California Libertarian Party Tried to Purge Antiwar Members in 2006

I found an interesting report about the infamous 2006 California Libertarian Party cruise convention on a Yahoo Group archive.

The author, "Paul," writes in part: "There was a transparant plan on the part of a small pro-war minority in the party to take over and toss our principles out the window. They planned this cruise to exclude as many real libertarians as they could and to outnumber us and outvote us. They succeeded and now the LP is dead."

That was in 2006. While the antiwar faction struck back in 2007, I don't think things have improved overall in the LP.

Read Paul's full report here.

Money-Saving Libertarian Convention Tips

Can't afford to attend the Libertarian Party national convention in St. Louis this May? Thomas Knapp has some money-saving convention tips at: St. Louis on the Cheap.

Knapp's new site will help the LP's povertarians save money on hotel accommodations, restaurants, and transportation.

Palestinian Hip Hop Artists vs. The State

Tonight I saw Slingshot Hip Hop on The Sundance Channel. An amazing documentary whose overarching thems is Art vs. The State.

Art vs. The State is a theme that every libertarian should sympathize with. But in this case, The State is Israel, which will discomfort some "libertarians."

Even so, all true libertarians will be moved by this powerful documentary of young Palestinian musicians expressing their struggle against Occupation and Israeli Statism through music. (See, not all Palestinians are terrorists! -- And isn't it sad that some people need to have that pointed out!)

There's also a minor theme of female Palestinian hip hop artists struggling for equal recognition within their own patriarchal Arab culture.

Slingshot Hip Hop won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

U.S. Combat Veterans Renounce Their Past Actions

Returning American combat veterans condemn U.S. military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq:



This is an excerpt from a film produced by Displaced Films. More info at This Is Where We Take Our Stand.

Is Pentagon Lying About Afghan Casualties?

During the Vietnam War, the Pentagon would falsify the body count, to create a false appearance of U.S. victories on the battlefield.

It seems the Pentagon is yet again falsifying body counts. A blogger has notices the curious coincidence that every U.S. missile strike in Afghanistan results in exactly 30 casualties.

Yet there are still some so-called "libertarians" and "conservatives" who trust whatever the government says in matters of "national security." Go figure.

Cardinal John Foley Condemns Israeli Apartheid/Security Wall

Some call it a "security wall" meant to keep terrorists out of Israel.

Others call it an "apartheid wall" and a "land grab" meant to maintain a Jewish majority population in Israel, squeezing non-Jews into ever smaller, less sustainable bits of land. These critics observe that the wall is not built along the West Bank border, but cuts into the West Bank.

Catholic spokesman Cardinal John Patrick Foley gives Israel the benefit of the doubt, assuming that the wall really is about security. Even so, he calls for its end:

The Hidden Cost of War

A pretty good video on the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Have a Peaceful Christmas

You may have seen Paul McCartney's music video about the Christmas Truce of 1914, when enemy soldiers in World War One stopped fighting, crossed the trenches, and celebrated Christmas together.

The song (whose title I forget) appeared on McCartney's Pipes of Peace CD. But this historical event has also been written about in Christmas Truce: The Western Front December 1914 and in Silent Night: The Story of the World War One Christmas Truce, and recounted on the CD, Silent Night, Holy Night: The Story of the Christmas Truce.

Do you know any "Christians" who eagerly support our current wars? These books and CDs will make wonderfully appropriate Christmas gifts -- a great way to remind them that there's more to Christianity than bombing foreigners who never attacked us.

Obama Follows Root's Advice -- Root Livid

Last year, Wayne Allyn Root called for a military surge in Afghanistan.

Of course, now that we have a Democratic president calling for a surge, Root has done yet another flip-flop. Now Root is slamming Obama for calling for a military surge in Afghanistan. Shamelessly, Root ignores that Obama is merely following Root's advice.

Root also makes no mention of Afghan civilian victims of U.S. military intervention; they don't factor into his opposition to the Afghan War. Nor does Root hold the neocon media or war profiteers accountable. No, the Afghan War is all Obama's fault.

Like many pro-war "liberventionsts" and neocons, Root incessantly rewrites his history, trying maintain his creds with every shifting political wind.

Among his few consistencies is a mind-numbingly robotic bashing of Obama. This is similar to many leftist's mind-numbingly robotic bashing of Bush. Both ignore that neither Bush nor Obama, nor any president, is primarily responsible for U.S. foreign policy. There is an Establishment, with some powerful players.

It's not a Democrat vs. Republican vs. Libertarian thing. After all, there's not much difference between those three parties. Those three parties may talk differently, but none of them are especially principled.

Angela Keaton Calls for Peace at "End the Fed Rally"

Angela Keaton of Antiwar.com attacks war and empire at last October's "End the Fed" rally.



Angela Keaton was purged from the LNC last year, partially because of her vocal antiwar stance.

Of course, now that (1) Iraq and Afghanistan are "Obama's wars," and (2) an overwhelming vast majority of Americans oppose these wars (instead of only a vast majority), many of these liberventionist chicken hawks are trying to reposition themselves as antiwar.

Never forget, though, that when it mattered, Angela Keaton, Ron Paul, and Karen Kwiatkowski were among those who opposed war. And when it mattered, Wayne Allyn Root, Brian Holtz, and Bruce Cohen were among those who supported war.

LP delegates should remember who stood where, and when, when it comes time to choose future LP candidates and officers.