The Emperor Has No Phone - LPCA Inside Baseball

The Emperor Has No Phone
"...before anything else, the LPCA is a customer service organization."

As the Libertarian Party of California (LPCA) breaks for lunch
before their annual elections, I'd like to point out a few things
about the organization.

These things have been painfully obvious to me for quite a
long time. Others are now catching on to.

Yes, the LPCA is a Political Organization, certainly.
And, yes, it's a 'charitable' one as well.

To understand the hows and whys of successfully
'operating' such a venture, we have to peel back the
layers of the onion even further.

The LPCA is a Membership, and a Subscription
organization before it's any of the above.

Just like a Kiwanis club or other voluntary Membership
and Donor based organization, the LPCA must learn
and understand how these types of organizations
work and operate.

Just 'wanting' something doesn't work.
Just having the 'best idea' or mousetrap, in and of itself
is meaningless and wont' lead to success.

Peeling the onion back one further layer, we see
that before anything else, the LPCA is a customer
service organization.

And that, my friends is where the LPCA has fallen
down so terribly over the last three years.

[An apology here to Beau Cain, a largely unsung hero
who has worked his buns off cleaning up other people's
messes with very little appreciaton.]

The LPCA is H Oh Double R i BB L E - horrible at
customer service.

We hear multiple stories from multiple sources, and I
suppose they all could be lying.

On the other hand, they are all first hand, and from
folks who have no axe to grind.

We hear of the current Chair angrily verbally abusing
volunteers at events for petty or nonexistent reasons.

We hear of the Southern Vice Chair having tirades
at people for asking about the LPCA website and
it's lack of fresh content or anything...

But worst of all is a horrible and strange cancer
of apathy towards Members.

And that's where I get the title of this little story,
'the Emperor has no Phone'.

You see, these people are somehow allergic to
the phone, and rarely, if ever return phone calls.

Now I'm not personally surprised, as King Naga,
our current LPCA Chair did that to me and several
other people about 3.5 years ago, preceeding the
Convention where he ran for election.

But dues paying Members, Donors and Volunteers
speak of this as though the cancer has metastasized.

Yes, I have spoken to numerous sources, and
maybe they are all lying to me, but many of them
state our Chair has never returned one of their
phone calls. Not one.

When the current scandal started way back last year in
September or maybe even before that, Board Members
from another State even emailed our Chair, and were
not given the courtesy of a reply.

Nevada ExCom, yeah, our neigbor and sister state.

When the current Chair came into 'power' three years
ago, the webmaster was someone I had recruited.

He continued on to help Naga, and I encouraged him
to help us all look good on the website.

A few months later, the Webmaster called me and
said he was going to resign. Why? Because no
one returned his phone calls or email.

Yeah, a volunteer webmaster ready to do whatever
you want and need, someone really good, too and
you can't return his calls?

I thought for sure Kev would give the guy a call
after he resigned, but nooooo...

The same thing happened to me recently.

One would think the Chair of this body would respect
its processes, especially something as serious as
the suspension and expulsion of members.

Well, he couldn't be bothered responding to requests
from the LPCA Judicial Committee (JC), nor could
the prosecutor in the case.

A lot of people spent real time helping and advising
me on how to handle the situation. I personally
gave up some really nice opportunities to be available
and prepare for my 'trial'.

Of course, the morning of the trial, everyone involved
recived a surly and derogatory sounding note stating
no-one from the Chair's Prosecution would show up.

"The Emperor not only has no phone, but has no manners or courtesy."

Folks, this is a CUSTOMER SERVICE organization.
We need folks that can show up on time and return
their messages promptly.

We need people that can be nice to all comers,
even those who they might disagree with.

It's a symptom of how this cancer has metastasized
when someone intent on Volunteering to help gets
'yelled at' by an LPCA Officer.

I have two completely different sources who told
me virtually the same story in the last few months,
how they contacted one of our alleged customer
service experts, asking about the website (see
a pattern?) and why it wasn't being maintained...

Both people intended to volunteer, having experience
and being Members.

Instead of being treated nicely and answering
the questions in a straighforward manner and
finding out the whole story, tirade from the
Officer, right on cute.

Guess what?
These people didn't Volunteer, or ever call back.

The Emperor not only has no phone, but has no
manners or courtesy.

The Libertarian Party of California Deserves better.


Copyright February 2010 Bruce Cohen
No part may be reproduced in whole or in part by
any means, including electronic, without the express
written permission of the author.

The Libertarian Trial of the Decade!

Yes, it's far more interesting and complicated than that, but I'm accussed of puffery and egaggeration far too much as it is.

I haven't been blogging for a long time, work, heath, travel, the sun was in my eyes, the other kids don't like me, I have 1000 excuses.

But there is just too much 'inside baseball' not to cover within the Libertarian Party of California that's not really being discussed elsewhere.

So, for the very few people who are interested in filling in the blanks about the ever deepening scandal and problem, this is one more place to go.

If you hate train wrecks, please look the other way.

About my upcoming trial:

First of all, allow me to have some fun.

This is the Defense's Theme song:

The Defense dedicates this to the Prosecution and their leader,

King Naga and his Knights of the Wobbly Table

Heads Will Roll

by the

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Off with your head

Dance 'til you're dead

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

Heads will roll

On the Floor

You can last

Take the past

Shut your eyes

Realize

Off with your head

Dance 'til you're dead

People Don't Kill People, Buckets Kill People

Home Depot - Baby Killer?

Regulated by:
The Department of Pools, Spas and Water

It's absolutely intolerable that the Obama administration is
ignoring this horrible threat to the life and safety of American
children that looms above us every day.

Buckets alone kill far more children than firearms.

Of course, we must move towards banning all private
swimming poools, since they kill even more children.

But American is not ready for that, so we must move
more slowly there.

We need to have mandatory swimming pool and
spa licensing and registration.

Pool and spa classes.
A waiting period for prospective pool and spa owners.
And a very strict licensing process for pool and spa
dealers and contractors.

Finally, to stimulate the economy, we need to create
a new Federal Department. The Department of Pools,
Spas and Water.

This will also be good for the environment. As you know
there is a horrible international drought and water shortage
CRISIS.

Greedy Republicans and Libertarians who use more
than their fair share of water must be reined in.

Copyright Bruce Cohen, February 2009

Founding Fathers or Funding Fathers? - Why the Bailout is NO Emergency

Founding Fathers or Funding Fathers?
Why the Bailout is NO Emergency.

I've been dreaming of the day when Democrats would
scream 'the sky is falling' and no one would listen.

Or at the very least, no one would believe them.

No, let's make that any politician, including
Republicans and even my own Libertarians.

And here we have it, where each day Nancy Pelosi
screams more loudly and more desperately about
what an emergency we have on our hands.

Make no mistake.
DC, we have a problem.

But it's not an emergency.

The emergency passed long ago, say during the
Clinton and Bush administrations, when the
watchdogs allowed Barney Frank and Barak
Hussein Obama to give and take financial favors,
and ignore fundamental economic principles
that lead us to where we are.

The GOP, so desperate to be 'kind and gentle'
mildly and meekly made a few demurring
statements about the problems, but put up
nary a fight, much less a protest.

And, despite my differences with Congressman
Ron Paul about Foreign Policy, here he is, right
about the big picture again.

And what did the wise old Paul tell us all
along, again and again?

He stated the obvious: We can't fight a war
or defend ourself if we're broke.

There is a tiny glimmer of hope in Congress,
finally. Now that the Republicans are in the
minority again, they standing against big
government spending. (Who knows why they
must be in the minority opposition to do so?)

And we're broke, people!
B-R-O-K-E

Our national debt exceeds the entire net worth
of every American, COMBINED, I'm told.

That's the very definition of being broke.

When you owe more money than you're worth.
And we are REALLY broke, because we are going
further and faster in the hole than ever before.
Fortunately, it seems that America is waking up.
America is against the so-called 'bailout'. Obama
and the Democrats realize that, and that's their
real hurry, where their emergency lies.

Because, it's their emergency, not ours.

There's another reason for the hurry.

Democrats know if they don't get this passed in
a hurry and they don't get their mitts on this
money, OUR money, and fast, they just might
not, because America, even on the liberal
coasts, is against this.

They want your money,

and they want it now.

They finally have an excuse to fund the social
engineering programs they have been dreaming
of for generations. Yes, the Marxists are here,
and they are not your friends.

And finally: They want someone to blame.

This is a delicate balancing act.

The Democrats and their leader Obama don't
know if the economy will pull out on their
watch or not. They don't really care, either.

But what they DO want is a scapegoat.
If they can't get this passed, and things don't
get better, they can blame it on us for not
letting them have the money to 'stimulate'.

As for me?

I prefer to keep the money right where it is now.

In your pocket and mine.

In the bank accounts and retirement funds
of the good Americans that earned it.

There is NO rush.
Take your time.

The longer it takes to pass this bill, the more time
America has to wake up and come out against it.
_____________
A special note of appreciation is due to the
the public figures who have been pointing this
out for some time and continue to:
Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity,
Glenn Beck, Wayne Root, Michael Savage
and Michael Medved.

Ron Paul against Israel and the USA

"Why can't Israel do what they think it's in its best interest without seeking approval from Washington?"

Ron Paul - 2008 Presidential Campaign Statement

Source:

http://snipurl.com/paul-israel

You'll want to watch this video, at least the first few minutes: http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/024704.html

Note Congressman Paul says:

• This is a "pre-emptive war" (It's not, and so what if it is?)
• We should not choose sides - right or wrong
• Since Hamas has fewer arms, Israel should not fight back
• Fighting has been going on there for decades (So?)
• The Arabs there have a tough life, so cut them some slack

Doctor Paul contradicts himself, clearly showing his bias.

He says the US gave them a 'green light', by not saying anything
against the Israeli military operation.

But all along, he's been saying the Israelis should be allowed by
us to fight back. He's also said we should stay out of it and not
tell Israel how to handle this problem.

Which is it? Stay out of it, or say no? One can't have it both ways.

This seems to prove the concerns that he's an anti-semite.
I find it hard to believe he can possibly talk out of both sides of
his mouth this way and not truly be anti-Israel and anti-Jew.

I say this as a supporter and defender and even a sometime
employee of Doctor Paul.

One worries when Ron Paul and Roseanne Barr agree.

This is not about American involvement. Ron Paul only
complains that we didn't say no to Israel, of course after
he's said for years American should not comment.

This is not about the deficit as America is not sending
any money to Israel to fund this war.

The only thing that has changed is that finally Israel is
responding to having their cities rocketed and bombed.

He also complains that Israel might turn off water
or traffic into the terrorist zones.

Well, if the terrorists hate Israel and Jews so much,
why don't they generate their own electricity and
grow their own vegetables.

When Israel pulled out of Gaza and forcibly expelled
the Jews who had lives, businesses and farms there,
all those buildings and businesses and farms were
left intact for the Gazans to use.

Did they?

No, they vandalized and destroyed it all.

I say shut them off and let them work their way out.
Better they should focus on growing carrots and
purifying drinking water than shooting rockets.

Where in the World is Wayne? (Allyn Root)

Where in the World is Wayne?

Bruce Cohen - December 3, 2008

There was a lot of concern about

the so-called mainstream

candidacies of Libertarians Wayne
Root and Bob Barr.

This concern came from within the Libertarian

community, echoed in the mainstream press.

The concern was about the overlapping questions of Candidate

motivation, effectiveness and perseverance.

In other words, why are these people running?

How well will they do for our movement, our Party, our Brand?

And finally, how will they do after the election is over and the

bright lights are turned off?

It's no secret I'm a big fan of Wayne's, so don't be emailing

and blogging about how I'm biased. I'm going to stipulate

to that right up front here.

Post Election, Wayne hasn't let up at all.

His assertions that he was not a temp, but the real deal, hold

up just fine when looked at in the post-election light.

Wayne is still pounding the pavement for the Libertarian

Party, promoting our agenda and brand.

And doing so rather effectively.

During the election he shocked a lot of people by being the

first Libertarian VP Candidate to get so much major media

coverage, in fact, arguably more than Bob Barr, the top of

the ticket LP Candidate for President.

So he did well leading up to the election...

Did he go away, and prove right the folks making negative

predictions about him?

Not at all.

Since the election, he's continued to be a regular on

major media, appearing on both TV and radio to major

markets. Wayne has discussed everything from the

non-bailout 'bailout' to what it means for Obama to win.

Recently, he was on Fox News' top-rated business show,

Bulls & Bears. Watch it here: http://snipurl.com/730rc

Instead of giving up, he's increased his commitment to

the Libertarian Party and to our mutual effort to change

America for the better.

Wayne realizes the Libertarian Party is the only remaining

Political Party with any shot at change, or with any leverage

to truly make a difference.

He's still appearing on Neal Cavuto's FOX show, on a regular

basis, and nationally syndicated radio shows, such as the

Mancow Show and The Jerry Doyle Show.

Wayne has been appearing on Neil Cavuto more often

even than Ron Paul, another Libertarian hero.

Some of you may think it's a bit early to think about the

2012 election for President.

Wayne doesn't think so.

I agree.

What we need is a leader, a promoter and an organizer.

We need not just a pretty face, but someone that can

explain Economics to the average American, and make

the case for personal freedom from the standpoint of

a squeaky clean 'Boy Scout'.

And that's Wayne.

It's one thing for Cheech and Chong to make the case

against the War on Drugs, but when the tee-totaling

father of four home-schooled kids make the case, it

starts to gain credibility.

It's one thing for Atheist Penn Gillette to come out for

a wider separation between church and state, but when

Wayne, a born-again Christian with deep Jewish roots

does so, it's a big deal!

As a small businessman turned VP and Presidential

Candidate and Author, Wayne can rail against government

bureaucracy, overregulation and taxes like no one else.

And he does, all over the media!

Wayne is set for life, with a successful business, a beautiful

family and home and all the toys one might want; not to

mention an amazing job, traveling the world.

But he's not satisfied.

His newest book, "The Conscience of a Libertarian" is due
to be released, by one of the biggest publishers in the world,
by Christmas.

Wayne could be enjoying the holiday break. Instead, he's
writing six to eight hours a day- all for our Libertarian cause.

Wayne is someone who loves to build and improve things,
for himself, and those around him.

So, for those Libertarians and Americans who've been

asking themselves where Wayne is, be assured he's getting

less sleep than about anyone I know, working on his

marriage, family, business; for the Libertarian Party,and

on creating a successful Libertarian Presidential Campaign

in 2012.

And the book.

I'm watching Amazon for my first chance

to pre-order it.

Copyright Bruce Cohen - December 2008

Root versus Palin? Smearing the VP Candidates

I read Michelle Malkin's most recent article, and
could not help but think how uncanny the parallels

between the McCain and Barr Campaigns were, as

well as the even deeper irony of how Palin and Root

performed, and in return, were mistreated.

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Note: Sarah Palin isn't really a Libertarian,
she only plays one on TV. Wayne Root is
the real deal, walking away from a near-
certain Senate seat to join the Libertarians.]

Malkin Article:
The cowardly character assassination of Sarah Palin
http://snipurl.com/57m9d

Uncanny the parallels.

The McCain Campaign was stuck in a rut.
Barr's as well.

Palin was inspiring, articulate, funny and likeable.
Root was too.

Palin got bigger crowds and more enthusiasm.
So did Root.

McCain's Staff Blew it on strategy, fundraising and
execution.
So did Barr's.

Palin worked her tush off to support McCain, never
saying a bad word about him or the Campaign.
Same as Root.

McCain's Staff worked to keep Palin out of the
limelight if/when they were both at the same event.
Just like Barr's people did with Root.

Read Michelle's article, but sub the names Barr for
McCain and Root for Palin.

"People who play fair, look good, have

successful lives and families get demonized

by the press and the left"

Libertarians have to get over the jealousy and
nastiness they're famous for.

Sarah and Wayne are both real Americans who know
what it's like to meet a payroll and pay taxes.

They know what it's like to meet the bills on a small
budget and survive in lean times.

They know how to face adversity without a
government paycheck or asking for a handout.

They also inspire jealousy from the left because of
their good looks and personal success.

Be prepared for the slime to come out when they
both run again. Personally, I look forward to a
Palin vs. Obama vs. Root election in 2012.

Partly because Palin has demonstrated her friendliness
and support of Libertarians in the past.

People who play fair, look good and have successful
lives and families get demonized - by the press and
the left. But then, I repeat myself.

Copyright Bruce Cohen - November 2008

Note: Many of Root's detractors said he'd leave the
LP for greener pastures immediately after the
election. But instead, he's already working on
his run for the LP nod in 2012.

Look for his book coming out Spring 2009:
The Conscience of a Libertarian

http://www.rootforamerica.com/

http://www.michellemalkin.com/