In a Press Release dated today entitled “Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Calls for Massive Utility Privatization in Wake of Flint Crisis” (see release here and a pdf of it here in the event it is taken down), the Austin Petersen campaign states:
A Democratic front group online, the Americans Against The Libertarian Party attempted to blame the health crisis on the Libertarian Party.
This blatantly false claim flies in the face of a quote from Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, who said, “Government failed you — federal, state and local leaders — by breaking the trust you place in us.” This is why Libertarian Presidential Candidate Austin Petersen is calling for a massive privatization of public utilities.
There is one problem. Americans Against The Libertarian Party is not a real page, it is satire. This is really obvious from even a few moments’ perusal on that page which reveals posts such as these:
Stewart, no worries, I am a big girl:) I posted first again honestly to be fair. It never occurred to me that my comment would be taken as anything other than a “mea culpa” as a supporter of another campaign that “my guy” did something similar. I also commented first to get discussion going and to subscribe to the thread. You will note I always comment first with “commenting to subscribe.” So I commented.
The sad commentary on this is that when it gets cold in Charleston (as it did this weekend), the smell of chlorine from the water they think we drink makes my entire apartment smell like I’m at a pool in the summer. It reeks.
We’re still waiting for them to fix the water system that broke during Hugo (1989) that they got millions and millions of federal dollars for. (No, I wasn’t in favor of it then or now!)
Any government run water system is going to be worse than a private system. Any. Which is the part of Petersen’s release that is important. And I would of course have expected any of the other campaigns to have a similar position that the city and state simply don’t know how to run a business — and shouldn’t!
I wasn’t trying to blast you personally, just point out what it appeared as.
Goofs are going to happen. The best way to deal with something like this might be to post it — since it is news of a sort — and not comment first if you are the person posting it.
The Feldman stuff actually bothers me more than any of this. He’s sitting on the LNC. If there’s anyone on the LNC that I would suspect might be a government plant, he’s certainly on the list. 🙂
Okay Jill. I knew I would catch flack for “was this news” and I do find it so. Some of due to my own gaffes in posting for social media teams on LP pages. I have made a few goofs myself (not like this, but things that needed better fact checking), and I learn each time. In this fast-paced meme world, it is even more prevalent. Plus it was more than just a meme (and I am still not claiming this particular one is a huge deal) but claims were made about the meme itself which are not supported. Even the “real” Americans Against the Libertarian Party (lower case “t”) page is simply a bunch of socialist/progressives. Calling them a “Front” for the Democratic Party is an unsupported claim. And the meme didn’t blame it on the “Libertarian Party” – it was on libertarians in general. Does anyone really think anyone is claiming that the Libertarian Party controls Flint or anywhere?
But yes, on the scale of things, it is indeed minor. But a sign of the times.
Just trying to explain why I personally found it news and relevant. No matter what people will give me flack, and I knew that when I chose to volunteer here.
And I never saw the Bill Murray thing..
Caryn, I wasn’t speaking about the merits of the article. I find it to be amusing.
Yes, I posted the article about Bill Murray and deleted it within half an hour. I fell for it, and was frankly quite disappointed it wasn’t true.
🙁
😀
Stewart,
It is always easy to try to read things into what other people do. I posted it as an article and then put the comment referencing Kerbel in an attempt to be fair to the Petersen goof noting that someone I support has done it too. I also support Perry btw, and I don’t terribly object to Johnson. But I have never tried to hide that I support Kerbel. It goes to show that no matter intentions… my comment’s intention was to be fair… will be turned around. I don’t sweat those things because I can only know why I did things.. I am the best arbiter of myself.
IPR was recently trolled by Marc Feldman with the Kanye West “announcement.” It happens. It will happen to me.
Caryn Ann,
Hate to have to break this to you this way, but you posted it as an article, then you added a comment referencing Kerbel’s campaign. You’ve previously identified yourself as a supporter of Kerbel.
You attempted to turn Petersen’t goof, which has nothing to do with Kerbel, into a defense of what Kerbel did when you opened the comments thread with the following:
“This can easily happen to anyone in all fairness. A Kerbel campaign worker missed a parody meme for which Mr. Kerbel apologized a few weeks ago. I expect as electronic campaigning becomes more popular we will see more and more of this.”
This makes this a “Kerbel Camp” release. Note that I said “Camp” and not “Campaign”. There is a difference.
If you had posted it with no reference to Kerbel then I would not have responded as I did above. I would have probably still posted, noting that it was a silly error.
Your initial comment was correct that we will see more and more of this. I noticed that IPR itself was pawned by a parody Bill Murray announcement. It appears to have been quietly buried.
Jill, I am not with the Kerbel campaign. I support him. But I don’t work for campaigns and my interest in the national election is a small fraction of my interest.
I find the fact (no matter who does it- it was news when Kerbel’s campaign did it) that press releases and official emails are sent out by campaigns that have fallen for obvious parody, jokes, etc. to be an interesting modern phenomena and something to be cautious of. This has happened now twice within a month.
>There’s no meat here. Facebook BS is not news.
It’s a current issue and Petersen offers relevant information including a talk about the specific issue. Nine minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clp6b95EfpM
There’s no meat here. Facebook BS is not news.
I agree with Stewart that this is likely payback of some sort from the Kerbel campaign. Perhaps this is just “politics as usual”, and I suppose we should get used to some back-and-forth between the Petersen and Kerbel campaigns. That doesn’t mean we have to like it, though.
And no, I am not in the “Petersen Camp”.
This becomes news from the “Kerbel Camp” in order to try to cool off some of the radioactivity from their very serious blunders. What they published was a serious attack against their opposition within the party, and the insufficient explanations we received still lead me to the conclusion that it was read and approved before it was sent out — contrary to what we’ve been told. The response from the insurance “scandal” was also very weak.
Yes, this is a blunder. But the reaction was to call for privatization, which is a Libertarian position. There wasn’t a call for an investigation, charges of a secret government conspiracy, or anything else wacky. They just fell for a fake group and gave what would be considered a proper response IF IT HAD BEEN A REAL GROUP.
On a scale of radioactivity from 1 to 100 (100 being instantly fatal), I give Petersen’s campaign a 10, while Kerbel is still sitting on a 30 from the attack against his opposition and a 60 on the insurance issues. The half life of the 10 and the 30 will wipe them out before Memorial Day, but I see the other as an issue he’ll probably be hit in the face with that weekend by his opposition if he does not clearly explain it ahead of time. Of course trying to explain it again may just make it worse.
And anyone will note, I tend to post in three categories (some fall outside, such as things from candidates I like): arcana, LNC business, and Oregon
Perhaps, but the assertions about a Democratic Front Group and blaming it on the “Libertarian Party” were pretty over the top. And editors post what they feel is appropriate.
I actually am quite sympathetic to the volunteer who did this (it certainly wasn’t Mr. Petersen himself) as the Kerbel campaign did something similar. VERY easy to happen and in this more electronic meme-ified age, candidates are going to have to be super careful and instruct their volunteers accordingly.
Caryn Ann Harlos,
Your stance against Mr. Petersen is, at this point, well-know to say the least.
That being said, does this really qualify as news?
Seems like a comment on the original story would suffice.
This can easily happen to anyone in all fairness. A Kerbel campaign worker missed a parody meme for which Mr. Kerbel apologized a few weeks ago. I expect as electronic campaigning becomes more popular we will see more and more of this.
There is a real “Americans Against the Libertarian Party” page but characterizing as a “front group” would be pretty overly dramatic. And that page is rarely shared in Libertarian groups, the parody page of that page is the one that has been making the rounds.