Pragmatism and purity butt heads at the Libertarian Party convention: “The purists don’t want a political party as much as they want a church,” [Richard Burke] said. “They need a place to worship.” Read the article: Who Isn’t Trying to Take Over the Libertarian Party? We’re being talked about again.
Maybe The Gospel Of Judas isn’t what we thought it was?
How My Mother’s Fanatical Feminist View Tore Us Apart - a revelation from Rebecca Walker, whose mother wrote the famous feminist book The Color Purple.
Student researching al-Qaida tactics held for six days
Home prices dropped 14% last quarter.
Here’s a not-so-hypothetical question: when California law redefines marriage to include gay couples, should Christians stop getting marriage licenses from the government? The new and improved definition of marriage is detestable to God. “Would getting such a license be an example of Christians signing up to participate in an institution that is fundamentally, in its very definition, ungodly?”
Mike Huckabee blasts libertarianism:
Republicans need to be Republicans. The greatest threat to classic Republicanism is not liberalism; it’s this new brand of libertarianism, which is social liberalism and economic conservatism, but it’s a heartless, callous, soulless type of economic conservatism because it says “look, we want to cut taxes and eliminate government. If it means that elderly people don’t get their Medicare drugs, so be it. If it means little kids go without education and healthcare, so be it.” Well, that might be a quote pure economic conservative message, but it’s not an American message. It doesn’t fly. People aren’t going to buy that, because that’s not the way we are as a people. That’s not historic Republicanism. Historic Republicanism does not hate government; it’s just there to be as little of it as there can be. But they also recognize that government has to be paid for.
In response, Libertarian Party spokesperson Andrew Davis issued the following statement:
Huckabee is right that Libertarianism is a threat to Republicanism. The Republican Party, with the help of people like Sen. John McCain, has done nothing but increase the scope and power of government while throwing fiscal responsibility to the wind. It’s the ‘compassionate conservatism’ touted by people like Huckabee, McCain and President Bush that has caused a soaring national debt and a society where prisons are overflowing because of Republican ‘compassion.’ Libertarianism is unquestionably the American message because libertarianism is the only political message that empowers the American people by giving them more control over their lives and their wallets. Huckabee proves once again that there is very little difference in the messages of Republicans and Democrats, and shows that McCain and Obama might as well be running in the same political party.
More on Huckabee and his nonsense on Monday.
Colin, I gotta ask…What is your honest opinion of Bob Barr based on what you know about him? If I had to guess I would say he is deliberately subverting the Libertarian party.
I hear California also made it legal to eat shrimp and work on Sunday. What will those crazy pagans think of next!
Chris, I don’t think he’s “deliberately subverting the LP” - there is no evidence of such nefarious motives. I think Barr is a moderate/popular republitarian who definitely breaks from the LP on several points. I’m sure he’s a swell guy and I like a lot of what he stands for, but he’s a pragmatist, and I believe that libertarianism as a philosophy is better off being principled and idealist. But then again, the LP is a political party (which is ultimately about political power), so Barr is an attractive compromise.
I’m fine with that just so long as California doesn’t redefine the word shrimp to include catfish.
I guess I’m just more skeptical about CIA people. And I realize this contradicts my argument against guilt by association, but I’m not as black and white as some on this. Reality is complex and multidimensional. And yes, I am making excuses for my inconsistency 8). I might have gone along with Democratarian Mike Gravel, but this Barr guy…I don’t know.
Chris,
You never know who might have had CIA ties in his past… While there’s always some suspicion that follows that, not everyone who has been involved with them is plotting the end of the free world.
I read the two articles that have to do with family–the one by Rebecca Walker and the one about Christian reactions to gay marriage laws in California. It was pretty interesting to see how Ms. Walker has reacted to her feminist mother. Along with rejecting her mother’s views, she seemed also hurt badly by her parents’ divorce. She seems to want a strong family herself, but I see she isn’t married to her child’s father. So she hasn’t, apparently, rejected all of her mother’s teachings.
As for the new marriage laws in California, in my opinion, Christian couples in California should still go through the legal marriage process. After all, it is still the legal way to get married in California and they should be legally married. Perhaps they can use their church wedding ceremonies as a bully pulpit to remind people of what marriage is really all about.
“Chris,
You never know who might have had CIA ties in his past… While there’s always some suspicion that follows that, not everyone who has been involved with them is plotting the end of the free world.”
Yeah, I know. And not every registered sex offender is a child molester. But I’m still not going to leave them alone with my kid. Its just that the “agency” has a record of putting people into positions of power, both here in the U.S. and abroad.
There are actually a few ex-CIA people that I respect, but they are all whistle blowers - the most notable one being Ray McGovern, the intelligence briefer for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
FUN FACT: Anderson Cooper of CNN was trained by the CIA.
“As for the new marriage laws in California, in my opinion, Christian couples in California should still go through the legal marriage process.”
No, I like the idea of a boycott. Might actually give people the sense of what it’s like to be denied the right to marry, even if it is self imposed.
How about we just stop viewing marriage as some right that everyone in society has to agree to and approve of and just let individuals and groups decide their own criteria…
BECAUSE THE HORSES WILL START EATING EACH OTHER, THAT’S WHY!
Alright, that’s it. It’s time for the Colbert!
http://vodpod.com/watch/762823-colbert