FreedomFest Review

Day 1

Sioux Falls is bigger than I expected. Almost 200,000 people. Very nice downtown. Aside from a generally weird, smelly and unhelpful Walgreens clerk, the people are extremely friendly and welcoming. Economy is clearly booming here. Labor shortage is acute, post-Covid hysteria. Restaurants and shops have reduced hours and seating. A lot of very young people are working–this is a very good thing. Finding only enough of them to be able to seat at 50% capacity is a very bad thing.

Day 2

South Dakota is beautiful! Very much like Colorado: The eastern and central parts of the state are so flat and then the west features the Black Hills. Badlands were off in the distance from the highway.

Played golf at the Red Rocks Golf Club. Crazy hilly. Ton of wildlife. Got a picture with my son, “the Bear”.

Pride and joy.

Met the eminent and brilliant political scientist Wilfred Reilly in our hotel elevator. Great guy. Fellow Chicagoan. Undaunted in exposing bullshit.

Day 3

First full day of FreedomFest. Off to a bit of a slow start. Welcome was too long. First session was mistitled–ended up being more about retirement planning than real adventures in an unfree world. Snuck out midway with “the Bear” and bumped into the most consistent mother fucker I know, Dave Smith. Had a great line ready for when I met him about Robby the Fire’s time running out, how Covid separates the wheat from the chaff, and that I should be the new co-host on Part of the Problem. To no avail. I just got nervous, introduced myself and Augie. Dave is genuine and kind to the bone. Did make him laugh. Props to me.

Really picked up after that. Author Jerry Bowyer was phenomenal on the subject of Jesus as maker and entrepreneur versus the fakers (basically Judeans and Herodians) and takers (archons, Romans, temple money changers). He reinforced my experience of how the Gospels and indeed all of Scripture ought to be read with a liberty lens. It all makes sense then.

Patrick Newman crushed it in a debate with consensus and a Constitutional lawyer. The Constitutional Convention and its ratification was an illegitimate and illegal coup in favor of centralized power. It was and is, as the real federalists (i.e. anti-federalists) knew and predicted, a blatant power grab and assault on individual rights and confederation itself.

The Most Consistent… Guy I know. Dave Smith

The great Dave Smith topped it off with some great stand up. Sleepy Joe. Poor Sleepy Joe.

*Wasn’t there, but heard JP Sears was otherworldly. No holds barred. No jokes pulled.

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Very good. Forgot waitress’s name, but she was fantastic. So professional. The buns with that cinnamon butter are spectacular.

Crazy Horse. The American Patriot?

At night, went to the Crazy Horse Monument. Beautiful. Weird attempt at the end of the laser light show to make Crazy Horse and all American Indians into U.S. patriots. Weird since the U.S. Army hunted most of them down like dogs.

Day 4

Second day of FreedomFest proper.

Maj Touré lit it up. He never disappoints. Deserved much more than 20 minutes to present what’s next for Black Guns Matter and individual liberty for blacks, whites and everyone.

Black Guns Matter

Ponder this for a moment: Private security forces responsive instead of oppressive to you! Tough to imagine in this matrix. What about the poor, you say? Well, get rid of the drug war, allow everyone to carry, and see how much crime goes down even in the worst of neighborhoods.

Gene Epstein’s SoHo Forum debate was solid, if uninspiring. Winner indeterminate. Yaron Brook emphasized the centrality of profit making for business shareholders. John Mackey reminded all of the multiplicity of benefits business creates. Both are right.

Oh Captain, My Captain… of the SoHo Forum

Bumped into John Tyler on the street of the City of Presidents (at least, their sculptures). Brion McClanahan calls him the best. He might be right. My boy is still Cleveland.

A real Constitutional conservative. Sadly, one of the last as well.

Bumped into very failed presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen. Meh.

Uninspiring then. Uninspiring now.

Great beer and pizza of all sorts at Independent Ale House, Downtown Rapid City. Also here: a stark reminder of the tolerant, cooperative beauty of the free market. A flamboyantly gay–“Love is love” t-shirt wearing server–was so kind and conversational with my 71-year old father. Throw the coercive nature of politics into that dynamic, and there would be a fight. Stay with the cooperative essence of capitalism, and everybody’s happy.

Day 5

Third day of FreedomFest.

The best way to start the day at FreedomFest is to go hear the great T.K. Coleman. Such an agile mind. Such a tremendous intellect; and an even better man. If you are unmotivated about truth,

Just two Miracles reconnecting. Mirth ensues.

beauty, and human freedom then sit down with T.K. for five minutes, and you’ll be good for a lifetime. I am biased but correct. He’s a childhood friend and still one today. Catching up with him,

T.K. is a star for liberty.

talking about my mom’s cookies and eating them in the good ole days was special.

Also took in an inciteful debate on gold vs. Bitcoin. Check this lady and gentlemen out. The Bitcoin side, represented by Eryka Gemma and Paul Rosenberg really shined. Kirk and Rick just glimmered.

Bitcoin wins, but all hard money and reserve banking are good.

Afternoon was dominated by Rushmore. Here I am with Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt (boo!), Lincoln (double boo!), and Westerman (three cheers).

Real greatness is in the foreground.

Charlie is a former student and now dear friend. We are putting out a history of the United States in 2022. Get ready to be blown away.

Back in Rapid City, I saw the aforementioned nationalist in sculpture form, apparently informing a young boy of how he aimed to garner nationalist and perpetual Republican power over the country by fighting a war to colonize the South. How quaint.

Liar, liar; pants on fire.

There’s a business named (positively?) after Horace Mann. No word if it creates indoctrination factory/prisons like those for which he advocated.

Not the man.

Day 6

Fourth and final day of FreedomFest.

Took in “The Unseen” documentary at the Anthem Film Fest about the destruction wrought by California lockdowns of small businesses. Tragic and powerful.

A marketing seminar with Craig and Caleb Huey. Sound stuff.

Truth.

A funny tote bag.

And then, the big one. My debate on the Catholic Church with Doug Casey.

Ready for a Showdown. The Holy Spirit won. He always does.

Audio is forthcoming, NOW HERE, so listen for yourself. But–SPOILER ALERT–I won. People said he got “wrecked, washed, and smashed.” 70-30 by vote. Not bad. Hope I did Tom Woods (in absentia) proud on “Tom Woods Day” at the Fest.

Mass at St. Theresa the Little Flower. Deacon’s homily was like rhetorical Lunesta. ZZZZZZZZ….

Drinking with T.K and Charlie. Solving the world’s (and universe’s) problems.

Day 7

A long ride home through a truly free state, somewhat free states, and then accursed Illinois.

Blessed, so blessed, to have done this all with my father, my son, four great friends, and thousands of liberty loving people of good will.