Apropos of an interesting situation ...

... which I'll not go into the gory details of, except that it involves certain "leaders" of a fine libertarian organization besmirching that organization's reputation by defaming (and, where they have the power to do so, muzzling) anyone who disagrees with them on anything. Based on the latest email tirade I've received on the matter [1], the matter seems to have been aggravated by a bizarre case of mistaken identity.

For the record:

- My name is not Brian Holtz. That would be this guy. My name is Tom Knapp. Mr. Holtz lives in California. I live in Missouri. While I'm not morally outraged or anything by the mixup, I'm not him and he's not me.

- I am neither a member of, nor an alternate to, the Libertarian Party's 2008 platform committee. Mr. Holtz is.

- I played no role in "gutting the Platform and making it so general that it effectively stands for nothing." I have never served on the LP's platform committee, nor was I a delegate to the 2006 LP national convention at which the platform was gutted, nor did I support that gutting. As a matter of fact, I am on record in numerous instances as having vehemently opposed it.

- Mr. Holtz is not a staff member of Kubby for President [2]. I am.

- I never sign my emails "Brian Holtz (speaking only for himself)" then follow that with "Chair, Directional Principles subcommittee, 2008 LP Platform Committee," for the perfectly good reasons that a) my name is not Brian Holtz and b) I'm not the chair of the Direction Principles subcommittee, 2008 LP Platform Committee." Just to make this perfectly clear, I also never sign emails which are not part of my work for Kubby for President as "Thomas L. Knapp (speaking only for himself)" then follow that with "Communications Director, Kubby for President."

This case of mistaken identity, which only came to my attention earlier this morning, does explain a lot. But it excuses nothing.

Selah.

Notes

1. The correspondent in question has asked (demanded and threatened, actually) that his emails be considered private/personal, even though he is putatively acting on behalf of a membership organization. Since I never, in the normal course of things, publish the content of not-specifically-public emails anyway, I'm happy to honor that request, even to the extent of letting it trump my natural tendency to revolt against arrogant demands. None of the putatively private emails pursuant to these "leaders'" ongoing temper tantrums will be published by me unless those "leaders" themselves blatantly publicly falsify the content of said emails.

2. That's not to say that Mr. Holtz has not been helpful to the Kubby campaign. I have found that he is quite generous with advice and criticism, and have occasionally sought his opinion on various subjects, including the campaign. I rather suspect that he has interacted with other campaigns as well. To the best of my knowledge he has not publicly endorsed any candidate for the LP's 2008 presidential nomination, nor has he privately -- to me, at least -- endorsed Kubby.