Okay, my liver and lungs feel like Glen Jacobs–AKA “Kane,” a speaker at the NH Liberty Forum this past weekend–took a tire iron to them, but my love of liberty is burning bright. Of all the compelling reasons to attend conferences like this, the sense of hope with which I always leave is my favorite one.

Sniff.

Man, super-soppy, I know, but there you have it. The other highlight was, of course, getting to hang out a bit with Crasher-in-Chief, Pete Eyre.

Liberty Forum started early for me at Taproom Tuesday at Murphy’s in downtown Manchester, where I met up with Gardner Goldsmith, Angela Keaton of Antiwar.com, and the aforementioned Glen Jacobs, two time World Champion Wrestler. Glen really knows his stuff, and we hung out for a good hour or two (my head cricked up the entire time) discussing Austrian economics and the bond market bubble. Riveting. (Yes, really!)

Wednesday was spent at the HCR6 Rally, where, as you’ve probably heard by now, we lost the vote. A roll-call vote was demanded, which means we can track how the reps voted, allowing organizations like the NH Liberty Alliance to grade them (like the naughty children they turned out to be).

When the vote came in on “Inexpedient to Legislate”–150 nays, 216 yeahs–the gallery erupted in boos and cat calls of “We won’t forget,” and “You’re fired!” There is some debate as to whether this will cause a backlash, especially considering New Hampshire is one of the few Statist Houses where you’re allowed to open carry, but my sentiment is: people may have been rude, they may have broken the House decorum rules, but they didn’t commit a crime (assuming the First Amendment still means anything) and these people need to understand what is at stake. They need to understand they work for us. They are our servants. We are their masters. And masters get to yell at servants. Get over it, already.

On Thursday, Liberty Forum kicked off with a bang. Literally. The Newbie Gun Class, led by Free Stater and 2nd Amendment Sista, Kate Marshall, drew some seventy people. In the evening, we gathered at the Welcome Reception for some drinky-poos and appetizers, and were treated to the comedy of Aaron David Ward.

On Friday afternoon, after hosting the Porc Fest lunch table (early bird registration is now open, so get your sweet little behind over and sign up, pronto) I managed to catch a few of the speakers.

Gary Franchi, National Director of Restore the Republic, the folks distributing Aaron Russo’s “America: Freedom to Fascism,” cracked us up with: “Technology is your friend, until it is embedded in your hand or forehead.”

Iraq Veterans Against War’s Adam Kokesh, who I’m pretty sure every chick at the Forum has a crush on (sorry, gals, he’s taken), blew my mind months ago when I heard him speak at the Rally for the Republic in Minnesota during the GOP convention (think: I took an oath to defend against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC), and he continues to impress. A man of honor and principle (and a killer poker player–I want my money back!), he manages to convey truly rEVOLutionary ideas in a forthright and admirable manner. He believes, and I agree, that we are moving from an intellectual movement into a political one. A force to be reckoned with. If we continue to openly advocate our beliefs in peace, prosperity, and freedom, they “don’t have enough people to come after us all.”

Anthony Gregory, a Research Analyst at the Independent Institute and a Lew Rockwell columinst, wins not only my Best Dressed award (the man knows how to rock a fedora), but also my Favorite Topic award. I’ll give you a hint: drugs. “Government,” Gregory says, “is a reflection of what the people will put up with.” He’s right, and, circling back to the HCR6 ‘incident,’ this is why it remains crucial for us to speak out, every day, all the time, at every juncture and opportunity, hell, create the opportunities, so the Gangstas can start to grasp that we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!

Ah, cocktail hour. Thank God.

Doctor Mary Ruwart gives Friday evening’s keynote address, and being a big fan of her book Healing Our World, I’m excited to hear her speak but somehow manage to forget my notebook which, I swear, has nothing to do with the preceding paragraph. She talks about the cost–both financially and in loss of life–caused by government intervention in the health care industry. Of all the talks, this one depresses me, because it seems inevitable, as we move towards the Obamanation of nationalized health care, we will see more fallen.

The rest of Friday night: A blur. Drinks and more drinks. We discover the Gazebo, a beautiful, snow-white structure down by the river, far from the hotel’s fire alarms, nudge, nudge, hint, hint. The fire alarm does go off later. The hotel staff kindly let us wait in the foyer, for this is Nude Hampster in March, and the snow is still thick on the ground. The staff knows it is the Health Department’s mandated cleaning of the grill’s hood in the kitchen that sets off the alarm. The firemen know it too, and they are equally annoyed, and not very speedy, at coming out. The Laws of Unintended Consequences in motion. (Imagine there is an actual, life threatening fire one day.)

Saturday morning. My head hurts. I’m the sucka with the 8AM registration desk volunteer slot. Please, someone, bring me water. Coffee? I’ll take it.

After working with a sea of other Free Staters in the morning–voluntaryism at its finest–and again hosting the Porc Fest table at lunch (we will, apparently, be having a Best Beard contest this year, so get cracking!), I catch Boston T Party’s speech in the afternoon. The room is packed with Gun Bible wielding folks, and he’s an inspiring, knowledgeable speaker. If you don’t own his book yet, and you weren’t lucky enough to be at the Forum where an early mover bought extra copies to give away, buy one soon. It’s already, according to Boston T Party, being blacklisted in some states. Says Boston T Party about what kinds of weapons you should have: “You get caught in a fight with a hand gun, you go to a fight with a rifle. They don’t want us to go to the fight.” I’m planning to attend a rifleman’s course soon. So should you. (And to make things easy for you, we’re planning an Appleseed training session at Porc Fest… Stay tuned for more details…) Towards the end of his talk, Boston T Party hits me right in the heart when he says: “It’s not what you ‘believe in’ that matters, it’s what you are willing to fight for. On your tombstone, there’s the date you were born and the date you died. The hyphen in between is your life. What are you going to do with it?”

From weapons of one sort to another, I hit John Taylor Gatto’s speech on ‘Weapons of Mass Instruction.’ A legend among homeschoolers and un-schoolers, he is popular amongst attendees. His talk is centered around successful high school and college dropouts, the likes of Gates, Buffet, and Branson, and many others I have never heard of, but who followed their dreams and succeeded, despite the gubberment. Gatto speaks about the history of forced schooling–”childish people obey”–which in turn creates obedient soldiers. And he doesn’t just mean the uniformed kind. Think about it this way: we are in a battle of ideas, and the other side has spent billions to train an army of idiots. Gatto talks about an America where accomplishments are celebrated. A place where possibilities are everywhere. A place with “No more zombies. No more parasites.” “Salvation,” he says, “will not come from following the rules. We must make up the rules as we go along.” He speaks of a new insurgency. “Every day,” says Gatto, “7,000 kids drop out of school. That’s 1.25 million a year. I say to those 1.25 million, come join us, help us build a new nation, the rest of you, stay in class.”

Aaaaah, cocktail hour, take two. How can things get any better? But they do. We get Dick…

… Heller: you know, of District of Columbia vs. Heller. The man who got the Nine Injustices to admit the Second Amenment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm for private use. Hallelujah!

Sunday. My head hurts. A lot. I suck because I have missed the entire morning and early afternoon’s speakers–Sorry, Pete!–but the night before contained a lethal mix of drinking, drumming, singing, dancing, beatboxing, Alt Expo, smoking, poker, and Gazebo partaking. Forgive me? I do manage to catch the last speaker, Stefan Molyneux, about whom I will write more later.

In the meanwhile, I leave you with my final thoughts about the liberty movement in general: The amount of energy and vitality and intellectual clarity, voracity, and depth at the NH Liberty Forum was a sight to behold. It made my heart race and my palms sweat and my head wanted to explode because the speakers, the volunteers, the organizers, and the attendees–we, the people–are in the right, we are moral, and our numbers are growing.

The halls and rooms were a-buzz with our passion, our passion for life, liberty, and, in my case, the hyper-pursuit of happiness. We may not be the same sex, or race, or religion, or whatever-the-hell–and that’s half the point!–but we are united in our fight against evil. We may not have hoods and capes and super-powers, but we are the watchmen, and together, we are a powerful force.

Close your eyes and imagine a future where we have won the fight, and people are truly free. Now imagine what that future will look like. Imagine that, instead of having to lift a finger to fight, we can expend all our energies on peace and productivity, on imagination and creativity. Imagine the prosperity, imagine the new things, new music, new art, new innovations, new gadgets, new ideas… Think The Jetsons instead of The Flintstones. This is the world I want to live in. And this is why I fight!

To join the resistance, head over to Bureaucrash Social. If Liberty Forum sounds like fun, don’t miss the Free State Project’s next event, The Porcupine Freedom Festival, coming up June 25-28, 2009. Register now for only $15.