristled Monday at a deputy attorney general’s attempts to defend restrictions on ballot access in Tennessee — restrictions similar to those Haynes threw out as unconstitutional less than 16 months ago.

While his annoyance was clear, Haynes did not rule on the Green and Constitution parties’ request for summary judgment in their favor after 90 minutes of oral arguments, choosing instead to take the matter under advisement. The alternative political parties sued the state in July and argue that state laws make it unconstitutionally hard for third parties to get their names on the ballot in Tennessee.

They also argue that the state largely ignored Haynes’ September 2010 ruling in a similar lawsuit filed in 2008 by the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties. That lawsuit challenged laws that required a minor party to collect signatures from 2.5 percent of the state’s voters, who had to say they were members of the party, in order to have the party name listed next to its candidates on the ballot.

If a candidate’s party failed to meet the requirements, then the candidate was listed simply as an independent. Republicans and Democrats did not have to comply with the law because of an exception for parties that received at least 5 percent of the vote in the most recent governor’s race.

In his 2010 ruling — which noted that no minor party had met the requirements to be recognized in Tennessee since 1972 — Haynes said that requiring petition signers to declare their party membership was unconstitutional and that the other provisions, taken as a whole, “effectively preclude minor political party participation in state and national elections in Tennessee.”

The state legislature responded in May with minor changes that removed the requirement that signers declare themselves to be party members, and it gave parties about 15 more days to gather signatures. For a minor political party to gain recognition in Tennessee in 2012, it would have to collect 40,039 signatures by April 5.

“That date is still unconstitutional,” said Alan P. Woodruff, a Johnson City attorney and Democratic congressional candidate representing the parties. “Basically, they’ve been denied ballot access by this number.”

Arguing against the April deadline, Woodruff said voter interest is too low that early in the election cycle to effectively gather signatures. He also said that collecting more than 40,000 signatures would require the parties to hire signature collectors at a cost of about $120,000.

“Democracy would allow everyone to be at the table,” Green Party member Howard Switzer said.

Switzer has run for governor twice but was listed as an independent, which required him to gather only 25 signatures. Woodruff argued that is not a suitable alternative. “It is not true that it is not important for the candidate to be listed as a member of a party.”

Haynes asked some questions but mostly listened quietly as Woodruff laid out his case. His mood changed drastically when Deputy Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter went to the podium, and he chastised the state for making arguments in defense of the new state laws that it had not presented in the previous case.

“I wish I didn’t read your brief,” Haynes said. “I’m wasting my time.”

Moving past the technical issues, Haynes noted that higher court rulings suggest the state’s deadline is unconstitutionally early, and he pressed the state to explain why it needs so much time.

“It’s a lot more complicated than it looks on paper,” responded Kleinfelter, who noted the long list of administrative tasks state and local election officials must complete and the legal requirements they must follow.

Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins attended Monday’s hearing.

“At the end of the day, we have to comply with the MOVE Act,” he said afterward, noting that another minor party, Americans Elect, is on track to comply with state requirements. “If that deadline changes, we’re going to have a hard time doing that.”

Contact Brandon Gee at 615-726-5982 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Follow him on Twitter at @bsgee.

Even with Ron Paul shredding Newt Gingrich as a “chickenhawk,” Rick Perry outdid a field of candidates who appear to be running on promises to invade or bomb other countries. However Perry is the only guy who is not only eager to start another war but willing to restart a prior war. Top that Newt.  Read The Full Story

The Iranian threat yet again finds itself on the front page of America's newspapers this morning, this time with news that the rogue regime has sentenced a U.S. citizen to death for working for the CIA and that it has started refining uranium deep inside a mountain bunker. Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is launching a week-long trip through South America in order to bolster ties with his allies in the region in hopes of strengthening the country's challenge to the United States.

This news comes just after a series of Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz--a provocative move that would cut off a quarter of the world's energy supply and wreak havoc on the global economy. Of course, on top of this verbal threat, Iran is continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons despite an uproar from the international community.

Despite this emerging threat, President Barack Obama traveled to the Pentagon last Thursday to announce that the "tide of war is receding" for the United States, thereby justifying massive cuts to the U.S. military. "In short, we've succeeded in defending our nation, taking the fight to our enemies, reducing the number of Americans in harm's way, and we've restored America's global leadership. That makes us safer and it makes us stronger."

The President, though, did not mention the Iranian threat, North Korea's new 28-year-old leader whose finger rests on a nuclear trigger, and the growing dominance of China as a regional power. In other words, the President is pursuing a strategy to cut the U.S. military by a half-trillion dollars over ten years based on the argument that the world is a safer place, yet he is totally ignoring the very real threats around the world today. Defense expert Mackenzie Eaglen explains how the military plans to cope with the resulting reduction in funding and forces, one component of which includes a "strategic pivot" from southwest Asia to East Asia in order to counter a rising China:

Pentagon leaders plan to skirt the lack of capabilities through an increased reliance on National Guard and reserve forces--the same men and women who are worn out from a decade of multiple tours overseas. DoD plans to assume more risk in the active component and the capabilities that are available immediately in the event of conflict or crisis. Examples include heavy armor brigades and tactical fighter wings.

Another tenet of the "pivot" to Asia is the transition from a military focused on manpower-intensive counterinsurgency to the light footprint doctrine of counterterrorism. Panetta has mentioned unmanned or remotely piloted aircraft, cyber, and special forces as key areas that must be protected from budget cuts. They may even get more money.


Of course, the Pentagon will do its best to answer the call to duty under the limitations that the White House imposes. But that does not mean that it will be as well-equipped as it could and should be to defend the United States, at home and abroad. As Heritage's James Carafano writes, "It is completely unreasonable for the White House to argue the world has changed so much that we can just do all this with less." That is especially true given the threats that are lurking around the corner from the likes of Iran, North Korea, and China.

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I ran for governor against Mitt Romney in 2002 in Massachusetts. I read his every press release, read every major newspaper article about him, and followed his every move throughout his governor campaign -- and in each of the four years he served as governor.

Mitt Romney IS Big Government -- to the core.

Which is why I nearly fell off my chair one day when I was asked by a libertarian, “Aren’t you glad to have Mitt Romney as your governor? He’s pretty libertarian, isn’t he?”

It is critical that voters know the truth about Big Government Mitt Romney. Please forward the below column to every voter you know who would consider voting for him.

Thank you for helping to set the record straight.

In liberty,

Carla Howell

Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee

LPTN 2012 State Convention

We are pleased to announce that the 2012 Libertarian Party of Tennessee Annual State Convention will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday March 24, 2012.

Location: DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Nashville Airport
2424 Atrium Way
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 324-3408
Room rate of $99 per night for double occupancy.
Event - Libertarian Party of Tennessee Convention (mention at reservation)
The hotel will hold the rooms until March 2, 2012
There are also many other hotels in the area that may offer even more affordable rates

Event Registration - $35

Registration includes snacks and drinks Friday evening, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and access to all Saturday afternoon speakers and events.

Tentative Schedule:

Friday, March 23rd 5:00PM - 11:00PM CST

An informal gathering/reception will be held as guests arrive.

Saturday, March 24th  9:00AM - 5:00PM CST

The morning business session will include selection of delegates for the National LP Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada in May 2012.

We will endorse all local and state candidates who are running for office as Libertarians in Tennessee. Any candidates are also welcome to speak. We are also inviting all declared candidates who are seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for President to speak during the afternoon session. Speakers and a detailed agenda will be announced when available.

Please make your reservations early. We will need to finalize the meal arrangement with the hotel a couple of weeks before the convention. If you are planning to attend, please e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or submit your RSVP to Kelly Wall at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Event information and a registration form will soon be posted.

Please mark your calendars and reserve this date. We look forward to seeing you in Nashville this spring!

Could 2012 be the year that everything comes together for Libertarians?

Former Governor Gary Johnson's announcement last week that he's leaving the GOP and running for president as a Libertarian brings a high-profile candidate to our Libertarian primary. Thousands of news stories and political commentaries were published and aired nationwide since his announcement where LP Chair Mark Hinkle signed him up to be a Life Member of our party.

Possible results? Attention to Governor Johnson's campaign. Attention to our other Libertarian presidential candidates. Attention to the Libertarian Party and our principles. A spotlight on our 2012 presidential nominating convention in May.

One news story published by Mediate.com said, "With independent or unaffiliated voters making up a larger part of the voter base than they have at any time in the past, there are many more people out there open to defecting from the two-party system."

Indeed! According to a September Gallup poll, 55% of Americans say the two major parties do such an inadequate job of representing the American people that a third party is needed.

Then there's our libertarian friend Ron Paul.

His stunning ascent in the Republican primary - while running a libertarian campaign - is giving unprecedented attention and credibility to our libertarian goals.

If Ron Paul were to win the GOP nomination, a true Revolution in America would be underway. One that would put our libertarian agenda front-and-center in the 2012 election. This will bring heightened attention to our libertarian candidates who offer bold reductions in Big Government that most Republicans and Democrats won't dare and give voters the choice that so many desperately want: much smaller government and more freedom.

In liberty,

Carla Howell
Executive Director Libertarian Party