----- Original Message ----- From: "John Stroebel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > > *To be a member of the Libertarian Party, one must sign a pledge "I oppose > > the use of force or fraud to achieve social, economic, or political > > goals".* > > > Well allow me to ask you this Mr Candidate... > Isn't your loyalty oath in and of itself using force to reach a political > goal? It is NOT a loyalty oath. It is a pledge against violence. NOBODY is forced, or ever will be forced to sign it. And BTW, I am NOT a candidate for anything. Not that I am opposed to it, but Ohio has some of the worst ballot access laws in North America, on par with Cuba's! FWIW, the Ohio LP is still in federal court to gain ballot access for 2004. If we win, injunctive releif MAY be ballot access for this year. In that case, I MAY be a candidate, but I'm not going to hold my breath. > > And next...what happens when people refuse to sign your loyalty oath....are > they excluded from voting for a Libertarian Candidate? Only at State and National LP conventions. If you choose to go down the path of violence, you won't be able to nominate a Libertarian candidate. You may, if you wish vote for the nominated candidate (that you chose to not help nominate) in the general election. > > See, as far as I am concerned, this party politics garbage is part of what > is wrong with our system...and it is NOT written into our Constitution. I > personally vote for the PERSON not the PARTY. There are PLENTY of lazy fools > running for office, no one in particular referred to here, and there are > very very few patriotic, honest defenders of our Constitution running. > Eisenhower....proud honest man. Reagan, bought and paid for by big business. > You get the drift. You are right. There is nothing in the Constitution about political parties. Indeed, or Founding Fathers opposed such a system. It just kind of "evolved" that way. But it is what we have. And I agree that we should always vote for the person, not the party. But for busy people that lack the inclination to follow politics, I think the oath of nonviolence can be a useful tool when deciding which candidate to vote for. You will always be assured that a Libertarian candidate will base his decisions on the pledge. FWIW, every President seems to get a little worse. Eisenhower was a saint compared to Reagan. But Eisenhower was satan compared to Hoover or Coolidge. And Reagan was a saint compared with the Bush we have now! > > So, tell me the answer to the dilemma...how does the pledge of loyalty you > promote work when people like me say that we don't need to sign squat in > order to vote for the person we choose? You don't need to. Only if you wish to nominate a Libertarian in the Convention. You can vote for whoever you wish in the general election. > > See, in the country I live in, we are FREE to vote however we please. > Republicans prove that by voting for criminals. Those criminals would take > away all our rights and ransom the country for their own profit. Now I hear > Libertarians require a signed statement. Does it end with 'Heil (insert the > name of your choice)'??? Yes, you are free to choose (vote for) any criminal you wish. Please educate me. How is a pledge of nonviolence comparable to your silly references to Hitler? > > The way you describe things, it sounds 51% politics, 49% cult, leaning > toward cult. > There are a few disgruntled republicans that lurk on this list. They pop up every now and then to propose that the LP abolish it's Platform and Pledge of nonviolence. In other words, to abandon any principles that we share in order to gain political power. But gaining political power at the expense of any principles would be counterproductive. If that is cultish, then so be it! PEACE Steven R. Linnabary, Treasurer Franklin County Libertarian Party (614) 891-8841 P.O.Box#115; Blacklick, OH 43004-0115 "When you make peaceful revolution impossible, you make violent revolution inevitable" John F. Kennedy ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/KlSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
