NY TIMES: Libertarians Trail Meter Readers, Telling Town: Live Free or Else

[nbruno322]

KEENE, N.H. — In most places, the parking enforcement officer reflects the municipal compact. Armed only with a gadget that can spit out a ticket at the forgotten drop of a dime, the officer quietly serves civic and commercial life by ensuring that meters are fed.

In most places, yes. But not here in charming Keene, where parking officers figure in a philosophical tug of war between a small band of activists who live by the motto “Free Keene,” and the great majority of residents who were unaware that their city was in bondage.

Keene’s two parking officers, both women, are often videotaped by young adults known as “Robin Hooders.” They track the whereabouts of the officers by two-way radio, feed expired meters before $5 tickets can be written, and leave a business card saying that “we saved you from the king’s tariff.”

Welcome to Sherwood Forest, N.H., where these acts of charity have led to some donations and gratitude, but also to sidewalk tensions, harassment allegations and litigation. They are part of a broader effort by about two-dozen activists, most of them from someplace else, to unshackle Keene from the “violent monopoly” of government and its enforcers, including these parking officers who work in weather fair and foul.

Ian Freeman broadcasts his “Free Talk Live” radio show. Credit Andrea Morales for The New York Times
The mundane matter of parking has become so contentious that a third parking officer, an ex-soldier who served in Iraq, quit last year because, he says, he could no longer take the close-up videotaping and the taunts that “I had condoned the droning of brown babies.” So contentious that the mayor, the city manager, and the city attorney all declined even to say hello to me.

But some local residents are speaking out in their stead by challenging the activists through a Facebook page with the unwieldy name of “Stop Free Keene!!!” One of its organizers, Andrea Parkhurst Whitcomb, is asking the relative newcomers a fundamental question:

“Who asked you to come free us?”

The activists selected this New England-cute city of 24,000 for liberation mostly because it lies within that flinty bastion of Yankee individualism known as New Hampshire, where “Live Free or Die” is carved into the collective granite.

Back in 2003, a libertarian-leaning group called the Free State Project decided that this small state could be a liberty lover’s paradise if enough like-minded people settled here.

Continued: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/us/politics/libertarians-trail-meter-readers-telling-town-live-free-or-else.html?_r=0

[kcchiefs6465]

Finally, Mr. Givetz, who served 22 months in Iraq as a military police officer, quit his job handing out parking tickets. “I couldn’t take it anymore,” he said. “I didn’t see an end in sight.”
Heartbreaking.

[VoluntaryAmerican]

Good piece of propaganda

[Keith and stuff]

When the New York Times writes an inaccurate hit piece on liberty, it's good for liberty. Great stuff. :toady:

[Henry Rogue]

Those terrorist, going around and feeding the parking meters, the next thing you know they may help an old lady cross the street. Must put a stop to that.

I hope people start harassing the author of that lousy article.

[BuddyRey]

I love it! NYT is huge publicity!

Every time a whiny statist releases some laughably skewed hit piece against the FSP, membership numbers soar.

[NewRightLibertarian]

We better change our behavior so the New York Times will like us. If only we'd be a bit more cosmopolitan, ya know?

[2young2vote]

So you are saying I don't have to pay if I ever park in downtown Keene? That other people will give up money to pay my "fee?"

[moostraks]

So the article was attempting to have me sympathize with the state instead of those that save others from the ridiculous fines? Lol! Giant whopping load of fail then...

[Red Green]

Heartbreaking.

Sniff, sniff.... I get all teary-eyed when a tax-sucking leech actually ends up having to produce something to live.... it's like seeing a baby chick getting kicked out of the nest only to fall ungracefully to it's death.

[Keith and stuff]

A local Patch picked it up. There are some errors in the short Patch article. Still, the Patch editor did a better job than the NYT editor ;) There might be a creative editor or two somewhere :toady:

Free State Backlash?
'Robin Hooders' in Keene inspire an opposition party. Will it expand statewide?
Posted by Dan Tuohy , May 05, 2014 at 11:45 AM


Live Free Or Die debate embroils Keene, N.H.
The Free Keene "Robin Hooders," that merry band of liberty-loving activists that feeds expired parking meters in Keene, have inspired a rival effort called Stop Freedom.


The New York Times swooped in to cover the saga, and its story May 4 quotes Stop Freedom coordinator Andrea Whitecomb as asking Ian Freeman and his group:

"Who asked you to free us?"


The Free State Project, back in 2003, selected New Hampshire as a home base, with the idea that 20,000 liberty-loving activists would move to the Granite State for its libertarian streak. Participants, welcomed by then Gov. Craig Benson, also fell in love with New Hampshire for its economy, quality of life and decentralized system of government.

The latest statistics show 16,652 Free State Project participants in New Hampshire.

[acptulsa]

How soon until they use 'obstruction of justice' as an excuse for arresting people for putting money in meters?

Used to be the 'go to jail' space and every 'chance' and 'community chest' space on the Monopoly board could land you in jail. Now the 'free parking' space will soon join the list.

No wonder we incarcerate such an obscene percentage of our population...

[Ronin Truth]

Yeah, all of those meter reader stalking Libertarians just really tick me off.

[Henry Rogue]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9731367@N02/6988195600/

Obstruction of "justice"!

http://monopoly.wikia.com/wiki/Jail?file=Go2jail.jpg
Obstruction of just us.

[CaptUSA]

You'd think they begin to question themselves when they have to call themselves, "Stop Free Keene".

[2young2vote]

“Who asked you to come free us?”

I think this is the greatest sheeple quote of all time.

"Why you try free us? I luv goverment. It give me food. It give me house. It give me water. I happy. Now leave."

[Keith and stuff]

“Who asked you to come free us?”

I think this is the greatest sheeple quote of all time.

"Why you try free us? I luv goverment. It give me food. It give me house. It give me water. I happy. Now leave."

She works at the government school called Keene State College. http://www.keene.edu/

She got really upset when Robin Hood of Keene made a special effort to give college students free parking on one street near the college for a day. She believes police employees should be able to harass citizens without repercussions. She goes so far as to say that it is wrong to film police employees conducting police duties in public.

http://keene-equinox.com/2014/01/city-officials-appeal-to-the-supreme-court/

Community members like Andrea Whitcomb, a Keene resident and Sodexo employee at Keene State College, said Robin Hooders create a hostile working environment for the parking officers. She spreads lies about free staters, free keene and so on.

Whitcomb started a Facebook group named Stop Free-Keen more than a year ago. She said the group’s goal is to, “show people they [members of the Free State Project] are not here to help them, that they are pushing their own agenda.” Whitcomb went on, “They want to live in a utopia.”

Whitcomb suggested the Free-staters express their ideas through the “proper channels.” She said, “If you want changes to happen, you should try civil participation, presenting ideas, not have a disruptive conduct.”

For Whitcomb, even recording the officers was inappropriate. “You can feed meters, but why do you have to video tape? If a person says, ‘I don’t want to be videotaped,’ you don’t do it.”

[Snew]

“Who asked you to come free us?”


It's official. We are not living in the real world any more... we are living in a parody. I have nothing to say.

[fr33]

“Who asked you to come free us?”

I think this is the greatest sheeple quote of all time.

"Why you try free us? I luv goverment. It give me food. It give me house. It give me water. I happy. Now leave."

Obama gave me a phone!

[Keith and stuff]

This is from the front page of the Monday edition of the New York Times. Notice the story about Rand Paul drinking with Rupert Murdoch followed by the story on Robin Hood of Keene (https://www.facebook.com/KeeneRobinHood).
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/p280x280/10334334_10101024901656050_3376222873881670531_n.j pg

[angelatc]

The activists selected this New England-cute city of 24,000 for liberation mostly because it lies within that flinty bastion of Yankee individualism known as New Hampshire, where “Live Free or Die” is carved into the collective granite.

“Who asked you to come free us?”

:eek:

[FriedChicken]

I definitely don't have a problem with filming police, but there was a time where someone was being obnoxious filming me. They were the westborro baptist people holding "God hates ****" signs outside of an event I was promoting. I approached them to ask if they'd stop and he kept trying to provoke me on camera and antagonize me. I asked if they could take the camera out of my face and I got a sharp "lesson" on their right to film me in a public place, yadda yadda yadda.

I don't know if that is how the Robin Hooder's are behaving, but if so I don't support it. Constantly antagonizing people isn't a way to further the liberty movement.
Feeding meters is an awesome way of spreading the liberty message, leaving a card with some information on their group or something.
"The King's tarrif" is kinda cheesy.
I don't think one of those business cards make it more likely for them to learn more about true liberty.

In the end I have suspicions that this might be like some other libertarian missions- well intended and based on a good idea but then 'getting attention' becomes more important that 'spreading liberty' and 'attacking the "bad guy"' is more important that 'educating the people we disagree with'.

[Keith and stuff]

I don't know if that is how the Robin Hooder's are behaving, but if so I don't support it.

Not at all. One Robin Hooder never recorded anyone. One Robin Hooder only recorded when he was either attacked or about to be attacked. One Robin Hooder kept the camera always on because it's a dangerous form of activism but never got in people's faces. Another Robin Hooder only recorded when bad things were happening, like when a police parking employee illegally stole the cards from people's cars, even though the cards are protected by the first amendment.


Constantly antagonizing people isn't a way to further the liberty movement.
Robin Hood of Keene is definitely not about that. It has millions of fans. City Hall sued Robin Hooders (and one guy that isn't even a Robin Hooder) twice. It lost both cases and only produced eight or some minutes of footage of Robin Hooders doing bad things. About the video, most of it didn't even show people doing bad things. And the worst part of it was by someone that heard about Robin Hooding and visited Keene to check it out. The guys isn't a Free Staters, a Robin Hooder or anything like that. He lives in NYC.


Feeding meters is an awesome way of spreading the liberty message, leaving a card with some information on their group or something.
"The King's tarrif" is kinda cheesy.
It is cheesy. The whole thing is cheesy and it keeps with the them. Since Robin Hood of Keene has spent many $1,000s to save the people perhaps as much as $60,000, the cards are occasionally places as a way to get good RP, spread the message of liberty and take in some donations, if people want to donate.


In the end I have suspicions that this might be like some other libertarian missions- well intended and based on a good idea but then 'getting attention' becomes more important that 'spreading liberty' and 'attacking the "bad guy"' is more important that 'educating the people we disagree with'.

There were a couple bad things. But none of that behavior happens any more. Just like with anything, people had to learn. One of the guys even occasionally picks up trash around the city for an hour after he stops Robin Hooding.

[jbauer]

Tell you what, if I didn't live in a realitivly "free state" on a dead end, with one entrance and all the food proprietorship that exists I'd be all about NH.

[Keith and stuff]

Reason came to the defense of the Free State Project and Robin Hood of Keene.

Who is More of a Threat to Civilization? Meter Maids or People Filming Meter Maids? The New York Times on the Free State Project
Brian Doherty|May. 8, 2014 7:51 pm
http://reason.com/blog/2014/05/08/who-is-more-of-a-threat-to-civilization

The post is mostly Brian quoting part of the front page NYT article, than Brian responding, often times with humor. It's not great for copying here so please click on the link if you want to read it. I'll post a little section below.



In December, a Cheshire County Superior Court judge cited free-speech protections in dismissing the city’s complaint, as well as its request to be reimbursed for costs that included therapy sessions for the officers. The activists celebrated a victory in the courts they disdain; the city appealed.


To the Times' mentality, filming or speaking to people with the legal power to fine and arrest is far more declasse and objectionable than fining and arresting over what you drink, smoke, or how long a car is parked.

[KCIndy]

But some local residents are speaking out in their stead by challenging the activists through a Facebook page with the unwieldy name of “Stop Free Keene!!!” One of its organizers, Andrea Parkhurst Whitcomb, is asking the relative newcomers a fundamental question:

“Who asked you to come free us?” :eek:


Reminds me of that Sam Adams quote:

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!"

[Keith and stuff]

One of the stop freedom keene folks admitted that the New York Times report was directed to them by a wealthy statist that lives in New Hampshire. The stop freedom person even thanked the wealthy statist. In fact, one of Andrea's main complants is that the bad behavior by government workers is getting shown to the world, and that makes Keene look bad. So instead of trying to fix the bad behavior by the government, she would rather people just hide the behavior and pretend it doesn't exist. I can see her point of view. She works for the government college and identifies strong with the brand of the city. However, it is better to clean up a problem of government abuse them to cover it up. Sunshine helps ;)

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/10171637_10154141396360298_2929841963002684907_n.j pghttps://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/10171637_10154141396360298_2929841963002684907_n.j pg


Because of this hit piece, CBS News did a story on Robin Hood of Keene and Free Keene. The story had a lot of problems and was full of errors. It was certainly a little more even handed, though. That's as expected. NYT is a mouth piece of statism. Generally, it always supports statism. CBS is widely known as have a large left/statist balance but it still tries to appear to random people. Watch the video. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?434840-Both-of-the-City-of-Keene-vs-Robin-Hood-of-Keene-cases-DISMISSED!&p=5543379&viewfull=1#post5543379

[kcchiefs6465]

:eek:



[snipped]

Responsibility and reality scare the hell out of you so you cling tightly to your own enslavement and lash out at any who seeks to free you from it, when someone opens the door to your cage you cower back in the corner and yell “Close it. Close it”.

Well some of us are finished with trying to save you, we've wasted enough effort trying to convince you that you should be free, all you ever do is spout back what your masters have taught you, that being free only leads to chaos and destruction, while being obedient and subservient leads to peace and prosperity.

There are none so blind as those who will not see, and you, you nation of sheep, would rather die than see the truth.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?452532-IN-Innocent-man-suspected-of-DUI-held-down-forcibly-catheterized&p=5539700#post5539700

Post 40 has the entire transcript.

Funny, I used to think that he was a bit harsh.

[acptulsa]

I just like the headline. 'Libertarians Trail Meter Readers...'

If the libertarians weren't a step ahead of the bureaucratic idiots, wouldn't people be getting tickets as usual?

Yo, Times. I thought your specialty was providing propaganda that doesn't insult our intelligence.