Cross-posted on ASR

While on Facebook recently, regular Libertarian candidate for Vermont Attorney General Karen Kerin made the following remark:

Karen Kerin Advocates Lynching

For those of you whose mob-violence slang is a bit rusty, “Necktie Party” is defined by Dictionary.com as “a lynching or other execution by hanging.” Now, regardless of your opinions of Wikileaks, the advocacy of extra-judicial mob murder is absolutely morally indefensible. What makes this a particularly horrifying case, however, is that Kerin has long-standing aspirations to be Vermont’s Attorney General. It was the endorsement and complicity of elected officials which allowed the terrorism that propped up Jim Crow to flourish, and a statement like this demonstrates that she is singularly unqualified and undeserving of that job. If she herself is advocating “necktie parties,” how can she be trusted to prosecute people who commit violent acts of which she approves?

It pains me to write this, since Ms. Kerin has been an ally on many issues, but I believe that she should not be allowed to make such an irresponsible and harmful statement without consequences. Though I identify as an independent, I find the Libertarian Party to be quite close to me ideologically, and I find it horrifying that, as the LP’s most visible candidate in Vermont, Ms. Kerin has had a large role in shaping peoples’ perceptions of my beliefs. As such, I advocate the shunning of Ms. Kerin until she apologizes for her statement and makes restitution by donating to the legal defense fund of the man whose murder she advocated. This shunning will take the following forms, and I hope other Vermonters will join me in this:

– Defriend Ms. Kerin on Facebook after sending her a note explaining your disgust with her behavior and calling on her to make restitution. Additionally, send all of your mutual friends notes encouraging them to do the same with a link to this post.

– If you are not a Facebook Friend of hers, send her an email (keringhost@gmail.com) or give her a phone call (802-282-3225) to register your disapproval of her incitement to violence.

– Uninvite her from any events you might host, and, if you encounter her at an event, tell her that you are waiting for her apology and restitution and then refuse to acknowledge her presence thereafter. If she is a speaker, leave the room for her talk.

The goal is to make it absolutely and publicly clear that the advocacy of lynching is utterly unacceptable behavior, and to do so will engender social consequences. And Ms. Kerin, if you want to make amends for your statement, I’ll be happy to post your apology on the ASR blog and to receive your donation or evidence thereof. You have my contact information.