[Lnc-business] Vice-Chair

Fri May 19 23:59:04 EDT 2017

I have recieved more than one request to make a motion to remove the vice -chair from the LNC. I have also had Region 4 libertarians applaud the "courage" of a bold leader who spoke his mind.  Surprise, we have differences of opinion.  Many different groups in the party want their party to accomplish almost opposite results. We watched in "horror" as James Weeks took transparency to an extreme.  Standing next to the stage I nearly moved to remove him from the stage. Then my inner libertarian told me, "Wait, he's not hurting anyone" and I paused. I'm glad I did. That's the same logic neighbors use to make a homeowner comply with their standards instead of his own.  Weeks didn't hurt the party, we did.  Americans want to be able to have a quality education, have access to state of the art healthcare and rely on local government to provide certain services efficiently at the lowest price.  They want to know if an external threat appears on their border that a strong military will protect them.  In short they want to live their lives as free from constraints as possible.  If they choose to start their own business they don't want the government to replace organized crime in a protection racket.  Please excuse my gross generalizations, but these are the people that elected me as their local leader.  School vouchers, freemarket medical practices and private contracted out municipal services are ideas that not only we can sell but also will reap measurable rewards in the short term. People that embrace these solutions are not necessarily in our party but should be.  Many of these people have served in the military and even more have relatives serving at the time.  If you start off the conversation with "You're a murderer!", they are probably going to stay with good old red or blue despite the rancid taste in their mouth.  If you take time and explain why they are murderers even though it's not their fault they will choose elsewhere and who would blame them.  Men have been volunteering for service since we first got pissed off about taxes on tea and bowing to a despot who had nothing more than force on his side.  This country has fought necessary wars and highly suspicious wars, but never have the men and women from lowly private to 5 star general been the deciding force in whether we engage.  That "honor" is left to our elected leaders.  Which brings me to my next point.  Arvin, if you really want our soldiers engaged in only necessary conflicts of defense then let's get libertarians elected to offices all over this great land.  City councils, county commissions, state legislatures, and yes even congress.  Then and only then will we see this country get back to it's mandate of limited government, individual freedom and personal responsibility.  Calling our veterans and active personel "murderers" in any context is not only factually wrong but also just plain stupid. the only saving grace is the fact that none of you can name the vice-chair of either the Democratic or Republican party and if you can seek help immediately.  I look forward to the next meeting and it should be a spirited debate.  Arvin has hurt noone.  He is an individual and he does not reflect my views or what I see the party as.  He, like all of us will be responsible for his words and actions.  Jeff Hewitt Region 4 Representative of the LNC

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick McKnight <patrick.joseph.mcknight at gmail.com>
To: lnc-business <lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
Sent: Thu, May 18, 2017 9:37 pm
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Vice-Chair

I totally agree with Larry. For me the lack of remorse is astounding. I personally sent Arvin an email about this and received no response. We can't grow by making offensive generalizations and calling people names. This is unacceptable behavior. 

Therefore I must, with a heavy heart, make a motion to remove Arvin Vohra from his position as Vice Chair under Article 6, Section 7 of our Bylaws. Who will second this motion?

Thanks,
Patrick McKnight
Region 8 Rep

On May 18, 2017 10:12 PM, "Larry Sharpe" <lsharpe at neo-sage.com> wrote:

Dear LNC,
The idea that we as the LNC should do nothing as a committee regarding Arvin Vohra's comments is alarming to me.
If a Board Member or member of the Executive Team at Pepsi ever said anything negative about Pepsi customers publicly he/she would be relieved immediately, regardless of whether they were on the clock, off the clock, on Facebook, in a crowd or announced that is was only their PERSONAL opinion that "X" group of people are bad. This would happen even after an apology. If you choose to take on a public role, there WILL be constraints on your private life. If you don't like that, you shouldn't take on this role. The LNC is NEVER off. Our words will always be used to hurt the cause whenever possible. I have been an officer of a public company and I was never "off". I could never publicly say disparaging things about our customers. That's the price I agreed to pay to take that position. Ours is no different.

What if the comments were about divorced women? Or were race related? Would we just say, "Oh well, that's his personal opinion? Yeah, I know he's a racist, but you know, what are you gonna do, right?" I hope not, because no other organization, private, public, profit or nonprofit would stand for it, and neither should we.
Arvin blatantly insulted veterans. That is about 20 million voters and their supporters (maybe another 25 -50 million?).
After multiple lengthy notes explaining why he was right, he finally provided a weak "I'm sorry that you are so sensitive" apology hidden in another self-righteous diatribe. There is still no real apology for the actual insult. Then he went on to insult teachers, another 3 million voters!  Then he went on to call our candidates tricksters and lairs. Obviously, he doesn't feel like he's done anything wrong and he has no intention of stopping. 

He has poor judgement, no remorse and a severe lack of empathy. He is making it harder for us to grow, that's one of our primary goals, and he's not stopping.
Because of his actions, it is harder for us to get volunteers, donations, members and candidates! And the volunteers and candidates that we have must spend more time doing damage control instead of being productive with the precious time they give us. 

 Everyday the damage continues and the pain festers. And some of you want to wait until 2018!? No waiting until 2018.  We must lead and we must handle our own. We need to act now.

As soon as we start consistently winning at the State level and become a threat, our enemies will comb through our data and use this against us. What story will we tell?
"Yes, he called our veterans murderers and we did nothing about."
They will hear that we agree with him:

Our veterans are murders
Our teachers are enemies
Our candidates are liars and trickster

It is what voters will think and that is what matters for a political party. That will come back to haunt and crush us once we have several candidates that are about to win.
Or we can say:

"Yes, he called our veterans murderers and we acted quickly and decisively. We do NOT agree with that, and that's why we acted." 

He has every right to his voice and opinion, just not publicly while he represents the LP.
This is not about disagreeing on an issue or platform point. It is about insulting millions of voters and purposely, actively, continually hurting our efforts to grow and win which is in direct violation of article 2 of our bylaws.
I am a huge proponent of second chances, but he has had many and refuses to adjust his behavior.
Any officer in any organization, public or private, profit or non-profit who created and continues to create this much damage would be removed. So should he. 

Those of you who know me know that I rarely stand my ground on an LNC issue. I usually say my opinion, respect the answer, do damage control as needed and then continue my work. Not this time. For my brothers and sisters who were called immoral murders here, I will not fall back.  

I initially was going to ask for a motion to officially ask Arvin to apologize, or maybe for a censure. But that time has passed. Because I am an Alternate, I cannot propose a motion, so I request for any At-Large LNC member or my Regional Rep, Patrick McKnight, to propose a motion to remove Arvin Vohra from his position as Vice-Chair under Article 6, section 7 of our Bylaws.

 Let him fight for liberty outside of LP leadership.

-- 

Larry
Larry Sharpe
The Neo-Sage Group, Inc.
http://TheNeoSage.com/

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