By Scotty Boman
Link to the May Michigan Libertarian
Editor’s note: This article concerns a candidate seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for President. The Michigan Libertarian provides fair coverage, without endorsing one candidate over another, or the candidate’s views.
While at the Michigan Libertarian Summit, I took a few minutes to interview Adam Kokesh and his dog Baloo.
When asked why he was running for President, Kokesh restated his platform “Dissolve the Federal government in a peaceful, orderly manner. . . .” Since this isn’t business as usual for a presidential campaign (even a Libertarian one), I was very interested in the nuts and bolts of how he intended to do this. Since the Constitution is the supreme Federal law, I naturally asked if he would use his office to push for an Constitutional amendment to this end.
Here is his response,
“It’s funny to hear so many Libertarians ask the question, ‘Would you, like, have the authority to do this? Would the Crown be okay with your revolution, sir? Is it Constitutional to dissolve the Federal government with an executive order?’ My answer is, no, it isn’t Constitutional. That’s kind of the point… and many Presidents (in fact pretty much all of the Presidents we’ve had recently) have done plenty of things outside of the bounds of the Constitution, and gotten away with it because they have had at least tacit consent of the American people, and we are invoking the higher authority known as the Declaration of Independence . . . , which says, ‘We have not only a right, but a duty, to alter and abolish systems of government that no longer serve us.’
Now it’s very important to point out that I’m really not running for President in order to be President, because the first thing I’m going to do is resign. The executive order I will sign will declare the Federal government of no authority in order to put it into a bankruptcy proceeding. So I would essentially be serving as bankruptcy agent and my title will be, ‘Custodian of the Federal government of the United States.’ So what I am doing with this campaign, what we are doing with this election, is turning it into a referendum on whether or not the Federal government should be allowed to exist at all. And when the American people make their voice clear (decisively and irrefutably) through the election process, that we are not gonna put up with the existence of the Federal government any longer, no jerk in a suit (in Washington, DC), no Congressman, no Supreme Court Justice, not even this jerk [Adam points to himself] could possibly stand in our way.
So what I’ve told people is, even if you don’t think you can trust me, it ultimately doesn’t matter because this election is based upon a paradigm shift about the role of government, and that it should be as local as possible, that we should get it ultimately down to the community level (in an orderly process; one step at a time). First dissolve the Federal government to a point of stability, dissolve the state governments, get them down to the counties, and at that point we’re pretty much done . . . , counties being pretty much imperfect approximations of communities. At least at that point you can see people break off into their own areas; you can see people separate and declare independence on their own property; and you can turn government into a voluntary institution or completely replace it with none. “
How A Flashbang Grenade Saved Baloo’s Life
After discussing some controversial internal concerns, I asked the question everyone was dying to hear answered, “How is your dog Baloo?”
Adam perks up with a bright smile, “Doing well. You can meet him! You can get him on video; he’s way more fun to do interviews with than me.” He went on to say, “I have to point out that my dog’s a Great Dane mix purebred shelter dog, and he’s survived some pretty serious police encounters with me. When my home was raided in 2013, he had a flashbang grenade thrown at him, and it went off right under his butt. It actually saved his life because it was a Parks Police SWAT team.
Now remember this is United States Parks Police – federal law enforcement FBI academy dropouts. These are the dregs of the Federal law enforcement barrel. And they were using me to justify a lot of their budget, with two helicopters over my house, an armored vehicle, and a full SWAT team raid.
So they knocked down the door, they threw a flashbang grenade as Baloo was walking towards the door, and because it went off right under his butt, it scared him so bad . . . now I’m at the top of the stairs and in front of the front door foyer in my house, and you know what happens when police raid homes and there’s a dog – the dog gets shot. And in this case the flashbang grenade actually saved his life, because he was so scared that he ran up the stairs towards me, and by the time he got halfway up the stairs, I’m standing there like this [Adam holds his hands up], with three green lasers pointed at my chest, going, ‘Baloo bed! Bed! Bed!’ as in ‘Go to your crate.’ And ‘Go to your bed and don’t get shot.’ And he did, and that’s what saved his life.”
What Happened Actually Happened To Baloo In Texas This Past January
Adam said, “He was the only person in the vehicle with me, and as smart as he is, he’s not a very good driver. And the police weren’t comfortable with him driving the vehicle away. So they took him to doggie jail, and he had to be bailed out the next day by one of our supporters in Texas. But he has now got more police interaction under his belt, than (I think) most party activists, and I’ve got to hand it to him; he has always handled it with grace and diplomacy.”
Apparently, Adam has been upstaged by Baloo: “[B]ut when we got arrested in Texas recently, there were ten times as many inquiries about his well-being and safety than about mine, and very appropriately so.” Adam also cleared up some confusion about the arrest, saying he knew early on that Baloo was bailed out since the Wise County Jail makes a lot of money off their phones, so they are happy to have prisoners use them.
[There is more to this story. Stay tuned for Part B in a future issue.]
Being Interviewed By Baloo
After the interview with Mr. Kokesh, I took a walk over to “No Force One” to meet Baloo. He was there with Stacy (who stepped onto the World stage when she posted some early videos on Adam vs. the Man about his recent arrest). Adam showed that Baloo could count saying, “Give me ten!” Baloo slapped both of Adam’s open palms with his front paws. He said “Can’t you give me five?” with his right hand up, and Baloo slapped that hand with one paw.
I asked Baloo, “What do you think is the proper role of the Federal government.” Baloo said nothing and turned his head away, indicating a that there was no good answer. When I asked if there were any restrictions on personal liberty he would support, Baloo turned his head from side to side in disapproval.
Since Baloo communicates much better with expressions than verbiage I recommend watching the rest of this interview yourself: https://youtu.be/cg74Sn0bUZo
Kokesh also addressed the convention delegation. The video is posted here:
https://youtu.be/-qljAREiNJM
