Sunday, November 3, 2019

The Lie Search

The "Ethics Only When It Suits Us" candidate -- for brevity, hereinafter referred to as "JACKASS" -- used to sign off a few of his lawyerly interrogation screeds with the statement:
"Endnote with Respect to Lie Search: Bergland failed to establish any lies by [JACKASS] in this section of his email message."
I, however, can take just ONE of JACKASS' character assassination screeds of that era, and point to multiple lies in series, by JACKASS.

JACKASS LIE #1:
"Lark, who was in charge of running the convention, ..."
Lark was "in charge" of jack squat.  The State Central Committee had asked for bids for the 2000 convention in the summer of 1999 and accepted Stew Engel's proposal at its State Central Committee meeting in August 1999.

FACT: Stew Engel was in charge of running the convention.

JACKASS LIE #1 PROVEN.

JACKASS LIE #2:
"[Lark] refused to give Gorman more than 5 minutes of time to present his views to the convention attendees, claiming that the convention schedule could not be altered. After Gorman continued to insist on more time, LP National Director Dasbach finally agreed to relinquish 10 minutes of his 30-minute speech to Gorman. Thus, in the midst of a presidential election year, an LP presidential candidate got the grand total of 15 minutes to present his ideas to his fellow Libertarians in Virginia, after spending a considerable amount of time and money traveling to the convention."
Again a lie.  As stated in #1 above, Lark was in no position to "refuse" Don anything.  Stew was the CONTRACTOR, and he had been given authority by the SCC EIGHT MONTHS PREVIOUS to set up the convention -- which included arranging the schedule as he saw fit.


JACKASS LIE #2 PROVEN.

It's also a moronic assertion for several other reasons:

Since Jim Lark knows many of the people who spoke at our convention, Lark was asked by Engel (remember, the CONTRACTOR) to assist with getting speakers to the event.  In that capacity, Lark sent a request to Gorman to come and speak in DECEMBER before he even announced he would be a candidate.  Gorman DID NOT RESPOND TO LARK'S REQUEST.

Only after Engel had contracted with all of his speakers who responded affirmatively to Lark's initial feelers did Gorman's campaign finally ask for time.

Is Stew supposed to be psychic?

JACKASS OBFUSCATION PROVEN.
Inconvenient Truth: Gorman took advantage of a hospitality suite that Gary Reams paid for out of his own pocket and got to meet many of the people in attendance the night before the convention.

Under JACKASS's definition of things that would probably be a reportable campaign donation from Gary to the campaign.

By the way, JACKASS, can you please let us know the assessed value of the 12 oz Pepsi, twenty-two potato chips and a pretzel that Don ate while there?  Does Gary need to report the value of floor space that Don stood on as a campaign donation too?

Inconvenient Truth: Gorman got a bunch of time to speak again that evening, alongside Krawchuk and our other candidates.

If I were a Valley Girl listening to this moronic tripe about Gorman being supressed, I'd be walking around a room shouting "AS IF!!" at the top of my lungs by now.  This accusation is just plain stupid.

Gorman did JUST FINE without JACKASS White-Knighting him.  In fact, if one totaled all of his time up, he probably got as much or more time than any other single speaker.

JACKASS LIE #3:

"Could Lark have given Gorman more time? Absolutely. He could have moved Dasbach to the evening session ..."
As I've made clear, Lark had NO decision-making powers over the convention schedule.  Stew did -- he was the CONTRACTOR.

JACKASS LIE #3 PROVEN.


JACKASS LIE #4:
"... to share a 75-minute block of time that Lark provided to another official in the LP national office, LP Political Director Ron Crickenberger."
Again -- as I've made clear, Lark had NO decision-making powers over the convention schedule.  Stew did -- he was the CONTRACTOR.  Lark didn't provide a 75-minute block of ANYTHING.

JACKASS LIE #4 PROVEN.

And it wasn't even 75 minutes, it was more like 40.

JACKASS LIE #4.5 PROVEN.

JACKASS LIE #5:

"He [Lark] could have asked the hotel to delay the lunch (a buffet) by half-an-hour."
No, he couldn't -- he was not the one paying the hotel, Stew was.  Jim could ask them nothing unless Stew directed him to, otherwise he would have been interfering with Stew's fiduciary relationship with the hotel (remember, Stew was the CONTRACTOR).

JACKASS LIE #5 PROVEN.


JACKASS LIE #6:
"Or he could have advertised a morning pre-convention speech by Gorman. (The convention started at 10:30 a.m.)"
Wrong.  Lark wasn't in charge, Stew was.

JACKASS LIE #6 PROVEN.

JACKASS LIE #7:

"In other words, if Lark had wanted to make it happen, he could have."
Wrong.  Lark wasn't in charge, Stew was.

JACKASS LIE #7 PROVEN.

JACKASS LIE #8:

"What is relevant is that what Lark did to Gorman was wrong."
Wrong.  What was relevant is that Lark "did" nothing to Gorman -- it wasn't in his power to "do" a damned thing to him.  Lark wasn't in charge, Stew was.

JACKASS LIE #8 PROVEN.

JACKASS LIE #9:

"When a person enters the race for the LP presidential nomination, he has an implicit right to present his ideas and views to his fellow Libertarians."

Now this one is such a "DUH" that it's amazing that a long-time Libertarian like you would even utter it.  Sounds pretty socialist to me.  Even the smallest-l libertarian would agree that the right of association includes the right not to associate. 

Had Stew wanted to, he could have prohibited Gorman from showing up at all on the floor space Stew had rented.  Remember, Stew was the CONTRACTOR.  The Party didn't rent it, Stew did.  The Party "rented" Stew's time & talent in putting together the convention.

In short, this is a lie.  NO ONE has ANY right to demand air time at someone else's expense.

JACKASS LIE #9 PROVEN.

It's also unlibertarian as hell.

JACKASS INACCURATE ASSERTION #1:

"And he has implicit priority over LP bureaucrats such as Dasbach and Crickenberger."

Actually, Crickenberger raised about $1700 for the Libertarian Party of Virginia that night, so, if anything, Gorman had less priority -- if it's boosting the LPVA that we were looking for.

People weren't listening to "bureaucrats", they were listening to individuals who had contracted with Stew to provide his convention a particular service.

I am really surprised that THE JACKASS would suggest any capitalist arrangement was inappropriate.  Stew hoped to draw many people to his convention so he could make a profit on it.  The speakers wanted to earn whatever they were paid in return.  The people in attendance came because they wanted to attend the event Stew had put together.  The LPVA wanted a successful convention to energize its members and come out of the convention in better shape spiritually and financially than it went into it.

The LPVA wanted a fundraiser after the main program, and got it.

I would not have supported replacing Crickenberger with Gorman -- and I have a right to have some input because all of my activities for the past fifteen years of holding this party together GIVE ME THE RIGHT TO HAVE INPUT.

If anything, my priorities are not a presidential candidate's ego but making the Party grow.  Most of the people on the State Cebtral Committee at the time likely agreed.

INACCURATE ASSERTION #1 REFUTED.

So just in one email, JACKASS managed to tell several lies and repeated them several times.

This is an "ethical" individual?  Someone who lies through his teeth?

Choose carefully.

Some individuals wonder whether the real purpose of JACKASS's campaign since 1996 and continuing through today (November 2019 as I write this) has always been a desire to capture the Libertarian Party's only million-dollar asset, for the use of the separate organization which pays JACKASS's salary.

Of course if asked, JACKASS's response will sound like:

"Oh, no, my ETHICAL PRECEPTS would never allow any such transferance!"

Right.


Bless you, Harry Browne.  And I regret terribly that this pissant gnat was nipping at your heels so much during the last few years of your wonderful life.



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