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Delaware Right to Marry needs volunteers at State Fair

. . . to help cover the (air-conditioned) marriage equality petition tent at a variety of times from 19-28 July.

This is an outstanding opportunity (especially for Libertarian candidates) to get in some public service and contribute time to a good cause.

Details here.

Comments

Bill Humphrey said…
Thanks for re-posting, Steve. We really appreciate it.

Bill Humphrey
Statewide Director
Delaware Right to Marry PAC
Our pleasure, Bill. Keep in mind that it has been Libertarian candidates who have come out first and unequivocally for marriage equality, and challenged their opponents to do the same. Also keep in mind that ONLY Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party argues that marriage equality is a constitutionally guaranteed civil right. One of the reasons he's now a Libertarian is that the GOP froze him out of the process in large part over his challenging Rick Santorum on this very issue.

I will see how many volunteers I can get you.
anonone said…
And keep in mind that Libertarians want to repeal civil rights laws that outlaw discrimination by private business. In other words, they think returning to "whites-only" lunch counters or private hospitals that can refuse services based on color or whatever should be perfectly legal.

Interested readers can read the Libertarian Party Platform to confirm this for themselves. It is no wonder an old racist like Ron Paul loves the Libertarians or that his son (Ann) Rand has openly said he would not have supported the Civil Rights laws passed in the 1960s.
Funny thing, A1--nobody in the LPD has EVER, EVER suggested repealing civil rights protection. Many of us have many issues with the national platform, and have been involved in fights to change it. Which you've never acknowledged, preferring to trot out your old straw man and set fire to it.

But go for it, A1. It's like Otis in the jail cell come Sunday morning: we'd think something was wrong if you weren't there.
anonone said…
Funny thing, Steve, the LDP says this on their website:

"Libertarians believe government's only purpose is to protect people from violence and coercion."

It isn't surprising that nobody in the LPD has ever campaigned on repealing civil rights protection or ending the social safety net or any of the other ugly and unpopular things that would result from Libertarianism.

Why would they?

Meanwhile, the NLP platform is there for all to read, and, despite you and whomever is trying to change it, it hasn't changed. Indeed, with the overarching belief that government's only purpose is to protect people from violence and coercion, how could it?

So you can try to negate the NLP platform and the LPD's stated governing philosophy as a "straw man," but it is, in fact, what the party stands for, regardless of what you personally believe.

And it needs to be said over and over again.
OK A1, time to put up or shut up.

Show me anything that I have ever written that suggests, even by inference, that I favor racisms, disrcrimination, or the repeal of civil rights legislation. If you can't, have enough integrity to admit it. If you are really honest, you will admit that I have often defined "coercion" broadly enough to include civil rights legislation. You've made the claim, now substantiate it or back off it.

Don't give me your "straw man" libertarian platform bullshit--every political platform of every major party has aspects which candidates find unpalatable. The Dems have been running with a party platform for years that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

If you have evidence besides the one sentence you have clipped out the LP platform that DE libertarians are engaged in a gigantic bait and switch to get in power and destroy or roll back civil rights, put it out there. Document it.

I've written everything I've ever published over my own name. My LPD candidates have histories and families and records to examine. You carp around the edges for what may or may not be good reasons, try to sell your moral superiority, and frankly lack any sense of humor or perspective.

I will never censor you (barring spam or outing), but if you are not willing to either show your evidence regarding me or admit you don't have any, I am done responding to you.
anonone said…
Steve, I never said that you personally favor racism or discrimination, in fact, all evidence points to the opposite.

What I am saying quite clearly is that the Libertarian Party supports the right of private businesses and private contracts (such as property deeds) to discriminate on the basis of racism or whatever other reason that they would like. This is undeniably the fact. The LPD does not renounce or refute this, and if you visit their website, you will see that there is very little other than a few sentences to clip from, and certainly nothing on their "About" page contradicts the NLP.

My argument is not with you personally, so don't make it so. My argument is with the party that you champion and the candidates running on that platform. The idea that "government's only purpose is to protect people from violence and coercion" is abhorrent, yet it is at the core of the Libertarian Party ideology and that deserves to be pointed out unceasingly. And the two most prominent Libertarians, Ron Paul and his son (Ann) Rand Paul have a history of racism and hostility to civil rights, respectively.

If supporting Civil Rights and the government's Constitutional role in promoting the general welfare is so-called "moral superiority" over the Libertarian Party philosophy as stated in their platform, then so be it. I am guilty as charged.
Sorry A1, not good enough. I always thought you knew your stuff, but it is apparent that you don't.

You cite Ayn Rand who was an objectivist who actually despised Libertarians. Why so many Libertarians idealize her I don't pretend to understand. You cite Ron Paul, and I agree with you about his difficult history-and I have written about it many times.

So you pick two figures and ignore Gary Johnson, Lee Wrights, Michael Munger, Barbara Howe, Scotty Boman, Andy Horning, Wes Benedict, Jim Gray, Angela Keaton, Starchild, Brian Miller, John Stoessel, and hundreds--no thousands--of other Libertarian spokespeople, philosophers, and candidates who have been working for civil liberties, against US war policies, against unfair taxation, for LGBT rights, and for all kinds of other issues.

You cherry pick two people who have no association with the Libertarian Party and say that because they are there, there can never be legitimacy in this party?

You cannot show me a single LP candidate running on what you claim is the core of the LP's ugly secret agenda, and yet you think you have credibility when you make sweeping accusations that "Libertarians" want to repeal civil rights law?

I'm done. You can keep taking your little cheap shots while I am trying to build a socially liberal, fiscally conservative party, and if anybody wants to listen, so be it.

But I will no longer be answering.
anonone said…
So the Libertarian party is whatever "Gary Johnson, Lee Wrights, Michael Munger, Barbara Howe, Scotty Boman, Andy Horning, Wes Benedict, Jim Gray, Angela Keaton, Starchild, Brian Miller, John Stoessel, and hundreds--no thousands--of other Libertarian spokespeople, philosophers, and candidates" and you say it is, therefore the National Platform and the Local Platform are meaningless or should be ignored or not talked about.

Is Libertarianism whatever any individual Libertarian says it is or does it have some foundational principles? And if it does have some foundational principles that are different from its national platform, then tell me where to look.

For example, the LPD website says that taxing people to pay for welfare is akin to armed robbery. Is that a foundational principle? Do the Delaware Libertarian candidates believe that? Do you believe that?

Pointing out the ugly facts about the national and local platforms of the Libertarian Party is not taking "little cheap shots" anymore than discussing the ugly facts about the Republican or Democratic platforms is.

I think that people should read the National Platform and the "About" page of the LPD before they vote for any national or local Libertarian Candidate. I think that most people will be unpleasantly surprised by what they learn.

a1
anonone said…
Steve, you said "You cannot show me a single LP candidate running on what you claim is the core of the LP's ugly secret agenda..."

Well, go to Gary Johnson's website and there is a link to the "what-is-the-libertarian-party" NLP page, which states that "Government's only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud."

So if you want an example of someone who is believes in the NLP principle that "Government's only role is to help individuals defend themselves from force and fraud," then Gary Johnson is example 1.

By the way, I never said the Libertarian Party agenda was secret, just ugly.

a1
anonone said…
BTW, Steve, here is Libertarian Party spokesman Wes Bendict's thoughts in support of repealing the ban on discrimination by private businesses:

“If some private business discriminates we think that’s unfortunate, but we don’t think the government should get involved in banning it. That’s just a negative that we have to tolerate in a free society.”

So you're trying to suggest that this position is not a mainstream principle of Libertarianism is incorrect. And you're not going to be able to build a "socially liberal" party from a party that proudly wants to destroy the social safety net and legalize discrimination by private businesses.

a1

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