The anti-Keaton crowd won at last weekend’s LNC meeting. No, they didn’t have the spine or the votes to formally remove Ms Keaton. Sadly, they also lacked the intestinal fortitude to declare the charges for what they are: complete and unmitigated FAIL.
The LNC Abstained from Choice
Instead, they removed Ms Keaton with uncertainty and the promise of further distractions from the real purpose of the LP and libertarians everywhere – the fight for liberty.
They created this worst-of-all-possible situations by – unanimously – agreeing to appoint a committee. Leadership by committee – straight out of Atlas Shrugged, no less. Is this the Libertarian Party?!
Keaton will not Submit
Ms Keaton spoke with her trademark directness. “I will under no circumstances submit to any committee investigation.”
An Ultimatum from her Boss
Today, Ms Keaton’s employer, Eric Garris of AntiWar.com also spoke.
The “controversy” regarding your involvement with the LNC is an indication of the general problem with the national organization. They have become obsessed with policing private behavior, maintaining control over personality, and purging all radical thought from the center of the party. Private organizations have a right to behave in this way, but it is peculiar that the LP leadership would have such difficulty understanding the types of values one would hope would be commonly embraced by a libertarian organization – individualism, personal privacy, a reasonable level of organizational transparency, and of course libertarian ideals. In particular, the abusive use of executive sessions and bizarre practices of ensuring lockstep conformity elicit images of Communist organizing back in the 1960s. Always afraid of the LP becoming a debating society, the moderates in charge have instead turned it into a cult altogether isolated from the broader movement and mainstream society.
I regret this, but for all these reasons I must insist that you to resign from the LNC. Otherwise, we would have no choice but to reconsider your employment with Antiwar.com. As I said, your involvement, through no fault of your own, has brought some embarrassment to Antiwar.com and is a distraction from the movement at large. We have a new administration to grapple with soon. The politicians are planning more wars, more invasions of our rights, and more nationalizations of the economy. We all have bigger fish to fry and we need you with us, fighting for peace, not with the LNC, defending your integrity against those who don’t deserve your time.
Working to Turn Around the LP
While I lament this course of events, I also understand Mr Garris’ situation. I’ve assured him that a small group of us are working on turning around the LP. Help us do just that.
4 replies on “Angela Keaton to Resign from the LNC”
Except now instead of playing offense we’re now playing defense, since that tilts the playing field in the wrong direction. There is little to stop them from appointing one of their yahoos to the spot and then going after Ruwart, Wrights, and Hawkridge.
Garris’s actions now just made our job harder. Transparency was a major key to saving things, and now the hill just got steeper.
I’m still on offense, just more and more motivated. :)
Thanks for commenting.
Me, too, after the initial WTF wore off.
Offense all the way.
Now more than ever.
LNC gallery binder scanned and heat for open replacement deliberations big time.
Angela did the right thing for her. We should not ask her to sacrifice any more than she already has with her LNC work.
Also, it’s a done deal. Time to move forward.