“Time for a Purge?”
Seems the scalp of executive director Shane Cory might not be enough for some Libertarians.
On the other hand, if this sort of ugly struggle is to be avoided, what needs to be done—and immediately—is for the LP board of directors to hand Cory and Davis their walking papers, and then to publicly retract and apologize for their original anti-libertarian statement. If the board fails with regard to principal in this affair, they, too, should be replaced, at the upcoming national convention in Denver.
Man. Again, I so want to be there.
We’ll have to get the Joyful Cynic a writer’s line here if she’s willing to liveblog it.
That is a seriously vile post by Smith, and I say that as somebody who AGREES with his philosophy regarding the party’s stance on child pornography.
I am so, so tired of the name-calling by the purists. So very, very tired.
Comment by Rojas — 5/6/2008 @ 12:05 am
Shane Cory needed to resign after issuing that ridiculous press release, but Smith goes over the top with the name calling. A political party party, by definition, has to compromise and forge coalitions. And I say that that as a radical, that is someone who really no longer really believes libertarianism is compatible with any Statist framework.
If you are going to operate within politics, then you have to accept compromise; otherwise, drop out and operate within the counter-economy. That being said, it doesn’t mean we should tolerate the LP becoming the conservative wing of the GOP.
Comment by Kaligula — 5/6/2008 @ 1:38 am
Quite so, Kal. But as long as Libertarians continue to insist that the World’s Smallest Political Quiz is a legitimate indicator of people who are ideologically inclined to work with them, they’re going to have to recognize that some of their members won’t be purely libertarian at all times.
To which I would add: people who accept the use of the state as a mechanism for combatting social problems are often wrong, but they are very rarely as evil and foolish as Smith portrays them. There is virtually never a good reason for the kind of incivility that the LP core directs at its internal enemies.
Ideology aside, nobody wants to work with a dickhead.
Comment by Rojas — 5/6/2008 @ 9:21 am
You’re going to talk yourself out of a job there, man.
Comment by Adam — 5/6/2008 @ 10:59 am