Libertarians Behind TSA Junk Touching Outrage Orgy Also Masterminded “Topless Tuesdays”
What has gone under-appreciated in the media frenzy over John Charles "Don't Touch My Junk" Tyner III is that he was preceded in his online activism by one Meg "Smeg" McLain, who first raised a shitstorm over her personal traumatic experience of being physically violated whole days before Tyner embarked upon his hunting trip. On a libertarian radio show to which she regularly contributes, McLain shared her Orwellian tale of being "singled out" for a body scan and when she refused, placed in solitary confinement and submitted to a 30-minute lecture about terrorism at the hands of a nasty TSA apparatchik who mocked her for having "opinions" and ripped her plane ticket in half before summoning 12 fellow agents and cops to handcuff her and drag her out of the airport. The only reason this wasn't a wayyyyy sexier story than Don't Touch My Junk guy was that it seemed—after all, as one of the libertarian hosts pointed out, McLain is "smokin' hot" albeit in a "Nickelback on iPod" sort of way—was because the TSA quickly released surveillance video suggesting that maybe McLain had, in her post-traumatic state, stretched the truth juuuust a bit.
But Das Krapital would much like to see McLain re-instated as the lead star of the #tsa meme—not least because she belongs to Free Keene, an intriguing community of liberty activists in Keene, N.H., probably best-known for its organization, in warmer months, of a ritual called Topless Tuesdays, in which young libertarian ladies, led by the lovely (and libertar-ially tattooed) Cassidy Nicosia, parade through the streets exposing their nipples like the socialists used to, sometimes while carrying guns.
I can't find McLain in the movement's relatively chaste footage of these inspiring acts of civil disobedience, but Keene is a very small town—so small the Free Keene movement's goal of getting 20,000 "liberty minded" people to move there would nearly double the population. So it's no surprise that McLain and Nicosia are friends on Facebook and, most likely, judging from their mutual attendance at this 420-themed thing and probably a bunch of other events extensively documented on the Internet that I don't have time to find right now, in real life also. But since McLain seems like the Free Keene movement's designated airport anarchist—according to this interview she often attempts to fly without showing ID—it was probably a good idea to "opt out" of getting herself arrested for flashing her tits to the general public before she got the opportunity to be arrested for refusing to show them to the TSA.
The Free Keene movement was founded by a political science professor at SUNY Buffalo named Jason Sorens, an affiliated scholar of the ardently free-market Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which was in turn funded, and is bankrolled in large part, by famous billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. The project dates back to 2001, when Sorens, then a Yale PhD., published an essay in the Libertarian Enterprise calling for a "secessionist" project by which all the nation's foes of big government would migrate to various clusters of freedom scattered across the union with the goal of eventually annexing territories and liberating them from laws, or something like that. The essay made the rounds, and the next year Sorens got a fellowship from the Institute for Humane Studies, which is also located at George Mason and funded by Charles and David Koch. There, Sorens had rebranded his "secession" movement into something called the Free States Project, which proceeded to host a 10-state convention tour of sorts to determine the ideal location to host a kind of Zionist movement for disenfranchised lovers of liberty. A 2003 dispatch from one of the locales in running, Missoula, Mont., attracted "a broad array of individuals":
A gun rights leader, an anarchist, a homeschooling advocate, parents with children, a man who has skipped paying taxes for five years and turned his skin blue by overdosing on colloidal silver in preparation for Y2K, the black editor of SierraTimes.com who jokes about being accused of advocating white supremacy, a man with a swastika tattooed on his forearm, a devout Jewish couple, a closeted Wisconsin environmentalist in league with Earth First!, an angry Californian who is ready to start shooting environmentalists, secessionists from the U.S. and Alberta, a staunch constitutionalist, a man who thinks the Bill of Rights should be truncated to its first five words ("Congress shall make no law"), a guy who came to "meet chicks," two Montana Republican legislators and somewhere, doubtless, a partridge in a pear tree.
But Sorens, who also got help from another Koch scholar named Peter Eyre, eventually fixed on New Hampshire, where according to this story the nebulous movement proceeded buying up properties under the names of various limited liability corporations.
At some point the movement migrated south from Grafton, N.H., to Keene, and Sorens delegated responsibility to Ian "Freeman" Bernard, the host of a syndicated radio show called Free Talk Live and an apparently brilliant guerilla marketing mind. Since he joined the movement, the Keeniacs have garnered national attention for stunts like Topless Tuesdays and calling for intellectual comrades to drink alcohol on public property in protest of the tyranny that is the local open container statute. On the subtler side, Bernard seems to have wooed the hearts and minds of liberty minded individuals turned off by the Tea Party Movement, like this user on the Free Keene message boards, who says:
My initial impression of the FSP was mixed. While I liked the ideas presented and I was already interested in NH for the last few years, I thought the FSP looked like some sort of "Tea Party/Quasi Hippie" movement which didn't appeal to me. It wasn't until I started listening to FTL near the beginning of the year that I warmed up to the idea of the FSP and gave the site and more importantly Free Keene another look. I think I speak for many when I say the content on this site is tremendous and all of the media is what really made a difference for me. Seeing activism first hand and what motivated liberty-loving people can do is not only what hooked me but what gave me hope. My exposure to Ian's message of peace and love is what helped me move past the anger and fear that I used to have and that seemed to be pervasive in another forum I used to frequent.
Or this one, Future mover, who is planning to move to Keene from Memphis, Tenn., in response to feeling "taxed to death" and embittered over local government subsidies of an NBA stadium:
We can either sit back and wait for things to get better or worse, or we can take action and quit being victims to the advances of power the state takes every day. Sam's incarceration has made it evident to me that we're not living in a free country. The only reason I'm not sitting in jail myself is because I have chosen to play their game, to live my life as the establishment sees fit. We're taxed to death here in Tennessee and most people don't ever see it that way. There is a 9.25% sales tax on just about everything. When I struggle to pay debts, student loans, cloth, feed, and house my family, I'm also being forced to pay for a multitude of programs that don't benefit me or my family. In fact, some of those programs I'm morally opposed to. Why should I continue to submit to these tyrannies at the expense of the family I'm responsible for?
But not so fast! As an "experienced Keeniac" quickly pointed out to the optimistic newcomer on the thread, "the poor" who rely on "government handouts" actually pay less in Tennessee than New Hampshire. And anyway, New Hampshire capital gains taxes will probably be raised soon anyway, putting liberty and freedom in greater peril than ever before, etc., etc. (Which is of course bullshit, since it was sales taxes the poor guy was complaining about, and there are no sales taxes in New Hampshire.) But anyway, maybe taxes weren't so much the issue, after all; later down on the thread, the Memphis guy cops to the real reason he wants to leave:
I realize things won't be much better in NH immediately, but I see hope for NH. Tennesseans are caught in this left-right paradigm and the xenophobia and saber-rattling I saw at the Memphis Tea Party really sickened me. At least in NH we can have friends that view the world the same way we do, logically and rationally.
So it goes in today's money = speech media landscape; if one brand of Koch-funded cult of misinformation starts to seem a little too vulgar and mass for your tastes, you can always upgrade to the next one! It's just like switching from Toyota to Lexus, or Old Navy to Gap. Except in this case, your brand loyalty won't actually buy you anything but more of the same old kleptocracy. And maybe, eventually, if Koch gets its way, the repeal of all those silly open container laws, because there will cease to exist any more public property on which Cassidy and her fellow Keeniacs might venture to violate them. Presumably that is the utopian vision Sorens had in mind when he founded the Free State enterprise. And if the Mercatus Center freedom index he co-authored last year—proclaiming New Hampshire the "most free" of all fifty states—can be trusted, it is well on its way to being achieved.
6:06 pm
The irony in the writer's perception is hilarious!
Just so you know, we Free Staters are divided on the topless thing downtown. A better place for that would be the beach, in my opinion.
6:13 pm
Hey Rich, thanks for reading. I wouldn't say I found it ironic so much as highly amusing. I have been highly perplexed by this whole thing and was relieved to have a more "fun" angle to bring to the proverbial table, if ultimately I was a bit depressed by the exchange about taxes.
9:50 pm
I organized the 420 Rally, and Topless Tuesday, and I would like to point out that I do not work for Ian, and Ian does not (as far as I know) work for Sorens. We're anarchists. We do what we want to do, what we think will be valuable. My rally was funded completely by me, although I do have a legal defense fund which accepts donations.
10:13 pm
Wow. Can't believe how much you got wrong on this article... At least about me.
As Rich pointed out, he started the Topless Tuesdays, not I.
I did walk around Keene topless (over a year ago, I might add), but am not a member of "Free Keene" or a "Keeniac", as some refer to them. And I only participated for about 2 minutes in the first topless Tuesday because I felt it was almost my duty, since I was the one who made the point that walking around topless is not illegal.
And as far as, "like the socialists used to", I'm an anarchist, definitely not a socialist. And there is no problem with women walking around topless if men can. We all have nipples, what's the big deal? Breasts are not sexual.
Also, I object to my image being used for this article, and the wording of the title and article are slanderous. Please, if you're going to report on something, try to make it somewhat unbiased.
Also, if there were no public property, I would never be topless on someone's private property if they didn't wish me to be.
And I'm pretty sure Smeg's never gone topless in public (could be wrong, I never have lived in Keene, so I'm not sure).
10:17 pm
Libertarians are behind freedom: SHOCKING! This is the scoop of the century!!!
10:24 pm
Thanks for the coverage, but some things presented as fact are WAAAY off. Here are a few corrections:
I created FreeKeene.com, not Jason Sorens. Based on things I've heard him say, I'm pretty sure Sorens wants nothing to do with civil disobedience, and therefore Free Keene.
Sorens founded the Free State Project and no, not everyone is moving to Keene. I've met Sorens a few times, but that's the extent of me knowing him.
Anyway, thanks for the coverage!
10:31 pm
Jeez, I wish we were getting some of that Koch money. The linkage is very much a stretch at best.
10:59 pm
If you think this article is hilarious (and it is), you should see Ian Freeman's bed bug infested club house home. The garbage and overturned couch on the rotting porch really give it eye appeal - and the neighbors LOVE him for it. He thinks its a big middle finger to the so called police state, but really, he is directing that finger at anyone who isn't in full agreement with him - kind of like a dreaming Hitler in 1920 but hidden under the veil of 'peace'. Every town in America has a town fool ot two, and for Keene, Ian and his 20 cronies would aptly fit into this grade school puzzle. Other than the small details these morons wish to address as corrections, the article pretty much sums up their actions rather factually - and despite the 'thanks for the coverage' bit, deep down they know it.
11:12 pm
Hrm, make stuff up much? What garbage? The couch on the porch was there temporarily. It was a tenant's and not a "finger to the police state".
If that's the best you've got Mr. Anonymous Critic, you ain't got much.
If you want to live in a land of manicured laws, there are deed restricted communities who would love to have you.
11:18 pm
Wait a second...
Because Meg McLain might have willingly bared her breasts in public in past, that means she has to consent to showing her breasts (or having them squeezed) at all times?
There is a phrase for that attitude: rape culture.
11:26 pm
Hmm... The mixing of facts, conspiracy theories, truth-stretching, tenuous connections, and outright fabrications don't speak well for the journalistic skills of the author. But perhaps this piece is intended as an initial foray into fiction writing?
11:38 pm
Ian Freeman: I was mainly going off a 2009 Boston Globe story linking you two. Incidentally, it also stated:
The Free Staters said they have no plans to temper their acts of civil disobedience, and if anything, will ramp up their attacks on the court system for not permitting them to film in the lobby. (Court officials say the ban is necessary to prevent the filming of children or domestic violence victims who may be present in the lobby.)
11:45 pm
oooh Ian - goody goody its playtime - looks like this article might have ruffled your fleas....you're actually coming back to check what people are saying - LOL. As normal, you respond with your predictable, sarcastic and empty excuses. Your pathetic diatribe here pretty much sums up how you feel about your neighbors in Keene - which is you just don't give a crap - and I don't just mean the ones who have to live next to you. Unless one stands downtown waving their arms up and down like Richard Simmons and screaming how oppressed you are - you simply do....not.....care. Your house is a DUMP - and you know it, so don't sit here and pretend any different. It's also interesting to note, that like SCHMEG, you have a history of stretching the truth too. How many times have you tried to pass yourself as homeless when it comes to voting, then go and pay your tax bill in dollar bills all the while bringing in a pizza as a slap in the face "oh look at me...I'm being a dick, but here is a slice of pizza aren't I a nice guy" bit? Go ahead - pull the cord on your caved in chest and reverberate your well rehearsed propaganda Mein Fuhrer. Your fourth reich hasn't amounted to a hill of beans - its not growing, and you know it as you sit in your cave and ponder the distressing future of our nation. There are more girl scouts in keene then there are freestaters. And Cassie - well well well - now you don't want your name mentioned? LOL - so....you're a libertarian censor now? Hypocrites - every last one of you.
11:55 pm
Moe: I live in Keene - and your article is absolutely SPOT ON. Besides the humor involved, it is a dead on bullseye. These buffoons LOVE documenting themselves - yet if you see one of them waving a black flag, they will argue that it's white. If this was Ian's article - he would have banned me already - because free speech and thought only applies to HIM.
12:11 am
I suppose this couch was on the lawn "temporarily" too - despite your saying it was on there "for as long as you can remember"? Here is a little free advertising for your youtube channel - don't say I never did anything for you. This vid is from 2008 - you moved the litter box couch off your lawn and onto your porch after this, and it sat in a heap (with other various articles of crap) on your porch ever since.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kmktYC2E-s
Keep stretching the truth, it will work those pecs.
2:10 am
Sitting on the Free State Project's Board of Directors, seems really odd to me to keep reading these sourceless comments about mysterious, spooky Koch money. We've never taken money from the Kochs; pretty darn sure about that. --Perhaps WashingtonCityPaper or Moe would like to contact the Kochs on our behalf and tell them to send us a check? We'd really appreciate it!
I remember when journalism involved researching at least basic facts. And not, you know, cribbing and rehashing material from other sources who couldn't get it right either. And then drawing completely baseless inferences from them. Sorry.
--And of course, there's just the eye-rolling conflation of the Free State Project with... whatever the hell it is that Free Keene... "does". C'mon, Maureen. How much effort did you actually put into this?
4:24 am
I want my Koch money. Do you people know how I can get it? If I could raise $5,000, and put on a radio ad, the 4:20 celebration on 4/20 on the State House Lawn in Concord will be HUGE!
8:26 am
You have printed so many factual errors I don't know where to start! I am not a Free Keene participant but have observed them for some time so can correct your mistakes and provide insights. Feel free to contact me via email if you have any interest in fixing this embarrassment.
10:20 am
Looks like you came back too, "Fleaman". Liberty activists must be ruffling your feathers - look how much time you spend attacking us!
If my neighbors have a problem, they can come talk to me.
Also, I think you're confusing two couches that have nothing to do with one another, and neither belonged to me. But, don't let the facts get in the way of your personal attacks.
12:13 pm
"I was mainly going off a 2009 Boston Globe story linking you two."
Moe, you should know never to trust the accuracy of reporting in the media. Just look at your own article as an example.
Contemporary liberty activists are remarkably easy to contact directly to verify facts. Have you noticed we pretty much all use our real name while commenting on your article?
1:20 pm
Wow, the fact fails in here are so broad as to almost overshadow the logic fails. What's your angle? "I'm looking for something to be angry about, why not these guys?" You've got nothing better to do than tamely complain about nipples, guns, and people protesting the perverts in the TSA? Well, congrats on getting your 15 minutes with the free staters, I'm sure your thoughtful commentary will have them all rethinking whether getting molested by the drooling Neanderthals in government employ might be fun after all.
3:10 pm
Attack? - an exchange of words on a comment section is something you consider an 'attack'? Aye yi yi. Your couch is small potatoes to me - but here is yet another example of your signature way of pointing the finger at someone else. It's always someone else. Your response is neither new or surprising. I find it humorous you are a staunch voluntaryist, yet charge people to live in your dump and call them 'tenants'. In this whole Smeg Mcclain video at the airport: If this was the other way around, you would be the first to be making a point that someone was lying - I can hear your voice "And here a freestater hands the cop a papertowel to wipe tears away - blah blah blah". Meg Mclain lied - she got owned - and the greater majority of people who read her version of events, and then viewed it, know this to be the case. While I am not fond of a body scanner - I hardly think her little fib helped any cause to have them dismantled. She lied. Period. Man up for once and consider that just because someone believes in freedom or is a freestater, doesn't make their moral scales jump off the chart and are any more honest than someone who isn't considered a "freestater".
6:20 pm
Topless Tuesday? Staged tantrums about oppression? Hilarious rampant factionalism? No wonder the opponents of freedom are running scared, they're facing down the might of a libertarian front that's one affirmative action bake sale away from being College Republicans from 10 years ago
8:23 pm
"I would like to point out that I do not work for Ian"
You may not be getting paid by him, but you're working "it" for him.
"We're anarchists"
Some are, but not all.
Has anyone seen my van?
11:42 pm
I don't know what that means, stone, but it sounds like bullshit to me.
12:19 am
Here I thought all those property-loving-Freestater-Libertarian types owned their own land, when all the time it was that Dr. Sorens guy & his secret LLC's beating government handouts to the punch (those bastards), no doubt from his secret bunker where he hordes all the gold the Koch bro's smuggled out of Fort Knox using their invisibility cloaks and a wheel barrow.
12:05 pm
I know it's been done, but I'd like to say it again. This article has so many holes. As a journalist, I think you should be ashamed of this article. Or are all your articles so misleading? So at a loss for checking? Do you not have an editor? Or do you just think you're too good for one? How can you report this as a seemingly 'true' story when so much is wrong with it? I could go through the whole article and fix it for you, if you would like. I am a great editor! How about this, Moe? Stop writing 'articles' until you can actually get it right. And the title, by the way, is atrocious. "Libertarians Behind TSA Junk Touching Outrage Orgy also Mastermind Topless Tuesdays"?? The TITLE doesn't even MAKE SENSE! "Outrage Orgy". Would you care to define that for me? Maybe put it in a sentence. I hope (if you are a paid employee of Washington City Paper) that you are fired for your inaccuracies. Go get a real job, you stupid blogger. The Free State Project is an attempt to get liberty-minded people to move to New Hampshire, not Keene, first-off. Secondly, the Topless Protest was something only Cassidy (not Cassie) was arrested for participating in, though her charges were dropped because it was found LEGAL. Then, Topless Tuesdays were started MONTHS later at the 4:20 protests. Topless Tuesdays, Cassidy's protest, and the TSA bullshit are not connected, because TSA hadn't decided to start groping us at the time those started. Also, on your picture, the caption is inaccurate. And unless Cassidy signed a release, or the website you stole it from gave you SPECIFIC PERMISSION, it SHOULD be illegal for you to use that photograph. (And if it isn't, god, you should at least find it unethical.) So Moe, how about you find a job that you're actually good at and leave the reporting to the people that care enough to do it right? And unbiased? Whether it was meant to be a joke article or not, SOME semblance of truth would have been nice. The only thing you got right were how to spell your PROPER NOUNS.
-OKLiving
12:07 pm
Excuse me. The only thing you got right WAS how to spell your proper nouns.
So you can't attack me for a mistake.
9:46 pm
A whole bunch of nothing and not a single properly placed period! I almost ran out breath trying to read this trash. LMFAO! Don't touch my JUNK!
9:09 am
Wow, someone still pays Moe Tkacik to write? Unbelievable. You would think after this little episode she would be living in Guam or perhaps Antarctica:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lizz-winstead/jezebelism_b_110903.html
9:10 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0