D.I.V.O.R.C.E
Texas, Meghan McCain, National Divorce, LPMN, & Vouchers
Great news from Texas. The Texas Tribune reports that the Republican effort to remove Libertarians from November ballot was rejected by Texas Supreme Court.
On Aug. 8, a group of Republican candidates asked the Supreme Court to remove 23 Libertarian opponents from the ballot, saying they did not meet eligibility requirements. The Republicans included Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and others in congressional and state legislative races.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire has once again taken control of Libertarian Party messaging nationally when they celebrated the anniversary of John McCain’s death.
How does the new Libertarian Party Chair plan to address the controversy that has divided the party?
Last December, a Harvard youth poll (ages 18 to 29) found that “35% of respondents anticipate a second civil war during their lifetimes, and 25% believe that at least one state will secede.”
Similarly, last September, a University of Virginia poll found the following:
Roughly 4 in 10 (41%) of Biden and half (52%) of Trump voters at least somewhat agree that it’s time to split the country, favoring blue/red states seceding from the union.
While I wouldn’t say these polls indicate how people would react if there were ever serious talk of splitting up the country, they do show that people are at least somewhat open to the idea.
Once you get started talking on specifics about things such as what happens during land or water disputes, immigration, etc, I imagine the numbers crash.
I always found it odd that the people I hear going on about wanting a civil war are most often the people that couldn’t survive the first week of the war. The thought of it leaves pictures in my mind of baby boomers on electric wheelchairs with a mounted gun, oxygen tanks on the back, and driving down the road.
Many say a national divorce won’t end in war. My friend Tom Knapp writes an excellent op-ed at the Garrison Center questioning the feasibility of such a plan.
How about military assets? Does New Mexico suddenly become the world’s second-largest nuclear power because so many US nuclear weapons happen to be stored at Kirtland Air Force Base, or does each state get a few warheads, along with a proportional distribution of aircraft, helicopters, tanks, etc.?
Oh, and we should probably discuss borders and travel. Will the former US operate like the Schengen Area’s 26 European countries which allow mutual travel without passports and border searches, or will a New York to Los Angeles flight with a layover in Denver turn into the customs nightmare equivalent of traveling from Moscow to Buenos Aires via Mozambique?
Divorces get messy even when they’re amicable. Would this one be worth it? Perhaps we should all consult our attorneys first.
I don’t view this as a serious discussion. The only reason I bring it up is because LP national won’t stop talking about it.
Libertarian National Chair, Angela McCardle believes balkanization is best.
I was alive in the 1990’s. I seem to remember balkanization not working out so well.
Mises caucus backed likely Presidential candidate (I’d say current front-runner) for the LP Presidential nomination, Dave Smith recently debated the issue with Reason's Zach Weissmueller.
Speaking of a national divorce, Independent Political Report tells us how the Libertarian Party of New Mexico has disaffiliated from the national party.
The Libertarian Party of New Mexico formally severed ties with the Libertarian National Committee yesterday afternoon, asserting its identity as an independent entity.
“This letter serves to inform you that the Libertarian Party of New Mexico (LPNM) has terminated our affiliation with the Libertarian National Committee, Inc. (LNC) and all of its subsidiary bodies, effective immediately,” the Party said in a formal response to LNC members.
The Libertarian Party of New Mexico has recently been a topic of contention for the Libertarian National Committee. On July 23, 2022, members of the LNC met online to discuss a series of alleged violations committed by the Libertarian Party of New Mexico during its most recent July 12, 2022, Constitutional Convention.
Jacob Hornberger takes on school vouchers in his most recent Substack article.
Some voucher proponents justify their support of vouchers by claiming that they are a way to gradually achieve the libertarian position of separating school and state — that is, getting the government entirely out of the education business. But there is no validity to that claim, as we have seen in Milwaukee, which has had a voucher system for some 30 years. After three decades, the voucher system is not even close to getting rid of the public-school system. That’s because vouchers more deeply embed the state in the education process by putting private schools on the voucher dole, on which they inevitably become dependent.