Distinguished Leaders of the LNC -

I had originally voiced my opposition to a motion for removal, however strongly encouraged action by our Chairman to address the comments made by our Vice Chairman. Since that time there have been, as Mr. Sharpe noted, several further communications that have caused concern with my original position. The circumstances have since changed and as such my position of general neutrality has also changed.

Mr. Vohra holds a position of great influence when it comes to perceived positions of the national party. What he does while in this position, both "on the clock" or off, directly impact perception. It is a reality that every single one of us who hold a position of influence must face.

This body has an opportunity before it, nay an obligation before it to take an official position on such actions of those who hold the highest positions of influence within our ranks.

I am merely an alternate to Ms. Harlos, and as such I am not eligible to second the motion made by Representative McKnight. However, I strongly encourage a second and a vote by this body, and by doing so either support or oppose both the statements made and the subsequent actions taken by our Vice-Chairman.

In Liberty,
Steven M. Nielson
Alternate Regional Rep. Region 1



On May 18, 2017 9:37 PM, "Patrick McKnight" <patrick.joseph.mcknight@gmail.com> wrote:
I totally agree with Larry. For me the lack of remorse is astounding. I personally sent Arvin an email about this and received no response. We can't grow by making offensive generalizations and calling people names. This is unacceptable behavior. 

Therefore I must, with a heavy heart, make a motion to remove Arvin Vohra from his position as Vice Chair under Article 6, Section 7 of our Bylaws. Who will second this motion?

Thanks,
Patrick McKnight
Region 8 Rep


On May 18, 2017 10:12 PM, "Larry Sharpe" <lsharpe@neo-sage.com> wrote:

Dear LNC,

The idea that we as the LNC should do nothing as a committee regarding Arvin Vohra's comments is alarming to me.

If a Board Member or member of the Executive Team at Pepsi ever said anything negative about Pepsi customers publicly he/she would be relieved immediately, regardless of whether they were on the clock, off the clock, on Facebook, in a crowd or announced that is was only their PERSONAL opinion that "X" group of people are bad. This would happen even after an apology. If you choose to take on a public role, there WILL be constraints on your private life. If you don't like that, you shouldn't take on this role. The LNC is NEVER off. Our words will always be used to hurt the cause whenever possible. I have been an officer of a public company and I was never "off". I could never publicly say disparaging things about our customers. That's the price I agreed to pay to take that position. Ours is no different.

What if the comments were about divorced women? Or were race related? Would we just say, "Oh well, that's his personal opinion? Yeah, I know he's a racist, but you know, what are you gonna do, right?" I hope not, because no other organization, private, public, profit or nonprofit would stand for it, and neither should we.

Arvin blatantly insulted veterans. That is about 20 million voters and their supporters (maybe another 25 -50 million?).

After multiple lengthy notes explaining why he was right, he finally provided a weak "I'm sorry that you are so sensitive" apology hidden in another self-righteous diatribe. There is still no real apology for the actual insult. Then he went on to insult teachers, another 3 million voters!  Then he went on to call our candidates tricksters and lairs. Obviously, he doesn't feel like he's done anything wrong and he has no intention of stopping.

He has poor judgement, no remorse and a severe lack of empathy. He is making it harder for us to grow, that's one of our primary goals, and he's not stopping.

Because of his actions, it is harder for us to get volunteers, donations, members and candidates! And the volunteers and candidates that we have must spend more time doing damage control instead of being productive with the precious time they give us.

Everyday the damage continues and the pain festers. And some of you want to wait until 2018!? No waiting until 2018. We must lead and we must handle our own. We need to act now.

As soon as we start consistently winning at the State level and become a threat, our enemies will comb through our data and use this against us. What story will we tell?

"Yes, he called our veterans murderers and we did nothing about."

They will hear that we agree with him:

  • Our veterans are murders
  • Our teachers are enemies
  • Our candidates are liars and trickster

It is what voters will think and that is what matters for a political party. That will come back to haunt and crush us once we have several candidates that are about to win.

Or we can say:

"Yes, he called our veterans murderers and we acted quickly and decisively. We do NOT agree with that, and that's why we acted."

He has every right to his voice and opinion, just not publicly while he represents the LP.

This is not about disagreeing on an issue or platform point. It is about insulting millions of voters and purposely, actively, continually hurting our efforts to grow and win which is in direct violation of article 2 of our bylaws.

I am a huge proponent of second chances, but he has had many and refuses to adjust his behavior.

Any officer in any organization, public or private, profit or non-profit who created and continues to create this much damage would be removed. So should he.

Those of you who know me know that I rarely stand my ground on an LNC issue. I usually say my opinion, respect the answer, do damage control as needed and then continue my work. Not this time. For my brothers and sisters who were called immoral murders here, I will not fall back. 

I initially was going to ask for a motion to officially ask Arvin to apologize, or maybe for a censure. But that time has passed. Because I am an Alternate, I cannot propose a motion, so I request for any At-Large LNC member or my Regional Rep, Patrick McKnight, to propose a motion to remove Arvin Vohra from his position as Vice-Chair under Article 6, section 7 of our Bylaws.

Let him fight for liberty outside of LP leadership.

--

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