Christine Smith's Blog

Photos – Christmas morning, 2009, with my father.

The Road Waiting to Be Taken

Excerpt from my article:

“Reading Friedrich A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom, one is amazed that a book published 64 years ago could paint such an accurate picture of where the United States is headed today. Hayek’s warning of the dangers of centralized planning and his cautioning that well-intentioned planning can degrade into tyranny describes the road the United States embarked upon several decades ago and has traveled ever since. We now live in a nation where many people give only lip service to the free market and its fruits of economic and personal freedom…”

I invite you to read my article, The Road Waiting to Be Taken, published by The Future of Freedom Foundation.

Announcement of My Decision to Seek Political Office in 2010

NOTE: The “christine@christinesmith.us” email malfunctioned. Those interested in contacting me regarding my political campaign may telephone (719) 966-4788. If you have previously sent an email within the last three days to email above I will not have received it. The campaign website (and email) will be available shortly.

I share the following letter which I wrote to Colorado Libertarians with my readers.

I welcome support from libertarians nationwide. Thank you!

Colorado Libertarians:

I am seeking the Colorado State House District 60 seat in the 2010 election representing the counties Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Park, Pueblo, and Saguache.

As a libertarian, I cherish individual liberty. I am devoted to freedom (rejecting the control of economic and social affairs by the state). Free markets, private property, and a greater ability to keep one’s earnings built this nation and this state, and I seek to help make Colorado better by working to restore the principle of limited government. I will not compromise libertarian principles. I believe all people should be able to live their lives as they choose, as long as they harm no other. This applies to every issue – no exceptions.

Having lived in Colorado for 24 years, I understand the concerns which matter to the people in my district as well as the rest of our beautiful state, and believe libertarian principles applied to every issue will bring freedom (and its fruit of greater prosperity and well being) to our citizens.

I will campaign diligently, as the key to this election will be meeting with as many citizens in this region as possible. Many in my district are receptive to ideas of liberty to extricate themselves from the bureaucratic, big spending, intrusive control of the government. People are upset about the taxation, greater fees, infringements of their rights, and regulations they currently suffer under. I will bring the message of libertarianism and its solutions to my district by campaigning to be a voice for liberty in our State House.

Simultaneously, I want to share the Libertarian Party of Colorado with them, as I believe libertarians joining together at the state/local level is the means to gain political power to advance liberty. I am one who believes that the sharing of ideas on liberty and the libertarian philosophy is very powerful, but I also know to affect political change we need to join together as a political party in our state to accomplish that. Friends of mine have urged me to differentiate between what we libertarians joining together in our state through the LPCO can accomplish, and my disillusionment with the National Libertarian Party/Libertarian National Committee in past years. I agree, and realize that together we have an opportunity to accomplish so much for individual liberty through the LPCO, and I want to join with my fellow Colorado Libertarians to see what we can do together to make this a freer state. I realize that each state LP chapter is an autonomous entity which can be a powerful tool to work for individual liberty. (Formerly, I was a candidate for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination in 2008. During my campaign, I was gratified to receive support from many Libertarians nationwide (including receiving a landslide victory over the other LP candidates in the California primary on Super Tuesday,) and appreciated the opportunity to speak at LP conventions in eight states.)

I have spent the past three weeks speaking with others about issues in my region, and the strategy my campaign will pursue. I (and others I have spoken with) believe my campaign for this office is winnable. There are many libertarian-leaning voters here, they might not (yet) have an “L” by their name, but they desire greater freedom and liberty – and that’s what I promise to work for in the Colorado State House of Representatives.

In the month of January 2010 my campaign website will be up and running. It will be a well-made political website focusing upon my platform in regards to issues of concern in my district and my statement of principles, and will be able to accept monetary contributions to my candidate campaign committee.

I seek to now hear from all Libertarians who are interested in helping achieve this goal. I welcome your input and assistance. I want to learn from you. And, those who may be interested in volunteering – please let me know your ideas, suggestions, and availability to share your talents and abilities with my campaign. I want to listen to your ideas, and answer your questions. Throughout this campaign, I want to work together with fellow Colorado Libertarians, and I welcome hearing from you now. You may telephone me at (719) 966-4788. Thank you!

Meanwhile, to learn more about me, I invite you to my personal website: http://www.christinesmith.us
(Again, shortly I will be announcing the campaign website, but meanwhile, as an introduction to you, I share my personal website. As soon as the campaign website is functional, an announcement will be placed upon my personal website homepage linking to the campaign site.)

I begin campaigning throughout the six counties of my district in January (and could use your help in those counties!). I welcome your volunteer assistance, ideas, advice and financial support.

I look forward to working with individual Libertarians and the Libertarian Party of Colorado throughout this campaign.

I want to fight for our liberties in Colorado as a Libertarian in the State House of Representatives. Will you help?

Thank you,
Christine Smith
From personal website (brief bio, audio & video clips, articles):
I invite you to visit the “About Christine” page.

Mysterious Childhood Visions

When I was a child, I had three mysterious visions which I offer no explanation or interpretation of, but simply share as they have stayed with me all my life.

The first occurred at the age of four. I recall awaking, wide eyed and startled, as a bright feminine figure, in light, stood or hovered at the base of my bed. My immediate reaction was to think I should call out to awake my father to come, but just as that thought passed through me instantly I “heard” the lady apparition tell me not to be afraid and that there was no need to wake my father. I paused, thinking about that for a moment, and felt reassured completely. I stared at her, no audible verbal communication occurred, though I remember she was there for several minutes “speaking” since I was receiving some message telepathically, that’s how it feels in retrospect, though I do not recall what was communicated to me…the last I recall was being instructed to lie back down and close my eyes to rest. I did…but sat up again a few minutes later…and she was no longer there. The following morning I shared the experience with my father, telling him “I had seen an angel,” which was the only way I could find words to try and capture and express what I had experienced. To this day, I remember the incident most clearly, and when I speak to my father about it, he tells me I was most insistent, descriptive, and enthusiastic about what I had seen, full of zeal and wonder when I shared what had happened.

The second occurred also at the age of four. I was outside playing on the slide with another little friend, as I climbed up the ladder to the top again and sat down, I turned to the left (where the shipyard was) and instead of the usual scene, I saw a great expanse of a bright glowing light-giving city. It was brilliant! I looked all around me elsewhere and all was the same – the playground, the buildings, my friend at bottom of slide, and the basketball court farther away where my father was shooting hoops with others. Immediately I looked again, totally focusing my attention, on a most wondrous vision…it was hues of bright gold and bright white with towering buildings of beautiful architecture. Never had I seen anything like it, and the entire scene gave off a brilliant light like sunshine. I just kept staring, aware that my little playmate was calling to me to move on down the slide, but all I wanted to do was gaze at the sight before me. Then, with the persistence of my friend’s voice, I glanced down at her momentarily and then back…and it was gone. I slid down the slide and ran to the basketball court to get my father, but he was very much engaged in the basketball game and unable to come over to the slide right then. A little later, I told him in detail of what I had seen calling it “heaven”…another vision which he remembers my telling him of; he says I was “delighted” when I shared it with him.

The third occurred at about the age of ten. I had a habit of purposefully waking in the middle of the night and getting up to spend time gazing out my back bedroom window at the tall pines, dark night sky and stars when visible through the pines. I did this often, as I liked the quiet stillness of nighttime outside. On one such evening, I awoke as usual and walked to my window and leaned on the windowsill as I gazed around and upwards. I noticed a larger than usual bright light twinkling in the sky and it immediately captured my attention because it appeared to be getting closer as the light was getting larger and larger. Momentarily, it seemed as it had descended from the sky to right above the tree tops. Very quickly, it suddenly just got so large as to cover the expanse of pine tree tops and lit everything to such a degree all I could see was this enormous bright light and nothing else. That’s all I remember, because the very next thing I knew I was back in my bed, wide awake, and very much aware that I had been up at my window and watching that light – I was perplexed as to how I was now back in bed though awake and fully cognizant of having already gotten up as usual only to have witnessed the strange light and now found myself back in bed. I was hesitant to get up again, as it seemed such an unusual light and experience, but I did go back to the window and all was quiet and dark.

Merry Christmas! (photo from yesterday)

 Merry Christmas!

Had a wonderful day yesterday (Dec.10).  Had to go to the city for an appointment, and while there stocked up on all the fixings for delicious Christmas dinners and treats. 

Had to dress warmly (here in my wool coat) since temperature high was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit. 
While there, visited the abbey whose pasture had several beautiful large mules – white, brown, and mixed.  I was invited to feed them, given some of their feed, hiked through the snow in my boots, where I was met by their eager eyes waiting a treat. They joyfully munched on the alfalfa pellets from my gloved hands as I joyfully fed them.