EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in an occasional series of op-ed pieces submitted by candidates for governor and Congress. The Telegraph extended this invitation to those candidates whose names will appear on the Sept. 14 primary ballots.

Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, said: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”

I’m the candidate who supports liberty and thinks logically.

Which constitutional amendment gives us the right to free speech? None. It was already a right.

If you hire bodyguards to protect your family, making them promise, in writing, that they won’t steal your car, that doesn’t mean they may steal your truck, nor that they gave you the car and you ought to be grateful.

Daniel Webster said: “There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange.” The truth supports liberty, so supporters of liberty must carefully speak the truth and catch all lies.

With drug asset forfeiture, they take cars, houses and money. What percentage of victims are innocent persons? One hundred. Selling cocaine makes them no less innocent.

That’s logical thinking: Taking a known truth – that people have an inherent natural right to use whatever drugs they want and to sell whatever drugs their customers want – and building on it. So what if the enemies of liberty disagree with it?

Enemies of liberty marginalize us, considering our demand for re-legalization of drugs wild and chimerical. With truth, we’ll countermarginalize them. If they won’t even agree that their government has no right to ban drugs, then the Train of Freedom simply leaves without them.

Enemies of liberty argue that I elected those lawmakers or failed to vote. Truth is, I vote for candidates who support liberty. Enemies of liberty see the absurdity in their argument, but they must use absurd arguments because only those support their cause. Valid reasoning supports liberty.

“But, Tom, the voters support those laws.”

I’m a voter, and I don’t support those laws. As your math teacher said, for a statement to be true, it must be true for all cases.

“But, Tom, the voters overwhelmingly support those laws.”

No, I don’t. They lie so much, they forgot how to say the truth: The overwhelming majority of voters support those laws. They have no right to impose them on anybody else.

The hypocrites smoke tobacco, drink alcohol, enjoy pretending that they are superior to other drug abusers, so the hypocrites have their government declare the hypocrites law-abiding citizens, while the other drug abusers are criminals.

“But, Tom, we live in a democracy, where the majority rules.”

You don’t pledge allegiance to the democracy for which it stands. In a democracy, only the right to vote is off limits to the government. In a republic, other rights are made off-limits by the constitution. The big difference between a democracy and a republic is in our favor, so let’s catch the lie every time.

Gang rape is democracy. Five persons say “yes,” one says “no,” the majority rules, electing a “sheriff” to handcuff the victim. (He’s “just doing his job, enforcing the will of the people.”) One vote is useless when you’re vastly outnumbered by creeps who don’t care about your rights.

Consider a 1978 Michigan referendum on raising the drinking age from 18 to 21. It was totally unacceptable to Mr. and Mrs. Twenty that they would no longer be old enough, but they were vastly outnumbered by bigots who hate them and hypocrites who would rather impose this on folks under 21 than impose tougher DWI laws on themselves.

In New Hampshire, hypocrites demand sting operations “to reduce traffic fatalities,” but don’t you dare impose a seat belt law. Now you’re talking about their freedom.

Enemies of liberty use absurd arguments: Statistics prove the USA shouldn’t be a free country, with liberty and justice for all. Drinking during pregnancy harms the baby, so let’s impose prohibition on men under 21 and not on pregnant women over 21. Underage drinkers are irresponsible because they’re doing something that’s illegal, and it’s illegal because they’re so irresponsible.

New Hampshire gets more highway money by imposing this law, but those grants aren’t constitutionally authorized.

Freedom is more important than freeways. If they would sell somebody’s freedom for highway money, would they sell their daughters for cocaine money?

To restore liberty, we must speak truths, catch lies and challenge absurd arguments. We must also convey to the enemies of liberty our hostility toward their malicious endeavors, in a manner just dignified enough for political debate.

They don’t care if a 10-year prison stint offends an innocent drug dealer, so let’s not worry that the truth might offend enemies of liberty.

Tom Alciere, of Hudson, is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

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