FREEDOM SUMMIT 2009 Speakers

Thomas Woods

Thomas Woods holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He served as a history department faculty member at Suffolk County Community College in New York until 2006, and is now resident scholar and senior faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute (LvMI), as well as a member of the editorial board for the institute’s Journal of Libertarian Studies. Thomas Woods is the author of many great books including, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, 33 Questions About American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask, Who Killed the Constitution?, Meltdown and many others. Meltdown was on the New York Times “Best seller list” for 10 weeks.

John Taylor Gatto

John Taylor Gatto is an American retired school teacher of 29 years and 8 months and author of several books on education. He is an activist critical of compulsory schooling and of what he characterizes as the hegemonic nature of discourse on education and the education professions.

John Gatto did undergraduate work at Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia, then served in the U.S. Army medical corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following army service he did graduate work at the City University of New York, Hunter College, Yeshiva University, the University of California, and Cornell.

John Taylor Gatto is the author of great books including, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, The Exhausted School, A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling, The Underground History of American Education, Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling.

Judge John Buttrick

John Buttrick is currently the highest-ranking Libertarian in Arizona state government. A graduate of Harvard Law, he has been a member of the bar of Arizona, California, the federal Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court. In May of 2001, he was elevated to a judgeship on the Maricopa County Superior Court by Governor Jane Hull.

Before being appointed to the court, John litigated for Brown & Bain in a variety of areas including antitrust, product liability, contract, environmental torts and intellectual property, for clients such as IBM, Intel, Dupont, and McDonald’s.

John has campaigned in previous years for the offices of state representative and governor as a Libertarian, and has served on the Libertarian National Committee and National Platform Committee.

Charles Goyette

Conservative commentator Charles Goyette -named “Best Phoenix Talk Show Host” by the New Times and “Man of the Year” by his county Republican Party – recently caused a industry stir when he was fired for political heterodoxy. Refusing to toe the Clear Channel party line and support the war in Iraq, he was first transferred from his high-profile druve-time slot to an evening pigenhole, and then terminated by talk behemoth 550 KFYI fter his contract no longer protexted him.

Charles was quickly snapped up by maverick, eclectic news/talk 1100 KFNX during morning drive time. In May of this year he abandoned the Republican Party for the Libertarian Party, explaining that the Republicans had abandoned any pretense of principle.

In Charles Goyette’s soon to be released book, “The Dollar Meltdown,” he reveals the governmental errors that led to the current economic crisis and the bumpy road ahead. “The Dollar Meltdown” is a book about the financial future and what you can do about it. And you can do something! You don’t have to be a financial professional, expose yourself to risky leverage, or worry about every tick of the markets…  Once you understand the nature of the crisis you will discover that there are common-sense steps you can take now to protect yourself and your family and even to profit from the dollar meltdown!

Adam Kokesh

Adam Kokesh was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He is currently an anti-U.S. occupation of Iraq activist. Adam majored in Psychology and Government at CMC.

On September 2, 2008, Kokesh spoke at Rep. Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, MN, where he stated: “While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civily, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours we have come to water the tree of liberty … who will stand with me?”

In April 2009, Adam Kokesh supporters created a draft website to encourage Kokesh to run for United States Congress representing New Mexico’s 3rd congressional district. Soon after, Kokesh launched an exploratory committee, and on July 4, 2009, he officially announced his candidacy at a supporter rally. On the same day, supporters formed a moneybomb that raised more than $25,000 in a 24 hour period. On July 21 2009, Kokesh announced that he would be running under the Republican party ticket.

Sheriff Richard Mack

Sheriff Richard Mack is the former Arizona Graham County sheriff, a long-time crusader for freedom and individual rights and a Oath Keeper.

Richard Mack gives lectures and give seminars on constitutional issues relating to gun control, law enforcement, States’ rights, the farce, otherwise known as the drug war, and the oath of office. Mack has also been a consultant for lawyers, and people in general helping them with cases of unlawful arrests and police misconduct. Richard Mack has stood for “the little guy” against “big brother” government.

In 1994 Mack filed a lawsuit challenging the Brady bill to stop the federal government from forcing another unfunded mandate down our throats.

Butler Shaffer

A prolific writer and speaker, Professor Shaffer has presented several academic papers, led discussions, and written numerous books and articles on social theory, buisness and labor law. In his book, Calculated Chaos (1985(, he explores the theory that “institutions are the principle means by which conflict is produced and managed in society.” In his book, In Restraint of Trade (1995), he demonstrates how the business system endeavored to restrict competition between 1918 and 1938, and was the major factor in the creation of the New Deal’s National Industrial Recovery Act and has completed another book on The Redistribution of Authority. He has also been interviewed on these subjects on network television, cable and radio.

Professor Shaffer attended law school at the University of Nebraska and the University of Chicago. Prior to his appointment to the faculty at Southwestern University School of Law in 1977, Professor Shaffer served on the faculty at the University of Nebraska College of Business Administration where he taught courses ion business and law. Shaffer currently teaches Administrative Law, Antitrust Law, Informal Systems of Order Seminar, Labor Law, Property, and SCALE.

Butler Shaffer’s new book Boundaries of Order is scholarly, passionate, and a completely fresh look at a marvelous intellectual apparatus by a mature intellectual who has been writing on law, economics, and history for four decades. It is the treatise on liberty and property for the digital age, one written in the Rothbardian/Hayekian tradition with a consistently anti-state message but with a unique perspective on how the great struggle between state and society is playing itself out in our times.

Bud Burrell

Mr. Bud Burrell has extensive experience working with major brokerage firms on the trading desk and arbitrage desk with almost 30 years experience — Industry authority, expert, Wall Street veteran. Love him or hate him, you will always know where he stands – his no-holds-barred style and frank honesty make his blogs a must read, from one of the originals. View his landmark correspondences in The Bud Files.

Boston T. Party

Boston T. has written non-fiction books that offer a libertarian stance on privacy, police encounters, tax resistance and gun politics. His books are published by Javelin Press, which only publishes these works. He has written one fiction novel, Molôn Labé! , and is one of the founders of the Free State Wyoming project. In 2005, Royce was interviewed by Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America on the nationallly-syndicated Live Fire radio show, about the Free State Wyoming project. He also speaks at Libertarian conferences.

Marc Victor

Mark is a criminal defense attorney. Marc J. Victor. P.C., which often sponsors debates and presentation on freedom issues. As a former United States Marine and certified specialist in criminal law, Marc endlessly and zealously defends citizens accused of crimes against the state

Marc’s political and professional credentials can be viewed at his corporate website.

Ernest Hancock

Ernest Hancock as been a freedom fighter for two decades. Education through the use of the courts, the political process and guerilla activism have made him well known to the general public as a sincere defender of libertarian philosophy.

Ernest Hancock as hosted his own show and been a talk show producer. Over 600 of Ernest’s daily talk show in shows in Phoenix, Arizona are archived at “Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock” and his new radio show from Freedom’s Phoenix Studios, “Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock” is archived on Freedom’s Phoenix here.

Ernest is also the publisher of FreedomsPhoenix.com, a constantly updated portal to political news and information.

Joel Skousen

Joel Skousen is an American conservative political commentator non-fiction Survivalist author, and retreat consultant that specializes in preparedness topics, particularly survival retreat and fallout shelter design and construction, as well as what he calls “strategic relocation.”Skousen is the founder and chief editor of World Affairs Brief, a weekly news analysis service. He has done architectural and retreat design consulting in both North America and Central America.

Skousen is the author of several books including Essential Principles for the Conservation of Liberty, Strategic Relocation—North American Guide to Safe Places, The Secure Home, Survival Home Manual: Architectural Design, Construction, and Remodeling Of Self-Sufficient Residences and Retreats, and How to Implement a High Security Shelter in the Home. He also published a booklet titled 10 Packs for Survival, which he has also posted to several web sites.

Skousen designs and consults on hardened retreat homes, often including fallout shelters with HEPA air filtration systems. In the book Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times by Richard G. Mitchell, Jr., (2001) Skousen was quoted: “‘You never want to make a house look like an obvious fortress. Those who want in can always move up a bigger gun. There is no way you can design a home to withstand RPG (Rocket-propelled grenade) rockets and tanks. I design these homes so you virtually cannot tell inside or out that they are any different from a conventional home.”

Entertainment by Jordan Page

Jordan Page is a young singer/songwriter/guitarist who uses his music to promote a message of peace while educating and mobilizing resistance to tyranny and the erosion of American civil rights. He embodies the protesting spirit of past years that is so rare in music today. He believes that armed service is not the only way to serve one’s country. Armed with the truth in song, he has raised up his voice in opposition to extreme military foreign policies, the corruption of the Federal Reserve, subversion of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, torture of prisoners, warrantless domestic surveillance, and oppression perpetrated by globalist elements in government. His songs are often stirring, and always challenging.

Jordan was a featured performer at the historic Revolution March in DC in July 08, which featured Ron Paul, Naomi Wolf, and Adam Kokesh as speakers and was attended by more than 10,000 people from across the nation. This event was proof of the gathering strength of the Freedom Movement, and the need to bring its message to the American public.