I'm a "Manson Libertarian"

I can't tell if that Gravel Video Jen linked to is an elaborate inside joke or not.

For the Libertarian Party, the Ron Paul newsletters were such a big deal, both on the left, where it confirmed their darkest (and most gleeful) imaginations, as well as for the libertarians themselves, who were worried about what was being advertised as part of a Libertarian Agenda. For me, I enjoyed seeing the newsletters' engagement with the Michigan Militia mentality:

As early as December 1989, a section of his Investment Letter, titled "What To Expect for the 1990s," predicted that "Racial Violence Will Fill Our Cities" because "mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white 'haves.'" Two months later, a newsletter warned of "The Coming Race War," and, in November 1990, an item advised readers, "If you live in a major city, and can leave, do so. If not, but you can have a rural retreat, for investment and refuge, buy it." In June 1991, an entry on racial disturbances in Washington, DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood was titled, "Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo." "This is only the first skirmish in the race war of the 1990s," the newsletter predicted. In an October 1992 item about urban crime, the newsletter's author--presumably Paul--wrote, "I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming."

Say what you will, but it is interesting how Anti-Welfare State rhetoric and racism compliment each other so well; this marriage wasn't a shotgun one. More to the point, if this sounds like Charles Manson, it should:

The murders perpetrated by Charles Manson and members of his Family were inspired in part by Manson's prediction of Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks and whites. This "chimerical vision," as it was termed by the court that heard Manson's appeal from his conviction for the Tate-LaBianca killings, involved reference to music of The Beatles and to the New Testament's Book of Revelation.

Manson had been predicting racial war for some time before he used the term Helter Skelter His first use of the term was at a gathering of the Family on New Year's Eve 1968. This took place at the Family's base at Myers Ranch, near California's Death Valley...

On August 8, 1969, the day Manson instructed his followers to carry out the first of two sets of notorious murders, he told the Family, "Now is the time for Helter Skelter."

So the Libertarian Party had a bit of a Helter Skelter problem in 2008, one could say. And in case you didn't hear, Mike Gravel is now running for the Libertarian Nomination (and may very well get it). Maybe he wants race war cred?