[Lnc-business] Libertarian Party calls for shutting down CIA, criminal prosecutions

[Scott L.]

I don't like opining on the State Chairs list because I am not a State
Chair, but this topic cries out for a reply.

 

Although I would have taken a somewhat less strident tone than the Chair of
the LP of Nevada, I agree with Mr. Pojunis's  point.

 

Gathering intelligence on foreign leaders and foreign countries is something
that the United States must do as a legitimate function of defending the
country from foreign invaders.

 

Perhaps a better way of phrasing the press release would have been to ask
that the CIA limit itself to the function stated in its name.

 

In other words - although negative phraseology like that used by the LNC
Chair in that press release certainly appeals 

to a small segment of the population, if you want to make the Libertarian
Party a real political partyT  it is better to be as positive as possible
and yes - sound "reasonable."

 

Just because an antiwar.com might eat up such a press release does not mean
such releases will increase our membership, or increase our vote totals.
You have to look at the number of members and potential voters that you turn
off, as well as the ones who love that kind of strident verbiage.

   Scott Lieberman

 

  _____  

 

"I just started an opinion poll on the LP Oregon facebook group... too early
to tell but on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being love it, 1 being hate it... there
are 3 votes for 5 and one vote for 3. 

I will report back in a few days.

    Wes"

 

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

 

On Tue, Dec 16, 2014 at 4:56 PM, Brett H. Pojunis <brett at pojunis.com> wrote:

State chairs,

 

Has anyone else in the party been contacted by their members/leaders about
this email from national calling for abolishing the CIA.

 

This is 100% crazy and whoever put this out should have their head examined.


 

Americans do NOT want to read nonsensical stuff like shutting down the CIA,
they just don't. This is placating to a very small audience and this is
EXACTLY the type of thing that hurt us, all of us. If this is what you
really believe, then keep it to yourself and deliver a broader message that
resonates with more people. Example, "The LP is applauded at the actions
taken by the CIA and the elected officials who enable them. We intend to
push this issues as torture is something that goes against Libertarian
Philosophy. THEN TALK ABOUT SOMETHING POSITIVE and turn a negative into
something people will relate to."

 

At this point I am requesting that no more members in Nevada be contacts by
the National office under any circumstances. I do not have the time to field
phone calls, upset members stopping by the office, private messages on
Facebook, talking our leadership off the edge, etc.

 

This type of "official position" is killing us in Nevada and I am sure other
states as well. If it doesn't stop then we are going to focus our efforts on
identifying how confused National "leadership" is and we will do our own PR
campaign against the this type of craziness.

 

Anyone who thinks this type of communication to the public is helping should
resign from a leadership as they are clearly confused. I agree that we need
to take a radical approach like we do in Nevada on many issues, but we must
pick and chose our battles carefully.


Brett H. Pojunis
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nevada

 

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

 

   



 Libertarian Party <http://lp.org/files/EmailHeader6.jpg> 


For immediate release
December 11, 2014


Libertarian Party calls for shutting down CIA, criminal prosecutions


Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas J. Sarwark released the
following statement today:

"The CIA's practice of torture confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Report
released on December 9 shows the agency engaged in reprehensible and illegal
behaviors that were, in effect, war crimes.

"The CIA and politicians redacted the bulk of the government's report, which
remains withheld from public view. One can only speculate as to the
additional horrors that lie within the rest of the report, given the gravity
of what was revealed.

"These acts of torture were immoral, disgusting, and un-American.  And worse
still, they were ineffective.

"Yet the CIA and the Department of Justice, which sanctioned the torture,
claim that it was legal and exhibit a shocking lack of remorse for the
brutality inflicted on its victims.

"Whether it's choking a man to death for selling loose cigarettes in New
York or torturing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the government refuses to
prosecute government employees who brutalize the vulnerable.  When the
government investigates itself, it almost always clears itself of any
wrongdoing.

"This is why we must shut down the CIA. Its 70-year history is littered with
episodes of human rights violations, illegal activities, and deception,
including:

*	Targeted killings and assassinations
*	Overthrowing democratically elected governments,
*	Human experimentation, including giving the hallucinogenic drug LSD
to U.S. and Canadian citizens without their knowledge
*	Dealing heroin in Asia
*	Spying on Americans, members of congress, and foreign leaders
*	Shipping war prisoners to foreign countries where torture is
permissible ('extraordinary rendition').
*	Lying to Congress

"The CIA is one of sixteen U.S. spy agencies that should have been severely
downsized if not abolished during the alleged 'consolidation' of the U.S.
government's spy apparatus in 2004. 

"But rather than downsize, politicians merely added another layer of
bureaucracy, increased government spending, and expanded government
authority.

"Government-sanctioned torture is bipartisan. Republican President George W.
Bush authorized the torture revealed in the senate report. President Barack
Obama granted him full immunity.

"Famed journalist Glenn Greenwald said 'The Obama administration's
aggressive, full-scale whitewashing of the "war on terror" crimes committed
by Bush officials is now complete.'

"Whereas Democrats and Republicans have continually funded and encouraged
CIA war crimes, the Libertarian Party has consistently and strongly opposed
the use of torture, mass surveillance, and human rights violations by the
U.S. government throughout the party's 43-year history. 

"The Libertarian Party calls for real accountability, including prosecuting
all of those who authorized and performed these brutal acts.

"The Senate Intelligence Committee released its report after this year's
election - when it was safe, even though the report was finished four years
ago.

"Perhaps both Democratic and Republican politicians are hoping voters will
forget about this disgrace before the 2016 election.

"The Libertarian Party urges you to remember -- and to demand human decency
by voting Libertarian."

The Libertarian Party platform plank on Internal Security and Individual
Rights states:

"The defense of the country requires that we have adequate intelligence to
detect and to counter threats to domestic security. This requirement must
not take priority over maintaining the civil liberties of our citizens. The
Constitution and Bill of Rights shall not be suspended even during time of
war. Intelligence agencies that legitimately seek to preserve the security
of the nation must be subject to oversight and transparency. We oppose the
government's use of secret classifications to keep from the public
information that it should have, especially that which shows that the
government has violated the law."

###

 

 

 

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