Nashville bombing hot take

There was a bombing in Nashville this morning. 

At this time, we don't know if the bomber was white, black, Latino, Muslim, atheist, or Christian. We don't know if they voted for Biden or Trump. I guarantee that there will be lots of conspiracy theories coming your way, very soon.

My personal hot take is that the bomber was an accelerationist. Accelerationists want to cause chaos so to accelerate the collapse of society. Some of them want to build their own racial or socialist utopia out of the ashes and rubble. Some of them might expect the Rapture to happen as a result of their actions.

They know that America can't be destroyed by one bomb or even a thousand bombs. What they are counting on is for Americans to turn on each other. They aren't satisfied with antifa and neo-nazis brawling in the streets. They want entire cities to burn.

In past years, you might sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with your racist uncle who likes to quote statistics he got from memes and your radical cousin who likes to quote Mao Tse-Tung. Blood is thicker than water and DNA is thicker than ideology, so you get though the turkey dinner.  Ten years from now, your uncle is still going to be racist but maybe he might make a few black friends. Your cousin will still be radical, but he'll hang up the Che shirt long enough to stay employed as a barista. And life will go on. 

This year, fewer of you had this kind of encounter thanks to both a pandemic and toxic electoral politics. Accelerationists might see this as an opportunity to keep life from going on. They are prepared to sacrifice not just your racist uncle and your moderate cousin, but your conservative dad, your progressive sister, and your moderate grandma as well. 

Charles Manson and Osama Bin Laden were both accelerationists. Manson tried to trigger a race war by murdering a pregnant woman. Bin Laden tried to cause a global war between Christians and Muslims. Both men failed miserably. The Nashville bomber might be caught by the police, he might disappear, or he might already be dead. It is up to us all to see that he also fails.

Stimulus checks

 It looks like we're getting more stimulus checks. Last time, I didn't even ask for it, but I got $1200 deposited into my credit union account straight from the US Treasury. I kept the money. I consider it a partial return of stolen funds.

But you need to understand why you are getting the money.

Congress is going to pass a $900 billion stimulus. If Trump won't sign the bill, Biden will probably do so. About $200 billion is going to individuals and families. Some of the stimulus is intended to help small businesses and distribute vaccines. But most of the money is intended to keep billionaires from reverting back to humble millionaire status. Can you imagine the shame of being forced to sell off your private jet and being forced to fly first class commercial?

You might as well keep the money that you get. Pay off some debt, give it to charity, buy a gun, or put it in a CD so you can afford to pay your taxes next year. Congress is going to keep on bailing out corporations and sending you barely enough to live on until we all start voting Libertarian.

Section 230

 

Donald Trump wants Section 230 repealed. He is threatening to veto the NDAA if he doesn't get his way on this. Maybe he's bluffing. In the past, Nancy Pelosi and Ted Cruz have talked about repealing or modifying Section 230 in the past.

What does Section 230 do? A lot of people seem to hate it without knowing what it is. Section 230 does two things that you should care about.

1. It protects Internet companies from getting sued over what users do. Since people break the law on the Internet all the time, this is important.

2. It allows Internet companies to moderate content. Companies like Facebook have the power to delete even this harmless post if it breaks their rules.

So let's say Grandpa Bubba gets an email from someone claiming to be the Nigerian Foreign Minister. Grandpa Bubba gets ripped off, and his caretaker Cousin Anna Mae is very mad. Since Anna Mae doesn't know who actually sent the email, she might try to sue Yahoo for letting a criminal use their email service. Section 230 protects Yahoo from Anna Mae and her lawyers. If it weren't for Section 230, Yahoo would have to be VERY picky about who gets to have an account.

So Anna Mae is having a bad week. So she writes DOWN WITH SCAMMERS on her bare chest and posts the picture to Facebook. Facebook takes down the picture and suspends her account. Anna Mae can argue that her picture was protected 1st Amendment speech (and it is.) She can argue that it isn't fair that men can post shirtless pics but women can't post topless pics (and it isn't fair.) Again, Section 230 protects Facebook from Anna Mae's elite legal team. Without Section 230, Facebook might become a hardcore porn site.

Sure, the Internet might seem like a big mess, but here you are reading what I typed because of Section 230. For better or for worse, Section 230 protects Twitter from getting sued over what Donald Trump tweets. Considering that Donald Trump is being sued for libel right now, I can't imagine that a corporation would let him have a social media account without some assurance that they won't be held responsible for what he says. You could probably convince people on the left to oppose Section 230 on the grounds that Trump would have never been allowed a Twitter account and probably would have never been elected President if Section 230 had not been passed in 1996.

But let's say for the sake of argument that the past 25 years were a huge mistake and we should give up email and social media. If we let Anna Mae sue Yahoo out of business for an email that a criminal sent, then that could set the precedent of suing Georgia-Pacific for making the paper that a kidnapper uses to make a ransom note. I might be oversimplifying things when I say this, but Section 230 like the Internet's 1st Amendment. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, all of that will be heavily restricted or go away completely without Section 230.

Lisa Montgomery is scheduled to be executed next month.

 Lisa Montgomery is sitting in a federal prison in Texas. Next month, she is scheduled to be taken to Terre Haute and lethally injected. In 2004, she killed a pregnant woman, cut her open, and took the baby. Montgomery kept the baby girl until she was caught and arrested.

The death penalty is a highly controversial and emotional subject. A lot of people go with their gut feeling and base their stance on that. Some folks think all murderers and rapists should be thrown off a cliff. Some people think that only the worst killers should get the needle. A growing number of people think the death penalty should be abolished entirely. For a long time, I thought that the death penalty should be reserved for terrorists and war criminals. My thinking was that such people are too dangerous to be kept alive. Except that most of these people just don't live long enough to answer to a judge and jury. The rare terrorists who do get caught and convicted in the US are put in an administrative maximum prison, or AdMax for short. See, a while back the government decided it needed a level of prison security more maximum than maximum, so they came up with AdMax. AdMax inmates don't go to lunch, play in the yard, or even get to pick up trash along the highway. They spend 23 hours a day sitting in the cell and they get one hour of exercise where they walk around in a concrete pit. As it stands now, there are no AdMax facilities for women, since no women up to this point have created that kind of a security concern. Instead, Lisa Montgomery is on suicide watch in the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth. She doesn't get to have socks, underwear, or anything that someone might have used to harm themselves in the past. Guards watch her go to the bathroom. Take a moment to appreciate this irony: the government is going to a lot of trouble to keep this woman from killing herself so that she can be killed by a designated government employee. Also, they plan on transporting her more than 800 miles to get this done. As if there is nobody in Texas who knows anything about executions. Only the government can make death this complicated. Lisa Montgomery is a mother of four and suffered from physical and sexual abuse as a child. If you don't feel sorry for her because of what she did, that's understandable. I'm not writing this to save her life. I'm writing this to protect due process. Everyone in jail or prison has a right to a lawyer. If the government starts making exceptions for really bad people or during times of crisis, they'll keep finding reasons to make exceptions. There might come a time where you or someone you love needs a lawyer, and you'll just be told "no". Lisa Montgomery's lawyers have both been infected with COVID-19 as a result of having to fly back and forth to Texas from their offices in Tennessee. Lisa Montgomery's execution should at least be delayed until her lawyers can safely represent her. It is bizarre and macabre that the Trump Administration would make federal executions a priority during a pandemic and his last year in office, but here we are. A lame duck president has nothing to gain or lose politically by commuting a death sentence. This will be the time when we really get to know what kind of man Trump is. https://www.newsweek.com/aclu-files-lawsuit-end-torturous-conditions-lisa-montgomery-1547625

Veterans Day

 Today is Veterans Day. November 11th was chosen because World War 1 ended on that day. That was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but it had a sequel. Sequels are great for Hollywood, not so much for soldiers and people who live near combat zones. Neither world wars nor civil wars should have sequels.

Trump's taxes

There are 4 possible Libertarian takes to have with the news of Trump's taxes being released. You can use as many of these as you like.

1. "Taxation is theft, and Trump was smart to cheat on his taxes and get away with it. However, if he can get away with it, then as long as he is President he should pardon everyone else accused of tax fraud."

2. Taxation is the price we pay for a strong, civilized nation. Trump broke the law by cheating on his taxes and belongs in prison.

3. Trump did not cheat on his taxes at all. He is just so incompetent at business that he really had no income to report.

4. Trump's companies took advantage of overseas tax shelters. The tax code should be reformed so that businesses can't use this loophole.

The lockdowns weren't going to work.

 Have you all noticed that the more the COVID-19 virus spreads, the fewer restrictions are in place? When less than 100 people in the entire state were infected, all the schools, bars, and restaurants were shut down. Only essential workers were allowed to commute, everyone else was only allowed out to buy food.

Now there are over 100,000 cases in Indiana and the restaurants that haven’t gone out of business are allowed to operate at full capacity.

The lockdowns were never going to work. There were loopholes that some businesses were able to exploit, and there were individuals who just didn’t take the threat seriously. If AIDS couldn’t scare young people into celibacy, COVID-19 wasn’t going to stop college students from partying either. Almost every elected official has been to college, so you’d expect them to know how a frat brother’s brain works (it often doesn’t work at all). Any policy that requires 100% public compliance to succeed is doomed to failure.

We all knew, or should have known, that the pandemic was going to be a marathon and not a sprint. If staying at home for 14 days was all it took to stop the virus, we would have moved on by now. In hindsight, a governor had two choices: A)wreck the economy and fail to stop the spread of the virus or B) not wreck the economy but keep the public warned about the threat that the virus poses. The virus is going to spread in either scenario. Many politicians are tempted to choose Option A because it makes it look like they are taking harsh measures to stop the threat. But if the threat can’t be stopped, the harsh measures only make things worse.

In times of crisis when nobody is sure what to do, governments should err on the side of freedom and individuals should err on the side of caution. You probably shouldn’t go out tonight, and you know this. But if you need to go out for supplies, or even if sitting around the house all week has taken a toll on your mental health, the government shouldn’t try to stop you from going out.

More nonsense about wasted votes.

 Both Democrats and Repubilcans will act like you are wasting your vote if you vote Libertarian. It seems that Progressives have been exceptionally vocal about this recently. Some might think it’s because they lost two very close elections within the past 20 years. I suspect that many Progressives would rather that I vote for Donald Trump than Jo Jorgensen. They could be going after US citizens who never vote, but instead they are coming after me. The reason is that Libertarians don’t quite fit into their Manichean narrative. If I can’t be on their side, they want me on Trump’s side. For the Democrats to be the heroes, they need Trump to be the villain. Without that villain, what reason would we have to support them? A cult fears skeptics more than they fear Satan. If you don’t buy into their fairytail, it starts to unravel. To be sure, at least some Republicans have stopped pretending to be the good guys. But Progressives would rather live under Trump for another 4 years than have a Libertarian elected to any state or local office. They want to ignore us but they can’t stop talking about us.

The COVID-19 vaccine

Some thoughts.

I'm pretty sure that the vaccine will be safe. Healthcare workers and the US military will be required to get the vaccine before I even have the option. If, God forbid, the vaccine turns out to be a deadly trap, then China will be able to walk in and Winnie the Pooh will be the next US President. But as long as I don't see Chinese troops on the streets, I'll know the vaccine is safe.

It's ironic that Trump seems to have the most anti-vax supporters. Some think that if the vaccine is released before the election, it will have an impact on the election. Conventional wisdom holds that when bad things happen to the country, that helps the challenger. Good things supposedly help the incumbent. 

A COVID-19 vaccine is very good news, but is it going to change the minds of many voters? My guess is that Trump might gain some pro-vax support and lose some anti-vax support. I'm terrible with predictions though. I'm glad the vaccine is coming out, regardless of its impact on the election.

Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth. It commemorates the day in 1865 that the Emancipation Proclamation was finally put into effect in Texas and the last slaves of the fallen Confederacy were liberated by the Union Army.

The Civil War was mostly over by then. Robert E. Lee surrendered in April 1865. Jefferson Davis was captured in May 1865. But Texas was not complying with the Emancipation Proclamation. It took some encouragement from a bunch of guys in blue uniforms for Texas to finally do the right thing and let their slaves free.

The moral of the story is that even good laws require force to be upheld. Otherwise, they are only suggestions. So before you support a law, ask yourself if you would be willing to send a bunch of guys in blue uniforms to someone's house to enforce it.

Don't break quarantine just to protest

Fellow lovers of liberty

Please do not leave your homes for the purposes of protesting the quarantine. You can totally protest it from home.

The way I see it, the virus is either real or a hoax, and it is either dangerous or no worse than the flu. We all can argue until we're blue in the face about the unknown unknowns.

If the virus is real and as dangerous as advertised, staying home is the common sense thing to do. If something can hurt or kill you, and you can't kill it, then you avoid it. That is common sense. Even if you plan on wearing masks and social distancing at your event, there is the risk that someone will be involved in an accident and require treatment at the ER. This puts that person at risk of catching a disease at the hospital. Officials will be highly tempted to blame any increase in deaths on the protest. If the Deep State is as evil as you think they are, then they WANT you to protest the quarantine. They want the liberty movement to look like dangerous idiots. They want an excuse to arrest you or even shoot you in front of dozens of cameras, and make you look like a terrorist when they do it.

State governments will have to reopen the economy soon anyway. This is what most of you want anyway, so sit tight. If state governments don't reopen the economy, they'll run out of tax revenue, go bankrupt, and we'll see a massive society collapse. That is what some of you want anyway, so sit tight.

Once again, if the virus threat is real, then the right thing to do is to stay home, in spite of what the government has ordered. If the virus threat turns out to be exaggerated, that could be an interesting discovery during an election year. In either case, please stay home, stay safe, and stay woke. Stock up on canned goods in case the grid goes down, learn to code in case the grid stays up.

War with Iran

So I see a lot of people saying that killing Qasem Suleiman was the right thing to do because he is a bad man who killed US troops. Here are some things that need to be considered:
1. There are lots of bad men in the world. If the US government kills them, then there could be severe consequences. Killing Kim Jung Un could lead to an invasion of South Korea. Killing Xi Jinping could lead to nuclear war. Killing Vladimir Putin could lead to Hillary Clinton getting elected this year. We are about to find out the consequences of killing General Suleiman.

2. General Suleiman would not have been able to kill any US troops if they had not been sent to Iraq. Our troops are there to protect the Iraqi government, the same government that probably allowed General Suleiman to get all the way to the airport in Baghdad without arresting him or notifying the US military. If Iraq is inviting Iranian officers into their country, maybe Iraq doesn't need, want, or deserve US protection anymore.

3. A war against Iran will make the Iraq war look like the tutorial level of wars. Iran is bigger, has more people, and just now pull out of a nuclear treaty so maybe they really might have WMD's pretty soon. During the Iran-Iraq war, they used child soldiers and didn't care about casualties at all. Last time the US fought a nation this fanatical, President Truman felt the need to resort to nukes. War with Iran might mean the US running out of money before Iran runs out of bodies. Or Trump might take the Truman route, only the world would turn it's back on us as a result.

4. Iran could have been an ally during the War on Terror. They hate the Taliban, they hate Al Qaeda, they hate ISIS, and they really hated Saddam Hussein. They hate Israel but so does the rest of the Middle East. Iran is run by bloodthirsty Islamic theocratic despots but so is Saudi Arabia. If we can be friends with Saudi Arabia, we can be friends with Iran. Or we can just pull out and let these assholes kill each other.

The smoking age has been raised

About the only solid argument for raising the smoking age to 21 is that the age of adulthood should be raised to 21. But nobody is pushing to raise the enlistment age, nobody thinks 20 year-olds should be prevented from entering into contracts, and nobody is advocating for repeal of the 26th Amendment. So 18 year-olds are still adults, for now. And like all adults, 18 year-olds must be allowed to do dumb things like smoking tobacco, eating Tide Pods, or voting straight ticket Republican.

Young adults will make dumb choices. All of them will. Don't act like your kids will be different. Anyone who has attended middle school knows kids will get their cigarettes somewhere. Only by accepting the consequences of these choices does a young person gain the wisdom and experience needed to make better choices in the future.

By the way kids, smoking is a stupid, stupid thing to do. Only boomers should be doing it, and that's only if some other disease is set to kill them faster than the lung cancer. The tobacco industry was behind the push to raise the smoking age. This is the same industry that produces those cheesy "Truth" anti-smoking ads that make me want to light up. The tobacco industry wants official disapproval of their product, because they know it will make you want to buy it. This is how they stay in business even after killing off thousands of their own customers every year.

Annual Convention of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

Libertarian Party of Allen County 2020 Annual Convention

Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020,  2pm to 4:30pm or later

Liberty Diner, 2929 Goshen Rd., Fort Wayne, IN

FREE, except the meal.

Questions? Call Jeannette at 260 750-9013.

Food, Fun & Business

We start with a tasty Liberty Diner meal - you order off the menu.

Sign in.

Conversation and meet candidates.

Short Talk: "Solutions -- What Libertarians do Best"

Play "Ask Aunt Libby" -- Libertarians answer quirky advice column questions.

When done eating: Business! 

AGENDA

Call to Order

Treasurer's Report

Minutes 

Elect delegates to the state convention. 

Nominate candidates to local office. Offer to help their campaigns.

State Central Committee Rep appointment by the Chair.

Vote on amendments to our bylaws. 

Brainstorm future events, outreach ideas, issues for us to work on.

Qualifications

To VOTE -- All LPIN or LPUSA members who live in Allen County are automatically members of LPAC, and may vote.

To be ELECTED an LPAC OFFICER or a DELEGATE -- Be a member for 30 days prior to this convention, or ASAP (we can suspend that rule by vote).  However, only delegates will be elected unless an officer drops dead or resigns, because officer positions do not expire until 2021’s convention. 

To SUBMIT an AMENDMENT to the bylaws, give a written copy to our Chair, Robert Enders, before the meeting is called to order, or earlier to acinLBT@gmail.com.  We may vote to suspend the rules so we can accept new amendments during debate.

To BECOME A MEMBER, join the state or national LP at www.LPIN.org, or www.LP.org, or join our county party at the meeting.  LPAC has no restrictions on membership, except to reside in Allen County and to commit to not initiating violence. 

DELEGATES will go to the State Convention, March 6-8, 2020, in Indianapolis. Details at https://lpin.org/2020-lpin-state-convention.  

To be a LOCAL LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE, contact our Chair, Robert Enders for advice on open races and filing requirements at enders.robert@gmail.com .

Propose Amendments to the Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

To propose amendments to the LPAC Bylaws, either submit to acinLBT@gmail.com or write them out and hand them to LPAC Chair Robert Enders before he calls the convention to order around 2:30pm.  If you submit them earlier, I will add them to this document as proposals.
============================================================

The Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

Approved at the Feb. 17, 2019, Allen County LP Convention (LPAC)

At the Liberty Diner, Fort Wayne, IN

Article I         Name, Identity, and Structure

Article II        Statement of Purpose, Function, and Principles

Article III       Membership

Article IV       Business Meetings

Article V        Officers

Article VI       Conventions

Article VII      Adoption, Amendments, Standing Rules, Affiliation

ARTICLE I – NAME, IDENTITY, AND STRUCTURE

Sec 1. Name. Libertarian Party of Allen County (Indiana), hereinafter referred to as the “LPAC”.

Sec 2. Structure. The LPAC is a political organization constituted by its membership and is affiliated (see Art VII, 4) with the Libertarian Party of Indiana, hereinafter referred to as the “LPIN”.

Sec 3. Bona Fide Party. The LPAC is a bona fide political party under the laws of the State of Indiana and is authorized to receive political contributions. The LPAC accepts political contributions in its name.

Sec 4. Device. The official device of the LPAC shall be a monochrome silhouette of the Statue of Liberty, a symbol which is also known as Lady Liberty.

***( AMENDMENT PROPOSAL:  Remove this language from Sec 5. Address. 

 "The mailing address of the LPAC shall be designated as its Post Office box."  

I thought we'd previously removed this, as the next line designates our address as the treasurer's address. )***

Sec 5. Address. The mailing address of the LPAC shall be designated as its Post Office box. The current mailing address of the LPAC is the Treasurer’s mailing address.  (Adopted 4/15/2018)

 This section shall be amended as necessary.

ARTICLE II – STATEMENT OF PURPOSE, FUNCTION, AND PRINCIPLES

Sec 1. Purpose. The primary purpose of the LPAC is to promote individual liberty and to eliminate the intervention of government in moral, social, and economic affairs by fielding and supporting Libertarian candidates for public office.

Sec 2. Function. To recruit, nominate, and elect candidates for all county, city, township, and town offices within Allen County; to assist the LPIN in recruitment, nomination, and election of candidates to State legislative and U.S.

Congressional offices that affect all or part of Allen County; to select LPAC delegates and alternative delegates to the annual business meetings of the LPIN’s annual convention, hereinafter referred to as the “State Convention”.

Sec 3. Principles.

a. That all people possess certain natural rights, to wit: the right to life, liberty, justly acquired property, and self-governance.

b. That the only moral basis of government is the preservation and protection of those rights.

c. That no person or institution, public or private, has the right to initiate the use of physical force or fraud against another person or institution, and that all people are bound, without contract to abstain from infringing upon the natural rights of other people.

d. That all people are entitled to choose their own lifestyles so long as they do not forcibly impose their values on others.

e. That the voluntary and unrestricted exchange of goods and services is fundamental to a peaceful and harmonious society.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

Sec 1.  Any person may join the Libertarian Party of Allen County if that person meets the following requirements: #1) A legal citizen of the United States of America and/OR subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and, #2) Maintains a residence inside of Allen County.  (Adopted 4/21/2017)

Sec. 2. All Allen County residents who are current members of the LPIN are considered members of the LPAC.  (This sentence moved to Sec. 2 & adopted 4/21/2017)

Sec 3. Anyone who is a member of the LPIN and is from an unaffiliated county can be made a member of the LPAC by a 2/3 vote at convention or by a 3/4 vote at a business meeting. (Moved to Sec. 3 4/21/2017.  Originally adopted 20 Nov 06)

      b. No proxy voting. (Adopted 4/21/2017)

Sec. 4.  Expulsion of members. Any member of the LPAC may be expelled and banned from attending business meetings. To expel a member will require a unanimous vote of all officers.  All officers must explain in writing to the membership the basis of their decision.

                a)   Should an officer be the object of expulsion then the remaining officers must be unanimous AND a majority vote required at the next (or current) business meeting.

                b)   The person being expelled will have the right to appeal to the membership of the LPAC at the next (or current) business meeting.  Banning will not apply to this one time meeting.  The membership may override the decision with a simple majority vote.

                c) The banned person may be submitted by an officer for re-instatement by majority vote of the officers.   (All of Sec. 4 adopted 4/21/2017)

ARTICLE IV – BUSINESS MEETINGS

Sec 1. Meetings. The LPAC shall hold business meetings monthly or as needed to conduct LPAC business. The date, time, and location shall be determined by the Chairperson. Reasonable notice shall be given to all LPAC members. The Chairperson shall determine the meeting agenda subject to change by majority vote at the meeting.

Sec 2. Purpose. The business meeting serves to control and manage all of the affairs and property of the LPAC consistent with these bylaws. All expenditures of the LPAC property shall be made by a motion from the floor, have been seconded and passed by majority vote of the members present.

Sec 3. Quorum. A quorum at the business meeting shall be the presence of the Chairman and another officer plus 10%  of registered members. In absence of such, all officers may constitute a quorum. This definition applies to all Allen County Libertarian meetings, conventions, and business where a quorum is required.

Sec. 4: In the event of a tie vote for filling officer vacancies the Chairman’s vote will count twice unless the vote involves the sitting Chairman.

 a) If the same vote involves the sitting Chairman, then the highest-ranking officer not affected by the vote shall have their vote counted twice. (Amended 4/15/2018)

Sec. 5 - Business meetings may be deemed private for Libertarian Party members only and thus may exclude non-members. (Adopted 4/21/2017)

Sec. 6 - While most business meetings are open to the public, it may be necessary to ban a non-member from attending a certain meeting.  This may be done by a simple majority vote of officers.  The officers may be overridden by a majority of the membership.  The officers must state the cause for banning an individual. (Adopted 4/21/2017)

ARTICLE V – OFFICERS

Sec 1. Four officers. The officers of the LPAC shall be a Chairperson, a Vice

Chairperson, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. These four officers are required to be members of the LPIN.

Sec 2. Election of officers. Officers of the LPAC shall be elected at the annual convention for two-year terms. (2-year terms adopted 4/15/2018) The officer nominee who receives the most votes in each race shall be elected. Officers shall be elected by secret ballot unless uncontested, in which case election may be by acclimation. Officers shall take office upon the close of the annual convention and serve thereafter until the final adjournment of the next convention at which officers are elected. (Amended 2/17/2019)

Sec 3. Roles and responsibilities of the officers.

      a. Chairperson. The Chairperson shall preside over all business meetings and conventions and shall be the official spokesperson of the LPAC. The Chairperson may appoint such committees as are deemed necessary to conduct LPAC business.

      1.) The Chairperson shall be responsible for signing all checks written by the Treasurer.  (Adopted 18 July 05.) (Amended 17 Feb. 2019)

b. Vice Chairperson. The Vice Chairperson shall serve in the absence of the Chairperson and shall be responsible for the training and coordination of precinct committee persons.  (Amended 17 Feb. 2019)

c. Secretary. The Secretary shall record the minutes of all LPAC meetings and conventions, be the custodian of said minutes, the bylaws and its amendments, committee reports, standing rules, and correspondence designated by the Chairperson.

      1.) The Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining a master list of all information required under Article 5, Section VIII and dispersing this information in a timely manner to all other officers. (Adopted 13 June 05)

d. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be the custodian of all assets, be responsible for the filing of all campaign finance forms, and for maintaining the list of current LPAC members.

      1.) The Treasurer shall be responsible for writing all checks to pay debts incurred by the Libertarian Party of Allen County. (Adopted 18 July 05)

Sec 4. Removal of officers. Officers who are elected in convention may be removed only by 2/3 vote in convention or ¾ vote at a business meeting for cause.

Sec 5. Vacancies. In the event of removal or resignation of any officer the Chairperson shall give notice to all LPAC members of such vacancy. The Chairperson may fill such vacancies pending majority approval of the LPAC membership at the next business meeting following the notice.

Sec 6. Standing rules. For the LPAC to be in harmony with these bylaws and to facilitate the smooth flow of business at meetings and conventions standing rules may be written and made available for general use.

Standing rules may be adopted by ¾ vote at a business meeting or 2/3 vote in convention. Standing rules may be repealed by a 2/3 vote at a business meeting or simple majority at convention.

Sec 7. Authority to Contract. No one shall have the authority to contract for goods or services on behalf of the LPAC without the consent of the Chairperson and/or the Treasurer. The Chairperson and the Treasurer have the authority to purchase office related materials or services.

Sec 8. Knowledge of all operational assets. All officers shall be informed of any and all information that may be needed to operate any accounts, offices, security codes, computer accounts, passwords and any other information that may be deemed necessary.  (Adopted 13 June 05)

ARTICLE VI – CONVENTIONS

Sec 1. Annual convention. The LPAC shall hold an annual convention (amended 12/26/2018), ideally prior to the LPIN state convention. It shall be used to: elect officers of the LPAC; to make annual report of the LPAC financial condition; to amend the bylaws; to elect delegates and alternate delegates from the LPAC to the LPIN state convention; and to nominate candidates for public offices in accordance with Article I, Section 2 of these bylaws.

Sec. 2 ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

All LP and LPIN members are automatically LPAC members and just like LPAC members may vote without delay at the LPAC convention.  However, a person who is only an LPAC member must be a member for 30 days before the LPAC convention to be elected an officer. (Amended 4/15/2018)

Attendance at the annual convention is open to all LPAC members and their guests. Until we get really big the convention shall be free of charge, but a nominal fee may be charged to defray the cost of the convention facilities. Only LPAC members may vote to elect officers of the LPAC; to amend these bylaws; to elect delegates and alternate delegates from the LPAC to the LPIN State convention; and to nominate candidates for public office.

Sec 3. Notice of convention. The Chairperson shall notify all LPAC members of the date, time, location and agenda of the annual convention at least 30 days prior to such convention by any method reasonably certain to reach the membership.  (Amended from 45 to 30 days 4/15/2018)

Sec 4. Order of business. After the call to order the first order of business is to credential and seat the members of the LPAC. The minutes of the last convention shall be read and approved. The Chairperson may submit or adopt rules and/or agenda on his or her own initiative, subject to the approval by simple majority of the membership present. The Treasurer shall give the LPAC’s annual financial report.

Sec 5. Motions in writing. All motions to amend these bylaws shall be made in writing and submitted to the Chairperson prior to the call to order. The Chairperson shall present them to the membership for approval by simple majority.

Sec 6. Credentials. The Chairperson shall appoint a member to verify membership in the LPAC. Only verified members present shall be allowed to vote on any business introduced in convention. No voting by proxy shall be allowed.

Sec 7. Nomination of candidates. The annual convention shall nominate candidates for county, city, township, and town offices within Allen County. Individual members may declare their candidacy for office. Approval of nominations made by either method shall be by simple majority. Nominations or declarations of US Congressional, State Legislative, or Judicial offices affecting all or part of Allen County shall be made and approved by simple majority.

Sec 8. Election of delegates to the LPIN convention. The annual convention (or a business meeting prior to the State convention) shall be used to elect delegates and alternate delegates to the State convention. Any delegate positions not filled prior to the State convention may be filed by appointments made by the highest ranking LPAC officer planning to attend the State convention, with the consent of the appointee.

Sec 9. Candidate endorsement. The LPAC shall not endorse any candidate who opposes a candidate that is nominated by the LPIN or the LPAC. The LPAC membership should carefully consider in convention or at the business meeting the endorsement of any non-member declaring their candidacy as a Libertarian.

Sec. 10: In the event of a tie vote for the election of officers, delegates or the nomination of candidates, the Chairman’s vote will count twice unless the vote involves the sitting Chairman.

 a) If the same vote involves the sitting Chairman, then the highest-ranking officer not affected by the vote shall have their vote counted twice. (Amended 4/15/2018)

ARTICLE VII – ADOPTION, AMENDMENTS, STANDING RULES, AFFILIATION

Sec 1. Adoption. These bylaws shall be adopted when approved by a majority of LPAC members present at the annual convention at which the bylaws were presented for adoption. These bylaws shall take effect immediately upon the close of the convention.

Sec 2. Amendments. These bylaws may be amended by 2/3 of the votes counted of LPAC members attending the annual convention. All amendments shall take effect immediately upon the close of the convention.

Sec 3. Standing Rules. Standing rules may be introduced as a motion by any LPAC member and adopted, rescinded, or amended at any annual convention or business meeting. See Article V, Section 6.

Sec 4. Affiliation with LPIN. The LPAC hereby ratifies these bylaws and authorizes the undersigned officers to petition the LPIN for official affiliation in accordance with existing LPIN requirements.

Typo in Art VI, Sec 1, corrected and approved 12-26-2018.

Amendments approved Feb. 17, 2019, at annual LPAC convention.