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While its rare to meet a presidential candidate who is running on a write-in ticket with a pro-marijuana platform, it isn't any stranger than running into your neighborhood Libertarian.
John Galt jr. fits the stereotypical image of any burned out 1960s throwback, completely serene in faded bell-bottoms and a tie-dyed shirt. His face, framed by a thick mahogany beard and shoulder-length ringlets, calls to mind an Hassidic Santa Claus, while deceptively bright eyes peek out over the dark bags brought on by his impending middle age.
This afternoon he is still glowing from the experience of his most recent protest: an annual hemp liberation fest at the University of Michigan. "The energy in the crowd was great, and I maintained my record of never having been arrested. All in all, I'd say it was a huge success."John Galt jr. is the creation of a 41 year-old man born in the shadow of alcoholism in upstate New York. The oldest of four brothers, he grew up poor, but afforded the luxury of attending a SUNY school thanks to a full academic scholarship. However, even then Galt displayed an unwillingness to play by society's prescribed formulas. Married and divorced before his junior year and raising a daughter alone, he left school just before graduating, dissatisfied with the available curriculum.
From there, Galt went on to become a financial and labor efficiency expert, streamlining the management of various restaurants. Eventually, however, the life of the hatchet man got to Galt, and he found himself alone in NE Pennsylvania with nothing to show for all his corporate success. "I toyed with the idea of becoming an alcoholic. After a week or two, I realized that wasn't for me." Instead what would be for him was the life of a traveling hemp liberation activist.
Originally, the name John Galt jr., taken from the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged, was meant only to be an Internet pseudonym, listed as the creator of Station 19, a motley collection of writing, artwork and political opinion. However, floods of e-mail inviting Galt to speak at various rallies put an end to his creators virtual anonymity.
"When I started the site, all I wanted to do was express myself. I didnt realize that I would be called on to lead other people." It was this call for leadership that resulted in Galts taking up a bullhorn in defense of peoples right to toke.
Galts first public speech took place in State College, Pennsylvania on May 7, 1998, as part of Professor Julian Heiklen's weekly smoke-in. If you ask nicely, Galt will show you the video, and what you'd see would astound and amaze. He is seated in a lawn chair, bullhorn in hand with the wind buffeting hair and speech alike. His voice is shaky, his words at once intelligent and unsure, as he champions hemp liberation. It is hard to believe that the man on the tape is even acquainted with Galt. "I was scared as hell," he laughs. "I hadn't spoken publicly since college."
It was that hesitant first speech that launched Galt’s public speaking career and extensive national tours. In 1998 alone, Galt put over 8,000 miles on his van traveling to festivals and smoke-ins across the country to spread his political message and undoubtedly benefit from local hospitality. This life-style has lead him to proclaim himself the “Most Protesting Man in America.”
Despite his impressive speaking tour, Galt's website (http://webstation19.itgo.com/jonpol.htm) is still his primary outlet. When touring, the high-tech equipment used to maintain the site (an ancient 386 and a 2400 bps modem) can be found in his van. "I have over 400 htm files on the site, and no one updates them but me. Its a lot of work, but its worth it, since it lets voters know what I'm all about."
Which is quite an understatement. In the sites labyrinthine pages one can find articles on all of Galt's political views, including his take on gun control and environmental issues. Perhaps the most attention grabbing of these articles deal with the legalization of marijuana, but he also addresses the practicality of drug testing and the root causes of prison overcrowding: the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders. Besides Galt's political views, you will see artwork that displays Galt's humanity in a fashion that's quite unconventional compared to the other candidates. Certainly Bush and Gore pose for publicity photos with their wives, but its unlikely that they would be willing to post love poems to them on the Internet.
Since his entire platform, and indeed his entire persona, is contained on one Website, it is of the utmost importance that the site remain as current as possible.
Last summer, while on a speaking tour of the country, Galt drove nearly 100 miles
out of his way in order to find a motel room with Internet access. "I stayed up that
whole night," he recalls, "just writing and uploading pages and pages of html. I checked out not having gotten any sleep, so I drove to a nearby campground and slept in my van all day."
Galt and his soul mate Susan live in a small trailer, preferring to avoid loans and other debt inducing agreements. They share their home with two cats and an old dog unfortunate enough to legally drink. The living room is inviting, full of overstuffed furniture, ashtrays and other marijuana paraphernalia.
Bookshelves line the walls, and are home to a wide array of literature, ranging from the Holy Bible to several novels by Aldous Huxley.
Galt and Susan sit together on the couch, pouring over scrapbooks of John's tours and the couples trips to a natural cave formation in the area. They laugh and enjoy the laziness of having company on a rainy Saturday, the stereotype of suburban normalcy broken only by the joint that is being passed around. One of the cats hops into Susan's lap, demanding to be petted and picking up a nice contact buzz. Susan laughs, "Peanut only ever seems to want any when were smoking good weed."
Galt is still going through the photographs of last summers protests, each snapshot eliciting an amused story. He pauses for a moment; proudly displaying a picture of a shower whose tiles were so green it could have been the High Times magazine centerfold.
"That," he says, "is the most disgusting shower I have ever seen. The motel was really cheap, and I only stayed there because they had Internet. Would you believe, looking at that shower, that they also had a pool?"
Galt didn't have any pictures of his favorite event, the Summer Solstice Hemp Happening, an outdoor concert he created last year in honor of his own birthday, and as a way to raise campaign funds. This year the festival will be held at Tune Town in Cherry Tree, PA, and Galt has already booked all the bands, though he was unwilling to leak any names. "You should come and see it. It will be really cool, and a hell of a lot more fun than your average $500 a plate dinner."
Galt hopes people will take his campaign seriously and consider voting for him in
the upcoming election. "I'm running so people will finally realize that there is more
out there than the Republicrat party. You shouldn't vote for someone because you think you have to, you should vote for them because you think they represent your best interests. And I'm not worried about what happens if I do or don't win. Sure, I'm prepared to be in the White House by this time next year, but I'm also just as ready to be kicking up another protest tour."
And despite his initial nervousness, Galt now thoroughly enjoys going to rallies and protests, and even holds the distinction of being one of very few prominent protesters who have never been arrested. Galt attributes his success as a speaker to his natural leadership ability. "People look to me. Even when I have had nothing to do with the planning of an event, people come to me for advice on what to do next. You know, I just thought about this, but sometimes its a little weird being the leader of a bunch of anarchists."Galt recalls an incident last April at the, First Annual Citizen Freedom 420 Rally,
in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The rally was a smoke-in held on April 20, at 4:20 p.m. on Route 420 (raise your hand if you picked up on the pattern).
"The event was advertised in High Times, so people showed up, but no one was taking credit for organizing the event. People were just milling around, so Sue suggested that I get the protest stuff out of the trunk." Galt was outfitting the protesters with signs, fliers, and tips on how not to get arrested, while the local police watched.
After watching Galt organize the protesters, an officer approached him asking how
long the protest would take, explaining that his wife wanted to know when he would be home.
"Needless to say," Galt laughs, "he missed dinner that night."
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