The US has invaded Syria.

There are US troops in Syria. If you are just now learning this, then stop making "What's a Leppo?" jokes. Officially, they are there to help rebel groups fight ISIS.

The government of Syria does not want US troops in their country. Assad's troops may or may not try to fight them. 

I could say that this invasion is wrong, but moral arguments have had zero effect on US foreign policy during this century. I do believe that this invasion unnecessarily  puts troops in harm's way, and I want them all to come home safely. 

 I hope our troops are not attacked by Assad's forces because that will likely mean that our military will be forced to overthrow Assad. If Assad is smart and doesn't attack US troops, he is a lot more patient than most men you will ever meet. 

To be sure, President Bashar Assad is a terrible human being. The ISIS thugs that oppose him are terrible people. Many of the non-ISIS rebels are horrible in completely different ways. But to forcibly remove Assad from power will likely mean that a different tyrant will be in charge, or nobody at all will be in charge. We can hope that Assad will eventually retire or die of natural causes, and power is peacefully transferred to sane, rational beings.

In the mean time, the most realpolitik thing to do is to let all these fanatics kill each other without our help. The most humanitarian thing to do is allow refugees to settle here. Many people seem to think that the latter option is too risky. While I might disagree with that, I would hope that they would agree that the first option is safer than what's actually happening.

Beer Today. Parade, Meeting, Convention to follow.

​​

TODAY! Wed. 7pm, March 8
Beer & Libertarians

Deer Park Pub, 1530 Leesburg Rd, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46808

Monday, March 13,  7- 10 pm

We Are Libertarians Live - Celebrating 5 years and 200 Episodes

Public

· Hosted by We Are Libertarians

Hide Map

Morty's Comedy Joint

3824 E 82nd St, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240

Friday, March 17, 4:30pm
Libertarians march in St. Patrick's Day parade (shortest in the US)

at Deer Park Pub, off Spring St. at 1530 Leesburg Rd, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46808

4:30pm meet, park at St. Francis across the street, meet at grassy space opposite Pub

5:30pm parade starts. We will be at the end.

Wed. March 29

Libertarian Monthly Meeting at Kroger's at Coventry
5725 Coventry Lane in Fort Wayne, Indiana 46804

Friday, April 21 at 6 PM - 9 PM

Libertarian Party of Allen County Convention
Liberty Diner, 2929 Goshen Rd, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46808
6pm arrive & check in, order food
          Meet and talk with Tim Maguire, candidate for Indiana LP Chair
6:30 Guest Speaker Greg Linz of We Are Libertarians - wearelibertarians.com
7:00 Convention begins
You must be a member of the state or national Libertarian Party to vote or be elected officer or delegate.  Do that by going to either www.LPIN.org   or www.LP.org.

We will be voting on bylaw amendments, electing county officers, electing delegates to the Indiana State Convention, May 5-7 (May 6 is business events).,

in Evansville, Indiana

http://lpin.org/2017convention/

See Allen County Convention details at our new website (which is still under construction, and looks a mess) at www.allencountyLP.org .  Click link at top of page.

Allen County Libertarian Party

www.allencountylp.blogspot.com
facebook.com/AllenCountyLibertarians

260 484-5946 ~ Jeannette Jaquish, Vice Chair

​Robert Enders - Chair

Kristi Avery - Treasurer

Alec Smith - Secretary​

Come to the Libertarian Party of Allen County Convention!

 2017 Libertarian Party ^of Allen County Convention

Friday, April  21, 2017, 6pm dinner & entertainment, 7pm convention

Liberty Diner, private room, 2929 Goshen Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46808

Cost: Pay for your own meal.  
 To vote or be elected, *join LPIN for $25, prior, or join LPUSA at www.LP.org.

Meet Tim Maquire, candidate for LPIN Chair

Plus: An Irreverent Spiel from

Guest Speaker Greg Lenz of “WE ARE LIBERTARIANS” 

“The Future of the Libertarian Party:  Fulfilling Our Promise

to the New Onlookers We Gained from the Election.”

http://wearelibertarians.com

Full Agenda, Bylaws and Platform will be on our new website www.allencountyLP.org  by this Friday.

Three of the Libertarians speaking to a Concordia Lutheran High School class will practice their presentations on the

Allen County Libertarians (who get to ask gnarly high schoolish questions) at the

Monthly Meeting, Feb. 22 at 7pm.

Also at the meeting:

-- Kristy Avery will report what was discussed at the Indiana 3rd Dist.meeting she attended last week, for which she is our representative.

-- We will display the long thought lost, near antiquity, probably apocryphal,

LPAC Bylaws and Platform,

recently recovered during an archaeological dig --  only a mild exaggeration.

-- An update on the LPAC website's pending rebirth.

-- We will plan our entry to the Deer Park Pub's St. Patrick's Day Parade, March 17.

-- Ask volunteers to man LP tables at upcoming Gun/Outdoor/Farm/etc. shows and festivals.

-- Jeannette Jaquish will present her plans for a libertarian values, hands-on academics charter school.  See www.ecstatic-theatrics.com/charter/home.html and /www.facebook.com/StimulateEducate for a preview. She is looking for advisers.

-- And we will try to get other projects off the ground.

Incidentally,  VC Jeannette Jaquish has a live stream subscription until April 9 and is looking for worthwhile events to do multi-camera video live streams of.

All are welcome to attend. Bring family & friends!

LPAC 4th Wednesday Monthly Meeting

Feb. 22, 2017, 7pm, (George Washington's birthday)

at 1423 Louisedale Dr., Fort Wayne, IN  46808

-the home of  LPAC Vice Chair Jeannette Jaquish. 
Kids welcome. Food provided - semi-potluck. Small dogs in home. 

WATCH THE LIVE STREAM AT https://www.facebook.com/AllenCountyLibertarians

Anti-charter school teacher smacked with evidence

The Vice Chair of the Allen County LP got her guest editorial printed in the News-Sentinel - http://news-sentinel.com/opinion/your-voice/Parents-and-students-win-with-school-choice .  Jeannette Jaquish filled the page with regulation citations on charter and voucher schools, in response to retired English Teacher Phyliss Bush's editorial of Feb. 2, claiming their operators are not held accountable and hypnotize parents with hype.  Check it out -- especially the comments below.  One lists the fancy private schools attended by many of the political critics of Betsy DeVos, Trump's pro-charter appointment to the Department of Education.  Libertarians can make a significant impact for no expense by writing letters to the editor or calling in to talk shows, the old school opinion cafes.

The Feb. 8,  2nd Wednesday Beer and Libertarians Get Together at Deer Park Pub discussed many topics: 
The poor roads in Indiana, bad asphalt mixes since 1920's, hemp fibers in asphalt (this is a real thing!), leading into discussion of when and why marijuana went illegal, no fault insurance in Michigan and the price difference, also no upper cap on Medicare -- in Michigan? I'm not sure.  
Muncie tried and failed to privatize its fire department. Someone asserted that health care costs began to rise under Nixon, someone else pointed out that doctors pay half their income to malpractice insurance. Soon we are discussing US blundering in the Middle East, that ISIS is Sadaam Hussein's old Bath Party. "We need to be spreading the message of liberty," said one fellow, and that about summed it up.
It wasn't this random, other discussion was in between. 
We talked about how to get more members so we'd have enough to host a speaker which would justify the media publishing our meeting event, to get more members. 
The group was agreeable to joining the St. Patrick's Day Parade at Deer Park, Friday, March 17.  We have Irish themed Libertarian signs and our banner, and a giant walking puppet girl wearing a green dress. 
This town has no real debates; we could host them and then Libertarians would be included.  Whether to join with a college liberty club or not was discussed.
We may seem like a lot of talk and no action, and so far we are.  But you do need to figure things out, and get enthusiasm going, before you will get sustained manpower to actually do anything.

All are welcome at upcoming Libertarian events:

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 7pm, Libertarians & Beer at Deer Park Irish Pub,
1530 Leesburg Rd, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46808
----
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7pm, Libertarian Party of Allen County meeting at 1423 Louisedale Dr., Ft. Wayne, 46808. Some of us who are speaking at Concordia High School will practice our presentations on the group. Come and get to act like a high schooler. Dinner provided; feel free to bring food or drink. Kids welcome. House has 2 small dogs.

 Questions?  Call Jeannette Jaquish at 260 484-5946.

Report on the Jan 25, 2017 Libertarian meeting of Allen County

1-25-2017 - Robert Enders, chair, Jeannette Jaquish-Vice Chair, Alec Smith- Secretary and Kristi Avery-Treasurer, Mike Tront, a new guy - Stuart, and Brian Stoner attended.  The promised live stream had technical problems and would not go up.
No votes were taken or money expended but many events were launched.
The group agreed with Alec's idea to organize a trash pickup on the southeast side of Fort Wayne. Alec has a friend their whose home is a gathering place. We talked about serving food after the pick up and playing music and getting to know the neighborhood and set a good example.
We talked about doing booths and 4 people volunteered. Kristi ordered a poster sized grid for people to score their World's Smallest Political Quiz from the Politically Homeless kit from the Advocates for Self Government. This will be good to use at booths at fairs and gun shows and farm shows and similar events.
Mike said maybe he could speak at the morning shift when Robert, Jeannette and Alec speak at a social studies/political science class at Concordia Lutheran High School, March 10.
Alec postulated we could get Democrats and Republicans to send a representative to do live or videotaped debate/conversations. We proposed various locations such as Wunderkammer or Calhoun Soups and Subs.
Someone mention the live streamer/blogger Tom Woods who will mention libertarian websites on his blog, which, it is reported, result in many hits.
As for website, Jeannette said she would call the person in charge of our website and get it going again.  Also find our old copy of our bylaws and platform, though we could revert to the state LP's version.  Our local LP was inactive for a few years, and our records suffered.
Robert will try to track down some other old records from a relative of an LPAC officer who died.
The group enjoyed pizza and Chinese food and snacks and discussed terrorism and news items.  Our newest member, Stuart had conversations with everyone.  Later, those left played "What do you Meme?"

Politics in the Current Year

1. Everybody lies. Sometimes it's okay, like a gay man lying to his homophobic parents. Sometimes it's unethical but still routine, like politicians who make campaign promises that they know they can't keep. Politicians who don't lie, don't get elected. A typical successful Republican will promise one group of voters that he'll cut taxes, a second group that he'll boost military spending, and a third group that he'll fight for a balanced budget. A typical successful Democrat will promise to cut CO2 emissions and save the auto industry. Throw some promises to protect Social Security into the mix, and it's impossible to keep all of these promises. As it stands now, voters will not support an honest man. This country needs to learn how to accept hard truths before any of that can happen.

A shrewd politician tells the truth on a regular basis to make his lies more credible. The Obama Administration was good at this. The Trump Administration is bad at this. Sean Spicer has claimed that record crowds have attended the 2017 inarguration, and Kellyanne Conway has defended his statement as "alternative facts". It is easier for me to believe that William Shatner knows how to run a starship when I watch Star Trek reruns than it is for me to believe that Donald Trump can run a country when I watch the news. Trump could learn some lessons from Hollywood writers in keeping the narrative consistent and maintaining continuity.

2. Neo-Nazis have been around since the real Nazis surrendered in 1945. They aren't organized enough to replicate the horrors of the past. Some of them commit acts of violence and belong in jail. Most of them are just trying to make their parents upset and aren't really serious about this. If they are sincere about their beliefs but haven't hurt anyone yet, they need mental health care more than they need jail time. Letting them express their delusional beliefs is our country's way of letting people identify themselves as crazy to everyone else.

But then we have the Antifa movement. The Antifa are a bunch of pinkos who are mad that they lost the Cold War, so they want to go back and refight World War 2 all over again. So Antifa have been attacking Neo-Nazis in the streets.

I would like to remind these two groups of poseurs that the Eastern Front was the grimest, harshest theater of the Second World War. It's something to learn from, not to be nostalgic for. Stop fighting in the streets and go read a history book. Or play old school Call of Duty. Go do something remotely educational, or at least less dangerous than what you're doing.

First 2017 Libertarian Party of Allen County meeting, 1/25

Everyone is welcome to join the Allen County Libertarians at their first meeting of the New Year, to analyze and discard the ghosts of 2016 and plan a successful new year.
Dinner provided but feel free to bring food or drink to share. 
The home has two small dogs. Children are welcome.
7pm, Jan. 25, 2017
1423 Louisedale Dr., Ft. Wayne, IN 46808 -- home of Jeannette Jaquish, LPAC Vice Chair
260 750-9013
- By the way, our latest regular 2nd Wednesday, 7pm get-together at Deer Park Pub had its largest crowd - 6 people.  Join us next month!

Alcohol and Libertarians -- What could go wrong?

Find out this Wednesday, January 11, 2017, at 7pm, for a friendly libertarian get together.
Beer and Liberty at Deer Park Irish Pub:  1530 Leesburg Rd, Fort Wayne IN.

www.the1A.org -- Amazing Libertarian theme show on NPR daily, 10am to Noon M-F

NPR (WBOI 89.1 FM ) has a new radio show: "The 1 A" http://the1a.org/, that has taken my breath away with its Libertarian themes (without saying the "L" word).
It is new, just began Jan 2, to take the place of the retiring Diane Rehm (who usually sent me tuning into Glenn Beck on WOWO). "1 A" stands for 1st Amendment, and their first show was all about the 1st Amendment's meaning and how it is a prohibition on Congress not on private property. Its host, Joshua Johnson, interviews people with opposing opinions -- a feature usually scarce on NPR.
Today's guests dazzled me with their clear logic and facts in explaining  what Libertarians have been saying since forever, that US government intervention in troubled countries usually makes it worse by destroying their economy and structure of government and leaving them in turmoil and open for another invasion, though US voters rarely notice, but those countries do, and the resentment against the US builds for generations.  And they explained that a LOT better than I just did.  I was so thrilled that I went on WBOI's website and gave a donation with a comment praising the new show.
If you go to The 1A's website http://the1a.org/ and click SHOWS you can play past shows. Today's show is Is the Era of American Humanitarian Intervention Over? 
Coming up Jan 5 is "Order in the Classroom: From Hall Monitors to Handcuffs".
I believe we need to let WBOI know that we love this show by donating with a comment or at least emailing them. Right now, their liberal staff is probably in shock as they hear this "government is over-reaching its power message"  and searching for a replacement show.  Please listen to past shows or the live show and let WBOI (www.wboi.org) know what you think.

25 years ago today

Twenty-five years ago today, Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned his position as President of the Soviet Union.* The Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time. Russia's experiment with communism had ended after only 74 years.

Today there are young adults all over the world who don't remember the Cold War. Among them are those who think that socialism can still work, if only everyone participates. These aren't just ironic hipsters who say this, but sincere fools who learn about history from the darker, dumber corners of the internet. They use computers that the Soviets could have never invented to access websites that they would have never allowed, and yet come to the conclusion that the economic system that has endured for centuries is somehow inferior to the system that lasted for mere decades.

Kids, if you are reading this, you should understand that communism cannot work on a national scale. If you and 20 of your best friends want to set up your own commune, you go right ahead. But no group of people is competent enough to manage the economy of an entire nation. This country does not hold the free market to be sacred or perfect. We simply use it because it allows us more choices and flexibility in how we live our lives. We don't have to stand in line for bread, we don't have to wear the same clothes as everybody else, and we can even pay money ironic merchandise featuring dead pinkos who would be horrified at the idea of being featured on a consumer product.

* The office of President of the Soviet Union was created in 1990. The official title of the Soviet head of state had varied greatly throughout its brief history.

Libertarian Holiday-Christmas Party
was Wed. Dec. 21
Technical problems -- which turned out to be Firefox preventing an outdated Adobe Flash to function, and didn't notify me for hours.
We did go live around 9:30 to 10:30pm.
We instead recorded much of the meeting and will post it at this link by Friday, Dec. 23:
http://www.ecstatic-theatrics.com/LPIN/Video.html
Starting at 7pm, Wed., Dec. 21, 2016.
Call in your comments or sing carols to 260 484 594six,
or come on by: 1423 Louisedale Dr., Fort Wayne, IN 46808

Sorry, Jesus and Starchild will not be at the party,but if they were, they'd be in the spirit.
Kids are welcome.  The home has 2 small dogs.
Food and drink provided but feel free to bring something to share.
We'll play games like Political Charades [now that is redundant] and plan our projects for 2017!

Bring Family and Friends to
The New Year's Day 
"Free Brunch 'Cuz There Ain't No Free Lunch"
 hosted by the Libertarian Party of Allen County, 
11am to 1pm, Jan. 1, 
at the home of LPAC Vice Chair Jeannette Jaquish and husband Tom, 
1423 Louisedale Dr., Ft. Wayne, 46808.
A hot cooked 2nd Breakfast will be served with friendly conversation and overly optimistic plans for the New Year.   
Children welcome. Home has 2 small dogs. Call ahead or just show up.  260 484-5946

Libertarian Christmas Party, Allen County

7 to 10pm, Wed., Dec. 21, 2016

1423 Louisedale Dr., 

at the home of Tom and Jeannette Jaquish, off Sherman or Wells -- go west.
260 484-5946
Bring anything to eat or drink to share. Bring guests.
Kids welcome. Two small dogs in home.
We will play Political Charades and "What Could Go Wrong" Political Improv, listen to political parody Christmas Carols, and make a Wish List of Libertarian events, offices to run for, and projects for 2017. This is a good time to bring new people as we analyze the past and begin new projects.

Libertarian Meeting - Allen County -- All welcome!
7pm, Wed., Nov. 23, 2016
1423 Louisedale Dr., 46808, home of Tom & Jeannette Jaquish, 260 484-5946.
Grub provided; feel free to bring more.
Kids welcome. House has 2 small dogs.
We'll hash out what worked, what didn't, and what we learned from the 2016 Election Campaigns.
We'll talk about 2017 events we want to outreach at, and what issues to focus on. And what skills and equipment our group has and how to make the most of our abilities. And when we do this, it's fun!

The Black Swan President

After the 3rd presidential debate, Fivethirtyeight.com gave Donald Trump an 11.9% chance at winning. This is 11.9 more percentage points than I ever gave him. Trump had no experience in politics, the military, or in civil service. He said things that any one of us would get fired for saying. All he had was name recognition and an ego to match. Don't write off Charlie Sheen for President just yet.

1) Don't write off Libertarians. If Trump can win just by spouting nonsense, then a intelligent candidate running on a well-thought out platform can also win.

2) Progressives, before you ever mention single payer in a serious policy discussion again, try to imagine Mike Pence in charge of your health care. This is why we support smaller government: because we have no clue which incompetent, corrupt clowns are going to be in charge in four, eight, or 20 years. America has survived worse leaders than Trump because their power was limited. It's great to want to help people who lack access to basic needs. But be very wary about asking the government to help. There are other institutions better suited to solve these issues.

3) America has survived and thrived under mediocre and terrible presidents. This is why we have checks and balances. And this is why we have to start getting ready for the midterms.

Libertarian Election Night Party!

Everyone is invited to:

The Election Night Party 

for the Libertarian Party of Allen County.

7pm, Nov. 8, 

at the home of Tom and Jeannette Jaquish, 1423 Louisedale Dr.   

Everyone is welcome to enjoy food, games and conversation.  Food provided but feel free to bring booze, beverages or more food.

The house has dogs.  Kids are welcome.

260 484-5946 or 260 750-9013

---

At our October meeting we practiced our public speaking with a mock 3-camera TV talk show.

Robert Enders interviews Marty Bender, Brian Stoner, with Kristi Avery pretends to operate a camera and Mike Tront runs the switcher with help from Laika.  Jeannette Jaquish set up the equipment and Tom Jaquish observes.   

We plan to shoot more news-gathering and issues investigation and humorous videos in the future, for outreach and to undo the fear of public speaking to make us better candidates.

Trump doesn't want to be President

First of all, I hate writing about Trump. I think he is obnoxious just to get attention, and even the smallest amount of publicity would only serve to encourage him.

Donald Trump has said so many shocking things over the past month that at first I didn't think the 2005 Billy Bush Bus video was any more of a big deal than any of the other nonsense that he says. I finally got around to watching the video.

I have heard people say worse things than that, but none of those people ever plan on running for President. The people that I know who do want to serve in elected office some day try to manage their tone. This particular video was more than Trump saying the word "pussy". He was bragging about being able to grope women without any consequences. We can't prove that he was boasting about something he actually did. But for him to say things that imply he is a sexual predator who hides behind fame and wealth like Bill Cosby suggests that in 2005, a political career was the furthest thing from Trump's mind.

If I was advising Trump on his campaign, I would advised him to admit to the video early on back in 2015 and get it out of the way. Just say the whole thing was an incredibly bad joke and try to move on. If it cost him the primary, it would have saved him the trouble of a failed general election campaign. But voters have notoriously short memories, and this video could have been forgotten by now. I will never get involved in the campaign of a candidate who is as toxic as Trump.

Here is the thing that every political operative knows: if there is pictures, audio, or video of a presidential candidate, you have to assume that the opposition will find it. If they find it, they will leak it at a time that serves their purposes. I don't think it's a coincidence that the story about this 2005 video suddenly broke in early October. Just enough time to get the word out, and stay fresh in the minds of voters.

Trump knew this video was out there, and failed to mention it to his GOP handlers. If Karl Rove were advising Trump and Trump actually followed Rove's advice, this video might have washed right off. In the context of a competent, competitive, political campaign, Trump's actions up to this point make no sense. I have to wonder if Trump's real goal is to destroy the GOP or get Hillary elected. If that's the case, it says something that the GOP was tricked into letting him get this far down that path.