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April 24, 2002 Dear friend of liberty, PLEASE NOTE: This letter is longer than I would like it to be. But because I know you're a friend of liberty, I think you'll find it well worth reading.
It contains some shocking news you need to know, and some exciting good
news as well.
It covers:
* An emerging -- and alarming -- major
new civil liberties crisis in
America;
* Startling quotes from prominent
Americans about the new civil
liberties crisis we are
facing (one U.S. Congressman is warning
that America could become
"a police state");
* Details on an exciting new Advocates
program designed to quickly
inform tens of thousands of
Americans about the new threats to our
freedom -- and to enlist them
in fighting for liberty!
* An opportunity for YOU to take part in
this new effort;
* Reasons for optimism (needed during
these troubling times!);
* The latest figures on some major
Advocates projects and programs;
* A chance for you to receive some great
gifts;
* ...and more news and opinion of great
interest to friends of
liberty.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and
consider it!
* * * * * *
I won't mince words.
I'm not being alarmist -- but I AM sounding an alarm.
This is a dire time for civil liberties in America.
Voices from across the political spectrum are
warning us that our
precious Bill of Rights liberties and other
freedoms are facing the
gravest threat in generations.
A few prominent examples:
The ACLU says we're facing: "...one of the
most serious civil
liberties crises our nation has ever seen."
NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre says: "We've
witnessed a fire sale of
American liberties at bargain basement prices, in
return for the false
promise of more security...The America being
designed right now won't
resemble the America we've been defending...The
danger isn't that Big
Brother may storm the castle gates. The danger is
that Americans don't
realize that he is already inside the castle
walls."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation warns: "The
civil liberties of
ordinary Americans have taken a tremendous
blow..."
Congressman Ron Paul -- the only libertarian in
Congress -- says: "Our
forefathers would think it's time for a revolution.
This is why they
revolted in the first place...They revolted against
much more mild
oppression." And: "A danger also exists
that the United States is
becoming a police state."
And that's just a small sampling.
Let me add my voice to those above: I think right
now we are facing
the gravest threats to American liberty I've seen
in my three decades
of political activism.
A TIME FOR ACTION -- AND HOPE
I'm going to tell you some more about these grave
threats to our
liberty -- including some shocking things you may
not know about.
It's not pretty. But if you love America, and love
liberty, you need
to know these things.
But first, let me assure you: this is NOT a
gloom-and-doom email.
I remain optimistic about the future for liberty in
America and the
world. In just a few moments, I'll tell you why.
I'll also tell you what YOU can do RIGHT NOW to
stay informed and take
action on these issues. I'll tell you how you can
join today's Patrick
Henrys, Thomas Jeffersons and Paul Reveres in
striking a powerful blow
for liberty.
So take heart -- there's hope and reasons for
optimism.
But first -- the Crisis.
THE EXPLOSION OF PHONY "ANTI-TERRORIST"
LEGISLATION
Like every decent person, I was horrified and
outraged by the events
of September 11.
But I've also been horrified at the response of
many politicians.
To put it bluntly, too many of them are intent on
doing to our Bill of
Rights and our Constitution what the terrorists did
to the World Trade
Center.
Immediately after September 11, politicians rushed
to propose
"solutions" to the terrorism crisis. Most
of these "solutions" weren't
new at all.
They were the same old tyrannical Big Brother / Big
Government
proposals libertarians and other friends of freedom
have been fighting
for years and years.
Now, they've been dusted off, renamed as
"anti-terrorism" measures --
and pushed on a frightened American public.
And too many of our fellow Americans are falling
for it. Too many are
all too eager to make the terrible bargain Ben
Franklin warned us
about two centuries ago -- trading essential
liberty for false
promises of "security."
Some examples:
* NATIONAL ID: The push is on greater than
ever before for a
diabolical national ID
"smart card" that will use "biometric
identification
methods" like fingerprints, palm prints, iris scans,
face scans or even DNA
samples to identify you. The card will be
loaded with intimate
information about your health, your personal
life, your finances. The
information will be stored in massive state
and federal databases.
Make no mistake: a national
ID card will be a major step towards the
end of liberty in America.
* A REVVED-UP DRUG WAR: The War on Drugs is
getting new impetus
from a new multi-million
dollar White House / Drug Czar ad campaign
linking casual drug use to
support for terrorism. Now you and I
know that the only reason
terrorists sell drugs is because the
Drug War creates a massive
black market that rewards them for
doing so. It's the Drug War
itself that's to blame. But millions
of Americans DON'T know
that -- and they are falling for this
sinister new tactic to fan
the flames of the Drug War that has
made large parts of our
Bill of Rights almost meaningless.
* FEELING A DRAFT?: Discussion of a
draft is back on the national
agenda -- for the first
time since Vietnam. The military
enslavement of young
Americans is looming.
* THE USA PATRIOT ACT: If "truth
in labeling" laws applied to
political bills, this awful
post-Sept. 11 bill would be called
"The ANTI-Patriot
Act." It is nothing less than an all-out-assault
on our most basic liberties
-- and will do little or nothing to
protect Americans from
terrorist attacks.
Think I'm exaggerating? Ask
heroic Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas)
-- the only libertarian in
Congress, and a fearless champion of
freedom. Paul was one of
only three Republicans who had the
courage and wisdom to vote
against the act.
Asked why he voted against
the bill, Congressman Paul was
characteristically blunt:
"I thought it was
undermining the Constitution," he says.
"Undermining the
Constitution." And now it's U.S. law.
Insight, a leading
conservative magazine, asked Congressman Paul
what the Founding Fathers
would think of this law.
Congressman Paul's response
should have been on the front page of
every newspaper in America:
"Our forefathers would
think it's time for a revolution. This is
why they revolted in the
first place...They revolted against much
more mild oppression."
Powerful words -- and true!
The USA PATRIOT ACT has
made dangerous institutional changes to
our form of government.
A few examples: The new law
makes telephone and Internet spying on
innocent, non-suspect
civilians by the government far easier.
Authorities can now spy on
Web surfing of non-suspects, and have
broad access to highly
sensitive business and personal records --
without showing
"probable cause" to a judge.
The law greatly expands the
ability of the government to conduct
secret searches. It also
creates new definitions of "terrorism"
and "terrorist
organization" that could easily include legitimate
political protestors and
other innocents.
...and that's just a very
small sample. (I'll tell you where you
can find everything you
need to know about this horrendous bill in
just a moment!)
These new assaults on
liberty will have to be challenged, fought,
and repealed if America is
to remain free.
* STILL MORE AWFUL PLANS: They seem to
be coming from all directions
-- and almost daily. Calls
for gutting our already-gravely-
weakened Fourth Amendment
right to be free from unreasonable
government searches and
surveillance. Or weakening our basic
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and
Eighth Amendment guarantees of
a right to a fair trial.
(Can you believe you're hearing mainstream
voices calling for the use
of TORTURE in some trials?)
Further limiting our First
Amendment rights to free speech and
free association. Stripping
away what's left of our financial
privacy and online privacy.
IS THIS YOUR AMERICA?
This isn't MY vision of America. And I'm sure it's
not yours, either.
To me, America isn't a place. It's an IDEA. And
that idea is LIBERTY
-- the right of each individual to live in any
peaceful way he or she
chooses.
The great men and women who formed this nation
wanted America to serve
as the launching pad for a worldwide revolution for
liberty. They knew
that America was the last great hope for liberty
for all mankind.
I strongly believe that it still is. But it won't
remain that way unless
we can successfully challenge these new threats to
that liberty
-- and then go way beyond that to expand freedom in
America to new
dimensions!
The good news: I believe we can!
This letter is calling on YOU to do GREAT THINGS
for liberty -- to
join in a grand and glorious cause that has
inspired great men and
women for centuries.
Unlike our forefathers in American and elsewhere,
you don't have to
take up arms against a wicked and ruthless tyrant.
You don't have to
publish your views in secret under pain of
imprisonment or death. You
don't have to meet in dark basements at midnight to
hatch desperate
plans. Or smuggle in at great personal danger the
tools of liberty.
Others have done that in the past -- so that YOU
could advance their
dream of freedom still further.
IT'S UP TO YOU AND ME
And make no mistake about it: It's up to us
libertarians to do this.
Sure, I am delighted that many liberals, leftists,
conservatives,
right-wingers, and middle-of-the-roaders are
awakening to some of the
threats we're faced with.
We need all the help we can get at this critical
time.
But liberals and conservatives can't -- and won't
-- restore and
rebuild liberty in America. That's not on their
agenda.
No, it will take a powerful movement for liberty --
a fast-growing,
effective, public, consistent, principled
libertarian movement -- to
win freedom in America.
So where will this vastly larger, vastly more
effective libertarian
movement come from?
How can lots of Americans quickly learn about
libertarian ideas? How
will they learn about the libertarian movement? How
will they learn
the most effective actions to take to reclaim --
and expand! --
liberty in America?
That's where you and I come in. That's our job.
You'll be asked in the coming months to help fight
the battle for
civil liberties in America in many ways, by many
worthy individuals
and organizations.
One key step I hope you will take is to support the
Advocates for
Self-Government.
***** Your support for the Advocates in these
crucial times is one of
the best investments you can make for insuring a
powerful, effective
movement for liberty in the comings weeks, months,
and years.*****
WHY THE ADVOCATES
The Advocates for Self-Government has been
specializing in the
"libertarian-creating" business for over
16 years.
During that time, we've reached *millions* of
people with
uncompromising libertarian ideas in the most
persuasive ways.
We've helped untold thousands of these people
become full-fledged,
knowledgeable libertarians eager to make our world
a freer place --
and we've given them the tools, the information,
the skills, the
training to do just that.
And we've introduced them to the libertarian
movement -- so they can
find their place for activism in the great task of
winning the world
for liberty.
No other organization does all this.
And we do it well. So well that in 1999,
Libertarian Party News
readers voted the Advocates as "most effective
libertarian
organization."
So well that scores of distinguished libertarian
leaders and activists
from across America and around the world have
praised our work.
I can't begin to tell you all we do in this short
space. You're
probably familiar with a lot of it, if you're a
regular Liberator
Online reader. But here are a few exciting programs
-- and our latest
numbers:
* Over 50,000 people in over 100
countries subscribe to our FREE
flagship email newsletter,
The Liberator Online -- where they
learn about liberty and the
very best ways to communicate it from
stellar writers and
activists like Mary Ruwart, Michael Cloud, and
James W. Harris. It's the
largest-circulation libertarian email
newsletter in the world --
and it changes lives every issue!
* Over 6 million card versions of the
World's Smallest Political
Quiz have been distributed
by us since Advocates Founder Marshall
Fritz created it in 1987.
This incredible eye-opener and
mind-changer is quite
simply the single most popular outreach tool
in the libertarian
movement.
* Almost 1.4 million people have taken
the World's Smallest
Political Quiz online --
with 37.1 % scoring libertarian. And we
provide these potential
libertarians with the online and offline
resources they need to
quickly understand and embrace the ideas of
liberty.
* Over 11 million page hits at our
award-winning Web page. Literally
millions of people have
encountered the ideas of freedom at
our Web site.
* 10,000-12,000 page hits per day at
our Web site, where we provide
a treasure trove of unique
and vital libertarian resources:
libertarian celebrities,
libertarian talk radio links, free
newsletters, hundreds of
articles, an online catalog, links to
major libertarian
organizations... and much more. Top reviewers --
such as MSNBC, Yahoo!, and
Lycos -- regularly list us among the
best political sites on the
Web.
* We've put over 6,000 sets of Michael
Cloud's acclaimed "Essence of
Political Persuasion"
audio course into the hands of libertarians
eager to become more
powerful communicators. This is empowering
the libertarian movement --
and in doing so, changing the world.
* Millions of Americans have been
reached with libertarian ideas by
winners of our annual
"Lights of Liberty Awards." These awards
encourage libertarians to
take the ideas of liberty to the public,
through letters to the
editor, public speaking, and OPH booth
activism. Every year the
Advocates rewards grassroots activism --
and encourages a lot more
of it!
* Millions of Americans -- and
thousands of highly influential
opinion-leaders like
journalists, professors, and officeholders --
have been introduced to the
paradigm-shifting idea of a political
map that includes
libertarians, thanks to the successful publicity
we've won for the Quiz.
PLUS: we offer top educational material --
outstanding books, tapes,
outreach tools and more -- to assist newcomers,
veteran libertarians,
and those just curious about libertarian ideas. And
at our seminars,
workshops, and convention speeches, Advocates
representatives share
the most effective communication methods with
libertarian leaders,
activists and organizations.
...and that's just *some* of what the Advocates
does for liberty.
I'm proud to be associated with this great
organization -- and I hope
you share my enthusiasm and will aid this wonderful
work!
we've reserved for you -- please go to our special
gift page.
OUR NEWEST PROJECT: "AMERICA STANDS FOR LIBERTY"
We are taking action to help liberty-minded people
learn about the
grave new threats to our civil liberties -- and DO
SOMETHING about it.
We've created a new feature at our Web site. It's
called "America
Stands for Liberty: How You Can Protect and Expand
Our Civil
Liberties."
At this site -- to be continually updated -- we
provide information to
help visitors quickly learn the truth about the
current civil
liberties crisis. We provide links to reliable
sources of information.
And we will provide online *action steps* visitors
can quickly take to
make a difference.
Remember, our Web site is no ordinary Web site. We
get thousands of
visitors a day. (Our special post-September 11
crisis page drew over
20,000 visitors in just 48 hours.) Our 50,000
Liberator Online readers
will also be informed about the new page, and the
newest Action Steps.
These are big numbers -- big enough to make a real
difference. And
we're going to put that power to work to defend
America.
*** In this way, we plan to enlist thousands of
people daily into the
struggle to preserve -- and expand -- civil
liberties in America.***
That's exciting!
In just a moment, I'll give you the URL for that
page -- and I hope
you'll go there and take the first Action Step!
WILL YOU HELP?
The Advocates needs your help -- especially right
now. It's urgent that
we publicize our Web site and the Quiz and our
other tools further --
to quickly win thousands of committed new freedom
activists to our
side.
We must keep what we're doing -- and expand it.
We can't do that, however, without your help.
We depend entirely on the generosity of good people
like you to keep
the Advocates work going and growing.
You probably know that donations are down for
non-profits during this
turbulent year.
Your individual contribution really does matter to
us. Each and every
one is appreciated -- and makes a big difference.
These are critical times for liberty, and we who
recognize the value
of our heritage and the need to preserve and expand
it must answer the
call. Others have made far greater sacrifices to
get us here. Now we
must pick up the torch and carry it forward.
The Advocates urgently needs your support -- and we
will REPAY that
support many times over with a larger, more
persuasive, more powerful
libertarian movement. So please give your best
possible donation to
this work.
Remember, the Advocates finds libertarian-leaning
people -- and turns
many of them into committed libertarians. The
Advocates trains
libertarians in how to be effective communicators
of libertarian ideas
-- so they won't make the communication errors
other libertarians in
the past have made that slowed and hampered our
movement's growth.
The Advocates introduces new libertarians into the
libertarian movement
-- so they can become the activists, candidates,
supporters and new
recruiters of the future.
In a hundred different ways, we do this. Our work
benefits the entire
liberty movement.
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