Peter, Paul & Mary legacy show uneven — See Review, Pg. 11
Mumpower is glad about drug arrests
Dumped for a rich old man? Amy Alkin
— See Advice Goddess, Pg. 26
Carl Mumpower
— See Story, Pg. 6
ILLE V E H AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
July 2013
Vol. 9, No. 8
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com FREE
‘... My baby’s got me locked up in chains....’
APD officer alleges cover-up by police chief
From Staff Reports
Special photo by JOHN ALLEN
Margaret Ross Williams (center), an original with the 1950s and ‘60s girl group The Cookies, leads the current lineup during “The Ultimate Doo Wop Show” on June 22 at Brevard Music Center in Brevard. A review and more pictures appear on Page 18.
Asheville Police Lt. William Wilke is contending that Police Chief William Anderson attempted to “coerce” him into making false statements about an accident in which the chief’s son was involved — and that the chief and other city officials are involved in a coverup of the case. Wilke made the allegations during a press conference that he called June 25 in the office of his attorney, George Hyler. He read the statement for slightly more than three minutes about the March 9 wreck and what ensued in the days following it. IShortly after Wilke’s press conference, city public information officer Dawa Hitch responded by sending an email to Mayor Terry Bellamy and City CounLt. Bill Wilke cil members as follows: “It has come to my attention within the last 30 minutes that Lt. Bill Wilke has released a statement to the media in which he states he has concerns about the way the accident involving Chad Anderson was handled. “We are currently gathering facts along with what is being reported in the media and will update you as soon as we have more information.” See COMPLAINT, Page 7
GOP may need to step aside, Libertarians told By TIM PECK
Special to the Daily Planet
FLAT ROCK — “Maybe it’s time for the Republican Party to go,” Libertarian author and speaker Michael Cloud said in his June 9 keynote address at the three-day North Carolina Libertarian Party Convention here. As the 60-or-so attendees dined on the catered buffet in the Sandburg Room at the Mountain Lodge, Cloud spoke to the audience in passionate tones about the arc of Libertarian electoral disappointment. “What seems to be the problem?” Cloud asked. “We have the right ideas. Still, at best, we are only getting about 23 percent of the vote in state legislature campaigns.” Cloud then outlined what he saw as the causes and the cures of party woes in an engaging walking-and-talking style, pacing the front of the room and calling on people
by name to answer pointed questions. Cloud has distilled his observations down to a few cogent points and laid out a strategy for moving forward. First, Libertarians are being virtually brainwashed into believing the critics who reflexively claim that Libertarian candidates simply can’t win, Cloud noted. “It’s a disease” that perpetuates a selffulfilling prophecy that defeats candidates and their supporters before they get started, he said. It’s a psychological problem, not a problem of ideas. The ideas are winning, Cloud said. “It’s only our candidates that are struggling.” In his hypothesis, The “impossibility trap,” as Cloud coins it, is often expressed in defeatist terms when supporters are called on to take action: “I like your candidate but I don’t want to waste my vote.” “Your candidate will be a spoiler.” “The courts will just
strike down any real changes.” “And the voting machines are rigged anyway.” Cloud’s retort? “Don’t you buy into it!” These perennial bromides only serve to do one thing: to convince sympathetic voters to take Michael Cloud a pass, to turn their attention elsewhere, or to simply do nothing, he said. “We are quitting on the five-yard line after a long drive to the goal zone,” Cloud asserted. “We are believing that it’s impossible. It’s a case of ‘learned helplessness,’ as some psychologists put it. It’s a debilitating condition that can be taught to people and animals alike.
“If we believe that it’s impossible, we’re not going to make that extra phone call, we’re not going to walk that extra block to knock on doors. We become conditioned to aim lower. And it’s a weakness that we must overcome if we are to ever make any advances in the political arena.” Second, Cloud discussed the right ways to think about their underdog political party, about how to go from being a spoiler to being a dark horse to being a contender. “One, don’t faint when someone says, ‘Hey, that makes sense.’ Also, recognize that when we get a fair hearing, we win. It’s our job to get a fair hearing. Next, start modelling possibility behaviors,” he said. Cloud then offered an inspirational analogy to the movie “Rocky” where the themes of humiliation, courage and hard work are played out in dramatic form. See LIBERTARIANS, Page 10