A Libertarian is a Republican Who ...
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My friend Karol gives her take on Libertarians in the WSJ (Damn, girl! How do you get all this PR?):
Based on her experiences with Libertarians, blogress Karol Sheinin thinks of them as Republicans who can't admit it yet, but who don't want to be as noncommittal and bogus-sounding as "independent," which isn't exactly a political party.
Some other responses are less polite: a Republican who wants to sleep around and/or smoke dope.
What I disagree with in Karol's assessment is the word "yet".
Me, I'd go with: Former Republicans who disagree with all this Jesus shit and big government hypocrisy. That's my working definition.
What I find amazing is how many people still stick with the GOP despite believing in church-state separation and limited government. It's like they have an enormous blind spot. Yes, the war on terror is important. Yes, the Democrats would be even worse in some areas. Yes, John Kerry was a loser. And yes, you're never going to find a politically viable party that conforms neatly to your own ideals. But the integration of Christian values into government policy is a major plank of the current Republican leadership. And the government is far less fiscally responsible and far less hands-off than it was under the Clinton administration.
Here in Australia the conservative party is in government too. As with the GOP, the conservative party has changed from being pro-small government and decentralisiation to being downright interventionist with (for example) increased subsidies to businesses and only registering charitable organisations for tax-free status if they refrain from criticising government policy.
It disgusts me to the point where I considered voting libertarian in our last elections. Fortunately, there are still some pro-small government centre and centre-left candidates I can vote for :)
Posted by: Alan Green on March 15, 2005 6:31 PM | permalinkWord man. How the hell did Pauline Hanson happen?
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on March 15, 2005 6:35 PM | permalinkI believe in freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. The government isn't forcing anyone to worship Jesus, or telling anyone that they have to believe in any kind of G-d, I think there is just hysteria because Bush is so open about his faith.
Posted by: Karol on March 17, 2005 8:27 PM | permalinkTo me, freedom of religion includes not having others impose their religious beliefs on you -- like trying to ban books with gay characters from public libraries or putting evolution and "intelligent design" on equal footing in public schools. If you want to label that "freedom from religion", that's fine. But I'd be shocked if you could find a libertarian who is OK with the extent to which today's GOP mixes religion and politics.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on March 18, 2005 11:16 AM | permalinkNo more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.