LP Nevada “infested with idiots”?: Other perspectives

Scott Kaufman

On Sunday Scott Kaufman published this piece at Raw Story which reproduced former LP of Nevada chair Joe Silvestri’s views as stated upon exiting the state pary leadership. Kaufman’s story got thousands of shares and likes on social media and garnered hundreds of comments at Raw Story, mostly from liberals/progressives who strongly criticize libertarian ideas, and to a lesser extent from small l libertarians who are not fans of the Libertarian Party. Only a tiny number of comments were from LP members or supporters. The story was also shared at Trevor Lyman’s Liberty Crier, which is emailed to thousands of people (mostly small l libertarians) every day, in addition to generating web views; Lyman is best known for organizing Ron Paul’s multimillion dollar money bombs. An IPR reposting is here.

The very first words in Kaufman’s article are an error of fact. Kaufman wrote

The Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nevada (LPN), Joseph P. Silvestri, recently announced …

The article was published on November 24, 2013. As of that date Joe Silvestri was the former chairman of the LPNV. The party elected new leadership over a week earlier. The chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nevada as of the publication of Kaufman’s article was (and still is) Brett Pojunis.

Brett Pojunis

The rest of the new team is listed here. There is no hint in Kaufman’s article that he tried to contact any of them to get their side of the story, relying instead solely on the opinions of a disgruntled former chair who has exited the state party leadership. Nor, indeed is there any hint that Kaufman contacted anyone besides Silvestri to get their perspectives on the issues he discusses. I have contacted the new leadership of the LPNV to help get their side. Some of their replies are posted below.

Aside from uncritically reproducing Silvestri’s claims, Kaufman also writes

Brackob’s unethical behavior is unrelated to his placement on the Nevada Sex Offender’s Registry, but in Silvestri’s opinion, Pojunis’s fight to have Brackob placed on it created a toxic environment in which the main “goals” of the party became “hav[ing] an important-sounding title” and “mak[ing] money off the LPN.”

Emphasis added.

But Silvestri never said that.

Here is the sum total of what Silvestri has about Brackob on his website as of this writing:

Recently, we watched Kurt Brackob displace Brett Pojunis as chief monkey-wrench man. After Brett and his gang of co-horts exposed Kurt’s placement on the Nevada Sex Offender list, as well as his incarceration in Romania for sex crimes, Kurt went AWOL and has used the last several months to create havoc for the LPN.
[…]

Kurt Brackob (August Kurt Brackob, formerly Wiiliam Kurt Treptow) is the final straw for me. Along with Brett, here is a man I trusted because he presented himself well, and served to offer some good use to the party. Our prior Treasurer, Joe Hassen, had also recommended him. Kurt joined our team just before the 2012 campaign had begun. When Joe Hassen needed to relocate to Ohio and recommended Kurt as his replacement as LPN Treasurer, I appointed him. Since Kurt is a Wells Fargo banker, it was taken he had the ability to function as Treasurer. Kurt also volunteered to serve as my campaign manager (I had run for U.S. Congress, District 4). He earned my trust by bringing skills to the team, and by working hard. While serving in these capacities, Kurt has taken control of the LPN website, LPNevada.org by placing his own name as administrative owner while paying for domain address as party Treasurer. To date, he has yet to relinquish control of LPNevada.org to party xcom. This is theft, and a violation of his responsibilities as Treasurer, and a violation of business ethics (as a Wells Fargo banker).

For the record, Kurt Brackob was removed from his position as LPN Treasurer. He did not resign as he posted to the LPNevada meetup board (another violation of party ethics) but was removed by the excom for ongoing obstruction. He has used the party’s Twitter accounts and Meetup.com accounts to personally attack me and the LPN excom, and has refused to turn over access for those accounts to our excom.

He has also refused to turn over LPNevada financial records to our new Treasurer Tim Hagan. He made false statements about turning over those records to the national LP (an action he was not authorized to take).

Recently, I was informed that Kurt had registered Republican as of last August! There’s is more stupid drama about Kurt, but I’m disgusted just recounting it.

There is nothing in what Silvestri says there that indicates that Pojunis fought to have Brackob PLACED on the Sex Offender registry, as Kaufman claims. Silvestri only says Brett and his co-horts EXPOSED Brackob being on the Registry.

When contacted, new state chairman Pojunis did not want to dignify Silvestri’s claims with a reply, but did correct the part about “fighting to place” Brackob on the sex offender registry. Pojunis comented on facebook

[..] I didn’t know how “powerful” I am to be able to circumvent the court system and just call my buddies and get them on the Sex Offenders list. But seriously, I made no such effort, most people on this list knew that I was trying to bring to light a messed up situation, thats all.

However, we are going to get some short term good and short term bad press right now, that is only natural. The biggest thing we need to pay attention on now is getting organized to reaffiliate the counties and identify candidates… Everything else is a distraction.

Several incoming executive committee members and activists also said that Silvestri and Kaufman don’t deserve a reply. However, At Large rep David Colborne changed his mind and posted the following to facebook and as a comment at Raw Story:

My name is David Colborne and I was recently elected as an At-Large Representative of the Libertarian Party of Nevada. I’d like to take a moment to respond to Scott Kaufman’s piece, “Chairman claims Nevada Libertarian Party ‘infested with idiots’”.

When the leadership of any organization – a company’s Board of Directors, a political party, or the government – openly and unapologetically views its constituents as “knuckleheads”, “idiots”, and “con men”, it’s time to replace that leadership. Former Chairman Joseph P. Silvestri, enabled by his hand-picked friends in the Executive Committee, made his opinions of the membership of the Libertarian Party of Nevada crystal clear when he eliminated all county-level affiliates, consolidated purchasing power to his office without any meaningful oversight, served as a lifeguard in New York over the summer during the 2012 campaign season instead of fulfilling his duties as Chair, and refused to hold our annual convention in 2013 until the national Libertarian Party threatened statewide disaffiliation. His destructive pattern of leadership ultimately led the Libertarian Party of Nevada to only field two partisan candidates in 2012; by comparison, there were over 20 Libertarian candidates on the ballot throughout Nevada in 2010. The level of contempt openly displayed for the members of the Libertarian Party of Nevada led us to band together, organize, and actively lobby for his replacement as Chair, along with replacements of those in the Executive Committee that enabled his pattern of contemptuous, destructive behavior.

The individual we chose to succeed him was Brett Pojunis.

Brett has been nothing but respectful to the membership since he first openly sought the position of Chair. As a Regional Representative in the Libertarian National Committee, the body that governs the national Libertarian Party, he easily could have leaned on his title and assumed the position was his – and it probably would have been. However, instead of lazily resting on his laurels and letting his title do the talking, he worked with the membership to find out their needs, then worked with the membership to put together a team and a plan to address those needs. I’m proud to be a part of this team, and I’m proud of the effort we’ve put in thus far to create the plan and set it into action. Thanks to our efforts, the 2013 Libertarian Party of Nevada convention had more than double the attendance of the 2012 convention, which is nothing short of incredible for a non-election convention. We are currently well on our way toward rebuilding county-level affiliates in four counties in Nevada, representing over 90% of Nevada’s population, with plans drafted to establish county-level grassroots Libertarian Party affiliates in the remainder of Nevada’s counties. We are also well on our way toward fielding a wide slate in 2014 in a variety of partisan offices, thus providing Nevadans with greater choice in their representation.

We hope that Nevadans – and Americans! – follow our example and vote for political representation that isn’t openly contemptuous of its constituents. Together we can work toward electing political representation that respects the rights and freedoms of all Nevadans instead of the whims of capricious politicians.

Newly elected Vice Chair Jason Smith also replied to Kaufman:

In response to Scott Kaufman’s piece, “Chairman claims Nevada Libertarian Party ‘infested with idiots'”

Normally I would never self-identify as a “knucklehead”; however recently the former Chair of the Libertarian Party of Nevada (LPN) has decided to take a break from leadership because, as he puts it, “the LPN is infested with idiots and knuckleheads”. I would now like to take a little time to explain how this came to be.

It was 2011, I was so fed up with the political stories in the news that I decided to get involved again in the Libertarian Party. I had been a member in California, but since moving here in 2006 I hadn’t really heard anything about a state party. I googled LPN, found a website and eventually got a hold of Brett Pojunis. He was enthusiastic and wanted to meet, and he said there was a convention coming up, would I like to get involved. I said sure, and eventually got together with a few of the members on the excom. We all had a few things in common…go figure. We were clean cut…for the most part. We were conservative on fiscal issues…rabidly so. I was introduced to Wayne Allyn Root’s book and read some of it to familiarize myself with whom I assumed was a big player in the party (he was VP candidate on the 2008 ticket). First thing I learned from the book was that Wayne was the son of a butcher…SO WAS I! We must have so many things in common…I thought. I was asked to be the chair of the convention after a few weeks…maybe a couple months? I prepared a speech…and then I had to stand up, welcome everyone…and deliver it.

For weeks, I had been excited and at the same time warned about some bad seeds in the party. These were the freaks and “kooks” that were anarchist bombthrowing rabble-rousers…an embarrassment to the party. I just hoped they wouldn’t throw anything at me, I had on my good suit. I stood up on the dais, and quoted Bastiat’s “The Law”. I was thanked and congratulated by Wayne, Brett and Joe…as well as a few members of the party that I was supposed to be wary of. How is this possible…there is no way these heathens had read Bastiat. I was the enemy to them, they hated our faction…why were some being nice? Something was afoot. I was going to find out what.

I went to the table in question…bristling with contempt and evil…and introduced myself to a petite dark haired woman with eyes that could see through me…I was convinced she was some kind of witch or worse…a mind reader. I shook her hand, and said “I’m Jason.” Then, it happened. She answered back “I’m Debra, I liked your speech.” I knew it…wait…what? “Thank you, I just got involved in the party.” was my response…to which she told me she has been involved for many years. Eventually we talked about Reiki…an art of healing using the human body as a conduit for energy and life. Not exactly suit and tie activities. Something didn’t add up…we had things in common, she was polite and friendly…I felt at ease somehow. I went around the table, and met some of the others…including what Joe warned me, was the devil himself. I introduced myself to David Colborne, who was in a suit and tie (probably under cover) and we actually excused ourselves from Joes 4 hour speech and spoke in the hall. He was well spoken, intelligent and was a former member of the excom until Joe Silvestri’s faction disaffiliated all the counties. I asked where the hell all these anarchist bomb throwers were that Silvestri had told me about, and with a wry smile, he shrugged his shoulders and said…we have all been where you are. Now I’m confused…we all seem to be Libertarians, and getting along. Where are the people I was told are bad for the party?

After break, we sat back down and got to listen to Wayne Allyn Root speak. He addressed the “devil’s table” and continued to go on about how best to get libertarians elected. He mentioned that talking about legalizing drugs was not popular as they praised the current Nevada drug trafficking laws, nor would it bring in votes from the GOP. He spoke about his Libertarian pedigree coming from his desire to legalize online poker. He said that we should be socially tolerant, but run on a platform that could sway Republicans to vote for us. Gay rights is fine…but it doesn’t win you votes in red districts…I think I found out who was bad for the party…he was bucking for a nomination to run for President or Senate…and he was Joe’s right hand…Oh my god…I’m on the wrong side. Within a few months, Romney was nominated, and Wayne said, “It’s got to be Romney” at a Gary Johnson function. Wayne finally left the party and went back to the GOP…and Brett and I had our “cause”.

In January of this year, I asked my girlfriend to call and email Joe Silvestri to get info about signing up for the party. She wanted to join, probably because she wanted to support me…but nonetheless…she got a phone call a few days later, with a message to call him back. This was the Chair of the LPN taking his time doing something more important than outreach and helping people become members? I knew what had to be done. Brett Pojunis had been feeling the same as me about Wayne, Joe and the way this party had been going…we were going to run for the excom and change things. I knew we could speak to our suit and tie crowd…and educate them on the ills of oppressive social policies, but also, we could speak to people who were more passionate than former GOPers…had first hand knowledge of police brutality and bigotry…something a pair of tall, white cleancut men in suits couldn’t really relate to. Well, I don’t wear ties anymore, and I now sport a bushy beard…I was told I look a lot more “Libertarian” now…sheesh…I am so much more comfortable too…and yes, now I have been put in handcuffs and thrown up against a cop car for having a CCW and Libertarian bumper sticker. I’m so proud.

In two years under Joe Silvestri’s reign, I have never seen meeting minutes posted. I have never read a treasurer report. I have seen no outreach…sure, a pub night here and there…a meetup page talking about a hike…but what about action? During the past 9 months, Brett Pojunis has had two people calling all registered Libertarians in the state, notifying them of the convention, and asking if they want to join the party. Many were just getting their first phone call from the party…and it wasn’t even from the party…it was from Brett…on his dime. All the while, Brett has been traveling and doing work as a rep for the Libertarian National Party. After all these months, all this work, and all this time…I have only seen three things from Joe Silvestri…complaints about Brett, allegations about fraud, and crying about how his party is in disarray. Joe, you have run out of excuses, you have run out of people willing to serve on your excom, you have run out of time…but make no mistake…you have been RUN out of office. You can call us idiots, you can call us knuckleheads…but make no mistake about this…libertarians control this party, and when you act like a tyrannical megalomaniac and cast out those who disagree…they go somewhere…and they get together, and they come back. And for that, I thank you. As the newly elected Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Nevada, I proudly welcome anyone who brings the spirit and energy of libertarianism to the table, regardless of how you dress, how you speak or what you think is best for the party; we will work together to grow this party, respect the individuals who make up our party, and never sacrifice an issue to sway someone or trick someone who isn’t libertarian just to get a vote on election day. Our goal is to get libertarians elected…but we have ethics. Call me a knucklehead…I’m in great company.

Jason Smith
Vice Chair Libertarian Party of Nevada.

Other replies to Kaufman from rank and file LP Nevda activists and interested Libertarians from other states who have been following developments there for years can be found in comments on IPR’s reposting of Kauman’s story. As always, we encouage readers from all sides of the issues raised here to comment on this article, and if anyone can bring it to the attention of Trevor Lyman, Scott Kaufman (or Silvestri and/or Brackob if they choose to comment) that would be appreciated as well.