Here is an organization I hope everyone will get more active in supporting…I received a notice
from its chairman, Mark Rutherford, through facebook.
July 23rd I’ll be flying to Atlanta and having dinner with current Libertarian Party of Alabama Chairman Stephen Gorden, Deborah Gordon and a very influential national political figure. Stephen and I will be introducing Atlas!PAC to this influential person. Please invite fellow libertarians to join Atlas!PAC. Although we just started, we’ve already sent four Libertarians for campaign training to Washington, D.C. and our sponsorship of the Region Three Convention will enable several student libertarians to receive fund raising training free of charge.
Spread the word! Atlas!PAC is finally helping libertarians do the practical things needed to get elected.
Remember, I’d rather have Libertarians on the inside then the outside. You can changes things easier from the inside.
Mark W. Rutherford
Chairman
Atlas!PAC
pauliecannoli
Miche
Stuart Richards
bostonteapartygoer
mattdharris
deaconstruck
Less
ponggod
Todd Andrew Barnett
Jim Davidson
Peter Orvetti
Mike Seebeck
aynrkey
sgreffenius
Everyone should go check out the website:
http://www.atlas-pac.com/
There you may (or may not) find an extensive and detailed explanation about what Atlas! PAC is all about. Be sure to check out the resources page where you can find handy links to the American Enterprise Institute and the Manhattan Institute.
You won’t find out the identity of the mysterious “influential national political figure” mentioned in Mr. Rutherford’s message. I’m wondering who this could be and what the results of this high-level meeting were.
Two names associated with the Atlanta area come to mind – Bob Barr and Neal Boortz.
I’m also wondering who the four libertarians are that have already been sent to Washington for training. This is too much intrigue for me.
Well I can narrow it down a bit…I wasn’t one of them.
It’s not really a very ideologically focused group. Its purpose is learning and teaching nuts and bolts politics, somthing sorely lacking among LP members.
If you would like to change some of its direction as expressed by the choice of groups on the resources page, I would encourage you to get involved, and we are not so far apart that change from within is impossible.
It’s a damn shame when those who understand changes that need to be made in the LP abandon it, thus making those changes less likely by their absence.
Wow, name-dropping without actually managing to .. well, drop any names. How cool is that?
*sigh*.
I think it was Barr, but Steve can fill us in.
When I clicked on “learn more” or “Join” nothing happened. Nada!
Maybe my computer is defective.
Hmmm?
MHW
Yep, it looks like that part of the website is not working yet, at least not in all browsers. They’re just getting started though, I’m sue they will fix it.
It would seem that Atlas! PAC is a duplication of effort of the Libertarian Leadership School (http://www.lp.org/lls/) and therefore redundant.
That is unless there is another agenda at play – ideological, money, etc.
When people ask for my support (money) and yet seek to avoid transparency by providing little to no information about their organization, I tend to be skeptical.
Is it the intention of Atlas! PAC to replace the LP’s LLS? What mysterious location in Washington, DC did Atlas! PAC send the unnamed libertarians for training?
The LP’s LLS may already be defunct for all I know and Atlas! PAC may be just the ticket, but openess, honesty and transparency would serve them well in gaining more support.
While it is a shame that so many libertarians have left the LP, it is appalling that the self-serving folks at the LPHQ and LNC don’t really seem to give a damn and seem more concerned about pursuing failed strategies.
Fortunately, there are still people within the libertarian movement that care more about spreading ideas (defined as “education” by pragmatists) than compromising principles in an attempt to win unwinnable elections (defined as “doing real politics” by pragmatists).
I think you are jumping to conclusions. Steve G. is welcome to explain further, and I’ll ask some other folks from the PAC if they are not reading and answered here already.
I’ll be riding down to Arkansas, after I get set up down there I’ll see how my time and internet access goes, but in the meantime the thread is here for both the detratctors and defenders to use, so please feel free to invite anyone you think will shed light on the subject.