Have you ever met someone so sad that it moved you? I don’t mean in a “get over yourself” kind of sad, but someone living in such sorrow that there was a sense of holiness about them?
I know our Blessed Mother is the prime example after having watched her Son, our Savior, being crucified.
But, anyone besides Mary?
I got the honor of meeting Ross Ulbricht’s mother, Lyn Ulbricht, who’s son got two life sentences for creating a free-market website on the dark web.
Ross has never been a violent person. He just believed in the philosophy of freedom and put it into practice. And the government made an example out of him.
His Mother, Lin, tirelessly advocated for her son, going on podcasts, and talking to anyone who might be willing to listen.
She got to know many in the liberty movement and her story touched one person in particular. Michael Malice.
The story goes that the Chair of the National Libertarian Party, Angela McArdle, secretly met with President Trump during the Biden Presidency, because Trump was trying to pander for libertarian votes. He was trying to figure out what Libertarians wanted, so that he could promise them something that might get them to vote for him. This made many Libertarians mad when Miss McArdle revealed on her social media that this meeting had taken place.
Angela was brainstorming what she should tell trump are the most important things that would resonate with libertarians. Michael Malice said that she had to ask him to free Ross! And that is what she did.
President Trump then came to our Convention (again, which did not make many Libertarians happy). During his horrible speech, he made two promises to libertarians if they supported him in the 2024 Presidential Election (mind you that we were going to be nominating our own Presidential candidate after Trump’s speech).
The first promise that Trump made to libertarians was that he would pardon Ross on day one (not to spoil the story, but he did it on day two and that’s okay, because Ross is now free!!)
The second promise that Trump made to libertarians, in case you were wondering, was that he would put a libertarian in his cabinet (which technically RFK Jr. became a member of the Libertarian Party, because he tried running for our ballot access, because starting the third largest Political Party is harder than he thought it would be. But, Libertarians never saw RFK Jr. as a libertarian. So, in my opinion, President Trump did not fulfil this promise truly.
I did not vote for President Trump, because I did not trust that he would do what he said he would do, plus, I do not vote for politicians who lack good character. I know some Libertarians who did vote to re-elect him and, other than Ross being freed, they regret voting for him, because of this Iranian war (that he calls not a war, but a “conflict,” which is another technicality).
Enough about the President and back to Mrs. Ulbricht. She was a guest speaker at our 2026 Convention and I got the chance to meet her one evening. She wanted a drink, but the bar did not take cash, so I bought her a water and she signed my Bastiat book. She is the sweetest, but there is a sorrow about her. She is over-joyed (beyond words) that her son is free. That is what had occupied her life’s purpose for so many years. And now she is continuing this purpose for others who are wrongly incardinated for believing in and living out liberty in their lives.
She has a beautiful soul and though there is a sadness about her, there is a sense of motherly love as well.
Ross is not a Christian (as far as I know), but he did read the entire Old Testament while in prison and was starting to read the New Testament back in 2020 and he said, “Jewish and Christian faith is much deeper than I had realized.” So, Pray that his journey continues and that he even more so see the beauty and depth of our Christian Faith.