Per an email from national Libertarian Party chair William Redpath to the Libertarian National Committee (forwarded to me through multiple, but reliable, parties):
Dear Colleagues:
Today Wes Benedict and I signed an employment agreement making him the new Executive Director of the Libertarian Party. Wes’ first day of employment will be Friday, July 17, when he will be in St. Louis for the LNC meeting. He will then drive on to Washington to start work at 2600 Virginia Ave., Suite 200.
Congratulations to Wes. I ask everyone on the LNC to work professionally and collegially with Wes, and I look forward to great things for the LP with him as Executive Director.
Bill Redpath
LNC Chair
Benedict, formerly executive director of the Texas LP, was one of at least two candidates whose names had recently been rumored to be under consideration for the job. Another was Massachusetts LP activist Carla Howell.
I just now found out the news of Wes Benedict’s hiring as new LP E.D.
This is good news – as I’ve known Wes for over 5 years now and worked with him well – and represents Bill Redpath’s finally seeing the wisdom in steering an errant ship away from the looming iceberg and in a direction that MIGHT not result in certain sinking.
I don’t think there’s any argument about Wes Benedict’s directorship competence. Ideologically, I don’t know what to make of some of these comments as I know for certain Wes told me in Atlanta (LP convention ’04) outside a hospitality suite that he was a “real” (purist) libertarian, and wished to know that I was too (I am).
I nod in appreciation at getting a package at the top of the party HQ that combines competence + ideological soundness; AND he doen’t believe in the ‘Vast Gary Fincher’ conspiracy, either. Good man, that Wes.
Congratulations, Wes, if you’re reading this. I might even get over my disgust of the LP and look forward to working with you productively, just like old times.
Thank you!
For anyone who did not receive Wes’s letter it is at
http://www.lpwv.org/2009/06/01/help-the-lpwv-put-candidates-into-office/
and
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/05/west-virginia-libertarians-raising-funds-for-2010-2012-ballot-access-ipr-one-year-anniversary/
….I have reports from people doing fundraising work that former donors have declined to donate or been hesitant to donate due to the Barr campaign…..
I would hope that Wes can move the LP past this. There were calls for Wes to take this position from the beginning, but it is only now happening. Things must be getting pretty desperate for Star and Co. to let Wes take over. It will not be easy though, most of Wes’ success has come from mail out fundraisers and he will now be in the position of trying raise money from a base of members that has been continually inundated with fundraising letters for the last 2-3 years. I just throw em in the trash now. If you are listening Wes, we would love too see the LP fundraising be directed towards specific issues with specific goals for amounts needed. The WV fundraising letter was right on track…..here is the issue, here is the people trying to make it happen, here is our goal, if you support this issue please donate. I wrote a check and sent it out the next day. The filing deadline is coming up so it will be interesting to see where the LP stands financially. On another note I am glad to see the dedication of our LNC reps like Mary, Lee,Julie, and Rachel stay the course and hang in there and keep the faith in the LP. Hopefully this is our lowpoint and we can build from here.
I have reports from people doing fundraising work that former donors have declined to donate or been hesitant to donate due to the Barr campaign. 🙁
Unfortunately Monds supports the national sales tax, a trojan horse proposal if ever there was one. Besides that, he seems to be an excellent candidate.
Peter, after that eulogy of a racist bastard like Helms during the election, you think John Monds would want Barr campaigning for him? What makes you think Barr would want to campaign for Monds either way. If I were Monds I’d keep Barr at an arms length.
Milnes, you forgot the part at the end of your story where you and Mary Ruwart grow wings and fly off into the sunset together.
Robert 98: Dunno
97: Sorry, no. Of course, that would have been impossible on several levels: Ruwart would not have agreed to be on the ticket with you, and you wouldn’t have been on the ballot.
94: I knew Obama was not going to change anything – at least not for the good.
Barr was just not exciting enough for me to attempt to actually vote, which I probably would not have been able to do due to ID situation anyway, but if I had a candidate I felt strongly about I may have at least tried.
McKinney did not come through with any money for us to put her on the Alabama ballot, even though we were already getting sigs for Barr, Baldwin and Nader, the Greens contact for Alabama had an office for his business in the same building as the LPA office where I was turning in Barr signatures (and agreed to count and store signatures and cut checks), and both my coworkers and the LPA Vice Chair/admin at the time agreed to run them down to Montgomery together with Barr’s.
Loretta Nall’s race confirmed what I already knew about the uselessness of write-in votes in Alabama.
paulie, what do you think Susan meant by the Tom you don’t understand Milnes comment? She doesn’t seem to want to elaborate.
paulie, If Milnes/Ruwart was on the ballot & you voted, admit it, you would have voted for it over Barr, McKinney etc.
Peter O., don’t feel too bad. Obama suckered a lot of people.
paulie, I asked SH to be my vp a long time ago. This was pursuant to ENM’s recommendation. I asked her but she said no due to health issues. SH said no, I’m too busy.
Funny thing, I heard a lot more L/libertarians say they would or did vote for Obama than McCain.
Tom voted for McKinney IIRC, and I may have too had I voted (and had I voted in a state where she was on the ballot).
I was definitely considering a (theoretical) vote for Barr as well.
SH
So, has he asked you to run for VP yet? LOL
& I identify more with the green anarchists than the libertarian anarchists. But it is close, very close.
Peter O., haven’t you heard of the missionary position! Ha, Ha! Just kidding. Actually I was trying to promote Gravel/Ruwart last year but nobody listens to me. I put a LOT of thought into this. 2/3 progressives, 1/3 libs gives them greater claim to the pres. position. & I am just deferring to the generality that the American voters are not quite ready for a woman pres. An anarchist woman president might get even more resistance. But this means that an all anarchist ticket could actually win the presidency!
Almost forgot. Mary & I get in the debates & win.
but that’s ok because we could’ve organized vote coordination for them
This is from somebody that can’t even organize his thoughts, let alone a sock drawer!
PEACE
Tom, I don’t know what Susan means. But here is briefly how the Hail Mary pass of 2008 may very well have worked out. Mary comes in second to Barr. Mary emails me & says Tom & paulie have pursuaded me to try to save the LP by bolting the party to your Independent ticket as vp. All the radicals Cheer wildly! The greens take note of all the hubbub. Fusion Ticket, Fusion Ticket! All progressives & greens & naderites vote for Milnes/Ruwart-instead of Nader, McKinney & Obama. & all libs vote for Milnes/Ruwart instead of Barr or Baldwin or McCain. As the polling increases, more & more join the hubbub. BTP votes for me over Jay & demand Ruwart vp. You step graciously aside for her. The crowd goes wild! BTP gets on a lot more ballots. Milnes/Ruwart gets on several Independent ballots & several write in campaigns form. Milnes/Ruwart create a viable three way race & win the big states from Obama e.g. CA & NY. & NJ. Takes several red states from McCain. Wins by a slim margin in the Electoral College. Many LP & GP candidates get elected on the coattails.
mdh, Milsted may have voted for McCain/Palin-as I did. But I doubt if he actually joined the GOP.-If that is what you mean by “…go to the GOP.”
“My guess on that is that it was a hard line condition on his part and that whoever hired him (the chair or ED) wanted to hire him badly enough to meet that condition. No different than ‘if you want to hire me, it is $50k; $49.5k is no deal.'”
I think that there has got to be more to it than that. It is not as though Sean Haugh has any talent or has any great track record of accomplishments. He’s either got to have something on somebody (embarrassing pictures or something like that) or his one and only talent is ass kissing, and if that is the case, he must be one hell of an ass kisser.
“…your fantasy would have been shattered by the resulting single-digit vote count…”
Tom, you’re an intelligent man, but I don’t think you understand Milnes.
Bob,
You write:
“[Mary Ruwart] had a clear alternative. & a laudable rationale to bolt the party.”
Dr. Ruwart had any number of “clear alternatives.” She chose one of them (working to save the LP). Get over it.
In truth, Dr. Ruwart did you an immense personal service. If she had signed on as your VP candidate in 2008, your fantasy would have been shattered by the resulting single-digit vote count (not percentage, count). Now you get to entertain said fantasy for four more years.
I completely agree with Paulie’s position on global warming. I also agree with his ideas about the government-business alliance. The idea of Catholic Trotskyism is to replace the government-business alliance with something more along the lines of the church-state alliance of the mdiddle ages, but without the inquisition, and having only one state for the entire world to prevent wars, and having freedom of religion, and having some private property rights other than feudalism.
Robert, I’m glad you agree about Wes. I was actually thinking of some statements he made that weren’t so much politically reactionary, ut more just plain strange and off-topic, like what you, me and Don Lake are partaking in often.
And Theodore Roosevelt was a Christian theocrat, and pro-war. He probably would have been a supporter of George W. Bush, although eventually abandoned him for his incompetence. Ron Paul furthered the cause of Catholic Trotskyism by combining religion and anti-war politics, though his economics positions were mostly wrong.
Bob,
Milsted did go to the GOP. Plase check your facts.
Bob,
You write:
“SOMETHING is wrong with a Nolan chart that says Teddy Roosevelt-cofounder of the Progressive Party, was a 100% authoritarian.”
I agree, but standard mathematics says that the chart can’t go to 270%.
I think Mary Ruwart was wrong to relent to the Bob Barr nomination. She had a clear alternative. & a laudable rationale to bolt the party. In fact I’d say she had a clear mandate & ignored it.
SOMETHING is wrong with a Nolan chart that says Teddy Roosevelt-cofounder of the Progressive Party, was a 100% authoritarian.
Tom, all I know is I remember Wes Benedict consistently coming down on the right -reactionary not “correct”-side of EVERY issue. It got so obvious & predictable I actually nicknamed him Reactionary Wes.
Although even Bush admitted that hydrogen fuel cells is or should be the fuel of the future.
Just a quick comment. If we wish to succeed at any issue we need to make a consistent effort.
The LP has pushed for better ballot access and seen some degree of success, because the LP stayed with that issue year after year.
We have had somewhat of a hand helping in fighting the drug war because people in the LP were active with that issue, but the LP did not lead in that effort.
If we wish to be successful in any effort we need to be consistent day after day. And so far that point has escaped many in this party.
Good luck to Wes.
paulie, Long makes some good points. & I am like you a fan of his. But it is all SO completely logical. Burning fossil fuels-oil & coal etc.>imbalance in the natural atmospherics. Fossil fuels are a reactionary burden of the past. Solar could produce energy galore FREE and non-polluting. Contributing ultimately to a laissez faire/functionalist/barter economy. But the George Bush’s & Saudi princes of the world resist-classic reactionary resistance to change.
paulie, the outcome of Ron Paul was an endorsement of the CP-Chuck Baldwin. That is the EXACT OPPOSITE of progressivism. i.e progressivism is slow revolution. Constitutional theocracy is slow counterrevolution. So all this activism & attracting leftists etc was basically a counterrevolutionary movement-the exact opposite of what I’m supporting. & what TR tried 100 years ago. Clearly he evolved to the left in his political career towards the end-of his political career & his life-died 1919. You fed into that, man. & you do contribute a lot of time. Which is why it is so frustrating for me to have you as a detractor & Tom’s growing evidently alienation. If we had gotten Mary Ruwart to be my vp last year we could’ve made a real run at actually WINNING the friggin election. Radicals would’ve abandoned the lp-except candidates who would be stuck-but that’s ok because we could’ve organized vote coordination for them. They would’ve flocked to the BTP &/or supported the ticket as Independent & got ballot access or last resort write-in. BTP would have gotten a LOT more ballot access. But no, you & she fell into the same old patterns. Now here we go again-Wes Benedict-the same old pattern.
mdh, “Republicans can go where they belong-the GOP.” Agreed. But what does that have to do with Milsted leaving the LP? Milsted-Libertarian Reform Caucus. He certainly was not a republican & did not go to the GOP. He wants to start a “new upper left party”. See: holistic politics. That is imo a Progressive Party equivalent. It would directly compete with the LP & GP. This is why I did not support it. When Bann Bob Barr et al claim to be reformers, they are not talking about LRC. They are talking shit to cover their rightist crap usurping libertarianism & calling it a big tent.
Andy,
“Why was Sean Haugh allowed to work out of his home but nobody else has been afforded that opportunity?”
My guess on that is that it was a hard line condition on his part and that whoever hired him (the chair or ED) wanted to hire him badly enough to meet that condition. No different than “if you want to hire me, it is $50k; $49.5k is no deal.”
Bob,
Coming from someone who calls Theodore Roosevelt a “left libertarian,” the characterization of Wes Benedict as a “reactionary” is, I have to say, pretty fucking scary. Something about it reminds me of Hieronymous Bosch’s “The Extraction of the Stone of Madness (The Cure of Folly).”
And from the second link:
I talked about people who take the sides they do primarily on the basis of scientific evidence, and about people who take the sides they do primarily on the basis of political calculation. But I don’t think either of those groups is the majority. Most people with positions on global warming don’t have sufficient scientific expertise to belong to the first group, and aren’t dishonest enough to belong to the second group.
I suspect most people take whatever position they take on global warming because people are generally more likely to read, and/or to believe, whichever scientific case best fits in with their worldview. If you’re conventionally left-wing, then you’re probably accustomed to thinking of business interests as selfish and irresponsible forces that need to be reined in by public-spirited civil servants, and so you’re going to view claims that seem to support the business community with heightened suspicion. If, on the other hand, you’re conventionally right-wing, then you’re probably accustomed to thinking of business interests as decent hard-working folks who are constantly being demonized and micromanaged by rapacious regulators, and so you’re going to view claims that seem to support government regulation with heightened suspicion.
Even if these respective value-judgments were correct, one should be cautious about allowing them to influence one’s view of the evidence. But I don’t think they’re even correct; one should avoid putting too much faith in either the bosses or the bureaucrats.
Roderick Long, from above link:
I suspect I’m one of the few political bloggers who has no opinion about global warming. My problem is that I know too many intelligent and sincere people, with way more scientific expertise than mine, on both sides of the issue. Many on the left seem to assume that anyone who’s skeptical about the cause and/or extent of global warming must be in the pay of the corporations; and many on the right seem to assume that anyone who thinks global warming is serious and manmade is just a shill for big government. I know from personal experience that both of those assumptions are just plain false.
But I suspect the stereotypes – both stereotypes – are largely true of all too many of the politicians and lobbyists involved in the debate. As I’ve written elsewhere:
We might compare the alliance between government and big business to the alliance between church and state in the Middle Ages. Of course it’s in the interest of both parties to maintain the alliance – but all the same, each side would like to be the dominant partner, so it’s no surprise that the history of such alliances will often look like a history of conflict and antipathy, as each side struggles to get the upper hand. But this struggle must be read against a common background framework of cooperation to maintain the system of control.
Now the main difference, insofar as there is one, between the Establishment Left and the Establishment Right in this country is that while both are the running-dog lackeys of the neofascist government-business alliance, the Establishment Left somewhat favours a shift in power toward government, while the Establishment Right somewhat favours a shift in power toward business. Playing up the threat of global warming thus serves the interests of the statocratic faction, while playing down that threat serves the interests of the plutocratic faction – and so you’d expect to see the two sides taking the sides they’re taking, regardless of what the truth actually is. But it’s just a squabble within the ruling class.
In fact, of course, if global warming does turn out to be serious and manmade, that shouldn’t lead us to grant more power to the state; the more serious the problem, the more disastrous any centralised, bureaucratic solution is likely to be. And if on the other hand global warming turns out to have been overhyped, that shouldn’t lead us into complacency about the plutocracy either. Both halves of the ruling-class machine need to be dismantled, whatever the weather may bring.
Good riddance to Milsted. Republicans can go where they belong – the GOP.
Global warming is a scam developed to more efficiently enslave humanity.
So I assume you dipped into your change dish & donated to Ron Paul?
Yes. I liked how he stood up to Giuliani and got a lot of young, artistic and lefty types into a libertarianish movement and actually doing outreach. It also got a lot of long-time libertarians (and Libertarians) doing more real politics than they had in many years, if ever.
I matched it with another token donation to Kubby.
However, I contributed far more time than money to both candidates.
@61: No, I do not wonder why Milsted left the LP, given the direction of his continuing ideological evolution. The LP followed his lead into moderation, but not fast enough for him.
Yes, I’m a member of the LP. Life member and state officer, in fact.
Yes, the rightward drift of the LP bothers me.
I notice that it has taken place at the same time as diminished competence at operations.
Wes has a track record of greater competence at operations in Texas, which makes me more optimistic about LP National now.
63@60
Not at all the same thing. See Roderick Long:
On the issue of global warming I remain agnostic because I suspect both sides are taking their positions for the wrong reasons (see here and here), but I’m sick of seeing each side malign the other side’s honesty.
The “here”s referred to are
http://praxeology.net/unblog07-06.htm#06
and
http://praxeology.net/unblog07-06.htm#07
So I assume you dipped into your change dish & donated to Ron Paul?
what does your “No.” here mean? You don’t know who Milsted is? You don’t care? You DO know? & understand? & agree? Above you welcomed someone back to the LP. So you are a member? So all this right domination doesn’t bother you?
paulie, I take skeptical of global warming as a reactionary position. Much like holocaust denial & nuclear energy promotion & intelligent design. Some things are automatically nearly 100% reactionary. & associated with the right which dominates the LP. Sequitur.
No.
& you wonder why Milsted quit the LP?
Robert Milnes // Jul 9, 2009 at 8:33 am
lg, no offense but you are an airhead.
No contest. I’ll take lg.
reactionary positions, like skeptical of global warming
/\
Non sequitur.
lg, no offense but you are an airhead.
paulie, thanks for asking the question. But as CT says it is more a recollection of him, in the past making over time many reactionary statements & taking reactionary positions, like skeptical of global warming I think. I’d have to review past comments here & tpw & do not feel like doing that. & he’s been away for a while. At least not posting comments much. He consistently came through as reactionary, that’s all. & I’m sure somebody that consistently came through as radical would probably never even get considered. It’s just the same old shit.
Sean Haugh was an inside job.
P__Also, the announcement was made on 7/8 – both numbers which are very close to 9 and 11
me_ LOL
re: tom knapp – “The LP is — or at least should be — hiring an executive director, not an ideological guru.”
Right on, brotha. The ED position is one of a manager, not a pundit. While there are certain areas of the ED position that involve some ideology, they are not the ED’s primary responsibility. The reason the ED position has changed hands so many times is because members (and board members) have foisted politics onto a person that should simply be an executive officer.
In this regard, Wes seems to have his credentials in order.
The best ED that will ever work at LPHQ is one that ignores the internal (and external) politics of the party and focuses on fundraising and ballot access.
Nobody has ever anwsered the question as to why it is that when Sean Haugh was hired as Political Director
I knew you would work Haugh into this somehow.
Also, the announcement was made on 7/8 – both numbers which are very close to 9 and 11 😛
Shane Corey
Cory.
Congrats, Wes!
this may be the least controversial and most universally liked thing the LP has done in a bit.
LOL, no. Try asking Stewart Flood about it.
I still plan on writing in Bob Milnes for Governor of New Jersey in November, but I don’t know who I should write in for Lt. Governor.
Joseph Anthony Marzullo.
Was Angela one of those names?
No.
I recall several times calling him “Reactionary Wes”.
Why?
Anybody know how he’s getting paid?
Commission.
Wes Benedict the new ED? I am now a monthly pledger to the national LP, effective his start date.
“The LP is — or at least should be — hiring an executive director, not an ideological guru.”
One of the problems a lot of people had with Shane Corey was that they said that he was lacking in the Libertarian ideaology department.
“and has no interest in moving to DC to work for the LP.”
Nobody has ever anwsered the question as to why it is that when Sean Haugh was hired as Political Director (a job which he was rightfully removed from last December) that he was able to work out of his home in North Carolina and not move to Washington DC. Every other employee of the LP National office that I can think of has had to move to DC. One of the reasons that Steve Gordon quit working at LP National was because his wife didn’t want to move to DC and he got sick of travelling back and forth between DC and Alabama to see her. Why was Sean Haugh allowed to work out of his home but nobody else has been afforded that opportunity?
no offense RM , but i dont take much of what you say that seriously , and your not liking wes dont mean much .
i meant universally liked btween serious LP activists
Cheesuz maybe I have to send in some bucks!
Nice choice.
Interesting, interesting, I had a comment waiting for moderation because I put in a bunch of random links. Let’s see if it works without the links. They don’t matter anyway, just delete it.
• Can’t stop, won’t stop, I won’t reply to myself again, but I have often fantasized about posting hundreds of comments all night, more than Robert Milnes even thought of. When I get into a certain frame of mind, especially coming back after days of absence, the wisdom comes flying out of me, and I can’t even believe that I’m the same person. But hasn’t Wes Benedict made some odd statements on TPW and maybe even this board, that would come back to haunt him? I can’t remember where they are though, and like Robert, I really have no ill will towards him, just a strong base of knowledge that even as better than Shane Corey, his strategy won’t work because libertarianism as it is now does not work. Isn’t amazing how I can be on topic and yet off topic at the same time?
Bye for now.
Tom, I just mentioned Angela as a for example.
lg, count me out of the Wes love fest. When I call somebody a reactionary it is very serious and I’m just about always right about it. As far as I’m concerned Ron Paul proved the counterrevolution movement leads nowhere electorally, thank God. But it does stifle the revolutionary movement. The LP is dominated by rightists & Wes LPHQ just proves & perpetuates it.
Can’t stop, won’t stop, I won’t reply to myself again, but I have often fantasized about posting hundreds of comments all night, more than Robert Milnes even thought of. When I get into a certain frame of mind, especially coming back after days of absence, the wisdom comes flying out of me, and I can’t even believe that I’m the same person. But hasn’t Wes Benedict made some odd statements on TPW and maybe even this board, that would come back to haunt him? I can’t remember where they are though, and like Robert, I really have no ill will towards him, just a strong base of knowledge that even as better than Shane Corey, his strategy won’t work because libertarianism as it is now does not work. Isn’t amazing how I can be on topic and yet off topic at the same time?
Bye for now.
http://www.universalis.com
http://www.monasterypodcast.com
http://www.catholicmenspodcast.org
http://www.marxists.org
htp://www.suziweissman.com
And the lord spoke unto me, saying “shout not in the voice of one who is trampled, but indeed, come forth as a proud son of the Earth, as the mighty messenger of moses and of the true strategy of my will”, and bring forth the united forces of the new agenda as we put an end to war, take money from the billionaires and put it into education, space exploration, healthcare, poverty elimination, clean food, clean water, etc etc, ban abortion, ban in vitro fertilization, ban gay marriage, ban divorce, raise taxes on the rich and cut taxes on the poor and middle class, pay government tribute to the Catholic church, and secure the blessings of true liberty for all, amen. Not even Wes Benedict can stop God.
Now, look look look at that growing thread about libertarians and abortion. I pity the pro-choice libertarians under Catholic Trotskyism, they’ll lose on the economy and on the abotrion too. they could smoke pot legally though.
Leyman, didn’t you say that you would vote for me for Lieutenant governor? I don’t live in New Jersey right now, but I was born in New Jersey and I visited a couple times last summer. Your other choice is that Libertarian Joseph poster, who is no longer posting here, probably in an unsuccessful attempt to find a discussion board that is more insane than this one.
this may be the least controversial and most universally liked thing the LP has done in a bit.
we all agree on something , the world MUST be ending
I think all libertarians need to unite under the Libertarian Party banner. Libertarian Democrats and libertarian Republicans, or just generally people who believe in personal liberty.
I disagree with a lot of the LP’s positions, yet I’m a Libertarian because I believe in personal liberty.
Bob,
The LP is — or at least should be — hiring an executive director, not an ideological guru.
I am confident that where his job involves party communications which may have an ideological component, Wes will keep those communications within the parameters of the platform, and that’s all that any “faction” has a right to expect from him.
I very much doubt that Angela Keaton applied for the position. As far as I can tell, she’s happy on the west coast and happy at AntiWar.Com, and has no interest in moving to DC to work for the LP.
I still plan on writing in Bob Milnes for Governor of New Jersey in November, but I don’t know who I should write in for Lt. Governor.
I think Bob would make a fine Governor.
Chris Daggett seems to be making some noise. He’s qualified for matching funds and will be in the debates.
The NJLP has someone on the ballot but zero impact. Not like 1997 when Sabrin got matching funds and appeared in debates. This time the NJLP is irrelevant. I won’t be surprised if Milnes gets more votes.
Maybe a radical wouldn’t even bother to apply, knowing full well he/she would be most politely given a don’t call us we’ll call you card. Tom, if I seem a little impatient, it’s because I’m running low on that particular commodity. The two hot contribution getters last year were Obama, who suckered the left progressives & Ron Paul counterrevolution. How many more years and millions of dollars do we throw at this political crap anyway? I’m getting old, dammit. I’m broke. I’ve never been married. No social life. I’m getting sick & tired of the same old shit. In this instance it is Wes Benedict LPHQ.
Was Angela one of those names? Possible picks is the thing here. If all possible picks are -deliberately?- fair to midlin, then it is rigged from the start.
Bob,
I wasn’t interested in the job, I’m not qualified for the job, I did not apply for the job and I wouldn’t have been willing to move to DC for the job.
While there might be other reasons why I wasn’t offered the job, those four should more than suffice in terms of justification.
Of the names I heard tossed around as possible picks for executive director, Wes Benedict is the candidate I’d have chosen.
Or Angela.
Why wasn’t Tom Knapp offered the job? He’s already in St. Louis. Too radical? Oh. Nevermind.
I have been impressed with Wes Benedict and commend Redpath for a fine choice.
Yes, Wes is pretty much harmless.
Yes, the LP could be very relevent because of its ballot access. Because of its leadership? Could happen.
All in good fun and pissing around sort of way.
Wes not being a left lib or radical imo. I recall several times calling him “Reactionary Wes”.
Anybody know how he’s getting paid?
Congratulations Wes. Things will not be easy for you as you preside over the LP during the growth of the Catholic Trotskyist New World Order (praise the Lord, amen).
God bless the state, God bless the church, and God bless Barack H. Obama, amen.
I do think that the Milnes Progressive Alliance strategy is the only chance for the LP to remain relevent at this point. It will still fail though because Milnes does not account for the religious nature of our society.
Redpath could have done better. Could have done worse. Let’s start seeing more left libs & radicals in prominent positions. A LOT more. Or I predict LP will continue to stagnate; BTP grow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stymphalian_Birds
Good luck to Wes. I believe he’ll need it. Augean stables, indeed.
http://www.lpwv.org/2009/07/08/the-lpwv-congratulates-wes-benedict/
Wes has a Herculean task
ahead of him…
+1
Back in Business,
Awesome!
Look forward to having you back on board (even though, I think, you falsely implied that I’m an ass kisser).
I’m usually at the front of the line to slam LNC/LPHQ when they screw up, so I’m glad to be able to go the other way this time:
Wes is a fine pick for the job, and I expect good things to happen with him in that job.
It’s not Les, either.
Quick correction: Wes Benedict’s name is not Wesley.
Top of the evening to you all!
I have been very impressed with the speed of your movement on that side of the pond towards euro-socialism, welcome to the club! Now you know what we Brits have to put up with!
And you think fighting for freedom is hard now?
I have read great things about your Wesley Benedict of Texas USA and wish him all the best in his endeavors. We here at the LPUK look forward to collaborating with him in the near future.
Good evening, way past time to put the puppies to rest,
Geoffrey
Congradulations to Wes Benedict! Wes has probably got the best record of any state level executive director in the history of the Libertarian Party, so he’s probably the best person available for the job.
Hopefully Mr. Phillies can clue us in on how far the LP is in the hole before Wes comes in and saves their asses.
Now THIS is a great hire, and great news for the national committee. Les, as always, I wish you the best and I really hope you can do some good up there. Best of luck.
Finally Bill Redpath did something RIGHT! Wes is a Libertarian not a Conservative like Cory was. Let’s see I might re-join the party…..
Awesome!!!!! great choice !
I am certain Wes will do a fabulous job , if he does half as good as he did for Texas we’ll be in good shape.