I’m a libertarian, not a liberal. We’re the “individual liberty, free markets, and peace” group, to borrow the Cato Institute’s motto.

Let’s say, though, that you’re one of Whitewater’s progressive residents. I don’t doubt your sincerity.

I wonder, instead, about the local application of your principles. The left in Whitewater has turned around the mantra ‘Think globally, act locally’ into something different: ‘Vote nationally, compromise locally.’

That national commitment doesn’t translate to local, political change. Quite the contrary – Whitewater shows no signs of the political principles that progressives advocate nationally. Whitewater’s leading local party would best be described as Incumbents, not Democrats or Republicans.

Over at the online Capital Times, there’s a story about last weekend’s annual liberal gathering, the Fighting Bob Fest (named for ‘Fighting Bob’ La Follette).
FightingBob.com is the group’s blog. The group believes in more government than a libertarian could ever stomach. Far too much. Still, they’re an interesting bunch.

Both the Cap Times and FightingBob.com are web-based.

Many newspapers, struggling in print, may find their way on the web, along with political websites and blogs.

One shouldn’t expect longstanding incumbents and career bureaucrats to embrace new media as tools of openness. They won’t.

Yet, good newspapers (in print and online) and vigorous organizations (of contesting views) will have an auspicious future in America.

See, Capital Times: Rhetoric Fires Up Liberals at Fighting Bob Fest

Last night, Jefferson County voters rejected, by 57% to 42%, a referendum to increase the tax levy — the amount that a jurisdiction budgets to receive from property taxes. The tax levy amount is limited by law, and exceeding it required the referendum.

Here’s the text of the referendum on which Jefferson County residents voted:

Under state law, the increase in the levy of Jefferson County for the tax to be imposed for the next fiscal year, 2010, is limited to 8.41%, which results in a levy of $26,054,457. Shall the County of Jefferson be allowed to exceed this limit and increase the levy for the next four fiscal years, 2010 through 2013, by $1,958,724 per year (which for 2010 equals an additional 8.15% for a total increase of 16.56%) which results in a levy of $28,013,181 for 2010, which sum does not include exempt library services or other exemptions from the levy limit?

There was also an explanatory statement from the Jefferson County Board:

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT AND EFFECT OF VOTE:

The September 15, 2009, special election ballot asks the county electors to vote “yes” or “no” on the referendum question above.

A “yes” vote on the question allowing the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit under s. 66.0602, Wisconsin Statutes, by a total of $1,958,724 for the next four fiscal years, 2010-2013, (which for the allowable 2009 levy collected in 2010 equals 16.56% more than the 2008 levy collected in 2009 and results in a levy of $28,013,181 in 2010 not including exemptions from the levy cap) is a vote to authorize the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit by $1,958,724 to be used for operating Jefferson County’s Countryside Home, a skilled nursing facility.

In the event a majority of the electors vote “yes”, the county tax levy for 2010 will be 16.56% more than the 2009 county property tax, and will be an increase in the county portion of tax bills of $90.12 for a property with an equalized value of $150,000.

A “no” vote on the question allowing the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit under s. 66.0602, Wisconsin Statutes, by a total of $1,958,724 for the next four fiscal years, 2010-2013, (which would equal a 16.56% increase in the 2008 levy collected in 2009 and would result in a total levy of $28,013,181 not including exemptions from the levy cap) is a vote to deny authorization to the County of Jefferson to exceed the levy limit.

In the event a majority of the electors vote “no”, Countryside Home will be listed for sale as resolved by prior County Board action, and the County Board will only be allowed to raise taxes as limited by state law.

So the Board dared voters: a higher tax levy, or no Countryside nursing home. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the referendum; the referendum received a majority of votes in only three of thirty-two precincts. That’s not because Jefferson County voters are cold or unfeeling.

Still, that’s how the story will be reported in some places: voters close nursing home. See, Countryside Nursing Home Will Close After Referendum Fails.

There’s a different story in all this — Jefferson County budgeted poorly, and asked voters to give them more, beyond the existing state limit, lest a nursing home be closed. The county might have made other budget choices, but was unwilling to do so. In fact, it made a choice: Countryside was the least of the Board’s concern. If it had mattered more, something lese would have been placed at risk.

This referendum was a failed gamble from incumbents on a county board, daring voters to increase a county tax levy, to cover poor choices that board made previously, lest a nursing home be closed. It was a cynical ploy, and this referendum deserved defeat.

The best arrival is where one’s destination is a happy and well-ordered one. That’s not always possible, sadly. One may take a new job in a community where a few act selfishly and wrongly.

It’s unsettling to arrive to a situation like that. The pressure for the newcomer to go along, to accept bad practices and self-interested behavior, will be nearly overwhelming.

One will hear everything: that’s how it’s done here, that’s how it should be done here, and that those entrenched few are ‘good’ people, and so cannot be wrong on policy.

It would be easier if Whitewater, Wisconsin were already well-ordered. I wish that it were. One day it will be.

Not yet. The newcomer’s challenge awaits, serious, difficult, and unenviable.

Today, millions of Americans gathered in Washington, D.C. as protestors against burdensome and overbearing government. They call their protests tea parties, after the Boston Tea Party. They arrived from every part of America, and exercised their constitutional rights of speech and peaceable assembly. They spent their own money for travel, accommodations, and to make their own signs and banners.

Like all peaceful protestors before them, of either the right or the left, they have faced criticism from a small number of Americans who are contemptuous of our tradition of freedom when it does not suit their interests. As with most protests so large, not all of those attending were of a like mind on all issues.

In recent weeks, I’ve met people who have been infuriated at protests like these, decrying some of the rhetoric at the events.
These events certainly aren’t purely libertarian — some of the positions taken aren’t libertarian at all.

For a libertarian take on today’s national protest, see Reason‘s Matt Welch’s “Quick Impressions of the D.C. 9/12 Protest.”

America has always been a place of vigorous, and sometimes acerbic, commentary. There were different groups of protestors a few years ago; they’ll be different ones a few years from now. America will go on just fine. Much better for it all, actually.

Far closer to home, in Jefferson, Wisconsin, there was a local tea party protest. I stopped by, took some photographs, and talked with some of the protestors. Many with whom I spoke identified themselves as independents, unaffiliated with either major party.

Some said they had never protested against anything before in their lives. I asked one elderly woman, who told me this was her first protest, how she felt about attending. I teased her, and told her she was a dissenter now, part of a long tradition of protest in America. How’s it feel, I asked? She told me that she was glad she attended, and that she now thinks it’s okay to speak out.

Yes, it is.

Scenes from a Tea Party Protest, Jefferson, Wisconsin:

I don’t believe any country’s flag is more beautiful that America’s. That’s true today, with 50 stars for 50 states, as it was when Wisconsin became America’s 30th state, and during the Revolution, with only 13 states.

Some day, perhaps not long from now, others will petition to be admitted to the Union. I very much hope so; our way of life offers much, for anyone.

I’ve put these three flags up on the left sidebar of my webpage, because I think they’re beautiful in themselves, and even more for what they represent.