United Liberty
Libertarians
Libertarians Waiting for an Invitation to the Tea Party Will Be Left Out
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 12:31pm | posted by Mike Hassinger
Mike Hassinger is a political consultant with Landmark Communications in Atlanta, Georgia. These views are his own.
The Tea Party movement has been ignored, mocked, dismissed, and cast as a collection of conspiracy kooks and racists. To become a genuine political force, this fledgling movement must face internal challenges of direction and leadership while under full assault from the statists on the left and their enabling lapdogs in the mainstream media. In one sense the Tea Party’s journey has been a compressed version of libertarianism -it took libertarians decades to become misunderstood and marginalized, whereas the Tea Partiers have done so in less than a year.
The Tea Party, as force in American electoral politics, stands at a crossroads –several crossroads, actually. Do they form their own political party, or back candidates from existing parties who support their views? Will they start small, with state and local races, or swing for the fences and jump into contested races in the house and Senate? The biggest question is going unasked: Will they co-opt, or be co-opted, and if they’re co-opted, who’s going to get them?
Why Libertarianism Must Change or Die
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 10:26am | posted by Crystal Gross
When I was sixteen years old — only one year after my conversion to Catholicism — I began looking into religion more seriously as a result of a persistent twinge of reason which plagues me to this day. Determined to avoid Atheists and Theists on principle, I instead looked to Thomas Henry Huxley and John Shelby Spong, an Agnostic biologist and a dissenting Episcopalian Bishop respectively. In conference with these two minds, I discovered myself for an Atheist, but also stumbled upon the first truly intellectual concept of my life: it is possible that each and everyone one of us is “right” in every way, shape and form.
From those early days of intellectual curiosity, thumbing through Spong’s “Why Christianity Must Change Or Die” and growing my understanding of the individual, I’ve sought autonomy in all aspects of my life. In short, it was no surprise to the few people who know me that I was attracted to the Libertarian Party. I’m a spiritual Atheist. I’m an intelligent idiot. I’m an optimistic cynic. Where else could I go?
I’ve loved the Party. It was a tent big enough to house possibilities, a place that wasn’t crowded with rhetoric and closed-mindedness and half-truths.
And then it happened: my partner informed me that Bill Maher is not — no way, no how — a libertarian.
Imagine my surprise. After all, Maher’s been something of a personal hero to me since my relative youth. If I knew and loved anyone, it was Lewis Black.. But Bill Maher … he was, like, second runner-up. To George Carlin. But I digress.
Small victories for libertarians
Fri, 02/26/2010 - 4:01pm | posted by Jason Pye
Over at Real Clear Politics (a daily read for me), Jeremy Lott notes some of the victories libertarians have achieved over the last couple years:
The last several years have not been easy for libertarians to stomach. The U.S. government, which had bloated under President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress - the annual budget had climbed from $2 to $3 trillion under Bush and that didn’t count much off-budget military spending - has grown even more under President Barack Obama and his Democrats.
Mike Huckabee Calls CPAC “Too Libertarian”
Tue, 02/23/2010 - 2:37pm | posted by Doug Mataconis
Former Governor Mike Huckabee explains why he did not attend this years CPAC gathering:
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blasted the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday as outdated, nearly corrupt and unrepresentative of the conservative movement.
Huckabee, a 2008 Republican presidential contender and potential 2012 candidate who had spoken at the conference for years, said the reason he blew it off this year was that the meeting has become dominated by libertarian activists.
“CPAC has becoming increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years, one of the reasons I didn’t go this year,” Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, where he is a paid analyst and has his own show.
He was responding to a question about whether he was upset by his single-digit showing in the conference’s straw poll, which was won by libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Huckabee has ripped libertarians. Back during the 2008 campaign, he referred to libertarianism as the greatest threat to the Republican Party.
Additionally, as James Joyner notes, Huckabee actually makes a point that he didn’t intend to:
CPAC attendees: Fiscal issues are main concern
Mon, 02/22/2010 - 12:33pm | posted by Jason Pye
Reading over the CPAC straw poll results (H/T to Hot Air), which included more than just the presidential straw poll, I am encourage to see that the conservative movement, at least those in attendence at the conference, are focusing more on fiscal issues than social issues.
I still don’t believe that conservatives are serious about reaching out to libertarians, but this is encouraging.
Glenn Beck on Republicans: They are addicted to big government
Sun, 02/21/2010 - 11:04am | posted by Jason Pye
“I don’t even know what they stand for anymore. And they’ve got to realize that they have a problem: ‘Hello, my name is the Republican Party, and I’ve got a problem. I’m addicted to spending and big government.’” - Glenn Beck
During his speech at CPAC last night, Glenn Beck had a message for the Republican Party, one I think most of us would applaud:
[W]hile Beck is clearly no fan of the Obama administration’s policies, he spent more time detailing the problems he sees within the Republican Party.
Beck said he agreed with former Vice President Dick Cheney, who in a surprise visit to CPAC on Thursday, said that 2010 will be a good year for Republicans. But, Beck said, “it’s not enough just to not suck as much as the other side.”
A recovering alcoholic, Beck talked about the path of redemption for politicians on the right side of the aisle.
“I have not heard people in the Republican Party yet admit they have a problem,” Beck said, adding that he’s waiting for a “come-to-Jesus” moment.
Another story I read this morning noted that Beck said Republicans needed to admit they have a problem just like Tiger Woods.
Beck is, of course, right. That’s something we’ve noted here at UL in the past. The first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem. The GOP has not done that.
Barr’s Strategy to Win Texas?
Sun, 09/21/2008 - 12:00am | posted by Michael Orion Powell
Over at TalkLeft, there is dismissal of Barr’s lawsuit aimed at getting the major party candidates removed from the ballot:
Barr thinks the two major party candidates missed state-imposed deadlines to be certified as their party’s candidate and should therefore be removed from the Texas ballot. Neither candidate was nominated in time to be certified as the party’s nominee. The likelihood that a court will allow Barr to tamper with a federal election because candidates failed to satisfy an impossible requirement of state law is not high.
When the deadline passed in Texas, both parties knew who their candidates were going to be. In fact, by August 26, 2008, the Democratic convention had already happened and left-behind Moveon.org stickers had been cleaned off the streets of Denver.
Review: Why You’re Wrong About the Right
Thu, 09/11/2008 - 9:01pm | posted by Michael Orion Powell
The authors of Why You’re Wrong About the Right: S.E. Cupp and Brett Joshpe - Pictured Below.
Once while an acquaintance of mine was drunk out of his mind, he started tearing copies of the New Yorker in a quest to destroy his personal posessions. He became as obsessed with this mission as one could be while intoxicated, and followed his ripping session with a demonstration of how to set American currency on fire. When I pointed out the ridiculousness of what he was doing, he said, “I’m not a libertarian like you! I don’t care about money!”
That leads into Why You’re Wrong About the Right: Behind The Myths - The Surprising Truth About Conservatives by S.E. Cupp and Brett Joshpe. Why You’re Wrong About the Right tackles several myths and stereotypes of members of the right side of the political spectrum, deconstructing them and illustrating them as half-truths, mischaracterizations and nonsense. One chapter tackles the myth that had gotten my drunken aquaintance so hot and bothered, in “Republicans Are Greedy.”
No REVOLution for Bob Barr?
Wed, 09/10/2008 - 8:43am | posted by Michael Orion Powell
While there were a few “Bob Barr REVOLution” T-shirts produced, it seems the move from Paul support to Bob Barr support among libertarians and conservatives hasn’t been a smooth transition.
As reported here, Bob Barr’s absence at a Ron Paul press conference hasn’t been taken to well by Paul supporters. On libertarian talk shows like “Free Talk Live” and “Common Sense with Dan Carlin,” dismissal of the Barr nomination has been strong and passionate.
Barr seems to be a genuine convert to libertarianism, or at least to small government conservatism. The regular YouTube videos that he has released jive fairly well with the message of Ron Paul. However, he has never really addressed his checkered record on civil liberties while he was a Republican congressman. He has not really been able to articulate why he is a better choice for conservatives than John McCain. The latter is not really his fault, since he has not been given the sort of attention and airtime that Barack Obama and McCain have enjoyed.
Early pipe-dreams of Barr’s mainstream appeal resulting in a substantial effect on the election may turn out to be just that. Barr likely won’t break 3%, since he doesn’t seem to have the support required for presence at the presidential debates.
What this means for the future of the Libertarian Party is unclear, but it does appear to back up Ron Paul’s proposal to push forth the message of liberty within the Republican Party.
