Posted on 07/08/2006 3:29:00 PM PDT by Graybeard58
TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas Libertarians were stopped from holding a fundraiser at a nudist camp in southwest Shawnee County, when sheriff's deputies blocked people from entering.
Shawnee County deputies said they were merely enforcing a court order when they stopped people from accessing Lake Edun on Friday. Last year, Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock issued a court order banning "commercial or recreational activities" on the property unless the owners get a permit for such events - something the county refuses to provide.
But Rob Hodgkinson, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Kansas, said a political party fundraiser isn't a commercial activity. He also said the deputies suppressed party members' constitutional right to hold such an event on private property.
Gates were to open at 4 p.m. Friday, said Webb Garlinghouse, who owns the property with his wife, Julie, but an employee called him that morning and said deputies were blocking the driveway. By mid-afternoon, six marked sheriff's cars were parked along the road outside the main entrance.
Hodgkinson said the Libertarian Party moved the three-day event to an alternative site.
Shawnee County Undersheriff Don Long said his office learned about the Libertarian gathering at Lake Edun from county counselor Rich Eckert. A sign at the property's entrance said the event was to run Friday through Sunday.
Patrick Wilbur, vice chairman for the Libertarian Party of Kansas, said admission was to be $75 per person and $90 per couple in advance and $80 per person and $100 per couple at the door. Topics for discussion included property rights and freedom of assembly.
Hodgkinson said the Libertarians needed to make money so they can compete and get people elected.
"We've got a chance to actually elect people, so am I frustrated? You bet!" he told the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Lake Edun, which promotes a clothing-free lifestyle and uses the term "naturist" rather than "nudist," has been at odds with county officials since 1996.
The county insisted Lake Edun (nude spelled backward) was being run as a commercial, recreational facility, even though the property was zoned agricultural. Garlinghouse insisted the camp was focusing on harvesting fish and planting native grasses and trees.
In January 2001, the county gave the Garlinghouses a two-year, conditional-use permit, with the stipulation that they could not try to renew it.
In September 2006, Bullock issued a restraining order banning the Garlinghouses from using the camp for recreation or commercial activities without a conditional-use permit. According to court records, the Garlinhouses' appeal is pending.
Webb Garlinghouse, a Libertarian, said the weekend gathering was to be the political party's first at Lake Edun. It was to include free camping, parking and recreational activities at the lake, plus musical and theatrical performances.
When I used to write for a magazine, I once made the gubernatorial candidate for the Oklahoma libertarian party cry during the interview because he had no answers.
I've not had respect for ANY libertarian since then. They still have no answers--for anything.
...together with his Chinese police dog, Won Hung Lo, ...
LOL
Er, OK...
Must resist the Eckert joke.....Since Dick is known to everyone in town.
Yeah, but according to many here, it's o.k. to suppress someone's constitutional rights as long as its just those wacky Libertarians that are being harassed by the government.
"Yeah, but according to many here, it's o.k. to suppress someone's constitutional rights as long as its just those wacky Libertarians that are being harassed by the government."
Yep, I'm not about to say I approve of their forum choice...but geez, talk about missing the forest for the trees. People seem to think because the forum or the group is not their own preference, it's okay that the thing was shut down. I hope the GOP doesn't try to meet at a mall in that county any time soon. The same rules apply.
You are mistaken if you think the same rules would apply to a metting of Republicans or Democrats. :-(
I'm constantly amazed at the number of people here without even a passing grasp of what freedom and liberty means.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
From "Reason magazine's (online) attempt to smear Michelle Malkin as driving some lesbian college president to suicide":
[N]o one is suggesting that her readers pushed Denton over the edge...
Like heck they aren't! They're trying to have it both was as befitting the party of perversion!
Hmm, that's weird. I would have thought that saying outright that "[N]o one is suggesting that her readers pushed Denton over the edge..." would indicate that "[N]o one is suggesting that her readers pushed Denton over the edge..."
Which is why the 'Reason' article smearing Michelle Malkin brought her name up with the lesbian's suicide and then whined that Michelle didn't give condolences to the lesbian's family (and if she did that, the Reason article would say that Michelle Malkin wouldn't leave the family in peace).
The party of child molestors (Libertarians) knows no shame.
Right. If she expressed condolences, then she would have been accused of not leaving the family in peace. That makes sense.
So, in order to protect herself from being accused of a lack of compassion, Malkin says nothing about the chancellor's suicide. Instead she puts up a post about Weigel's comments which once again calls Denton a "capitulationist" and "corruptocrat" while linking to various websites that viciously attack her. That Michelle Malkin -- she's a real class act!
Utter hypocrisy! The misnamed 'Reason' magazine supports the NYT for putting up the GPS coordinates of the Cheney and Rumsfeld homes, yet, they scream like banshees when Michelle Malkin gives out the public numbers of seditious and cowardly officials. How dare people criticize appeasing leftwing officials such as Denton! Libertarians need such officials in order to be able to climb to power via the unelected positions of the media and acadmia. Certainly no sane person would vote for them.
Former Reason editor Matt Welch finally scored bigtime by Libertarian standards as he got a spot on the Liberal L A Times. What's next for the 'Reason' magazine Libertarians? 'The Nation'? 'Mother Jones'?
I'm amazed (well, maybe not so much) at the so-called "conservatives" here who post dozens of comments that one would find fitting of their "progressive" opposites. They are all a-twitter with sophomoric comments about the venue and the inevitable, juvenile jokes about nudists. In doing so, they are prisoners of their distaste for the style of the issue and have completely missed the substance.
Had the county government prevented a GOP rally at a church camp, the outrage would have gone on for pages. Ignoring tyranny when it suits them has become a habit for our "conservative" friends.
Let me know when you decide to get back on topic.
What's the problem?
Made me chuckle...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.