Republicans to Libertarians: “I Only Hit You Because I Love You More Than Liberals, Baby”

Seriously, how can any libertarian watch the right-wing pander-parade of gay marriage amendments, flag burning amendments, and the chilling array of other social and fiscal atrocities by Republicans in power and then take this Townhall editorial seriously (via Wonkette):

Ham’s col, posted at conservative portal site Townhall, contends that right-wingers are kinder to politically hybrid (read: libertarianish) bloggers than are left-wingers.

I can’t help but think that, as blogs continue to become a bigger part of electoral politics and the parties inevitably become more practiced at working with them, this difference in approach doesn’t bode well for Democrats. As much as the Left blogosphere likes to accuse the whole center-right of existing only to parrot the command-and-control messages of Chimpy McBushitler, it is the Left blogosphere that has seemed so intent on alienating itself and the Democratic Party from political hybrids and moderate Democrats of late, and doing so in dramatic, nasty fashion.

And yet somehow, most libertarians are aligned more with the left on social issues like drug decriminalization, civil liberties and a handful of issues where we want the government out of our personal lives. Of course we’re rightfully incredulous at both parties for their petty lip-service to anything that resembles fiscal restraint anymore.

So thanks conservative columnist who thinks we’re aligned with them, maybe you were just aligned with us and didn’t realize it.

Update: Hey, porn star Mimi Miyagi, running for Nevada governor as a Republican says “The Republican Party is about individualism and people who support free speech”¦it only makes sense to fall into that Party.”

Holy shit… a porn star Republican said it, so it must be true!

Seriously, they say Libertarians run unqualified candidates, freaks and other embarrassments? Who are they, and why are they so quiet these days?

posted Jul 19th, 2006 by vforvandyke
  • Dan P

    I don’t see this as such a big surprise. My opinion has always been this in choosing Republicans over Democrats. While Republicans have views I very, very much disagree with (such as stances on Church & State, Gays, etc) Democrats have views I hate even more. Their embrace of socialism and attacks on gun ownership are INFINITELY more important to me. Socialism undermines EVERYTHING I believe in, so if I have to choose between whether I want a socialist welfare state or I want gay marriage banned I’m going to have to say sorry to the gays.

  • IanC

    Dan P — I’ll sum up my response to your sentiments with:

    Which would you choose: Socialism or Fascism?

    Which is worse?

  • Dan P

    I’d choose my M16 in that case.

    Just to clarify, I don’t like either party, I just dislike Republicans less, and I can imagine that many Libertarians feel similarly.

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie cannoli

    I dislike all political parties.

    I dislike LP less than Democrats.

    I dislike Democrats less than Republicans.

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie cannoli

    As of right now, I’m not completely sure which I dislike more: the Green Party or the Libertarian Party.

  • http://www.lpalabama.org/blog/14 paulie cannoli

    An “ideal” party (if such a thing were possible) would combine the non-aggression principle regarding means

    http://nonaggressionprinciple.quickseek.com/

    with the Green Party Ten Key Values as goals

    http://gp.org/tenkey.shtml

    And some form of expelling members who demonstrate disagreement with above.

    It would make clear that transitional measures which really move us in its stated direction (such as medical marijuana) are good, whereas those which move us in the opposite direction (national sales tax, vouchers, phony “privatization”) are bad.

    It would oppose both the state and plutocratic corporatism, and not fall for the delusion that either counter-balances the other.

    It would always oppose aggressive war and imperialism.

    It would work with members of other parties in single-issue coalitions but retain its partisan coherence and not be captured by those coalitions.

  • paulie

    “The Republican Party is about individualism and people who support free speech”¦it only makes sense to fall into that Party.”

    Didn’t Orwell say something similar?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#The_Party

  • paulie
  • Devious David

    Ah yes, the GOP, Fox News, etc etc is raising hell over the NY Times exposing some of Bush’s encroachments on the Constitution. What was that about free speech?

    The GOP is brownshirt. Plain and simple. The Democratic rank and file at least have good intentions. Most of them are just apathetic to how the world really works and that their little (arrogant, in my view) ideas of how people should be made to act aren’t going to work and aren’t going to make the world better. Because their little model of how the world works is WRONG. The GOP rank and file know better, not much better, but better, and they LOVE statism for statism’s sake. Worse, the GOPers, when cornered, admit that they don’t beleive in all those libertarian type things they profess to beleive in and will willingly suggest that those thing are BAD BAD BAD to the third power and everything is good as long as Republicans have complete and total, unquestionable dominion.

  • http://warcriminal.freeservers.com Sol

    Dan, once the Republicans are done implementing their version of how things should be your right to own a gun will be long gone. Either way this country goes, fascism with Republicans or socialism with Democrats, the right to own a gun exterminated.

  • http://www.thirdpartywatch.com Austin Cassidy

    I’m a Republican myself, so not commenting one way or another on the main issue. However…

    “Holy shit”¦ a porn star Republican said it, so it must be true! Seriously, they say Libertarians run unqualified candidates, freaks and other embarrassments? Who are they, and why are they so quiet these days?”

    On this point, she’s a candidate in the primary. There are only three serious candidates for the GOP nomination: the current Lt. Governor, a Congressman, and a State Senator.

    The Libertarians have no candidate for governor of Nevada this year. However, there is one for U.S. Senate.

    http://www.brendantrainor.com

    A quote from his website:

    “If you want to save time and maximize your downline building effort, you will join ProfitRally today. It’s FREE. Are you promoting your affiliate programs one at a time? My ProfitRally page lists all of the traffic and banner exchange programs I participate in. My new downline members join them all right from my ProfitRally page.”

  • http://www.pnar.org Tom Blanton

    I am always surprised when libertarians think there is truly any difference between the GOP and the Dems.

    The arguments generally revolve around the canard that Dems are socialists and the GOP is pro-free market. As if the Medicare prescription drug program and the faith based iniative somehow aren’t socialist.

    Face it, in America we have a command and control economy that resembles a fascist economic model. Thousands of pages of tax law and regulations, public/private partnerships, crony capitalism, and monetary policy managed to create inflation and massive debt, managed foreign trade – all this combined and yet some libertarians and most conservatives think we have a free market.

    And what is the difference between Bush’s compassionate conservatism (communitarianism), Wilsonian foreign policy, and ownership society and most Democrats’ welfare/warfare state?

    Both parties are collectivist thugs imposing their bankrupt ideology on all of us.

    Give up the delusion.

  • http://UnCivilDefence.blogspot.com MRJarrell

    So, when’s Mimi doing her twosome with Malkin….I mean interview…?

  • Chris Jones

    well, she’s probably smarter than Dubya, I have to give her that…

  • http://www.lpnm.org Joseph Knight

    The most dangerous party in America – is ALWAYS the party in power!

  • Wes P

    fascism = socialism, temporarily pandering to different interest groups until they can be liquidated.

    Hitler and Stalin both enthusiastically and cynically murdered their early supporters when they became inconvenient.

  • Tommy

    The vast majority of political figures from the Democratic and Republican Parties are a bunch of statists who have equal contempt for individual liberty, the free market, non-interventionism, local control, and states rights.

    The Libertarian and Constitution Parties are the only ones who support the very ideas that most Democrats and Republicans hate. Maybe, the Libertarian and Constitution Parties should form a strategic political alliance.