This month the chairman of the Jewish Defense League, Irv Rubin, was arrested for allegedly plotting to blow up a mosque and other targets in Los Angeles. This shouldn’t have been surprising — Rubin and the JDL have long been advocates of violent action against Muslims and Arabs. What was surprising was that not only was Rubin a member of the Libertarian Party, but that the Libertarian Party went out of its way to highlight and celebrate Rubin joining the Party in March 2000.
There’s Rubin featured on the Libertarian Part web site saying that he became a Libertarian Party member after “recent attacks on Jews” in the United States. The long article is pretty much a fluff piece which never once mentions the JDL’s support of violence, other than Rubin’s admission that he supports U.S. military support for Israel. Rubin is even quoted as saying, “When visions racists give Americans a bad name, Libertarians should speak up.”
But what is the Libertarian Party going to do after not only allowing a vicious, violent racist — Rubin — in their midst, but also openly publicizing his involvement with the Party?
In June 2000, Eric Garris wrote an article for LewRockwell.Com in which he expressed his exasperation at the Libertarian Party openly promoting Rubin’s entrance into the Party. As Garris wrote at the time, it was not like it would have been difficult for the LP to do a minimum of research and discover Rubin’s history and the fact that the JDL was a terrorist organization linked to numerous acts of violence. As Garris wrote at that time,
The leadership of the Libertarian Party has made a grave error. In their desperate pursuit of political success at the cost of party-building, they may truly be sitting on a political time bomb.
Of course, Garris was right and that time bomb went off with Rubin’s arrest. Now the Libertarian Party’s Steve Dasbach is left to lamely spin the arrests. The Libertarian Party put out a press release saying,
Libertarian Party National Director Steve Dasbach said it is too soon for anyone to judge whether Rubin — whose dues-paying LP membership lapsed in June 2001 — is guilty of the charges against him.
“Given Mr. Rubin’s past association with the Libertarian Party — and given that he signed our membership statement that specifically renounces the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals — we certainly hope that he played no role in any plot to destroy property or injure innocent people,” he said.
…
“Not only is there no place in the Libertarian Party for any individual who would support, endorse, or engage in this kind of violent act or plot, it is troubling to think that any American would be involved in such a reprehensible plot.”
Do they really expect people to swallow this line? The JDL web site openly endorsed the actions of Baruch Goldstein who walked into a Mosque and murdered 29 Palestinians while they prayed. If there is no place in the LP for people who “would support, endorse, or engage in this kind of violent act or plot,” why did they feature him so prominently in March 2000? Are they really that stupid? Do they think we’re that stupid?
With friends like the Libertarian Party, who needs enemies?
Source:
Irv Rubin and the Libertarian Party. Eric Garris, The Libertarian Party, June 26, 2000.
Jewish Defense League leader signs up with the LP. Libertarian Party, March 2000.