Wayne Allyn Root Conscience of a Libertarian

[Selene]

Folks:

I am listening to Root on the radio now. He is allegedly a classmate of o'biwan "the incredible shrinking President" [under 50% and - 11 on the new measurement]. Columbia class of '83.

He claims that no one remembers or recollects even meeting o'biwan at Columbia.

Allegedly, no one at Occidental remembers him either.

At any rate, what does anyone know about this guy? He claims to be planning a Presidential run in 8 years. http://www.rootforamerica.com/

Does anyone remember any Libertarian campaign event where this guy appeared? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Allyn_Root

Adam

[jeffrey smith]

There are some folks who have claimed his presidential campaigns are motivated by personal business considerations (for instance, access to Libertarian mailing lists which would allow him to expand his business' mass mailings), and some scuzzy business practices in general. I have no way of judging how accurate those claims are. I do know the conflation of Barr and Root on the Libertarian ticket last year did cause some of the more ideologically minded libertarians to desert the LP because they felt it simply becoming another version of the GOP Lite.

And when one considers that the Libertarian Party may not be in existence, or exist with a rather different membership than it currently does, to identify him as the frontrunner for the 2012 nomination is more absurd than anything esle.

But I instinctly distrust someone who names their children as he and his wife did (Dakota, Hudson, Remington Reagan, Channing). That sort of name should exist only in Beverly Hills, and even then it's not excusable.

Essentially, you'd better try to verify any claims he makes, including but not limited to those about Obama.

[Selene]

There are some folks who have claimed his presidential campaigns are motivated by personal business considerations (for instance, access to Libertarian mailing lists which would allow him to expand his business' mass mailings), and some scuzzy business practices in general. I have no way of judging how accurate those claims are. I do know the conflation of Barr and Root on the Libertarian ticket last year did cause some of the more ideologically minded libertarians to desert the LP because they felt it simply becoming another version of the GOP Lite.

And when one considers that the Libertarian Party may not be in existence, or exist with a rather different membership than it currently does, to identify him as the frontrunner for the 2012 nomination is more absurd than anything esle.

But I instinctly distrust someone who names their children as he and his wife did (Dakota, Hudson, Remington Reagan, Channing). That sort of name should exist only in Beverly Hills, and even then it's not excusable.

Essentially, you'd better try to verify any claims he makes, including but not limited to those about Obama.

Jeff:

I verify everything I can that is why I put up the post. The hair on the back of my political neck virtually vibrates when I see and hear him.

I watched the entire convention and watched the faces of Barr, Root and that imbecile flower child lady from out west - Smith as the face of my beloved party that I helped found was tragic to me.

And the name joke is simply effete and beneath response.

Adam

[jeffrey smith]

Jeff:

I verify everything I can that is why I put up the post. The hair on the back of my political neck virtually vibrates when I see and hear him.

I watched the entire convention and watched the faces of Barr, Root and that imbecile flower child lady from out west - Smith as the face of my beloved party that I helped found was tragic to me.

And the name joke is simply effete and beneath response.

Adam

The hair on the back of your political neck vibrating--is that a good sign or a bad sign?

I had better make it clear (although I suspect it's obvious) that I don't know anything of your previous history with the LP. I voted for Badnarik in 2004 and Barr in 2008 mostly as a protest against the current political system, and a personal signal of my libertarianism. If Barr actually had a chance of winning Florida or otherwise influencing the election, I would probably have voted the same way--but there would have been a possibility of voting otherwise (for Knapp's Boston Tea Party, for instance). I have little enthusiasm for the LP itself. Up until 2008, at least, the main sentiment in the party seemed to be that desire to be actually elected to political office should be viewed as a negative in considering a potential candidate.

As for the names--I do consider them effete names (except for including Reagan as a middle name) and therefore worthy of criticism and ridicule. I've known people who had fathers that were, like W.A.R., a Brooklyn shochet; and none of them foisted faux-Andover/Phillips Exeter names on their children. (Come to think of it, I've known people who did attend those places, and even they didn't name their kids that way.)

[Selene]

"The hair on the back of your political neck vibrating--is that a good sign or a bad sign?

I had better make it clear (although I suspect it's obvious) that I don't know anything of your previous history with the LP. I voted for Badnarik in 2004 and Barr in 2008 mostly as a protest against the current political system, and a personal signal of my libertarianism. If Barr actually had a chance of winning Florida or otherwise influencing the election, I would probably have voted the same way--but there would have been a possibility of voting otherwise (for Knapp's Boston Tea Party, for instance). I have little enthusiasm for the LP itself. Up until 2008, at least, the main sentiment in the party seemed to be that desire to be actually elected to political office should be viewed as a negative in considering a potential candidate."

Jeff:

It is not a good sign, it is "raising hackles" like the hairs standing up on a dog's neck. It is a fight/fear/flight primal event.

My libertarianism began in the mid to late 60's in New York City wherein we eventually secured a permanent ballot line for the Free Libertarian Party. Remember we had to pick a different name than the Libertarian Party because the voter's would be confused with the Liberal Party. One of our arguments was that only liberals would be confused and it would be better if they voted for us anyway.

The only purpose for a political party is to get elected to office. In the 70's we libertarians understood that. The disconnect within the NY Party was not running in every single school board, counsel, township, board race, etc. So we may be in agreement on two items.

I personally think that politician's children are off limits. Just my personal belief.

Adam

[jeffrey smith]

I personally think that politician's children are off limits. Just my personal belief.

I didn't think of the Root children as being the targets of my comment; I was targeting Wayne and Debra Root there.

Since it came off sounding otherwise, I apologize.

But I would submit that one can make pertinent deductions about the parent from the names they choose for their parents. If you meet a Jewish boy named Menachem Mendel So-and-So, you can safely assume his parents are Lubavitchers (Chabad Chasidim), and that he was named in honor of the last Lubavitcher Rebbe. If you meet a black person with a Swahili name, you can assume their parents adhered to some degree at least to the Afrocentric culture that was prominent in the fading decades of the last century among blacks. If you meet a person named Lenin, you can assume his parents were Communists. (I work with a man so named. His family is from Cuba. Everyone calls him Lenny, but he's never legally changed his name from Lenin to, say, Leonard.) To me, the names Wayne and Debra Root gave their children smack of effeteness (can you, for instance, even tell from those names which children are boys and which are girls?), except for giving one child the middle name of Reagan, which I don't think deserves snarking--but you will notice that it, too, gives clues to the parent's political views.

[Selene]

"To me, the names Wayne and Debra Root gave their children smack of effeteness (can you, for instance, even tell from those names which children are boys and which are girls?), except for giving one child the middle name of Reagan, which I don't think deserves snarking--but you will notice that it, too, gives clues to the parent's political views."

Understood.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Selene