Posted to Raw Story
November 24, 2013
The Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nevada (LPN), Joseph P. Silvestri, recently announced that he “need[s] a break” from the “knuckleheads” who run the LPN.
“I have little hope that we shall see any quality activists lead the LPN this next cycle,” he writes. “We are infested with idiots.”
Silvestri says he’s struggled for a decade to make the state Libertarian party a competitor in Nevada but now must “concede defeat.” With only 9,300 registered Libertarians in the state, only 200 of them are paid members of the LPN.
“Most people, even libertarians, are apathetic and kinda lazy,” Silvestri says. “And too few people are really professional when they’re not being paid.” Those who do participate “thrive on drama.”
Silvestri complains that infighting between “con-man and fraud” Brett Pojunis and registered sex-offender Kurt Brackob has made it impossible for the LPN to field or fund viable candidates for local and state offices.
The rest of the article can be read right here
Fair enough.
Paulie, I don’t consider the source important enought to worry about it. It is aggravating, though.
Monica, if you stop back by here, you may be interested in the new story from that pingback since it discusses Brackob’s parting with the Nevada LP on bad terms.
You could take up the matter of whether IPR continues to give BIN blanket permission to republish or not with Warren. I’m not sure if they could adjust the way they do it to include IPR authors names or whether the process is automated on their end. They republish from a lot of sites. I’m also not sure if IPR gains anything from their republication.
Yes, Before ItsNews completely lifted my full article but didn’t give me writing credit. They did post a link at the bottom to IPR, but I think they should have listed the author of the article, especially because this was original material.
I feel a bit vindicated, though. When I posted this, which I think was the only time I claimed an anonymous source, one of our readers attacked me very strongly, even though I trusted my source and I know Mr Brackob had been asked for comment and had ignored the request from my source. Well, according to this article, Mr. Brackob was a bit busy during that period of time, wasn’t he?
I’m pretty sure they copy all IPR articles. I don’t know if they give credit or not.
Well, I’m on my work computer, and I obviously can’t risk it. So, we made “Before It’s News” again? Did they give us credit this time?
Jill, nothing too graphic at the site (at least that page)…some bathing suit photos in the banners but nothing XXX. It’s a news article.
Thanks Monica. You can give me a call at your convenience, 415-690-6352. Brackob is no longer associated with the Libertarian Party. Also, the “Before It’s News” story is just a mirror of a story published here at IPR as well.
I approved the above comment, but I didn’t go to the site. Do so at your own risk.
Hello, I’m a visitor to your blog, but I did want to make you aware that as of current Brackob / Treptow is a hot topic in the pornographic news sphere. If anyone would like to contact me in regards to the issues surrounding Brackob / Treptow feel free.
http://pornnewstoday.com/pnt/?p=7341
We’re here for you if you need us for anything.
Regrets LG 🙁 I wish your family well during this time of grief and loss.
Deep sympathies. George
thanks guys , i really do appreciate all the heartfelt condolences.
Me too. It was not sudden or unexpected but it is horrible nevertheless.
“Jill Pyeatt Post authorNovember 25, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Prayers for LG/Debra. Her dad has just passed. 🙁 ”
I’m sorry to hear this news.
Jason Smith: Paulie…hang tight…I emailed a response to the current excom, I feel they should have input and editing rights.
Paulie Cannoli: No hurry. I’d like it to completely dismantle the Kaufman/Sivestri rim job.
Jason Smith: rim job…hahahaha, you were speaking “tongue in cheek” weren’t you?
Paulie Cannoli: Kaufman’s tongue, Silvestri’s cheeks, yes
I think he tasted the almonds joy…
Sean Gruber: Like, here’s what happened dude’s (I think that should be the intro) Joe Silvestri, totally de- affiliated all of the county parties (because he wasn’t sure he could control them) supported a war monger and right wing statist named, oddly enough WAR (Wayne Allyn Root) 3-2-1 Ba zinga+ John Stewart= Why in the fuck was Joe so worried about people like me embarrassing the Libertarian Party? I mean, WAR did it better than I ever could. He canceled a state convention (because he thought he might not get re-elected) and from a fairly reliable source, attempted to totally bankrupt the NVLP because he’d rather the bitch die than be controlled by another (Good premise for a love song, not so much for a political party) and in general acted like a two bit Mussolini asshole. Essentially, he was the anti- libertarian. I don’t even think that those that helped him should be shunned- because it’s hard to know what is going on sometimes- when you come into something that you weren’t a part of from the beginning, however, he was very obviously an elitist, who couldn’t be bothered with other people’s opinions and having said that, those that feel begrudged by his removal, should be kept in question. Maybe “we” shouldn’t air the dirty laundry. I can follow that logic. But, on the other hand, maybe we should- for the exact reason, that hopefully this sort of thing won’t be allowed to happen again.
Paulie Cannoli: I’m still wondering about this claim from Kaufman, as far as I know even Silvestri did not claim this: “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.”
I’m not aware of Silvestri claiming that Pojunis fought to place Brackob on the registry. As far as I can tell this is a distortion of Silvestri’s claims.
Sean Gruber: I really doubt that Brett would do that… the sex offender thing, that is.
Jason Smith: either that…or Pojunis is more powerful than we all imagine. I wonder now…who really killed jfk. I don’t think you can be put on the sex offender registry if you don’t have a conviction for diddling kids…
Sean Gruber: Well, actually you can be. In California if your are eighteen and have sex with your seventeen year old girlfriend, it’s technically considered rape. They can convict you of it, and it will follow you for the rest of your life.
Jason Smith: The email I was cc’d on, that went to Joe first, was basically “We found internet articles referencing the LPN with a convicted sex offender with the name Treptow at children’s charity events with the LPN banner…can you please look into this”…after a week or two…we found Kurt on the sex offender registry, as well, someone emailed us a video of kurt…with a different name at the time, getting out of prison. When Joe never answered the multiple emails and calls…we emailed the entire excom.
Jason Smith: no word on if Brett was also the arresting officer who caught Kurt…but I doubt it.
Jason Smith Paulie…post this as our response. (joke) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yptXkLglKkA
Brett H. Pojunis: Hey guys, I just got back in town and I am trying to get caught up. As Jason suggested, 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.
Jason Smith: whatever you say, allpowerful oz.
Brett H. Pojunis: 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.
Prayers for LG/Debra. Her dad has just passed. 🙁
“Is he so bitter that when he really thinks he did ‘everything he could’ to grow the party, then leaves and acts like this?”
Yeah, the Silvestri faction had plenty of time to grow the LP of Nevada and they failed miserably (which was probably their real goal). The Libertarian Party of Nevada had been one of the more active and growing LP state affiliates, that is up until Silvestri and his gang killed it. His faction turned the LP of Nevada into one of the least active and most dysfunctional state LP affiliates. They are better off without him.
More replies from the facbook thread….
Jason Smith: Deb, you’re not an idiot…so you must be a knucklehead.
but don’t fret…that just means you are a two cylinder, 45 degree, pushrod actuated overhead valve V-twin engine with two valves per cylinder…according to Harley Davidson.
Debra Dedmon: [Silvestri’s] secretary DID KNOW he was supposed to take minutes, he figured since he was disrespected and shit why bother. at least thats what he told me
Jason Smith: sounds better than “oh..I didn’t know”…so I may not believe him.
Debra Dedmon: either reason is crappy
Jason Smith: you could say it was ‘knucklehead actions?”
Beth Duensing: Sounds like an idiot move to me.
Lou Pombo:
This is ridiculous. Calls the party he’s in “infested with idiots”, and gets it published around the Internet? Is he so bitter that when he really thinks he did “everything he could” to grow the party, then leaves and acts like this?
Low… Immature and brash…
True.
Paul said: “I’d love to know the inside scoop on why Trevor Lyman chose to share it.”
I’ve been on Trevor Lyman’s Liberty Crier email list since it started, and in all fairness, he has carried some positive stories about the Libertarian Party as well.
Great article from David Colborne as well. This one also should be published by the Liberty Cier.
Great article from Jason Smith! This article should be sent to Trevor Lyman and/or whoever else runs the Liberty Crier website/email list, and hopefully they will publish it.
David Colborne 3:50pm Nov 25
I changed my mind – here’s what I replied in their comment section…
**********
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'” (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/24/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.
Looking at Kaufman’s face he looks familiar. I am trying to remember where I know him from. This story is pretty clearly spiked. Most of the comments at RawStory (150+ as of right now) are from leftists who hate all libertarians plus a few from libertarians who hate the LP. It’s bee shared and liked a lot on facebook, digg etc. I’d love to know the inside scoop on why Trevor Lyman chose to share it.
How a “knucklehead” became Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Nevada by Jason Smith http://whitestate-rev.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-knucklehead-became-vice-chair-of.html
In response to Scott Kaufman’s piece, “Chairman claims Nevada Libertarian Party ‘infested with idiots'” (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/24/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, 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.
Replies from LPNV are trickling in. I’ll post them here in the comments first, and work on assembling them into an article later.
That is why I was asking if anyone on LPNV knows Kaufman, but so far no on has said that they do.
I think it’s unlikely that Silvestri didn’t have something to do with getting this story published. Since when is Raw Story interested in a minor state party?
I agree.
“paulie November 25, 2013 at 1:35 pm
I am trying to get them to respond but they seem to believe it should not be dignified with a response.”
A lot of small “l” libertarians read the Liberty Crier, and these are one of the main groups that the Libertarian Party needs to reach out to more, so I think that for this reason alone there ought to be a response.
I am trying to get them to respond but they seem to believe it should not be dignified with a response.
“LibertarianGirl November 25, 2013 at 12:30 pm
what an arrogant fuck. Every single person he thinks is a knucklehead WAS HANDPICKED BY HIM. He fucking defended Kurt Brackob. He has been the leader for several years. NEVER ONCE HAVE I HEARD THAT MAN TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING. Yes Joe , everyone is to blame but you. Go browbeat some other fucking group and take your toxic attitude with you.”
What really sucks about this article is that it was picked up by the Liberty Crier website/email list which was started by Trevor Lyman, who was the driving force behind the Ron Paul Money Bombs. They cover a lot of great stories, but this one plays into the whole “I like the Libertarian Party, but they are an ineffective, dysfunctional organization so that is why I’m not more involved with it.” mentality.
Somebody from the LP of Nevada who was on the other side of the dispute with the Silvestri faction ought to write a response to this article and try to get the Liberty Crier to cover it so everyone who reads that site or is on their email list gets to hear the other side of the story.
“what was the chair full of?”
Environmentally friendly recycled materials.
What do idiots and knuckleheads do? lead an excom where the secretary was unaware he had to take minutes at meetings and the convention? Have the treasurer involved with a PAC and not be able to account for monies? Resign at the beginning of the convention and place the vice chair with no experience in charge of the convention? If the LP is full of idiots and knuckleheads…what was the chair full of?
Jason Smith:
lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3MXiTeH_Pg
Sean Gruber 11:37am Nov 25
^I’m exactly the kind of asshole to totally dignify Silvestri, so here I go again on my own. Going down the only road I’ve ever known. Like A drifter I was born to walk alone. (Man I love that WhiteSnake.) >—-I stopped paying my dues specifically BECA– USE of Silvestri. (I doubt I’m the only one.) Funny how he has nothing to say for himself when it comes to him practically performing oral sex on Wayne Allyn Root less than a month before WAR turned on the LP and backed Romney. I think my tendencies to bring things up like that are what qualify myself as a “knucklehead”…
Dunno. I’ll need to examine your head some more and figure that out 😛
also am I an idiot or a knucklehead ?
Maybe that is why he needs a break 🙂
what an arrogant fuck. Every single person he thinks is a knucklehead WAS HANDPICKED BY HIM. He fucking defended Kurt Brackob. He has been the leader for several years. NEVER ONCE HAVE I HEARD THAT MAN TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING. Yes Joe , everyone is to blame but you. Go browbeat some other fucking group and take your toxic attitude with you.
I’ve asked LPN facebook folks to comment.
In other LPN news, folks on the facebook page report that Brackob/Treptow has so far refused to relinquish control of their website, so they may have to put up another one.
Erlier he was also holding the meetup group hostage, but he turned that over to Mike Wiley and IIRC Wiley finally turned that over, albeit not right away..
Interesting. The author of that story, Scott Eric Kaufman, refers to ex-chair Silvestri as chairman and makes no mention that Brett is now the chair, even though his column came out well after the state convention.
He also parrots every claim Silvestri makes but mentions no attempt to contact Pojunis (or for that matter Treptow/Brackob) to get their sides of the story.
Kaufman even throws in some things even Silvestri never actually claimed:
I’m not aware of Silvestri claiming that Pojunis fought to place Brackob on the registry. As far as I can tell this is a distortion of Silvestri’s claims.
Responses on facebook so far:
Beth Duensing: That’s old news and sour grapes Paulie – why help Silvestri spread his sore loser attitude? http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/nov/18/after-struggling-gain-foothold-nevadas-libertarian/
David Colborne: I’m not familiar with Kaufman. I’m also not inclined to dignify Silvestri with a response. I’m personally inclined to let the facts of the next few months speak for themselves.
Everything that I’ve observed about the problems that the LP of Nevada has gone through over the past few years indicates that Silvestri was one of the primary sources of the problem. The fact of the matter is that the LP of NV went down hill under his so called “leadership.” This article sounds like sour grapes to me, and I’ve got to wonder if the person who wrote the article is somehow affiliated with Silvestri, or does not really know the real story.