Since the mid-1990s various groups and factions of Libertarian Party members have been pushing for the Libertarian Party to become more "respectable," "mainstream," and "middle class," and less radical, outrageous and/or low income. The party is being destroyed by people who don't care if they drive out members and reduce the number of candidates as long as those remaining are respectable, mainstream, middle class - or as Wayne Root puts it "high quality." These people have fought to continue gutting the platform of meaningful libertarian content, including the non-interventionist foreign policy planks, and to drive more "hardcore" libertarians out of leadership positions on the national and even state levels. They have tried to centralize power so that a small group of mainstream, middle class libertarians could control the whole party from the national level. They have been increasingly successful, using their higher incomes, allegiance to power over principle, and attendant political machinations to get their way.  

In 2008 they got a big boost when Republican neoconservative Eric Dondero-Rittberg was the first to suggested to Wayne Allyn Root that he run for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination.  Root soon joined the party, became the Vice Presidential candidate and started pushing to rewrite libertarianism to fit his presidential ambitions for 2012 - now put off to 2016 as he supports Gary Johnson for President.

Libertarians were outraged in 2010 when Root told a magazine: I’m kind of re-creating libertarianism. I’m just not going to follow the traditional roots. I’m a Ronald Reagan libertarian. Traditional libertarianism mixes in too many things that are liberal. And they were disgusted in 2012 when he told a radio audience "I would love for a libertarian like Gary Johnson the two term governor of New Mexico would actually get elected President, but I think we all know that’s not going to happen so therefore it’s got to be Romney there is no choice.”

It is in service of Root's presidential ambitions - and other personal and political agendas of his cohorts - that the "Elite Centralizers" of the "Root Cabal" have been working to reshape the Libertarian Party. They want a strong Libertarian National Committee and (in case they can't control that a competing Libertarian National Campaign Committee) that will take away the power of the state parties.  They want the $94 floor fee to keep out low income (and presumably "radical"?) delegates chosen by state parties and to ensure "high quality" attendees. And they want new bylaws to cut the states entirely out of the national convention delegate selection process. Doubtless their plan is to demote the states to small tightly controlled entities, which is what Root and his cronies did to the Nevada Libertarian Party. That way they carefully can "vet" candidates so no one too radical even will be allowed to run for office under the LP banner.  (If they have to, they'll settle for the official party denouncing any such "rogue" candidates.)  See links to final Bylaws and Platform Committee Reports for 2012 convention.

We should BOOT ROOT from the Libertarian National Committee and the Libertarian National Congressional/Campaign Committee because of:
1. his use of the party first and foremost to promote himself and his "third party independent" presidential aspirations for 2016 or 2020 or 2024;
2. his very publicly stated efforts to "re-create" libertarianism as a conservative, Reaganite philosophy; 
3. his obsession with protecting the state of Israel and statements that libertarians and the party should NOT criticize the state of Israel if they want any media AND because Jews give the most contributions to the Demopublicans and libertarians need those millions of dollars to succeed; this is the most rank promotion of the welfare of a foreign state at the expense of Americans;
4. his ruthless attempts, with like-minded cronies, to reshape the party into more centralized and tightly controlled state and national organizations which can fulfill those Root political goals, even if it means a disenfranchised and smaller membership on the national, state and local levels.

SEE LISTING BELOW of four years of questionable and even outrageous words and actions from Wayne Root, mostly linked to stories on Independent Political Report. By the time you are finished reading them, you too will be ready to BOOT ROOT (and his cronies) from the LNC, the Libertarian Congressional (renamed Campaign) Committee and all other official position of the national LP.  (The "Boot Root" leaflet neatly organizes evidence of all this on one page.)

So keep all this in mind when you are trying to decide what to do about
* getting rid of the $94 floor fee (meant to ensure "high quality" delegates and keep out less wealthy and assumedly more hardcore? delegates)
* the new efforts to chip away at the platform
* the bylaws changes that deprive state parties of essential rights
* voting for your presidential candidate (or insisting Gary Johnson start talking a more hardcore libertarian line)
* voting for candidates for the Libertarian National Committee and Judicial Committee (assuming you even are permitted to do the latter).

Think about whether any "libertarian" party controlled by a cabal of elitist cronies with various not-very-hidden agendas really can help advance liberty in our time.

Root's behavior, supported by his allies, has been so obnoxious that it doubtless is only a preview of things to come if his faction continues to increase their control on the state and national level. Luckily, Independent Political Report has documented Root's regularly offensive behavior - and I haven't even scoured all his many media interviews to see what he says on those occasions when he actually mentions libertarianism and the Libertarian Party. (Liberty for America libertarian newsletter also covers these issues in depth.) Here are links to some of the most prominent examples of questionable and even anti-libertarian Root words and deeds from 2012 back to 2008....

2012

May 6: Gary Johnson - hopefully doing Root one last favor for his support - gets on stage and endorses Root for Libertarian naNC-at-Large.  Root is roundly boo'd yet again. (I hope to both videos at some point!) Root's cabal defeated for Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and more hard core libertarians elected.  Boot re-elected to LNC as at-large LNC member with smallest vote of the five candidates:
230 Redpath
174 Cloud
172 Starchild
153 Arvin Vohra
142 Root

The Boot Root campaign will just have to continue, unless Root shows serious signs of changing his WICKED WAYS!

May 5: When Root's one vote for president is announced, at least a dozen people boo loudly from the floor. Gary Johnson named Presidential candidate, Judge James Gray his running mate, both on the first ballot which is a first at a Libertarian National Convention.  Obviously neither needed Root's support to win. And Johnson handily could have beaten Root, if Root also had run for President. Root endorses Mark Rutherford for chair; Rutherford becomes the first libertarian candidate for national party office beaten by "None of the Above"; Geoff Neale goes on to be elected chair a second time the next day.
May 3-4: Wayne Root keeps a low profile at the Libertarian Partry convention in his home town Las Vegas.
*April 30: Mark Hinkle announces for LP chair, joining Wes Wagner against Root favored candidate Mark Rutherford has competition.
*April 30: Judge Jim Gray announces for LP Vice Presidential candidate. Bruce Cohen announced it here. Cohen attacked Gray's Senate campaign in 2004 because Gray supported a Palestinian state (see here and here). Does that mean Gray has shut up about liberty for Palestinians or that Cohen has seen the light on the issue??
*April: Root says after 27 min on video "My goal today is to become the first third party independent Presidential, not just Presidential candidate, but hopefully President of the United States in either 2016, 2020 or 2024....."  He doesn't mention what party he'll be running on.
*April: Root Tells Audience to Vote for Romney "I would love for a libertarian like Gary Johnson the two term governor of New Mexico would actually get elected President, but I think we all know that’s not going to happen so therefore it’s got to be Romney there is no choice”  Root Clarifies his Remarks. "I did not express myself as clearly as I should have."
* March: Root Defends Rush Limbaugh "Whore" Rant. Root opines: "Rush should have just called her a “sexual freeloader."
* March: Root Defends $94 Floor Fees at LNC meeting because experience shows floor fees ensure attendance by "high quality" people. Other libertarians mock him.  See Open letter vs. Fees. After a petition signed by over 200 LP members forced the issue, the Libertarian Judicial Committee reviewed the floor fee and upheld it weeks later.
* January: Root/Aaron Starr/Mark Rutherford insist on grabbing all LNC donor lists for Root's Libertarian National Campaign Committee.
* January: Chuck Muth says Root "Odds on Favorite" to be Gary Johnson's VP Candidate.

2011
*December: Root Explains His Religious Views and compares self to Jesus.  "I am a Jew turned born-again Christian...I am today a proud Jew and Christian... Devout Christians in America love Jews and have become Israel’s strongest supporters. My inlaws love to say 'the closest we’ll ever get to Jesus Christ is to have you as our son-in-law. After all Christ was a Jew.'”
*December: Root Recruiting Gary Johnson.  Root says Johnson is "A Libertarian in every way…yet still a huge supporter of Israel."
*November: Suspicions about Wayne Root's MultiLevel Marketing Schemes. Richard Rider worries Root may be a Bernie Madoff, fleecing libertarians instead of (or along with?) Jews. I assume Rider's talking about Root's promoting Wealth Masters International. Note that Norway already considers Wealth Masters an illegal pyramid scheme and specifically names Root as part of it. (During same month Root decries liberal Ponzi schemes.)
*October: Libertarian Peacenik Thomas Sipos describes how Root is the "classic opportunist."
*October: Root's Libertarian National Campaign Committee starts asking for its own volunteers, creating a parallel national organization to the elected LNC. (In case the cabal gets totally booted in 2012?) (Also see here.)
*September: Root announces Libertarian National Congressional Committee which he has chaired for a year is now the Libertarian National Campaign Committee.  An obvious power grab to influence (and control?) all libertarian campaigns nationwide.  Announces that after a year the committee actually has a website.
*September: Root Says "Obama Lost the Jews" "Jewish voters are outraged at how Obama has treated Israel; disgusted with Obama’s support of the Palestinians, led by terror groups; and shocked by the support of both Obama and the losing Democratic Congressional candidate for the Mosque at Ground Zero. ..The heroes of this once-in-a-century historic upset are former New York Mayor Ed Koch and the Republican Jewish Coalition, both of whom worked hard to spread one simple but powerful message to Jewish voters: “Send a message to Obama that Israel is America’s best friend, and you do not accept the way Obama has treated Israel.” (Root criticized for his statement here.)
* September: Gary Johnson has “zero interest in running as an independent or third party candidate
* September: Wayne Root would welcome Gary Johnson to Libertarian Presidential race.
* May:  Root gives advice to the GOP on how to beat Obama.
* May: Root Reams Obama on Israel ("Obama to Jews, Christians and Israel–Drop Dead"). "Thursday May 19th. It’s the day the leopard showed his spots. It’s the day Obama stabbed Israel in the back. It’s the day he told Israel, DROP DEAD.For the first time in history an American President has chosen to abandon our great friend and ally, Israel, in favor of radical Muslims led by the terrorist group Hamas. But, mark this also as a great day- the day Obama lost the 2012 election. Obama has awakened a sleeping giant- American Jews and Christians, united in their love and support for Israel. They are outraged, shocked and sickened. Obama clearly showed his radical and hateful colors. The American people will not forget....If you are a thinking, fair-minded person, Christian or Jew, that supports Israel’s right to exist, you must be sickened and outraged by Obama’s demand for Israel to return to its 1967 borders. That demand displaces over 300,000 Israeli citizens....And while Jews make up only 2% of America’s population, they provide a majority of the donations to Democratic politicians. Obama lost many crucial Democratic donors on Thursday. But Obama’s biggest mistake was awakening a sleeping giant. It is Christian voters that elect Presidents. And almost 100 million evangelical Christians who love Israel will now vote and donate to Obama’s opponents with a fervor and passion of a patriotic group on a mission to save America and Israel from destruction. And sadly, they will be right."  (In other words hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven off their land since 1967 by Israel's massive military and land-greedy settlers - all paid for by U.S. taxpayers - have no right to get their private property back. Yeah, that's libertarian!!)
* May: In Elite Power Grab, Root helps disenfranchise Nevada's local Libertarian parties, giving Nevada central committee total control.  Root elected Vice Chair of Nevada party. Read it and weep for the future of YOUR local party. (See this report, plus this one and this one and this one.)
* May: Lt. Col. Karen Kwiakowski (USAF retired) criticizes Libertarian Party for coddling military interventionists, names Root and Barr

2010
* December: Root's Las Vegas Gets 2012 Convention  Root says: “Everyone assumes I will be one of the leading candidates. But I haven’t decided whether I will run for president."
* December: John Jay Meyers reveals Root previous comments on protecting Israel - and media and Israel.  "John, you realize we have to be in the Middle East to protect Israel, right?" and "John, you cannot talk bad about Israel and expect to get in the media." (See Thomas Sipos later commentary.)
* November 21: David Nolan has a stroke while driving and dies, the day the LNC, unaware of his death, voted to support a slightly amended version of the resolution.
* November 18: LP Founder David Nolan proposes LNC resolution stating: "The Libertarian National Committee hereby resolves that our party, its representatives and staff should always state clearly and unequivocally that we welcome individuals from across the political spectrum who now accept the libertarian principles of self-ownership and non-aggression.”
* November: LP Florida calls for booting Root off LNC, LNCC.  In response to Root supporting Republican candidate Marc Rubio and telling a Las Vegas magazine "I'm kind of re-creating libertarianism.  I'm not just going to follow the traditional roots.  I'm a Ronald Reagan libertarian.  Traditional libertarianism mixes in too many things that are liberal.  That's why it doesn't work.  It needs to blend with conservatism.  And where's that today?  The Tea Party!  And that's why it's working.  I've been trying to bring this party along and it's beginning to happen."
* Election season: Libertarian National Congression Committee chair Wayne Root emails Florida LP Senate candidate Alex Snitker that Snitker shouldn't get any libertarian support because he's running against the Tea Party favorite Republican Marc Rubio.
* October: Root announces Libertarian National Congressional Campaign support for candidates. All Root supporters, no doubt.
* September: Root issues "Reagan Libertarian Contract with America". Bleeeaaahhh...
* July: Root Rant Opposing Muslims planning Mosque two blocks from "Ground Zero".   (Ron Paul supports their property rights.) See  another Root rant here and two of several responses critical of Root here and here.
* July:  Root elected chair of Libertarian National Congressional Committee (LNCC)
* June: David Nolan creates a Resolution for the Libertarian National Committee stating that the LNC "hereby instructs its members to adhere as closely as possible to the national platform when stating “the Libertarian position” on issues – especially when being interviewed by news media, civic groups, and others who have the ability to influence public opinion. LNC members should always clearly distinguish between their own personal views and the Libertarian Party’s stands whenever the two are not congruent." The minutes of the July 2010 Las Vegas LNC meeting (PDF) show no evidence this resolution was made or voted upon.
* June: Root lectures David Nolan on the LP and fundraising from Israel supporters. "...And all of my donors wrote $1000, $2500 and $5000 checks. All were business owners…and every one of them considers Israel a very important issue. Understanding the power of my fundraising ability and my highly unusual success in getting donors to write big checks for the LP…perhaps Libertarians should step back…listen…and learn a valuable lesson. The LP has made a big mistake and miscalculation on this issue for 39 years. Is it the most important issue? Absolutely not. It’s not even in my Top 10. But it is a very important issue to the biggest donors in American politics. And it is certainly a DISASTER to say negative, vicious, derogatory things about our ally Israel..."  See whole exchange on this page. Says the LP has not succeeded in large part because it doesn't get money from all the Israel-loving Jews and Christians. (See my blog entry at the time.)
* May: Mark Hinkle defeats Wayne Root for LP Chair despite Root camp's 's turning bylaws interpretation dispute into allegations Hinkle sympathetic to pedophiles" and Root is elected to the Libertarian National Committee (LNC).
* May: Jim Davidson: I met Obama at Columbia and told Wayne Root about it. Debunking Root's repeated claim he didn't know anyone who knew Obama at Columbia University, since Davidson previously had told him he knew him.
* May: Root withdraws from testifying at the "Birther Trial"; would have said he never met Obama at Columbia. (Root was widely mocked for agreeing to testify. Also see this earlier mocking report.)
* May: Reminder about Root's Pushing 2008 Rumor that Presidential Nomination Candidate Mary Ruwart was sympathetic to child pornography.
* May: Mary Ruwart reviews Root's book "Conscience of a Libertarian".
* April: Ex-LNC Vice Chair Chuck Moulton Grills Root on libertarian issues.
* February: Root Announces running for chair, not president.  At least til 2016?
* February: Root threatens LP Executive Director for Not Posting his News Appearances  Root says: "If this isn’t news worthy…then we need a new Exec Director who can see that it is."
* February: Buttrick Reams Root at Freedom Fest.  After Root skips out on their debate on libertarian principles.

2009
September: Root writes something about politicians I can agree with: They all lie! We Need to Limit Our Politicians to Two Terms- One in Office, One in Prison!
August: Wayne Root Announces: The Libertarian-Conservative Coalition to Take Back America Which seems to be ongoing only inside the Libertarian Party. April 2009:  Wayne Root says will be running for Chair of Libertarian Party

2008
December: Wayne Root interviewed by Eric Dondero (or one blow hard meets another?) "I was a one-man media army- getting more coverage than all other LP V.P.'s in history combined and certainly more than all other third party VP's in this election combined...and probably more than any LP Presidential candidate other than Bob Barr himself. A third party VP is usually as lonely as a Maytag repairman. I turned that image on it's head. I built my base and I'm perfectly positioned for 2012. Things are going to change big-time in 2012. A third party candidate has to be BIGGER THAN LIFE: loud, colorful, charismatic, dynamic and in-your-face controversial...I understand my job for 2012. Ed Clark got the highest vote total because he made a brilliant strategic choice- a billionaire as his V.P. I will spend the next 4 years searching for a billionaire running mate who can spend $20 MM to $50 MM on our LP ticket in 2012."
November: Root says he is ‘an absolute favorite’ for Las Vegas mayor "I just wrapped up another little political discussion. I was talking to a guy who’s run nine campaigns in Las Vegas, and won eight of them. He thinks I’m an absolute favorite for mayor of Las Vegas in 2009."  Guess Root decided not to do it anyway.
November: Root thanks supporters, a few of whom may be relative innocents:  "Aaron Starr, Kevin Knedler, Lou Jasikoff, Travis Nicks, M Carling, Mike Ferguson, Kevin Takinaga, Scott Lieberman, Dana McLorn, Bruce Cohen, Bette Rose, Allen Hacker, Jake Witmer, Bob Sullentrop, Rowan Wilson, Stewart Flood, Dan Williams, Steve Kubby, Ron & Marcia Nicks, and of course our LP Chairman Bill Redpath...Then there was my TEAM ROOT staff (when running for the LP Presidential nomination) of Mark Schreiber, Martha DeForest, Jeff Dimit, Richard Burke, Sam Goldstein and Peter Beary."
November: Root to speak at Wealth Masters International conference How many libertarians and Jews has he rooked into joining this multimarketing Ponzi scheme so far?
November: Root loses bet that McCain would win 2008 election. Root "had bet, publicly, that McCain would win the election." 
October: LP V.P. candidate Root hints at 2012 in Fox News interview Before the 2008 election even is over!
September: LP’s Root says Palin ‘the female version’ of him to a big crowd of 30 people.
September: New LNConspiracy rumor: Barr wants Root out  "NC rep. Stewart Flood has reportedly made a motion to kick W.A.R. off the ticket, citing some comments Root made in an interview with Reason magazine, which some consider racially insensitive."  Hmmm could they mean these comments Root made about his days at Columbia where he never saw Obama?? "I mean, when I went to Columbia, the black kids were all at like tables going "Black Power!" We used to walk by and go, "What the hell are they talking about." And they didn't associate with us and we didn't associate with them. So if you track down a couple of black students, they'll probably know him. But nobody white's ever heard of this guy. It's quite amazing. Nobody remembers him. They don't remember him sitting in class."
September: W.A.R. claims to be friends with Karl Rove Neocons stick together, evidently.
September: Petition to remove both Root and Barr from LP Ticket
September: Walter Block: Barr-Root ‘devastating to our cause’
August: W.A.R. supports ‘surge’ in Afghanistan - and Iraq
August: Revelation of April Interview with Jewish Exponent where Root declares he is "as pro-Israel as any human being in the world can possibly be."
July: Root Denies 'Iranian Cockroaches' comment Root denies he was overheard saying “America should just let Israel alone, defend itself, and go nuke the heck out of those Iranian cockroaches. Blow 'em all up… just nuke the place for a thousand years.”  Of course he refuses to say what he WAS saying that an individual remembers as having been those phrases.
July: Barr fundraiser at Root’s ‘ostentatious’ mansion draws crowd of 25  The Las Vegas Review-Journal says, “it wasn’t clear a financial contribution was required to attend — some said they were there for the free food.”
June: Weigel on Root: ‘Just another hustler in the hustler kingdom’  and Libertarian VP candidate responds to allegations of fraud Read it and weep - or have a EUREKA Moment?
June: LP’s Root called ‘patent hoarder’  Techdirt writes that Root “appears to be your garden variety patent hoarder who has been successfully forcing a bunch of online sports betting websites to pay up over a patent that seems to very broadly cover an online prediction market (a concept that has been both talked about and been around for quite some time). Not that the party has even the slightest chance of getting anywhere, but I guess it’s safe to assume that the Libertarian Party’s platform won’t have much about patent system reform this year.”
June: Lew Rockwell: LP has jettisoned ‘radical libertarianism’, ‘non-aggression’; Root a ‘neocon’  This from a reformed paleolibertarian.
May: Walter Block: Barr/Root not ‘real libertarians’; LP ‘taken over by conservatives’  Both Root and Barr "avoided a clear commitment to pulling U.S. troops, all of them, out of the some 730 military bases now located in roughly 130 different countries around the globe. They evaded questions attempting to elicit clear positions on these two issues. On the drug question they both hid behinds states’ rights: it is not a federal issue; they are running not for state but federal office; therefore, let the states decide. In any case, they would only commit themselves to medical marijuana, not its recreational use, and legalization of anything stronger would certainly be anathema to them. On foreign policy, they would only make “major” troop withdrawals, not total and complete ones."
May: Root 'enthusiastically endorses' War on Terror with absurd rant about why Muslims hate us because of our love of freedom, our tolerance for Jews, etc. that makes no mention of U.S. foreign policy.
May: Link to Root Video trashing Ron Paul earlier in the year
May: Barr Beats Ruwart by 8% and Root wins VP Nomination
May 24: Ruwart wins most presidential nomination debate tokens
May 24: Pollster predicts Mary Ruwart will Beat Barr for Presidential Nomination
May 7: Root writes Anarchism, Age of Consent Laws and the Dallas Accord to assault Mary Ruwart and any libertarian who dares to explore theoretical implications of their views. Barr-Root camp pushes this argument to the media and it ends up in May 21st Time magazine - right before the election of candidates. That article mentions that "In April, a rival called her out for her thoughts in a 1999 book called Short Answers to the Tough Questions." Evidently Time was the only national publication to pick up Root's press release. Barr's LP director confidant, Shane Cory (who hired his wife to destroy the Libertarian Party's website and archives) was busy sending out his own press releases denying that the LP supports pedophilia!

2006