From DailyKos comes the Top 10 Signs You Might Not Be A Libertarian. DailyKos lists of a bunch of reasons why most self-proclaimed libertarians are just Republicans who have ditched the label as Bush’s poll numbers dropped. As a certified* Christian libertarian, I’d like to respond.
10. If you think Ron Paul isn’t conservative enough and Fox News is fair and balanced, you might not be a Libertarian.
Well, not all libertarians think Ron Paul is hot stuff, although I personally am a big fan. His support for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, his reluctance to support gay marriage, and his pro-life views make many libertarians uneasy. I suppose you could make the case that all those positions make Ron Paul too conservative rather than not conservative enough, so let’s give DailyKos the benefit of the doubt here.
As for Fox News, I have to agree with DailyKos on this one, too. I rarely watch Fox News anymore. I do sometimes go to FoxNews.com, and it’s a filthy pool of smut. There are weekly columns by a “Sexpert” who apparently gives tips on sex. Then there are the frequent links to slideshows of celebrities in bikinis, celebrities with their new boyfriends, celebrities giving interviews to Maxim, “articles” about celebrity sex tapes, or whatever. I always browse with images turned off because Foxnews.com is just that bad.
9. If you believe you have an inalienable right to attend Presidential townhalls brandishing a loaded assault rifle, but that arresting participants inside for wearing a pink shirt is an important public safety precaution, there’s a chance you’re dangerously unbalanced, but no chance you’re a Libertarian.
It doesn’t take long for DailyKos to start lying. Nobody attended a Presidential townhall lecture with an assault rifle. The man with the assault rifle–identified only as Chris–attended a rally nearby a convention center in Arizona where Obama was giving a speech–not a townhall meeting. DailyKos is conflating that incident with another incident in New Hampshire where a protester legally carried a handgun outside (again, not attending) an Obama townhall lecture. Both men carried their weapons legally, and neither man “brandished” their weapon. Further, the Arizona incident was a staged publicity stunt, a fact which DailyKos knows unless they are completely incompetent.
Finally, let’s pick apart the comment about “arresting participants inside for wearing a pink shirt.”
- They were not at a Presidential townhall meeting, they were in St. Paul, MN for the Republican National Convention
- They were protesters, not participants
- They were not inside, they were singing and dancing in the street
- They were not arrested for wearing pink shirts. They were arrested for disorderly conduct. Police moved them onto the sidewalk (instead of the street), and they responded by crawling under a fence to escape the police cordon
8. If you think the government should stay the hell out of Medicare, well, you have way, way bigger problems than figuring out if you’re really a Libertarian.
This is nothing but a mean-spirited attack on Republicans. DailyKos links to a poll which asked respondents “Do you think the government should stay out of Medicare?” That’s not a sensible question, of course, because Medicare is a government program. Someone who was asked that question might interpret it to mean “Do you think that, in the midst of this debate on healthcare, we should keep politics and partisanship out of Medicare?” Of course Republicans would answer Yes more often than Democrats–because Republicans are wary of any changes that threaten to expand government control over the health care industry.
But without knowing how respondents actually interpreted the faulty question, we can draw no meaningful conclusions from the data. The poll is a joke, and DailyKos is intellectually dishonest for referencing it.
7. If you rank [Antonin] Scalia and Roy Moore among the greatest Justices of all time, you may be [profanity] [profanity] crazy, but you’re probably not a Libertarian.
Rating justices is complex, because although a good justice should uphold the Constitution, the Constitution is not always libertarian. It’s simply not possible to correctly interpret the Constitution and always arrive at a good, libertarian answer. Nevertheless, some justices are better than ever, and Scalia is one of them. Scott Turow wrote a New York Times article in 2006 that suggests Scalia is becoming a strong civil libertarian. Not all libertarians agree, of course, but respect for Justice Scalia does not automatically make one a Republican.
6. You might not be a Libertarian if you think recreational drug use, prostitution, and gambling should be illegal because that’s what Jesus wants.
Now DailyKos has decided to insult Christians as well as Republicans. Thanks. But DailyKos does have a point: libertarians oppose laws that criminalize drugs, sex, and gambling. Christian libertarians take a nuanced position that recognizes drug abuse, prostitution, and gambling as sin, but also understands that the government has no authority to criminalize them.
5. If you think the separation between church and state applies equally to all faiths except socially conservative Christian fundamentalism, you’re probably not a Libertarian.
On the other hand, if you acknowledge the historical (and present!) role of Christianity in America, you can still be a libertarian. Christianity is an important part of America and played–still plays–a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s values.
4. You’re probably not a Libertarian if you believe the federal government should remove safety standards and clinical barriers for prescription and OTC medications while banning all embryonic stem cell research, somatic nuclear transfer, RU 486, HPV and cervical cancer vaccination, work on human/non human DNA combos, or Plan B emergency contraception.
DailyKos is just plain wrong here, because they don’t consider the position of Christian libertarians. A Christian libertarian (of the minarchist variety) objects to government regulations into the pharmaceutical industry except in cases involving human life. That means a libertarian Christian can consistently hold to his libertarian principles while opposing:
- embryonic stem cell research (it involves murdering human beings)
- somatic nuclear transfer (a technique used in stem cell research which involves murdering human beings)
- RU 486 (the abortion pill, which murders unborn human beings)
I think you get the point.
3. If you think state execution of mentally retarded convicts is good policy but prosecuting Scott Roeder or disconnecting Terri Schiavo was an unforgivable sin, odds are you’re not really a Libertarian.
Even libertarians understand the difference between a) punishment for a crime, and b) deliberately letting a helpless invalid die. Many libertarians will object to capital punishment, and many have no problem with disconnecting Terri Schiavo, but it’s quite possible to hold the other view and still be a good libertarian.
Scott Roeder is the man accused of murdering abortion doctor George Tiller. For libertarians who believe that life begins before birth, abortion is murder. Roeder’s actions could be construed as justifiable, if he acted to prevent the murder of the unborn. I still have to say that the killing of Tiller is murder, regardless of his chosen profession, and I hope his killer is found and convicted. However, I can understand how a libertarian–or anyone who believes that the unborn are human beings–might disagree.
2. If you argue that cash for clunkers or any form of government healthcare is unconstitutional, but forced prayer or teaching old testament creationism in public schools is fine, you’re not even consistent, much less a Libertarian, and you may be Michele Bachmann.
A libertarian would probably argue that public schools should be abolished. But failing that, at the very least, public schools should be allowed to operate as their communities want–not the way some federal or state politician or bureaucrat decide. If the community wants to teach their children about the Old Testament, they should have that right. Libertarians will not–as DailyKos seems to think–side with the federal or state government when it cracks down on what can be taught in schools.
1. And the number one sign: if you think government should stay the hell out of people’s private business — except when kidnapping citizens and rendering them to secret overseas torture prisons, snooping around the bedrooms of consenting adults, policing a woman’s uterus, or conducting warrantless wire taps, you are no Libertarian.
I alluded to the abortion issue earlier. A libertarian who believes life begins before birth can consistently and logically be pro-life. But yeah, on the other issues, a libertarian would have a hard time defending warrantless wiretaps or secret prisons.
* That’s not true. I don’t have a certificate. But I do have an NRA membership card, and I have voted for Michael Badnarik, Ron Paul, and Bob Barr.
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