Speechifying: R. Lee Wrights in Knoxville

The Libertarian Party of Tennessee had their 2009 state convention this last weekend in Knoxville. Tennessee puts on a great convention -- I've been to a few of them -- and I wish I could have made it to this one.

R. Lee Wrights, at-large member of the Libertarian National Committee, did make it to Knoxville. Here's his speech, which addresses the ongoing attempt of a rebel cabal on the LNC to illicitly remove him from the committee. It's audio only, courtesy of Allan Wallace. I understand that there may be a video version coming as well from another attendee, but this will do just fine for now:

Free Video Hosting

If you were a 2008 national convention delegate (an actually credentialed one, i.e. one who went to Denver and was seated), please sign the delegate appeal to the Judicial Committee to suppress the cabal's attempted coup. If you're a sustaining member of the national Libertarian Party, please sign the membership appeal. If you were a delegate and are a sustaining member, please sign both. It's your party -- defend it!

My two latest at C4SS

"The best defense," 04/24/09:

Two things you get when your government spends so much on "defense" are more enemies and more wars.

Politicians are loath to just leave a military establishment as large and expensive as that maintained by the United States lying around -- soldiers in domestic barracks, ships in domestic ports. They want to use it, if for no other reason than to provide a continuing justification for its existence. Theodore Roosevelt's "big stick" isn't something politicians can bring themselves to carry at their sides while speaking softly ... rather, they're constantly tempted to wave it around while yelling at the tops of their lungs.

And "Think globally, bully locally," 04/27/09:

"Would you tell me please, Mr. Howard," asked Benjamin Martin, a fictional character loosely based on Revolutionary War figure Francis Marion and portrayed by Mel Gibson in The Patriot, "why should I trade one tyrant 3,000 miles away for 3,000 tyrants one mile away?"

In the film -- and in the making of America’s Revolution against Britain -- the question was whether rule by a domestic elected legislature was really any better in principle than rule by a distant foreign king.

The same question can still be reasonably posed in cities and towns across that same America more than 200 years later. While "states' rights" claims and other arguments in favor of decentralization and localized rule are characteristic of the American political tradition, local government often makes the best case against delegating power to government at all."

Inside baseball

For the long versions, see:

Independent Political Report: Here, here, here and here.

Idaho Libertarian Times: Here.

Liberty For All: Here and here.

Short version:

- The secretary of the Libertarian National Committee, acting on behalf of an internal LNC cabal fast developing a reputation for this kind of weird shit, has attempted to unilaterally remove an at-large representative from the committee, even though the bylaws governing the committee's operations clearly require a 2/3 vote of the committee to remove one of its members.

- The chair of the LNC is actively supporting the cabal's rebellion against the Libertarian Party with parliamentary rulings intended to suppress operation of the bylaws in favor of the cabal's writ. Therefore the fight to suppress the rebellion must now be conducted by appeal to the party's Judicial Committee.

- An appeal requires petition signatures from 10% of credentialed delegates to the last Libertarian National Convention (if that's you, click here to sign said petition), or 1% of sustaining members of the Libertarian Party (here's that petition).

If you're both a sustaining member of the LP and were a credentialed 2008 national convention delegate, you can sign both petitions.

Do the right thing.