United Liberty

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham demonstrates why I am not a Republican:

Graham mentions Reagan a couple times, invoking the 11th Commandment after he is booed by some and talks about how is a Reagan Republican, and bashes Ron Paul’s stance on foreign policy.

Someone needs to share this Reagan quote with Lindsey Graham:

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.

Graham’s comments show that as much as he says he wants a big tent Republican Party, libertarians (ie. economic conservatives and free-marketers) need not apply.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford responded to Graham’s comments with a couple gems of his own:

I’m not posting this in defense of Ron Paul, because he certainly deserves to be criticized when it’s deserved. Graham’s unwillingness to embrace libertarian ideals (and I’m not talking about the Libertarian Party), which include economic liberty, demonstrates why libertarian voters have drifted away from Republicans in national elections as the line between the two major parties, especially on economic issues, has become blurred.

H/T: Reason