Sobriety in the Liberty Movement

I am a sober libertarian. There are many of us out there and we want to let others know it is okay to say NO.

As a libertarian, I believe that every individual has the right to decide what to put into their own body. It is important to remember that along with rights comes responsibilities.

My personal reminder of this has been "just because you could doesn't mean you should".  This is the core of libertarianism; getting rid of government  returns the responsibilities to We the People.

 The Sober Caucus

Allow me to introduce to you the Sober Caucus. Simply put, our mission statement is:

      "[T]o empower individuals using Libertarian principles and policies to encourage a sober lifestyle."

Many of our members are themselves sober but our membership is not restricted to those who abstain. The Caucus welcomes everyone who supports sobriety and our mission to end the "War on Drugs".

We aim to provide community support and harm reduction within and outside of the Libertarian Party. We know that voluntary community support and charity is infinity more helpful than imposed government policies.

We have provided scholarships and funding to those in need of help and recovery. We host sober spaces at libertarian events along with harm reduction resources such as drug test strips and Narcan.

Please reach out if you or someone you know is in need of assistance. Help us build the voluntary community libertarians envision.

Twitter - @LPSoberCaucus

Facebook - Libertarian Party Sober Caucus

CashApp - $SoberCaucus

Rob Cocomello, Dutchess County Libertarian Party Vice Chair, Pawling

LP Sober Caucus Member-At-Large

Never Again

Dr. Marty Makary’s article in the New York Post on February 27th, 2023 confirms what most of us knew for a while now. The Regime in many cases knowingly forced anti-Covid measures and practices on the public based on faulty information, then suppressed and victimized dissent. The article is a somber vindication of what some individuals had expressed at the cost of their own liberty and livelihood, and if we are smart about it, there are several lessons to learn from this ordeal.

The first lesson is probably the most obvious; the Regime’s information about the virus was faulty precisely because the Regime suppressed and victimized dissent. Contraindications were procedurally ignored or affirmatively hidden. Skeptics were ostracized, bullied and worse. In such a situation, groupthink and confirmation bias were the order of the day, with incalculably deadly consequences.

A corollary of this first lesson is the Regime’s mistaken premise that there could only be one answer for everybody in terms of dealing with Covid-I9. Despite the fact that science itself requires use of control groups in experiments to evaluate a given intervention’s efficacy, entities like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) mandated uniform responses to the v1rus. This discouraged local experimentation which would have shown that some measures and practices were more efficacious than others.

By far the most important lesson, however, is the societal, transgenerational harm which unchecked government can cause. The very idea that government alone can lock us out of our own businesses, worksites and churches, decide who is “essential” and who not, wreck our currency with cataclysmic stimulus packages, patrol private residences to determine whether “too many” people have voluntarily congregated, confine the elderly to vinyl “hug tents” if they want to spend their limited time enjoying familial visits without feeling like lepers… Government must never again be allowed to get away with this! Every official involved in these disastrous decisions should be held accountable to the fullest extent. And for the next “pandemic” – for surely authoritarians will reprise this scenario someday – government must be permanently deprived of the means to force such measures across society!

Daniel Donnelly, Representative, Amenia
March 2nd, 2023

From Tragedy Springs Hope

With the recent homicide of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, TN, nationwide we confront again the issue of police brutality which reared its ugly head back in May 2020 with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. This time, however, the situation’s facts have changed a little, such that the issue’s underlying cause is distilled for all to see.

To recap back to May 2020, many commentators resorted to easy clickbait by attributing George Floyd’s fatal police encounter to racial animus. Such reactions are conditioned reflexes for some factions, but the script was different this time around. In the instance of Tyre Nichols, there was no racial variance between the suspect and arresting officers, which indicates that we have to look beyond mere appearances for this homicide’s root cause.

From the footage released thus far, in the initial encounter three unmarked cars converge on Nichols in his own car around 8:30pm. Six officers rush one guy, barking conflicting orders at him. Considering that even Memphis PD confirms no probable cause for the traffic stop based on the cited reckless driving, Nichols appears confused about the officers angrily converging on him. Rather than capitalize on the suspect’s signs of confusion by asking investigative questions (i.e., actual police work), the officers far exceed the necessity to secure the scene by coercing unquestioned compliance over all else, with irreversible… and foreseeable consequences.

Too frequently it is quipped that if police’s only tool is a hammer, then everyone looks like a nail. That is not strictly true, since police – especially in a city like Memphis – often have several other resources like paramedics and even clergy, which police can call in for assistance with suspects, but in this case, overwhelming coercion was their go-to.

The officers who killed Tyre Nichols saw no affinity with him based on skin-deep appearances. He was just another pesky citizen who objected to being bum rushed for what he knew to be (and importantly, what was) a bogus premise.

Some things have improved since 2020, however. Memphis PD officially has disbanded its aptly named “SCORPION” program ("Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods") in which this incident’s six officers were secretively participating, which notoriously employed fear tactics to intimidate citizens in selective neighborhoods. Maybe there is some hope in the future that citizens will be afforded a modicum of dignity before governmental employees presume the worst about them.

January 30th, 2023
Daniel Donnelly, Representative, Amenia

Governmental Overreach Stops with You

On March 4th, 2020, during a divorce hearing in Raleigh County (WV) Family Court, Judge Louise Goldston halted the proceeding and ordered that it should resume minutes later at the house of litigant Michael Gibson. Though already highly irregular, Judge Goldston then threatened Gibson with arrest unless he admitted the judge into his house to search it personally, along with bailiffs, the ex-wife and her attorney.

During the search, Judge Goldston helped herself to an armchair in Gibson's home and instructed the ex-wife to remove any items she wanted. Gibson protested that warrants need to be issued for such searches, specifying the items to be seized, but Judge Goldston proceeded undeterred, and even ordered a bailiff to confiscate Gibson's smartphone, on which he attempted to record the extrajudicial search of his home.

Most readers will have heard of this case by now, and thankfully we can report the happy ending of Goldston being censured, fined and impeached by West Virginia Supreme Court over this incident, and stripped of judicial immunity by U.S. district court in a federal lawsuit. One small detail, however, has been overlooked in this nasty business.

Michael Gibson had worked in law enforcement for twenty-two years prior to this incident. That is, he himself was an agent of the State for over two decades... yet it did not stop the State from trampling on him and his home's sanctity the moment his rights proved inconvenient.

To government's agents (undoubtedly) reading this now, personally I hope that you never suffer the indignity and injustice which befell your colleague Michael Gibson. That said, please realize that YOU are in the best position to stop government from exceeding its authority by refusing unlawful orders. Someday it could be your neck under the State's boot!

Daniel Donnelly, Amenia, Representative
January 18th, 2023

YOU are the Carbon the State Wants to Lower

The cold wave which hit North America this winter has claimed 34 known victims thus far. Those are 34 fellow human beings who died due to exposure. It is a somber reminder that we all are at nature’s mercy but for whatever resources we can employ towards survival.

To that end, governmental proposals to illegalize or tax into obsolescence the means of survival are an assault on our very existence. In New York, a special interest group called the Climate Action Council recently published its plan to “decarbonize” New York’s economy, aiming for 15% net emissions by 2050. The plan restricts overall energy supply and increases demand, which means a bonanza for the Council’s members who include energy industry insiders. Predictably, current energy production facilities – already struggling to comply with environmental regulations – will be progressively decommissioned, in favor of less reliable “green” facilities such as “farms” of wind turbines and solar panels. In turn, cities and suburbs will be corralled into full electrification of heating systems, and of course, everyone will drive electric vehicles, further overburdening the artificially weakened power grid.

In short, this plan WILL kill people, whilst concentrating untold wealth in the hands of governmental cronies.

The Climate Action Council recently published its so-called Scoping Plan, which is quintessential governmental gobbledygook if there ever was. Over four hundred pages of proposals to limit and monitor every aspect of modern life involving use of resources (especially check out how the Council wants to eradicate New York farmers’ livelihood, as was done to farmers in the Netherlands). The main break-down is this; everyone want energy which is cleaner, safer, cheaper and more reliable. Investment will be needed to develop and distribute better energy, but such investment must come from private sources lest we divert public funding to private benefit. Most importantly, UNLESS AND UNTIL we have alternative sources of energy at equivalent levels to protect us from the elements, government should never limit our means for survival!

Daniel Donnelly, Representative, Amenia

Twittergate

Twittergate is the gift which keeps on giving, as the files’ divulgement continues. Now there is proof of what every Twitter user observed anecdotally. Everyone saw that Twitter employed double standards in what accounts and information it would suppress, and now we have the internal documentation to corroborate this universal observation.

What amounts to an added bonus is that all these revelations pre-empt those Libertarians who used to screech, “Private companies can do whatever they want!” Here we have a private company doing whatever it wants… except that Twitter under new ownership is actually advancing the cause of free expression rather than suppressing it.

A plain fact which eludes some of these free-market purists is that campaign finance law exists for transparency, which we all support. If a social media behemoth like Twitter – exerting inordinate influence even in traditional journalism -- actively suppresses information harmful to one candidate in an election – then it has contributed in kind to that candidate. In the specific case of Twitter banning any hint of discussion about Hunter Biden’s laptop – which authorities now confirm contained indicators of substantial wrongdoing on the part of Joe and Hunter Biden – this amounts to a multi-million dollar donation to Joe Biden’s campaign, which has gone unreported. Twitter therefore blocked voters from crucial information on which to base their decision at election.

There are also the issues of perjury and deputization to address. On September 5th, 2018, then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified under oath before Congress, saying that Twitter suppressed no posts based on ideology. Twittergate has revealed this as a knowing misrepresentation, which constitutes perjury. Additionally there are revelations that many of these post/account suppressions were effected at government's direct request, so we see that Twitter was acting under deputization by government.

In summary, let’s remember the fundamentals of who we are and what we espouse. Just as we say that it hardly matters whether the boot stomping your face is on the left or right foot, it hardly matters whether its wearer is employed by the public or private sector. The Libertarian Party is the ONLY party which values consent, but consent obtained by fraud is never valid. Private businesses – no less than government itself – which commit fraud and break the rules should be held fully accountable, both to their customers and anyone directly harmed by their practices.

Published on December 11th by Daniel Donnelly, Representative in Amenia.

#WriteInLarrySharpe

If you live in the Hudson Valley, your mailbox is getting blitzed right now with political mailers. Not that I mind them, but messaging on some of these mailers is so infantile as to be unworthy of an election for high school class president, much less U.S. Congress!

 One mailer gives the impression that a certain candidate will release violent felons from prison, and that prisoners are supporting him. No explanation how incarcerated felons are supposed to support him, but that’s the cartoonish message being pitched. I’d tell you what the candidate says about himself, except that his own mailers just demonize his opponent in similarly outrageous terms.

 With only two parties, it's always a race to the bottom. Each side denigrates the opposition, leaving voters to choose the lesser of two evils. Add a third party, however, and smearing an opponent just winds up making the third candidate look better. A three-way race incentivizes candidates to distinguish themselves with policy solutions, which overall leaves voters feeling empowered to vote FOR an option, rather than intimidated into voting AGAINST the only other option.

New Yorkers always have the option to write-in candidates on the ballot, and as citizens it’s our last check on political machines which want to run government. That’s why my family and I will be writing in Larry Sharpe, Libertarian for Governor. We realize it’s unreasonable to expect him to win, but in a state nearly 3-to-1 Democrat, voting blue is superfluous, and voting red only makes a shinier consolation prize for second place. If enough people write-in Larry Sharpe, we have a chance to restore a real third option on ballot, and thereby, to improve the maturity and significance of political discourse from statewide down to local races.

Daniel Donnelly, Amenia
Dutchess County Libertarian Party

[published in the Northern Dutchess News, Vol. 14, Iss. 44, Nov. 2-8, 2022]

Chair’s Take on Student Loan Forgiveness

There has already been much criticism of the Biden Administration’s forgiveness of student debt, and such push-back is encouraging. Some critiques focus on the morality of punishing financially responsible citizens who incurred no debt or settled it against their counterparts’ irresponsibility, or the inefficiency of funding degrees which have proved themselves ungainful.

One angle which has not been explored in much of the recent criticism is the divergence between progressivist desire for wealth redistribution with progressivist policy’s tendency to concentrate wealth.

By forgiveness of student debt, progressives claim to alleviate the burden on struggling graduates. Progressives are obviously thinking about debt cancellation for former students, without realizing that delinquent student debt has to be paid to someone. The result is a bonanza for already wealthy financiers who are now rewarded for bankrolling ungainful degrees. Whereas these students in college were living on shoestrings, subsisting on ramen and buying thrice-used books, debt cancellation means payola for the deans clearing six figures, with on-campus housing, meals, car, full medical, dental and pension galore.

Though it’s unseemly to begrudge others’ material success – even those who bilk taxpayers for their lavish lifestyles  – progressives construct their worldview around the notion that wealth should be more evenly distributed. If that is the case, then ultimately progressives must take responsibility for the fact that their policies wind up concentrating vastly more wealth in the hands of fewer people.

Daniel Donnelly, Dutchess County Libertarian Party Chair

The Situation with Ballot Access in 2022’s Gubernatorial Election

As things now stand today, August 23rd, 2022, the Libertarian Party is not on ballot for the General Election. Let that not dismay you, though. We have some of the best attorneys in the state assisting with legal challenges to this unconstitutional exclusion. One of these, Counselor Gary Donoyan, once restored a candidate to ballot as late as October, so there is a distinct possibility that our exclusion from the ballot will be overturned in time for the General Election.

That said, we Libertarians hardly need be told that trusting government to do the right thing is a fool’s errand. For this reason, as a contingency, we advise all voters to write in Larry Sharpe for Governor, Andrew Hollister for Lieutenant Governor, Thomas Quiter for U.S. Senate and William Schmidt for Comptroller.

We will post updates as soon as we have them, as we hope for an imminent verdict in our favor. If you see our candidates on ballot by the General Election, then please vote for them on ballot, of course. Otherwise, let’s flood the Board of Elections with our write-ins to show that we are actively voting, and that the legacy parties — despite excluding competitors from the ballot — have no claims on our conscience!

Daniel Donnelly, Dutchess County Libertarian Party Chair

Chair’s Take on the Fair Repair Act

This June gains have been made towards a fairer market for consumer electronics. Earlier this month New York’s legislature passed the Fair Repair Act, and a federal homologue currently courses through congressional subcommittees. Though this degree of progress towards markets in which all participants negotiate from positions of relative parity is commendable, New York sacrifices our under-appreciated farmers to achieve it.

Just to dispel any misunderstanding, the “fair repair” in the legislation’s name refers to the repair industry, not end consumers. You as end consumer may always repair a gadget you own if able, and you may take said gadget to someone with the parts and know-how if unable. The bottleneck occurs in the availability of those parts and personnel with know-how since the manufacturers calculatedly limit both. That is why if you have to repair a tablet out of warranty, you take it to the nearest workshop, and they can maybe repair the screen and fix a button on the bezel, but anything else is beyond their means, or deliberately priced out of yours to induce you to purchase the manufacturer’s latest unit. The new statute now creates a marketplace for technical blueprints, components and tools which will reduce costs to end consumers and lengthen consumer electronics’ lifecycle.

But not for everybody. Take the same aforementioned tablet and embed it in a harvester’s dashboard, and suddenly the statute’s exception for agricultural equipment prevents you from going to the nearest workshop. Industry lobbyists — who drafted the exception clauses and purchased the legislators to advocate therefor — made sure to disenfranchise the constituency of farmers by forcing them into the manufacturer’s costly extended warranties and periodic software patches. Not that this will stop them all — New York’s farmers are some of the most resourceful people you’ll ever meet — which means that some future land work will be done by circumventing technical bottlenecks on hacked tractors, affectionately called HACKTors.

So when a man-bunned Williamsburg hipster on the subway is reading on his un-Otterboxed Android — one train car lurch away from another trip to the nearest repair workshop — hopefully between sips from his organic juice box he’ll thank a New York farmer for being his fall guy.

Daniel Donnelly, Dutchess County Libertarian Party Chair

Journalistic Inclusiveness

On March 8th, 2022 Sarah Taddeo published an article in the Poughkeepsie Journal titled, "New York governor's race: Here's everything you need to know about who's running." Though the Dutchess County Libertarian Party applauds Ms Taddeo's inclusion of lesser known candidates, it is grossly negligent to omit a candidate who polls higher than the candidates mentioned.

Larry Sharpe polls at 6% according to a Zogby poll released January 2022. That was even before he officially declared on FoxBusiness with Kennedy, syndicated nationally on February 17th. Besides the numerical facts, many observers recognize that Larry Sharpe is the only candidate with enough cross-over appeal to be viable in a state 3-to-1 Democrat, a quality conspicuously lacking in the Republican front-runners.

We call on Sarah Taddeo and the Poughkeepsie Journal to follow through on their admirable efforts at inclusiveness to present voters with accurate information about the candidacy of Larry Sharpe!

Dutchess County Libertarian Party, March 9th, 2022

Sharpe Emphasizes Solutions

At least as far back as 2012, political candidates have strongly urged people to vote against opponents. Think back to that presidential election, and you’ll remember that the Obama/Romney camps warned their respective bases to vote against the other guy. Fast forward to 2020’s presidential race, and the respective campaigns’ main message to voters was that the other guy would wreck the country. From voting for the lesser of two evils, we’ve fallen just to voting against evil, which means that every election we’re asked to vote by our hatreds.

There is a better way, and a Bronx native running for New York Governor has found it. Larry Sharpe, 53, is running on a platform which emphasizes solutions rather than demonizing opponents. Whereas other candidates talk about the harm their opponents would cause if elected, Sharpe focuses on actual policy, going so far as to post white papers on his website. In this context, anybody attacking Sharpe ad hominem has to counter with competing proposals. This shifts discussion back to actual solutions, which is Sharpe’s only focus on campaign.

Some may call Sharpe’s policies “radical,” but I challenge critics to contrast his website with those of other gubernatorial hopefuls. Absent are the vague platitudes about “supporting and caring,” replaced by Sharpe’s detailed plans. Though professional political consultants nowadays advise candidates just to bad-mouth opponents, the only radical thing about Larry Sharpe is that he’s offering actual plans New Yorkers can vote for!

Daniel Donnelly, Amenia
Dutchess County Libertarian Party Chair

[published in the Northern Dutchess News, December 8th, 2021]

Amenia Soon to Vote on Recreational Cannabis

Earlier this year the “Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act” was promulgated, which authorized the recreational consumption of cannabis with the caveat that individual townships can determine whether they will “opt in” to authorizing cannabis-marketing establishments, or opt out. Throughout the state townships have been deliberating the issue, and very soon comes Amenia’s turn. At this juncture, I highly recommend that Amenia Town Board vote to opt into the program.

In full disclosure, I do not consume cannabis, so I am unqualified to say how lucrative this industry will be in our town. My concern hinges on our town becoming less welcoming to residents who engage in this harmless indulgence. By “harmless indulgence” I refer to the millions of people from every walk of life who on any given day responsibly consume cannabis, causing no harm to themselves or others. It would be acutely disappointing if Amenia – presented with this opportunity to be more inclusive – instead chooses to stigmatize our residents and send them to shop in Great Barrington or other, smarter jurisdictions.

In the weeks leading up to the Town Board’s vote on the matter, please keep in mind that authorization does not equal endorsement, which is to say that our town’s authorization of a cannabis dispensary constitutes no endorsement of its use any more than our sole liquor store’s presence equates to an endorsement of alcohol’s use. Let our residents determine with their own dollars whether the industry will thrive here, or shrivel on the vine!

Daniel Donnelly, Amenia
Dutchess County Libertarian Party Chair

Published on September 29th, 2021 in the Northern Dutchess News

Town Schedule

Our day to day lives are greatly influenced by the towns and cities in which we live and work. That is why the Dutchess County Libertarian Party strongly recommends that our constituents become involved with municipal government. Our hope is make local government as friendly to individual liberty as possible, whilst reasonably balancing the community’s needs.

To that end, below is a schedule for the municipal boards of Dutchess County’s twenty-two municipalities. If you are a constituent resident in a given town and would like representation at your town board about a certain matter, then please contact us and we will assist if able. Please also let us know if any links are not properly working.

Amenia, first and third Thursday of every month at 7pm: https://www.ameniany.gov/government/tboard.html

Beekman, second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 7pm: https://www.townofbeekman.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={F147762F-BF57-4AEB-8172-171D17026F0E}

Clinton, second Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm: https://www.townofclinton.com/government/town-board/

Dover, last Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm: https://www.doverny.us/town-board

East Fishkill, second and fourth Thursday of every month at 7pm: http://www.eastfishkillny.gov/Government/townboard.htm

Fishkill, first and third Monday of every month at 6pm: https://www.vofishkill.us/calendar/month/2021-05

Hyde Park, first and third Monday of every month at 6pm: https://www.hydeparkny.us/157/Town-Board

LaGrange, second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7pm: http://www.lagrangeny.gov/Government/boards.htm#town

Milan, third Monday of every month at 7pm: http://www.milan-ny.gov/townboards.htm

Northeast (Millerton), second Thursday of every month at 7pm: https://www.townofnortheastny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/North-East-Town-Board-Rules-and-Procedures-2012-for-Meetings.pdf

Pawling, first and second Wednesday of every month at 7pm: https://www.pawling.org/government/town-board.html 

Pine Plains, third Thursday of every month at 7pm:  https://www.pineplains-ny.gov/boards-committees/town-board/

Pleasant Valley, fourth Monday of the month at 7pm: http://pleasantvalley-ny.gov/departments/boards/town-board/

Poughkeepsie (town), first and third Wednesday at 7pm:  https://www.townofpoughkeepsie.com/243/Town-Board

Poughkeepsie (city), Common Council convenes as needed, announced on its calendar: https://cityofpoughkeepsie.com/common-council/

Additionally there are other municipal departments (Zoning, Ethics, Public Arts, etc.) which hold meetings open to the public:
https://cityofpoughkeepsie.com/committees-boards/ 

Red Hook, second Tuesday and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30pm: https://redhook.org/180/Town-Board

Rhinebeck, second Tuesday of the month at 6pm: https://villageofrhinebeck.org/mayor-board-of-trustees

Stanford, every second Thursday at 7pm: http://www.townofstanford.org/events/town-board-meeting-2/

Union Vale, first and third Thursday at 7:30pm: http://www.unionvaleny.us/town-calendar-1.html

Wappingers Falls, second and fourth Mondays at 7pm: https://townofwappingerny.gov/town-board/

Washington (Millbrook), second Thursday of the month at 7pm: https://www.washingtonny.org/government/town-board.html

Beacon, first and third Monday of every month at 7pm: https://www.cityofbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-Meeting-Dates.pdf

Dutchess County Libertarian Party Participates in Demonstration against Vaccine Mandates

For immediate release

Amenia, NY, September 2nd 2021: Outside Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie around two hundred people in shifts gathered from across Dutchess and neighboring counties to demonstrate against the recent vaccine mandate, specifically that directed at healthcare professionals. Officers, former candidates and supporters of the Dutchess County Libertarian Party were present to show solidarity with those affected by the vaccine mandate.

On August 16th then Governor Andrew Cuomo imposed a mandate requiring all healthcare professionals in New York State to get the vaccine against COVID-19. Though said mandate was issued shortly after Cuomo announced his imminent resignation under questionable circumstances, the mandate forces all healthcare professionals to get the vaccine by September 27th or face termination. The mandate disallows most religious and medical exemptions.

The Dutchess County Libertarian Party does not oppose vaccination per se, but insists that such choices be voluntary and ideally made by patients upon consultation with physicians.

The person whose individual case sparked the demonstration is Jenna Patton, a nurse in Vassar Brothers Medical Center’s surgical unit for sixteen years, who suffered a stroke at the age of thirty-six despite an exceptionally healthy lifestyle. Patton survived surgery to clear the  blockage in a cerebral artery, though the blockage could not be dislodged. Patton’s physician advised her against the COVID-19 vaccine due to its possible side-effect of blood clots, which in her case could easily prove fatal.

“People must be free to choose based on their own values,” said Dutchess County Libertarian Party Chair Daniel Donnelly, who attended the demonstration along with Secretary Victoria Alexander and Vice-Chair Anthony DiLullo. “It is one thing for employers to demand fulfillment of conditions pertinent to doing a job, but this is not the case with the vaccine. This is a lame duck governor’s decree on the heels of his resignation. It does not account for myriad cases of individual healthcare employees who would perform their jobs no better with the vaccine, or in Jenna Patton’s case, who could be severely compromised by it.”

For more information about the Dutchess County Libertarian Party, please visit www.dutchesscountylp.org 

Conspiracy Much?

On February 4th, 2021 Time Magazine published Molly Ball’s article “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign that Saved the 2020 Election.” In many ideological camps, this article has sparked outrage and diatribes. More important than what the article says, though, is that which the article leaves unspoken, and that which the article should say.

To summarize the article, it recounts how a widespread coalition of Progressive strategists, activists and financiers worked under the radar to engineer the result of 2020’s presidential election. The article readily uses terms like “conspiracy,” “shadow effort” and “cabal,” perfect fodder for clickbait, yet mostly it is a long-winded gloat which surprises no one.

The article’s gist (spoiler alert!) is that this Progressive coalition and Big Business colluded to deliver the election to Joe Biden. The carrot which the Progressives offered to Big Business was forbearance from nationwide disruptive protests in the streets akin to what had been happening throughout 2020’s summer in response to George Floyd’s death. Stated differently, the coalition was saying, “Support our cause or we’ll burn cities down again!”

Though Ball credits the coalition with avoiding disruptive protests for the new president’s election, the coalition’s unspoken assumption proves that if anything they merely kicked the can down the road. All the coalition’s work was guided by the assumption that Trumpers could not be flipped.  Now to half the country which did not vote for the current president, Ball’s article boasts that he got in by clandestine gamesmanship. That can only worsen this country’s polarization and lead to future disruptive protests.

Imagine though what story this article could and should have recounted. What if the hundreds of millions of dollars which the coalition bundled had been used towards influencing Trumpers to Biden? Of course the coalition was no PAC in the technical sense, but surely operatives and donors as clever as Ball describes could have found ways to finance pro-Biden messaging. You never get everybody in a country this big, but instead of a 51-49 percent margin, we would be living in a safer, stabler country had the coalition used its vast resources to achieve something akin to 70-30.

If this proposal strikes you as too idealistic, then here’s one more grounded in realism. Presuming the coalition’s strategists correct that people can’t be swayed to change their values, then maybe the whole paradigm of half the country voting to force its will on the other half is the wrong way to go about things. Maybe the more realistic approach for the modern era is to allow people to make their own associations and allocations as they see fit, with government as nothing more than a repository of information about best practices and a final arbiter in guaranteeing citizens’ rights. Maybe it’s high time to live and let live, the Libertarian way.

Daniel Donnelly, Dutchess County Libertarian Party’s Vice-Chair

Published in the Mountain Eagle newspaper on February 25th, 2021.

Statement on Principles

The Dutchess County Libertarian Party fully supports free speech in all its forms for every person and collective entity.

We recognize that the quality of given speech in terms of veracity can only be determined in the balance between competing accounts.

Similarly we support every person and collective entity’s right to transact freely with the party of one’s choosing at any point in time.

That said, the Dutchess County Libertarian Party wholeheartedly condemns attempts to stifle free speech by resort to intimidation. In the marketplace of ideas, no participant should have to worry about personal and familial safety at home or anywhere. Any entity publishing details of an opponent’s home or family – the practice commonly known as “doxing” -- should be held accountable to the law’s fullest extent.

In conclusion, against growing societal polarization the Dutchess County Libertarian Party strongly encourages commerce with ideological opponents. We value diversity and reject figurative walls between communities. Neighbors never all have the same sociopolitical preferences, so we best value our neighbors as human beings through patronage of their businesses and labor, without regard for personal politics. This is the Dutchess County in which we want to live!

A Gold New Deal

In November 2018 voters in the NY-19th Congressional had the option of a candidate whose career had been unconventional. Former rapper turned lawyer turned Congressman is an inspirational testimony to what this country makes possible, yet for all his difference, our Congressman has proved blandly conventional.

This November voters in the NY-19th have the option of a candidate with ideas refreshingly novel. Dr Victoria Alexander, Libertarian based in Dutchess County, is running to shake things up in Congress with her Gold New Deal.

No more foreign entanglements of our military and the irreversible, worldwide and stateside pollution which they produce.

No more special interests picking winners and losers in our economy. Stop subsidies to the industries of corn and fossil fuel.

No carbon taxes on industry. That only commodifies the right to pollute and is the commercial equivalent of the sale of indulgences.

No public funding for private gain. If tech industries want to expand and improve the smart grid, then they need to fund that out of pocket rather than bilking taxpayers whom the tech industries will later overcharge as grid customers. Let energy grids in general become free market cooperatives, which decentralizes the influence of big energy corporations.

No destruction of public infrastructure unless structurally unsound. Too often public works are scrapped at the behest of companies bidding on the replacement’s construction. Let the people decide which public works to frequent or avoid.

Dr Alexander also has innovative positions on matters of criminal justice and electoral reform, but you get the picture here. It is no longer enough for our Representative to have an atypical past. Our present issues will never be resolved by the same thinking which got us into them. We need a fresh perspective in Congress which only Dr Victoria Alexander can offer.

Daniel Donnelly, Amenia

Dutchess County Libertarian Party, Vice-Chair

Published October 2020 in the Northern Dutchess News.

Ranked Choice Voting, Part One

For baking a cake you want a splash of whole milk. If the store has none in stock, then skim milk will do, and absent that, in a pinch you can use condensed milk.

Intuitively we make selections like this every day, yet many explanations of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) make it sound more complicated. On an individual level, it really is as simple as the analogy above. On the societal level, tabulation purges the least favored options from ranks one, two and three, leaving the winner with a clear majority, which is democracy by definition.

In our increasingly polarized society, imagine that a victor emerges towards whom we all have voted in some ranking or another, rather than our current winner-takes-all system which leaves us futilely screaming at the sky.

September 15th, 2020, published to the Facebook page of “Daniel Donnelly - Libertarian”

Ranked Choice Voting, Part 2

A month ago I wrote about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), explaining it for those who – like myself not long ago – did not know about or understand it. Just to recap, RCV is a voting system which allows voters to rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference rather than choosing just one candidate. In the context of New York’s politics, there is a major obstacle to understanding RCV, which is “Fusion Voting,” whereby one candidate can run on multiple party lines.

Fusion Voting makes for very strange arrangements on the ballot. It is not uncommon for a candidate (usually in local races) to be endorsed by both the Democrats and Republicans, the two parties which are supposed to be “sworn enemies.” In uncontested races, the lone candidate’s name may appear four times – once for each balloted party. Though this gives third-parties greater visibility, it confuses many voters and leaves them with the cynical impression that ultimately the candidates stand for nothing!

Fusion Voting’s greatest irony is that it came into law as a means of reducing voters’ confusion about a given candidate’s values. Back in 1936, smaller parties could “raid” bigger parties’ primaries, fielding candidates who would appeal to the primary base, but whose message may differ from the party’s preferred centralist stance in the General Election. The law’s co-author, State Senator Irvin Pakula (R – Long Island City) denounced these “hybrid chameleons” who would declare their support after election to a party different from that which had elected them.

Nowadays the situation is somewhat reversed, but equally confusing. Bigger parties now “raid” smaller parties to commandeer their line. A telling example of this played out in 2018’s gubernatorial election. In April 2018 the Working Families Party resoundingly rejected Andrew Cuomo at its statewide committee meeting, only to endorse him in October of that year. He quickly repaid the favor by empanelling the “Public Finance Commission” to kick the Working Families Party off the ballot!

As Fusion Voting’s “ballot bingo” is confusing in normal circumstances, it is incompatible with RCV in any practical sense. If voters struggle to understand RCV when it ranks three candidates of distinct party affiliation, then there is no way it can work when one candidate secures five party lines!

This begins to explain my recent opposition to cross endorsements in the Libertarian Party of New York. Most Libertarians recognize that RCV is the system which will level the playing field in our favor, as it will allow voters to judge our candidates and initiatives based on their merits without fears of “splitting the vote.” RCV will even address voters’ concerns about “wasting the vote” on a candidate with little hope of winning. Since we recognize that RCV is the Libertarian Party’s future, we need to get used to conducting ourselves as if Fusion Voting has been phased out in favor of RCV.

This position is stated cognizant of all the “burden” this imposes on us, and of some less desirable consequences which can ensue. When we can no longer leverage the bigger parties’ candidates for visibility on the ballot, we will have to stay in the public eye by other means. This will take money, manpower and creativity. In short, all the requirements for success at the ballot box! One less desirable consequence of Fusion Voting’s discontinuation may be more “paper candidates,” but that is not the end of the world. Even nominal candidates acquire some insight and expertise about the electoral system which is added to our party’s institutional knowledge base. In 2020, we have several candidates statewide who – against such steep odds – may be characterized pejoratively as paper candidates, but who have risen to the challenge and are memorably connecting with their electorate. Again, experiences contributing to our party’s institutional knowledge base.

Like a baseball player who proactively starts a strict diet in advance of spring training so as to confront said training’s rigors more effectively, the Libertarian Party of New York should wean itself of cross endorsements to the greatest extent possible. This will allow us to contend more successfully in the political landscape which RCV creates. That is, if you will, the “ulterior motive” informing my stance on cross endorsements’ discontinuation, more than mere “purity” tests.

As things now stand, those favoring cross endorsement’s discontinuation are a minority, but that is immaterial. RCV is coming to New York State, despite what our critics may prefer. Indeed, RCV has already taken hold in our biggest city of New York, at least for their primaries. When Libertarians, Democrats and Republicans have no resort but to run as – heaven forbid – Libertarians, Democrats and Republicans, those in our party engaged in “Saratoga systems” of peddling our line for influence will have to adapt to the straighter dealing which Ranked Choice Voting fosters.