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Candidates, Purges and Principles
by Mike Blessing
kcufmedia@gmail.com

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

Re: "Time for a Purge?", by L. Neil Smith

Neil—

I just read your article "Time for a Purge?" and am somewhat amused at the latest from the Watergate Gang.

This press release from Cory really makes me wonder what the dues of the LPUS's Sustaining Members are going for. I was under the impression that Cory was hired to run the day-to-day operations of the Libertarian Party's Watergate office.

A question for Shane Cory—How does calling for MORE State action help to fufill the LP's professed mission of SHRINKING the State?

My answer—It DOESN'T. So what business does the Executive Director of organization supposedly dedicated to shrinking the State have in calling for more State activity?

And I think that the War on Kiddie Porn will go the same route as the Wars on Drugs and Terror—as an excuse for Democrats and Republicans to expand the reach and expense of the State, regardless of what their constituents say, never mind common sense, the Constitution, the rule of law.

As for the presidential candidate, it wouldn't be Christine Smith, would it?

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This comes as a disappointment to me, as I was operating under the assumption that Smith was one of the more principled candidates. My main fear about her was that she would burn out, being such a high- energy candidate.

But not to fear—another potential nominee has been dropping the ball. This would be former GOP congressman Bob Barr. It turns out that the Bob Barr Leadership Fund has been making campaign contributions to Republican candidates who were opposing Libertarian candidates, while the BBLF wasn't making ANY donations to the Libertarian candidates. All of this while Bob Barr has been a sitting member of the LNC.

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We in the LPNM had a guy who did this kind of schtick. Back in 2005, he had announced that he was seeking the LPNM's nomination for U.S. Senate. At the time, he was the Vice-Chair of the LPNM. Come March 2006, he says that "If nominated, I'll use my campaign to stump for Jeff Bingaman." Bingaman was (and still is) the Democrat incumbent. He didn't show up at that year's (rump) State Convention two weeks later in Rio Rancho. I wonder why?

Fast-forward about two months later, and he announces that he's forming the "Independent Voters of New Mexico" with the Green Party's perennial traitor, Abraham Gutmann. As one of the leaders of this outfit, he endorsed then-New Mexico Attorney General Patsy Madrid for U.S. Congress, 1st Congressional District, against Democrat-wannabe Heather Wilson. (I'm NO fan of Wilson, either.) Given that Madrid had used her powers of office as State Attorney General in an attempt to kill off the LPNM as an organization, what business does a sitting officer of the LPNM do having ANYTHING good to say about her?

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As for purging the undesireable members from the Libertarian Party, I don't know that the Party has any specific mechanism for doing that. Is that good or bad? I'll leave that question for the readership to answer for themselves. It seems to me that those who think along the lines of Carl Milsted and Eric Dondero like to conduct their purges by playing games with the membership and credentials rules, so as to cut the radical and principled elements out of the loop[1].

I say this in sharp contrast to those of us from the radical side -- when we are deemed to have purged someone of the Milsted/Dondero side from the LP's ranks, it's mostly that person who was "purged" simply heard, "You're full of shit" one too many times from other LP members.

Notes

[1] The current State Chair of the LPNM, Jay Vandersloot, while a member of the "Reform" Caucus started by Milsted, has no problem with Bill Koehler and I being in the radical camp. In fact, when Jay hears complaints about Bill and I from others, Jay will back us up, asking the complaintant, "What have YOU done to advance the cause?"

First published on KCUF Media's Xanga Site Weblog

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