<div dir='auto'>I vote No on this motion for previously stated reasons.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Sam Goldstein</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jul 16, 2019 6:42 AM, Joe Bishop-Henchman via Lnc-business <lnc-business@hq.lp.org> wrote:<br type="attribution" /><blockquote class="quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><p dir="ltr">I vote no.
<br>
<br>
I do so for three independent reasons.
<br>
<br>
First:
<br>
I have listened to the recordings, read the transcripts, and read the
<br>
materials emailed and otherwise provided on the Fakertarians facebook
<br>
page. They are pretty damning, and while it is only one side of the
<br>
story I find it compelling. But the allegations are not undisputed, and
<br>
the LNC passing a resolution stating allegations as proven facts makes
<br>
us vulnerable to a defamation lawsuit. If even one assertion in Mr.
<br>
Smith’s self-admittedly written-in-a-rush pulled-from-Facebook-posts
<br>
resolution turns out not to be true in absolutely every respect, we are
<br>
spending party resources defending a lawsuit that we could lose. This
<br>
ain’t beanbag: we are fiduciaries protecting assets and when we speak as
<br>
an entity we have to not act recklessly. If you are not personally
<br>
confident in every word Mr. Smith has written, then you should not let
<br>
the LNC pass this.
<br>
<br>
Second
<br>
I take very seriously that the delegates have chosen not to grant the
<br>
LNC any power to expel or suspend individual party membership, or to
<br>
discipline individual party members. We can remove our own at-large
<br>
representatives and officers, but that’s it. This is unusual, is not
<br>
entirely something I agree with, but it is not an accident. Maybe
<br>
they’re worried about the possibility of witch hunts with no due process
<br>
and LNC members using this power on their enemies. Even when it comes to
<br>
public policy resolutions, the Bylaws set a higher threshold requiring
<br>
two-thirds. That is partly out of skepticism towards having the LNC
<br>
spend a lot of time passing inoperative sense-of-the-body resolutions
<br>
rather than setting long-term strategy and monitoring and strengthening
<br>
our day-to-day activities.
<br>
<br>
There are a lot of Libertarians who say or do things that are seriously
<br>
wrong, including in some cases committing real, not-victimless crimes.
<br>
There have been instances of party members committing deadly serious
<br>
violent crimes. Two days before this resolution was introduced, a former
<br>
House candidate in Maine was arrested for attempted murder, and the
<br>
Portland Press-Herald had this headline: “Former Libertarian House
<br>
candidate from Bath charged with attempted murder.” (I have a daily
<br>
Google Alerts set for “libertarian party” and I highly recommend it.)
<br>
Alleged violence, bad effect on branding, public exposure. But it’s not
<br>
reasonable or productive for us to vote on a symbolic censure at the
<br>
national level every time. There are half a million registered
<br>
Libertarians out there. Somewhat regularly there will be a local media
<br>
story about some little-known past candidate or party member doing
<br>
something awful. Everybody should be aware and alert to take appropriate
<br>
action if there are red flags, and having the LNC debate a censure
<br>
resolution is about as opposite as can be from taking steps to protect
<br>
family and friends in a life-or-death situation.
<br>
<br>
Nor should we institutionally put our thumb on the scale with respect to
<br>
the 21 Libertarian presidential candidates filed with the FEC plus
<br>
others who say they’re running but haven’t filed. We are not a tribunal
<br>
to judge accusations or complaints against them and hand out stamps of
<br>
disapproval, no matter how well justified they may be. If the standard
<br>
is violence or advocating violence or discussing violence, two
<br>
candidates have actually gotten media attention for their distasteful
<br>
comments or actions: Mr. Vohra has allegedly spoken favorably of
<br>
violence on at least one occasion, and according to a TV documentary,
<br>
Mr. McAfee has allegedly committed serious acts of violence. So whatever
<br>
standard the sponsors want us to apply, they are applying them unevenly.
<br>
<br>
If some on the LNC plan to ask the next convention for the power to
<br>
expel or discipline members, I would suggest that any censure
<br>
resolutions we consider must be like Caesar’s wife. Totally above
<br>
reproach. There should be clear guardrails that prevent witch hunts,
<br>
clear standards that will be applied fairly to all violators in a matter
<br>
than minimizes bias, and actual action steps other than issuing a public
<br>
denunciation. This resolution falls short in all respects, and does not
<br>
set a good example of where I want the see the LNC go.
<br>
<br>
Third:
<br>
Our state and local parties can (and regularly do) take appropriate
<br>
actions to discipline or disassociate from individual party members
<br>
whose bad actions merit it. It’s my understanding that the county party
<br>
in this instance already ejected this person for his behavior, and the
<br>
state party is going to consider if it wants to take any further action.
<br>
The affiliate parties decide who to invite to their conventions for
<br>
debates or speeches, and the delegates decide who they want to see
<br>
participate in the debate at the national convention. The LNC very
<br>
deliberately plays no role in the presidential nomination contest. That
<br>
includes that it’s not our job to take to obscure, relatively unknown
<br>
candidates and shine a public spotlight on them.
<br>
<br>
Credible threats of violence or other threatening behavior should be
<br>
handled by law enforcement and the individuals concerned, not the
<br>
Libertarian Party’s national committee. Barring somebody from events,
<br>
removing them from state and local party positions, etc., are handled by
<br>
the state and local parties, not us. Libertarians are highly capable of
<br>
deciding who to ostracize without us trying to centrally plan it.
<br>
<br>
If this man does hurt himself or others, we will not be “safe” because
<br>
we passed a resolution with no action items. We’d be Pontius Pilate. LNC
<br>
resolutions by themselves are not action. I get that many Libertarians
<br>
are distrustful of the police, often for justifiable reasons. But I do
<br>
not see LNC denunciation as being effective at deterring him or shunning
<br>
him or preventing future violence from this individual.
<br>
<br>
If staff get any media inquiries about Mr. Leder, they and the Chair
<br>
know how to handle it. They can accurately say that he’s been kicked out
<br>
of his local party, and when he sought nomination for public office he
<br>
lost to NOTA. We do not need a vote like this for anybody to cite the
<br>
membership pledge and explain that of course the LP abhors and does not
<br>
tolerate violence of any sort.
<br>
<br>
I personally condemn everything I’ve seen of Mr. Leder’s comments. I
<br>
hope anyone he has made to feel unsafe goes promptly to the right
<br>
authorities. If Mr. Leder is violent, only getting law enforcement
<br>
involved will save lives, not an LNC resolution. If Mr. Leder is
<br>
mentally unbalanced, he cannot think rationally and this resolution will
<br>
not protect him from further hurting himself or others. If Mr. Leder is
<br>
an online troll, this resolution and the Judicial Committee appeal to
<br>
follow are exactly what he wants: attention and martyrdom and lots of
<br>
it.
<br>
<br>
Consequently, I vote against this resolution.
<br>
<br>
<br>
JBH
<br>
<br>
------------
<br>
Joe Bishop-Henchman
<br>
LNC Member (At-Large)
<br>
joe.bishop-henchman@lp.org
<br>
www.facebook.com/groups/189510455174837
<br>
<br>
On 2019-07-11 13:25, Caryn Ann Harlos via Lnc-business wrote:
<br>
> BALLOT 190711-1 MOTION TO CENSURE BENJAMIN LEDER
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>
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> We have an electronic mail ballot.
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>
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> Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by JULY 18, 2019 at 11:59:59 pm
<br>
> Pacific time.
<br>
>
<br>
> Co-Sponsors: Harlos, Longstreth, Nekhaila, Phillips, Smith
<br>
>
<br>
> =============================================
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>
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>
<br>
> Motion: WHEREAS, Mr. Benjamin Leder (Texas) is currently running to be
<br>
> elected as the Libertarian Party's nominee for President of the United
<br>
> States;
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>
<br>
>
<br>
> WHEREAS, Mr. Leder has continually engaged in behavior that goes
<br>
> directly
<br>
> against our core principles and is antithetical to the mission of any
<br>
> representative of the Libertarian Party;
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>
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>
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> WHEREAS, He has made direct violent threats and approval of domestic
<br>
> terrorism against the Libertarian Party, including its National
<br>
> Committee
<br>
> members, conventions, candidates, and members of local affiliates, in
<br>
> cases
<br>
> not in self-defense, but in blatant aggression to achieve political
<br>
> goals;
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>
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>
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> WHEREAS, As examples of the above, he has published articles, appeared
<br>
> in
<br>
> media, and posted on social media clear threats of violence and
<br>
> advocate
<br>
> of domestic terrorism on peaceful people, including calling for an
<br>
> ""Oklahoma City style"" ending to not only the Democratic and
<br>
> Republican
<br>
> conventions, but also of the 2020 Libertarian National Convention, thus
<br>
> putting in danger our staff, delegates, and family members;
<br>
>
<br>
>
<br>
> WHEREAS, He has made public, violent statements about killing peaceful
<br>
> people and ""leaving their bodies in contractor bags at the curb for
<br>
> the
<br>
> garbage man"";
<br>
>
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>
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> WHEREAS, He has called for members who support the official Libertarian
<br>
> Party position of being anti-war to be physically battered;
<br>
>
<br>
>
<br>
> WHEREAS, the Libertarian Party absolutely repudiates non-defensive
<br>
> violence
<br>
> and all aggression against peaceful people, and associating such
<br>
> statements
<br>
> with our Party defames its members and brand; and
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>
<br>
>
<br>
> RESOLVED, That the Libertarian National Committee condemns these
<br>
> actions by
<br>
> Mr. Leder as completely abhorrent to the mission, platform, and
<br>
> principles
<br>
> of the Libertarian Party.
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>
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> =============================================
<br>
>
<br>
> THRESHOLD REQUIRED: Majority.
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>
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>
<br>
> You can keep track of the Secretary's manual tally of votes here:
<br>
> https://tinyurl.com/ballot190711-1. Votes are noted with a link to the
<br>
> actual ballot cast for verification. You can find the time that the
<br>
> manual
<br>
> tally was last updated at the bottom of the sheet.
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>
<br>
> Please notify me of any discrepancies.
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>
<br>
> * In Liberty,*
<br>
> * Personal Note: I have what is commonly known as Asperberger's
<br>
> Syndrome
<br>
> (part of the autism spectrum). This can effect inter-personal
<br>
> communication skills in both personal and electronic arenas. If anyone
<br>
> found anything offensive or overly off-putting (or some other social
<br>
> faux
<br>
> pas), please contact me privately and let me know. I am asking you to
<br>
> help
<br>
> me - in a diverse world, we must work to meet each other halfway.*
<br>
</p>
</blockquote></div><br></div>