Libertarian Party Platform Committee Update

Hey, everyone ...

The platform committee's report is in version 4 of draft. I'd say it's fairly well complete. Whether this link to that draft works for the general public, I don't know. It's the link from the "Draft Committee Report" thread on the publicly viewable committee discussion group, so hopefully it does.

Per the current draft, the committee has passed 21 proposals for consideration by delegates to the 2020 Libertarian National Convention.

In my opinion most, maybe even all, of the proposals would bring the party's platform more into line with its Statement of Principles.

Also in my opinion most, maybe even all, of the proposals would make the party's platform more relevant to political and policy discussions in America circa 2020.

Since those are the effects I think the platform committee's proposals should seek, I'm happy with, and proud of, our work and hope that my contributions to that work were helpful.

So, what happens next?

In theory, the 2020 Libertarian National Convention is in hiatus until early July, after a "virtual" session (in which the party's presidential ticket was nominated) and before a "physical" session in Orlando, Florida.

In fact, I think there's some chance (call it 25%) that the Orlando event won't happen at all, or that if it does happen it will lack the necessary quorum, or the credentialing legitimacy, or both, to do business* (call that chance 50% if the event happens).

My initial plans to attend the event were pretty firm regardless of those possibilities, because if nothing else, there are a lot of old friends I'd like to visit with and I've already got some sunk costs (the bare-basics convention "package" and $100 in donations toward rental of a suite where I planned to crash on the floor).

At the moment, my plans are becoming somewhat more tentative, for several reasons:

1. The rest of my family will be traveling at the same time, to my mother-in-law's memorial service/celebration of life in Illinois (originally scheduled for June, then re-scheduled due to continuing COVID-19-related statism). That makes travel on my  part a little less convenient and more expensive, and also represents some problems and/or expenses vis a vis making sure pets are cared for.
2. I am not a delegate. I'm an alternate from Florida. Due to a clerical error, it may be difficult for me to get credentialed even as an alternate, and since the event is in Florida, it's unlikely I'd end up with a voting delegate seat. My attendance would therefore be more along the lines of a social outing than a working trip.
3. I have a chest X-ray to get next week and an appointment near the end of June to learn what the doctor thinks about the results of that and some other stuff (I had blood drawn this morning). My guess is that I'm in the early stages of congestive heart failure, but "quit smoking too late -- lung cancer" seems like a dark horse contender as well. Either one would presumably be yet another co-morbidity that might make me want to avoid likely COVID-19 hot-spots (although I think a third possibility is that I already had it and got some lasting lung damage out of it).
4. I'm not very happy with the current direction of the party, so it may be time to go do other things instead (and again).

We'll see.

Thanks to all of you who've made it possible for me to serve a second stint on the platform committee.

* The "virtual session" adjourned on a motion that automatically "checked out" all the delegates. If that motion was valid, the convention is over and no business can legitimately be conducted. If it was invalid, the convention can continue, but only if a quorum of 40% of the delegates who registered at the "virtual" convention are present.