The Apology Angela Should Offer

FYI.  Most of these charges have no chance of passing, and I would hope that the apology at bottom could wrap this thing up pretty quickly.  See you tomorrow.

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/stewart-flood-supporting-evidence-for-lnc-resolution-of-discipline-for-angela-keaton

The comment about a "possible indictment" of Wayne Root had just enough of a caveat in it that it can't really be declared an deliberate falsehood.  That shouldn't necessarily excuse any campaign of public criticism by an LNC member of the LP presidential ticket, but this kind of criticism doesn't quite warrant suspension from LNC.

The charge of sabotaging LP fund-raising is serious, but there is not quite enough evidence here to confirm that sabotage happened. LNC will have to decide if it thinks Angela was trying to sabotage fund-raising, as opposed to just clearing her conscience by correcting any mis-perceptions she thinks she may have helped give those donors.  Without testimony from any of the donors, the evidence here wouldn't appear to an LNC outsider to warrant suspension from LNC.

Criticism of the LNC's litigation choices should not warrant suspension. LNC will have to decide whether Angela went beyond good-faith criticism with this message to LPNH Chair Brendan Kelly asking him to not join an LNC lawsuit.  The charges don't say enough about the lawsuit for an otherwise uninformed LP member to agree that Angela's message warrants suspension.

Somebody reported that LNC's counsel Bill Hall thinks Angela was within her rights to publicly divulge a defamatory claim about her that was reported in executive session.  That sounds reasonable to me, but I can't rule out that there are arguments that would make me think she should apologize and desist. For the disclosure about Shotgun Willie's to be actionable in the eyes of an LNC outsider, the charges would need to explain why that subject was a proper matter for executive session.

Flood's report of a verbal threat by Angela is very disturbing, but even without hearing Angela's defense it's hard to see how even this facially credible report can overcome the benefit of the doubt that Angela deserves.

Below is the minimum apology that Angela should be asked for:

---

I apologize to any LP member who misinterpreted a couple of my most satirical and exasperated recent statements expressing my concern over the state of the party -- viz., "friends don't let friends join the LP" and "the LP is hopeless".  If I really thought the LP is not worth joining or improving, then I would have already resigned from the LNC. I will refrain from such statements for the remainder of my service on LNC.

I apologize to the LP for the collective deprecation (per LNC Policy Manual 8.A.) that can be inferred from me calling an LP member from the South a "hillbilly" and further saying “All those Christian types married to their uncle cousins look the same to me.” I will refrain from such statements for the remainder of my service on LNC.

I apologize to any LP member who interpreted my compliments to LP staff as sexual advances (per LNC Policy Manual 8.B.) and thus worried about theoretical LP exposure to sexual harassment accusations.  I will refrain from such statements for the remainder of my service on LNC.