Brilliant...as usual Starchild.
Mike Denny
Starchild,
Very good speech; I am sorry I missed it. Michael Edelstein had
signed up for one hour of tabling since he had other obligations
shortly after 1:00 pm, and I could not bring the table and supplies
back to the car by myself, so I also left at 1:00. But, talking to
some people is better than talking to no people!
Some random thoughts I have been mulling over:
1. Tabling at events and chatting with the people that stop by is
worthwhile, especially if the table has literature that focuses on
the specific issue the event is dealing with. People were very
interested in the main literature on the table yesterday "Toward a
More Sensible Drug Policy."
2. Tabling should start a little before an event and remain a little
after, to catch the people coming and leaving.
3. Michael E. noticed that one banner yesterday featured Peter
McWilliam (sorry if I did not spell his name right). When Michael
asked the people who put up the banner if they knew Peter was a
Libertarian, they responded NO; and did not even know
what "Libertarian" was. Looks that we should not only promote the
Party more, we should promote our heroes more.
4. I applaud Starchild for pointing out that government is the
problem in the drug issue. The medical marijuana community is
focused not on getting the government out of the drug business, but
on getting the government to regulate the drug business "better."
Marcy
--- In lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Denny" <mike@d...> wrote:
>
> Brilliant...as usual Starchild.
>
>
>
> Mike Denny
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Starchild
> Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 3:31 PM
> To: lpsf-activists@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [lpsf-activists] Medical Marijuana Rally
>
>
>
> Marcy,
>
>
>
> Thanks to you and Michael for doing this! I got there shortly
before 1pm
> and must have just missed you. Tony Bowles said he'd been talking
with
> you, and went to show me where you guys were, only to discover that
> you'd packed up and gone. Glad you got some inquiries.
>
>
>
> I was a bit disappointed that the crowd seemed about the same size
as
> our previous event on Sept. 24, about 50-100 people. Probably it
would
> have been considerably larger if the weather had been more
cooperative.
> But at least it happened, and even if the speakers were mostly
preaching
> to the choir, that's valuable for creating a sense of solidarity and
> shared commitment.
>
>
>
> Too bad you two missed my speech... I wrote it out in advance, and
got
> to deliver most of it, even though it was several pages long. Andre
> Marrou's digs at the establishment parties drew laughter and
applause --
> at the expense of the Democrats as well as the Republicans! 8)
> Unfortunately I was being prompted to cut it short, and
inadvertently
> skipped over my best line. The parts I skipped are in brackets --
maybe
> you can guess which line I'm talking about. But I think I'll put it
in a
> letter to the editor.
>
>
>
> Yours in liberty,
>
> <<< Starchild >>>
>
>
>
> Marijuana Rally Speech - 10/26/05
>
>
>
> There are two basic agendas in politics - people who want
government to
> give them something, and people who want to stop government from
taking
> something away from them.
>
>
>
> Marijuana falls into the second category. We're not asking for any
> handouts or subsidies. We just want them to leave us alone!
>
>
>
> The valuable thing about having a clear leave-us-alone agenda is
that no
> one else can honestly say that we're hurting them. Then the only
people
> who have an economic incentive to oppose us are people who are
getting
> something at our expense, people like:
>
>
>
> -prison guards who have jobs because of all the drug users who've
been
> put in jail
>
>
>
> -law enforcement agencies who get extra money and equipment to
persecute
> the "war on drugs"
>
>
>
> -politicians who stay in office by pandering to people who are
> ideologically opposed to drug use
>
>
>
> The people who are ideologically opposed to marijuana are mainly
> conservatives. But people on the left who see it as a cash cow to
pay
> for their agenda are also standing in the way of marijuana freedom.
>
>
>
> I remember talking with a Green Party member working in Matt
Gonzalez's
> office when Matt was on the Board of Supervisors and he told me
straight
> out that Matt was going to want a quid pro quo - you want legal
drugs,
> you give us money for government programs.
>
>
>
> Back in 1992, a Libertarian named Andre Marrou was running for
> president. Most of you have probably haven't heard of him, because
he
> wasn't a celebrity and didn't have a lot of money. Unless you're a
> Democrat or Republican, you have to be a celebrity or have a lot of
> money for most of the mainstream media to pay attention to you at
that
> level. Shamefully, the press often acts like the only choices for
> president are a Democrat or a Republican.
>
>
>
> Anyway, Andre Marrou used to tell a great anecdote. Democrats and
> Republicans, he said, are all about fear and control. Democrats are
> afraid that someone, somewhere, is making more MONEY than they are.
They
> want to control that person and take his or her money. Republicans
are
> afraid that someone, somewhere, is having more FUN than they are.
They
> want to control that person and stop him or her from having fun.
> Libertarians don't want to control you. We want you to make money
AND
> have fun.
>
>
>
> People who are ultimately trying to get something from you, or
trying to
> control you, do not make good political allies. They will sell you
out
> for their own fears and agendas.
>
>
>
> What the marijuana movement needs to do is build alliances with
other
> groups and interests who just want to be left alone to do their own
> thing. Once those groups understand that we are not a threat to
their
> interests, that we do not want anything from them and are prepared
to
> leave THEM alone to make money and have fun, they will do the same
for
> us.
>
>
>
> I'll give you two examples of how we can do this here in San
Francisco.
> The first is the San Francisco Taxpayers Union. You may have heard
the
> state board of equalization is trying to make cannabis providers pay
> sales tax. [Come on, I don't hear any boos! These people are
Democratic
> and Republican politicians trying to steal money from sick patients
to
> pay for their political agendas. It's an outrage.*]
>
>
>
> So the Taxpayers Union may have already saved marijuana patients and
> providers money by stopping a sales tax increase that Supervisor
Chris
> Daly was going to put on the ballot. Taxpayers Union founder Jack
Davis,
> who has a lot of political connections, told us he got a call from
Chris
> about it. Chris knew Jack was involved with the Taxpayers Union,
and he
> asked him, Jack, if this thing goes on the ballot, how strongly is
your
> group going to oppose it, on a scale of 1-10? Jack told him 11. He
said
> we're totally committed to fighting it, we have a mission statement
that
> opposes tax increases. Then Chris called another political figure
with a
> lot of clout, Joe O'Donogue of the Residential Builders
Association, who
> is also a member of the Taxpayers Union, and asked him the same
> question. Joe told Chris that his group would strongly oppose a
sales
> tax increase, and would give the TU money to fight it. So Daly
called
> Jack Davis back and said, "OK, you win, I'm not going to put it on
the
> ballot this year. It was iffy anyway."
>
>
>
> [The Taxpayers Union is made up of a coalition of groups, including
the
> Libertarian Party and a lot of small business interests. People with
> marijuana groups like Americans for Safe Access should go to the
> Taxpayers Union and say, "Many dispensaries are small businesses
too. We
> don't want any government subsidies. In fact we want to STOP wasting
> taxpayer money fighting a failed war on drugs. "What do you want
your
> government to pay for? Fighting POT, or Fixing POTHOLES?" If we
agree to
> help you oppose higher taxes, will you help us get the government to
> stop wasting resources persecuting the marijuana community?]
>
>
>
> The second group I want to talk to you about is the gun rights
> community. Like the marijuana community, peaceful gun owners aren't
> looking for any handouts. They're just trying to keep government
from
> taking a freedom away that is very important to them. Now many of
them
> are conservatives who oppose drug use. Like many people in the
business
> community, they're used to mistrusting what they see as leftist
issues.
> But when it comes down to it they care a lot more about the gun
issue
> than the drug issue. Leaders from Americans for Safe Access should
go to
> the groups who are opposing the gun ban on the November ballot in
San
> Francisco, Coalition Against Prohibition (think about that name, and
> what it means!), and the Pink Pistols, and ask, "If we oppose
> Proposition H and help you keep your gun rights, will you oppose the
> Board of Supervisors imposing these ridiculous distance
requirements and
> other restrictions on marijuana dispensaries, so that patients can
keep
> their rights?
>
>
>
> [If we're not strong enough to protect marijuana rights even for
sick
> people in San Francisco, let alone for basically healthy people who
> benefit from using the drug, how are we going to be able to do it
across
> the rest of California and the United States? We need help. We've
been
> talking to the Democrats for a long time. It's time that people in
the
> marijuana community reach out to forge non-traditional alliances
with
> people who may have been on the other side of the political fence,
but
> who have a common interest of wanting to be left alone.]
>
>
>
> On behalf of the Libertarian Party of San Francisco, the Taxpayers
> Union, the Coalition Against Prohibition, and the Pink Pistols, I
want
> to ask you, the people who support marijuana rights, to join us in
> voting NO on Proposition A, the college bond, NO on Proposition B,
the
> street reconstruction bond, NO on Proposition F, the firefighter
union
> protection plan, and NO on Proposition H, the gun ban.
>
>
>
> [And you have my word that when I talk to the Taxpayers Union and
the
> gun groups, that I will be telling them the same message - you want
help
> fighting higher taxes and gun prohibition? Go to the marijuana
community
> groups and offer to help keep government off their backs in
return.]
>
>
>
> Thank you all very much. [Please don't forget to stop by the
Libertarian
> Party table for more info. Power to the People!]
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, October 26, 2005, at 02:21 PM, Amarcy D. Berry wrote:
>
>
>
> Michael Edelstein and I set up a table at the rally today
(thank
> you,
>
> Michael!!). So, two people signed up to receive more
> information, and
>
> about 15 took literature; but that's 17 people who never heard
> of us
>
> before and now have. Talking to the people who stopped by
was
>
> educational (we have a lot of work to do in letting the public
> know
>
> there is a better way than to beg stuff from the
government!)
>
>
>
> Marcy
>
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Marcy,
We made a good team yesterday--you championed the moderate message, while I was the in-your-face extremist. (Did I overhear you advocating a bolder approach right before we packed up?!)
Many thanks for organizing the event.
You wrote:
The medical marijuana community is
focused not on getting the government out of the drug business, but
on getting the government to regulate the drug business "better."
Sadly, this was also LP candidate Judge Jim Gray's position in the last election.
Best, Michael