[“60 Minutes” tick-over. Cut to stock footage of the U.S. Capitol.]
LESLEY STAHL, v.o.: America is a sovereign nation, and we’re all citizens of the United States. But does that make us all sovereign citizens? Charlton Secured Party In Lieu of © Trade Mark McGillicuddy thinks so, and he’s the hottest thing in Republican politics.
[CUT TO McGILLICUDDY, a thin white man about five feet tall with wispy blond hair and beard and bugged eyes, wearing a cheap light grey traveler’s suit, a red tie, and plain white shirt, standing next to a battered old Hyundai Sonata, screaming through a bullhorn at a police officer.]
If you’re wondering why McGillicuddy is screaming at this police officer, it’s because the officer has stopped him for driving a car that had no official license plates. Instead —
[CLOSE UP of McGILLICUDDY’s front bumper.]
— it has a series of small plastic license plate replicas like you would find in tourist shops that say “CHARLIE,” stuck together with duct tape, on the front bumper of his car.
[CLOSE UP of screaming McGILLICUDDY.]
McGillicuddy says he doesn’t need a regular license plate because he is a sovereign citizen — part of a growing movement of libertarian conservatives who are taking the philosophy of Barry Goldwater and Ron Paul in fascinating new directions.
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