Liberty Union Meeting July 08, 2018
\nUpper Valley Food Coop, White River Junction
\nAttending:
\nNorm
\nMurray
\nMarina
\nLynn
\nLaura
\nReid
\n1. Discussion of the advantages of participating in electoral politics as a Minor Party. As
\nA Minor Party Liberty Union is able to choose candidates that best represent our
\nprinciples. Candidates are nominated by committee respective to the level of the office.
\nState Committee nominates candidates for federal and statewide offices. County
\ncommittee nominates candidates for county offices, state representatives and state
\nsenate. Town committees nominate for Justices of the Peace.
\n2. Discussion of the role of socialism and socialist participation in U.S. politics at present
\nand historically. The alternative parties, Democrat and Republican\u2014Tweedledee and
\nTweedledum*\u2014operate as one party, two sides of the same capitalist coin, flipping back
\nand forth with each election.
\nThe \u201cSanders Revolution\u201d during the 2016 election cycle galvanized the energies of the
\ngeneration entering the electorate between 2000 and the present, subsequently co-
\nopting these energies with the notion that the Democrat party can be \u201csocialized.\u201d As a
\nconsequence of the policy of removing mention of the history of Socialism, the Labor
\nMovement, the Anti-War Movement\u2014let alone what the U.S. actually did to Korea, the
\nMiddle East, Southeast Asia, the Americas south of the \u201csouthern border\u2014from the
\nhistory curricula taught at the high school level throughout the U.S., the notion that there
\nis value in seeking out that history and understanding the history that created the
\npresent is absent from conscience and public discourse. One remedy is offered by the
\non line Socialist Reading and Discussion Group hosted on Facebook by new Liberty
\nUnion member, Reid Kotlas. Marina will link the Liberty Union Facebook page to this
\nSocialist Reading and Discussion Group page. If you do not participate in Facebook,
\nMurray is downloading the readings as they are posted and will be happy to forward
\nthem to anyone interested (see email address below).
\nSome conclusions:
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t shift a window (the Overton Window for example). Instead you have to build
\na whole new building.\u201d
\nAs socialists we can not compromise our principles for any reason of expediency. (This
\npertains to our choice of candidates to represent Liberty Union in this year\u2019s election
\ncycle. Filling the ballot with candidates may be less important than selecting candidates
\nwho truly represent and can speak for Liberty Union and Socialism for selected
\npositions on the ballot, leaving some offices vacant.)
\nProposal for a sign to carry during election cycles: \u201cDON\u2019T THROW YOUR VOTE AWAY
\n– VOTE SOCIALIST – VOTE LIBERTY UNION!\u201d
\nTwo quotes from socialist Helen Keller (1880-1968) which might be helpful at currenttime:
\n*\u201cWe, the people, are not free. Our democracy is but a name. We vote. What does that
\nmean? It means we choose between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. We elect
\nexpensive masters to do our work for us, and then blame them because they work for
\nthemselves and for their class.\u201d
\n(this quote was formerly on the masthead of the Liberty Union Party Platform)
\n\u201cI can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to the something that I
\ncan do.\u201d
\n3. Introduction of Resolution to denounce and oppose white nationalist and new-
\nNazi groups and their actions (text of this resolution will be on the Liberty Union
\nwebsite as soon as its language is finalized). The intention is to send this Resolution to
\nall legislators in the Vermont House and Senate, with a cover letter seeking sponsors
\nand response. Email correspondence can be followed by mailed correspondence to
\nselected legislators. This will serve as a litmus test of the principles and courage to act
\nupon those principles of the people who have been chosen by the electorate to
\nrepresent us.
\n4. Introduction of Resolution to announce and affirm that Vermont is a welcoming
\nstate with open borders (text of this resolution will be on the Liberty Union website as
\nsoon as its language is finalized). This Resolution is currently in the hands of
\nRepresentative Mollie S. Burke(D) Windham 2-2, seeking her sponsorship in the next
\nlegislative session, January 2019. There is also a proposal to forward the Resolution to
\nMigrant Justice for their comment and with an invitation to join Liberty Union in
\npromoting it for consideration by the legislature.
\n5. The Joint resolution affirming all Vermonters\u2019 right to freedom of expression
\nand dissent through nonviolent means of expression and assembly and that the
\nState of Vermont must ensure the protection of these fundamental rights
\nintroduced by Representatives, E
\nAlice M. Emmons (D) Windsor 3-2 and Susan Buckholz (D) Windsor 4-1, in the 2018
\nsession of the Vermont Legislature expired in committee and will be reintroduced in the
\nJanuary 2019 session. In the meantime, research on legislation curtailing these rights in
\nover 30 states continues. (The text of this Resolution, initially drafted by Liberty Union in
\nMarch 2017, will be posted on the Liberty Union website in its current form shortly.)
\n6. Update on candidates:
\n\u2014Reid is considering offering his service as a candidate for Liberty Union. This decision
\nwill be finalized at the August 5th meeting of the State Committee and Liberty Union
\nmembership.
\n\u2014Marina will offer her services as candidate for State Auditor in the interest for
\ncontinuing to promote transparency in the state\u2019s financial affairs.
\n\u2014Mal has agreed to be the candidate for Secretary of State.
\n\u2014Rosemarie has agreed to be the candidate for Attorney General.\u2014Murray has agreed to be a candidate, but is as yet undecided which office she will be
\na candidate for. (She will not however be the candidate for State Treasurer as this
\noffices does not provide sufficient opportunity to speak at public forums and debates).
\n\u2014Jerry and Aaron are candidates for State Senate from Windham County.
\n\u2014Boots is considering candidacy for State Legislature.
\nNomination of candidates and their respective paperwork will be finalized on August 5th
\nand delivered to the Office of the Secretary of State on or before the deadline of August
\n9th.
\n(Kindly email Murray\u2014murrayngoima@gmail.com\u2014directly if you need a Consent Form
\nand a Financial Disclosure form, the latter required for all in-state candidates except
\nthose who will serve at town or county level. Also if you would like to offer your services
\nas a candidate for Justice of the Peace, Murray can provide you with these forms and
\ninformation. The filing deadline for Justices of the Peace is August 17th.).
\n7. ICE officers have made random searches of passengers on Greyhound busses
\narriving and departing from their terminal in White River Junction. This is being
\ninvestigated by Liberty Union.
\nAlso, there are lighted billboards on Interstate 91, between exits 6 and 7, announcing
\n\u201crolling roadblocks\u201d starting July 10th. The reason for these rolling roadblocks\u2014highway
\nconstruction or immigration surveillance\u2014has not yet been ascertained.
\n8. Two more Resolutions on the Liberty Union agenda\u2014one affirming a Woman\u2019s Right
\nto Choose and protecting Roe v. Wade in Vermont, the other pertaining to accessibility
\nto curriculum and credit from Community College of Vermont for disenfranchised and
\neconomically challenged people\u2014await consideration and action. These will be taken
\nup at the Liberty Union meetings in September or October.
\n9. Updated Contact Information for the Liberty Union Party!!!
\nLiberty Union Party, P.O. Box 792, White River Junction, VT 05001-0792, tel.
\n802-757-3809, www.libertyunionparty.org
\n(The most recent version of the Liberty Union Platform has been updated to reflect this
\ninformation; available form the website, hard copies at next meeting, or by emailing
\nMurray)
\n10. Next Meeting, August 5, 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Upper Valley Food Coop, White River
\nJunction,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liberty Union Meeting July 08, 2018 Upper Valley Food Coop, White River Junction Attending: Norm Murray Marina Lynn Laura Reid 1. Discussion of the advantages of participating in electoral politics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liberty-union-party-member-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":720,"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions\/720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}