Hunter Thompson wrote, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro,” and no one is doing that better right now than Florida Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate Augustus Sol Invictus – otherwise known by his mother as Austin Gillespie, according to former chairman of Florida’s Libertarian Party (LP), Adrian Wyllie, who just resigned from his position Thursday in protest of Invictus’ wild presence making them all look “crazy.” That’s no easy feat in today’s social climate by any means.
Wyllie is sounding the horn not only on Invictus’ political positions, but personally, taking aim at his unusual lifestyle to paint the portrait of a political madman, alleging his recent nemesis supports eugenics and that he was booted from a cult after “sadistically dismembering a goat in a ritualistic sacrifice.” Invictus countered that Wyllie is mouthing nothing more than “half-truths and lies” for a bigger patch of the political red carpet.
Those two have been going at each other for months like that, but Wyllie finally resigned from his position Thursday in protest after failing to convince the Florida Libertarian Party’s executive committee to drop the loose-cannon candidate before he gets the notion he’s actually the “Invincible Sun Emperor” his name claims he is. Wyllie told Politico:
“I’m not making this up. It’s crazy, I know. I resigned to draw attention to this, as a protest. I did this as a pre-emptive strike. I don’t want anyone to think this guy represents Libertarians. He doesn’t. Under the law, we can’t keep him from the ballot.”
Wyllie is a Palm Harbor “job maker” and politician, himself, having run unsuccessfully for governor only last year.
And who is this cult-worshipping, goat-slaying “Sun Emperor”? He’s a 32-year-old lawyer working out of Orlando who aligns himself, like it or not, with the Libertarian Party – mainly because he stands against the “War On Drugs,” would like to cut the federal budget and spending on federal programs, and would like to keep the U.S. from meddling in foreign affairs under every curve of the globe.
To set the record straight, too, Invictus clarifies that he is dedicated to Thelema, a faith started by Aleister Crowley early in the 1900s. And he was, in fact, kicked from Ordo Templi Orientis, the faith’s fraternal organization, as Wyllie alleges, but states it was purely for “political” reasons. Invictus also denies dismembering a goat, but does admit to making animal sacrifices, as is apparently part of some Thelema ceremonies. He stated:
“I have never dismembered a goat in my life. I have performed animal sacrifices as part of my religion. I was expelled from the order for political reasons. And animal sacrifice was part of it. But that is a deliberate misrepresentation by Wyllie.”
That well may be, but it’s unlikely the public is going to be too quick about splitting those hairs. People don’t care that you’ve never specifically “dismembered a goat” if you’re already admitting to animal sacrifices. Hell, butchers dismember goats on the regular in many parts of the world. That’s perfectly average activity for some, actually, but animal sacrifices are another story. Though certainly rooted in history, tradition and culture for many people all over the planet, right or wrong, animal sacrifices are typically viewed as archaic, superstitious in practice, and certainly cruel. It’s hardly a practice that will win Invictus any political points. Not being Christian and trying to be a politician in America is tough enough, but add animal sacrifices to the faith and you’re going to be treated just the way Wyllie is currently treating Invictus.
And Wyllie’s not the only one up in arms over Invictus, either. Rainy day Donald Trump advisor and conservative shill Roger Stone has been brought in by fellow Florida Libertarians to help insure Invictus doesn’t win and make them all collectively look like a dismembered goat’s ass. Stone said of Invictus:
“The guy is a nut, speaks in tongues or whatever. Weird stuff. They need someone to run against him to make sure he doesn’t win and makes us all look crazy.”
Wyllie claims the only reason he mentioned Invictus’ religion in the first place was because the Theleman allegedly quoted the faith as some sort of justification for a less than peaceful revolution. Invictus, however, denies any such claim.
From where he’s standing, however, Wyllie feels Invictus must be stopped before his crazy campaign blemishes the purity of Floridian and American politics. Wyllie wrote on Facebook Thursday:
“Many of his supporters are known members of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, such as American Front, Vinelanders and Stormfront, and he has been recruiting them into the Libertarian Party.”
Invictus responded to Wyllie’s numerous allegations prior to the above statement point by point in his own Facebook post last month, pointing out, as well, that he does not support eugenics or “forced abortions.” He further clarified that as a lawyer he has represented such groups as white supremacists professionally, but that he, himself, is “not racist.” He added, “My four children are Hispanic.”
Yet another strange accusation Invictus faces is changing the way he speaks. Publicly, before a group, he speaks deliberately, with a touch of a Southern accent. However, some contend he speaks with no accent whatsoever when talking one on one. Invictus has an explanation for that, too, though. He says, “I still get that game-day adrenaline.”
According to him, nerves and adrenaline make Invictus adopt a strong, slow and deliberate delivery, buttered up with a bit of Southern flair.
Peculiar – no doubt, but that hardly makes him an evil mastermind that “must be stopped.” Take a moment and ask yourself, How much more crazy does this guy really come across than all these Bible-thumping politicians adhering to their religious text stronger than their own Constitution? The details of worship may differ, but there is very little difference beyond that.
But perhaps it’s the talk one can hear in videos such as the one below that has Florida’s banana hammock all in a bunch. There, Invictus can be heard talking about “government overreach.” He encourages fellow Libertarians to turn away from the usual, two-party “tactics” and “think for themselves,” which sounds reasonable enough, but then also talks about being “hunted” by the FBI and even addresses the camera directly from time to time to stare down the very officers he believes are “hunting” him and saying things like:
“I want you to take LSD and practice sorcery. I’m also Old World Pagan and a white Southerner. So I know what it’s like to be treated like a wolf in a hen house.”
Or even a Theleman in a goat bin, for that matter.
Yeah, Augusts Sol Invictus sure has turned pro, but in today’s politics that’s hardly surprising. Little has changed over the years, and it’s always been a circus. It’s hard to find the center ring, let alone stand in the spotlight with your head in the lion’s mouth. We all know that. How else would you explain British Prime Minister David Cameron having to deny schtooping a dead pig recently and Hunter Thompson writing in Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail ’72:
“This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.
“‘Christ, we can’t get a way calling him a pig-fucker,’ the campaign manager protested. ‘Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.’
“‘I know,’ Johnson replied. ‘But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.’”
Whether it’s donkeys and elephants or goats and pigs, politics — most will agree — sure do stink.
Featured image by YouTube screen capture, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
