Augustus Invictus: My First Address as Chair to the Libertarian Party of Orange County

Augustus Invictus is a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in Florida and the chairman of one of the state’s county affiliates, the Libertarian Party of Orange County. He posted his first speech to the group on Facebook on August 18th, 2016:

This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the Orange County affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Florida. My name is Augustus Invictus, for those of you who do not know, and this is my first meeting presiding as Chair. We are going to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, but I’m telling you right off the bat that I’m ruling everything out of order until I am finished saying what I’m going to say. We have a lot of ground to cover tonight, and we have a lot of people who are going to be sharing a lot of information. So I’m going to have to keep disruptions & small talk to a minimum this evening.

First I want to talk with you about the mission of the affiliate, which is threefold:

(1) growing the membership of the affiliate;
(2) spreading the message of Libertarianism; and
(3) running candidates for local office.

Notice that I did not say that the mission of this affiliate has anything to do with attacking the Federal Government; or preparing the American people for war; or giving advice on treaties & presidential appointments. That is because the Orange County affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Florida has nothing whatsoever to do with my campaign for the United States Senate. My roles as Chair of this affiliate and as a candidate for public office are totally separate, and I assure you that they will be kept separate. And for those of you who have difficulty believing that, just stick around and find out for yourselves.

This brings me to the next topic I want to discuss: teamwork & sportsmanship. Listen: We are all on the same team. For those of you who were at last month’s meeting, you know that Derek and I have opposing views on certain things. But you know what, we both grew up here in Orange County; we both want to grow the Party; and we both want to end corruption in our political system. I am not going to blacklist Derek and assassinate his character and push him out of the affiliate because he and I don’t see eye-to-eye on some things.

I would encourage all of you to do the same: Do not push people away from the affiliate because they think differently than you. Diversity of opinion can be – and should be – the Libertarian Party’s greatest asset. And yet far too often we see those at the top trying to destroy any threat to their petty power instead of doing what is best for the movement and for the Party.

Embrace those with whom you disagree, because whether you are a right-wing Libertarian or a left-wing Libertarian, you all have the same mission as far as this affiliate is concerned: grow the Party, spread the message, and run candidates for public office. Your mission is not to purge the Party of the ideologically impure, it is not to spread only your version of the message, and it is not to turn away candidates who do not agree with you. I challenge you to keep in mind the reasons we are doing this, and I hope that by keeping these things in mind, we can set an example for the rest of the State in what it means to thrive through cooperation.
To this end, Derek and I have been working together for the past month. And let me tell you, if Derek and I can work together, anyone can do it – because the first couple times I met Derek we almost came to blows. And yet despite that the affiliate has done three successful events, mapped out an event calendar, and established a rough agenda for the next several months – because Derek, and Wayne, and Greg, and Frank, and everyone else have all worked together toward a common goal.

There is work to be done. There are positions to be filled. We do not have time for infighting. We need a new Secretary. We need someone to head our social media efforts. We need people to volunteer for the Membership Committee and the Events Committee, for the Gary Johnson campaign, and for all the other work we have to do. We simply do not have the time to bicker over who is more Libertarian than who. So if you are interested in volunteering, please let me know. We have plenty for you to do, and I will put you in contact with the right person.

Speaking of positions: We will be holding elections for the officer positions in November, as we do every year. At this time, I do not plan to run for reelection as Chair. Obviously if I win the election in November, I will be throwing all of my energy at wrecking the machinery of the Federal Government. But I will be stepping back if I lose, as well.

I have been campaigning for the United States Senate for over a year and a half now, and I just plain need time to sharpen my sword. I need to see my family again. I have seven children to raise, and my fiancé is pregnant with the eighth. I have a book on political philosophy to write. I have social and financial matters that have been neglected for a long while now. I will still be active with the Libertarian Party, of course, but not as a candidate and not as Chair.

So, those of you who were here at the last meeting, and those of you here for your first meeting tonight, you need to be present at every meeting through November if you want to be able to vote in the elections in November. You are not full members, and your voting rights do not vest until you have attended four meetings in six months. So if you want to vote, you need to show up. And if you want to become an officer, I would highly recommend that you start doing the work immediately, and prove to everyone else here in this room that you are worthy of a leadership position. I only have a mere four months as Chair, and I will be very disappointed if my successor wins this position by a mere popularity contest.

I want Orange County to be known for its activism; for its effectiveness; for its professionalism. I want our affiliate to set the standard for cooperation and integrity. I want to set an example for the rest of the Party of Principle, which has been plagued by self-destructive infighting since before any of us ever signed up. So let’s work together and do something great, everyone.