Assembly Line

The state legislature is a lot like a factory. Legislators go in at one end, and legislation comes out at the other. How the laws are made doesn't matter as much as what the laws are made out of. Good legislation depends good legislators.

If you start with high-quality raw materials, you're more likely to get a good product. Nobody's perfect, of course. But without good legislators to begin with, the odds of getting good laws are extremely remote. Like they say, "garbage in, garbage out."

Forget about trying to turn bad legislators into good ones. Even if you talk until you're blue in the face, it won't make one bit of difference. That's because a leopard won't change his spots any sooner than a nanny-crat will respect your rights. It's possible ... but highly unlikely. Better to start with someone who's got a good reason to listen to you.

Fortunately, it's pretty easy to find good legislators ... as long as you know where to look. The campaign trail is where they come from, although you'll have to shop around to find the best candidates. If they are biker-friendly, and they have a good chance of winning, you found a keeper. Then all you have to do is join their campaign team and help them win.

Once you help a candidate win their first race, you have a friend for life. After all, you are the reason they got elected in the first place. And that's why they will listen to you -- especially when there's important legislation being considered -- because you earned their trust on the campaign trail.

So if you want good legislation to come out of the state capitol, make sure you put good legislators in there to begin with. Then you'll be happy with the laws coming out of the legislative assembly line, because they're made from the best stuff on earth: good legislators.

Foundation

If you want to build a really nice house, start with a really solid foundation.

You can't start by framing the walls, installing ductwork, wiring the outlets, or tiling the roof. You'd have nothing to build upon. Even worse, you'd be getting in the way of people who are trying to lay the foundation in the first place.

Same goes for our rights as motorcyclists. START by getting people elected to the legislature who will carry the load. Once they're in place, we'll have a solid and reliable foundation. Only then can we "install" the things that will make life free and easy for us all.

Unfortunately (sigh) the standard approach for biker activists is to start at the top ... trying to change the legislation (rather than change the legislators). There's also the court of public opinion, which is nice to have (like a roof deck) but not really necessary. Then throw in a party or two, and we can bitch about the sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in.

For some reason, very few biker activists understand this simple concept. And ironically, the majority of the "movement" is so fixated on finishing the job that they miss one little fact: There's too little foundation for them to build upon.

We can't change everyone's mind. Some people just aren't that deep. But there are some of us with enough common sense to start at the beginning ... on the campaign trail. We can leave the window dressing for everyone else.

CALM Down

Bad legislation comes from bad legislators. Bikers can get lucky and dodge one bullet, only to find ourselves getting nicked by another. But there are a lot of legislators who are gunning for us. Right now they have an unlimited supply of ammunition, and we are riding around with bulls-eyes on our backs.

Citizens Against Loud Motorcycles (CALM) can easily kick our butts as long as we fight them on their terms, using their weapons, where they have the home-field advantage. Their message resonates with the non-riding public, just like our bikes resonate with their car alarms. And as long as bikers keep chasing after CALM in a public debate, we'll be as irrelevant as a dog chasing a car ... and just as likely to get run over.

Legislators need a solid reason to be on our side. And I'm not talking about reasons that make sense to us as bikers. The reason has to be a matter of political self-preservation. Make a connection between our rights and their elections, and they'll have that reason ... because it will be in their best interest to be on our side of every issue.

When legislators see bikers on the campaign trail, as capable and reliable volunteers, we will have turned the tables. Our opponents will then be the ones who are bitching and moaning about how they're being ignored, despite how good they are at making noise.

There's no way we can win every race, of course. Most incumbents are untouchable, and most districts are owned by one party or the other. But there will always be open seats and vulnerable districts. During the primary elections, we can easily win a few close races.

There's no debating it.

-Ride2Repeal@gmail.com

Repeal Handbook

Now there's an easy step-by-step guide to repealing the helmet law. It's called the Repeal Machine Handbook, and it presents a set of tasks that lead straight to repeal.

The handbook has four categories, with tasks ranging from the simple to the challenging. But the great thing about it is that you don't need to do everything to get the results you want. Any single task is enough.

The handbook's website address is RepealMachine.com/handbook/. Take it for a test ride and let me know what you think.

I think you'll like it.

-Ride2Repeal@gmail.com

Achilles' Heel

Have you ever seen the movie called Jason and the Argonauts? One memorable scene in it reminds me of the current fight for bikers rights.

Jason finds a treasure trove that's guarded by a gigantic bronze statue. Though he knows better, he gives in to temptation and steals some jewelry. The statue comes to life and starts stomping the Argonauts like bugs. They try to fight back, but they're outmatched.

Then Jason notices a manhole-sized plug in the statue's heel. As soon as he uncorks the plug, the statue is mortally wounded, and rapidly and crumbles to the ground.

Bikers are fighting against a giant, too. It's the nanny state, and it's guarding the treasure we seek (freedom). But no matter how hard the bikers fight, the giant nanny keeps squashing them like bugs. Fortunately, the nanny state has an Achilles' Heel, too.

Why fight the giant with sticks and stones? A little campaign work in the right place can take down a vulnerable nanny-crat legislator. Do it in a couple of districts, and the giant starts to crumble. Get better at it, and it happens that much faster.

See you on the campaign trail ... and you can keep the treasure.

-Ride2Repeal@gmail.com

Learning Curve

I've learned a lot about politics over the past several years.

Being a freedom-loving biker, I joined my first MRO many years ago. And I put a lot into it, because it takes a lot to keep an MRO going ... virtually all of it through volunteer efforts.

Being a quick study, as well as a hard worker, I learned the ropes. Eventually I served in various capacities, from recording secretary to webmaster, and from Chapter Coordinator to Executive Director.

There were a lot of potholes along the road to freedom, as well as detours and ditches. The harder we worked, the more difficult the road seemed to become. Of course we started getting creative, branching out our activities and issues to appeal to more bikers.

We needed more bikers ... lots more.

Our legislative officer was an odd character, though. He kept telling us we needed to take out our worst legislative opponents during the next election. But we kept on doing protests, fundraisers, and trying to get as many bikers involved as possible.

Finally I agreed to help him work on the campaign trail, along with a few other members of my chapter. And what do you know ... our opponent was defeated AND we helped to elect a biker-friendly candidate in another nearby district. We had one less enemy and one more friend in the legislature.

Not bad for only five bikers.

After several years I had learned how an MRO works from other motorcyclists. But on the campaign trail I started learning how politics works from the candidates. And there is a big difference between the world of motorcycles and the world of politics.

Except for the using the helmet law as leverage, the Repeal Machine Handbook has absolutely nothing to do with motorcycles. You could even take out the words "helmet law repeal," and replace it with any other political issue. It would still operate the same way, because it only produces political results.

That's the reason it's so effective. And probably the reason it's so hard for motorcyclists to understand. It's not about motorcycles at all, but that's because motorcyclists don't necessarily produce political power.

But campaign volunteers sure do.

-Ride2Repeal@gmail.com

Sacramento

My first trip to the California State Legislature was time well spent. Got far more accomplished than I would have expected, and this ain't the first time I've been to a state capitol. Pretty amazing.

When first riding in, it was impressive to see about a thousand bikes parked out in front of the Capitol building ... even though I ended up having to park several blocks away. All those bikes in one spot was a sight to see, in case anyone missed it. I didn't even get a chance to take a picture. By the time I rushed all the way back up to the Capitol building, the rally was just getting underway.

Unfortunately I was running about 5 minutes late for my first appointment, so I went straight inside to meet the freshmen legislators that I'd worked for last year. We usually ended up talking waaaaay longer than we had originally scheduled, so I spent several hours talking to one legislator after another, back to back. Even dropped by to see a couple of them who I didn't even have prior appointments with (but did work for last year).

Every Assembly Member, Senator, and their staffers were generous in giving us so much of their time and attention. They treated us like royalty. I know this was due to the hard work that all the campaign volunteers did for them last year (They said to say "Thank you!"). Also heard a really funny story from two staffers about Denise Ducheney, Abel Maldonado, and the Governator, but I just can't repeat it here. Let's just say there was one cigar, one horse shoe, and a whole lot of "F" words. (See you at the next Local 6 or 11 meeting for the "rest of the story")

Weird thing is, I saw hardly any bikers inside the building as we made the rounds. Of course I saw Sporty wearing off his shoe leather. He's got to be the hardest working and most determined activist in the world, so I didn't want to slow him down (not that I could, even if I tried). During one break in the appointments, I got to sip coffee and have a good chat with Deacon (what a great guy) as well as Ron and Dan, of course. There were about three other MC bikers (who's names and patches I can't remember) that I also saw inside the Capitol during the day, plus our lovely and talented ABATE staff from the state office.

Maybe I just spent so much time with the legislators, I simply missed seeing more bikers in the hallways. But by the time we finished all our meetings, and I went back outside at after 3pm, there was only one single bike left out in front. Everyone had already ridden back home, so I totally missed it! A couple of legislators didn't even know there was a rally outside, and two other people asked us what all the motorcycles were about. But I heard it was a great event, even though I didn't actually get to share in the experience ... this time around, anyway. I'm sure there are stories to tell for years to come.

But all in all, it was really good to see so many new biker-friendly legislators in Sacramento, fighting the good fight. And after the 2012 elections, no doubt there will be even more. I think next year, I'll schedule meetings with legislators on a different day than the rally, so I can get the best of both worlds.

-Ride2Repeal@gmail.com

PS: Be sure to send "thank you" notes to the legislators you met with.