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Everywhere you look these days, you have someone else claiming they’re a Libertarian. I’ve suspected for a while that most of these newbies are anything but traditional Libertarians and are more likely Republicans and conservatives who are having a difficult time defending the current state of the Republican party. Eight years of ineptness under George W. Bush will have that effect on some I’d think. Anyway, nice to see that others have had similar thoughts.
From the Daily Kos comes the Top 10 Signs You Might Not Be A Libertarian.
Notice a propensity of newly minted Libertarians showing up lately? Perhaps it’s just coincidence their ranks swelled in inverse proportion to George Bush’s approval rating, ditto that so many are mouthing traditional conservative talking points. But what about the everyday gun toting townhall screamers and taxcutters and deficit hawks we see on cable news: are they really libertarian as so many claim, or just conservatives in glibertarian clothes? Here’s a few warning signs.
10. If you think Ron Paul isn’t conservative enough and Fox News is fair and balanced, you might not be a Libertarian.
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.
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.
7. If you rank Anthonin Scalia and Roy Moore among the greatest Justices of all time, you may be bug fuck crazy, but you’re probably not a Libertarian.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Now you see, if I WERE interested in the success of your blog, I would have stopped with the illustration and “A” and “B” comment. ;-) That gave me pause to smile.
(I just went back looking for the comments on the other post. Why would you do that? Isn’t participation what you are looking for?)
Brilliant! Great litmus test! Needed a Sunday morning laugh and Kos delivers!
Larry,
We do have a life and do work for a living and have weekend visits. I was helping my brother move yesterday for example.
Get on with it and get a popsicle !
@jovial – What? (How do you make an emoticon scratching his head and trying to figure out what the the heck someone is talking about?)
Hmmn? I’m a 25+ year Libertarian activist: former Libertarian National Committee, fmr. Libertarian candidate for State House, Former Aide to two Libertarian Party Presidential candidates – Roger MacBride 1976 and Ron Paul 1988, and I’ve never heard of you, nor of the person who wrote the Daily Kos piece.
Funny how a bunch of Leftists have infiltrated our movement and are now claiming to be “Libertarians,” so that they can make libertarians out to be more left-friendly than we actually are.
An old trick out of the Left playbook. They did it in 2006. Moulitas and Kos spread this meme “Gee, Libertarians ought to help Democrats overthrow the Repubs…” And again in 2008, with idiotic blogs like “Libertarians for Obama,” which curiously had no named Editors or Publishers.
Do you all Leftists honestly think we Libertarians are that stupid, and don’t see through your BS tricks?
Oh, by the way, we Libertarians don’t bother calling ourselves “Republicans,” because the two are synonomous terms.
Facts:
1. The Libertarian Party was founded by the State Chairman of the Colorado Young Republicans
2. All Libertarian Party Presidential candidates save one, 8 out of 9, were/are Republicans
3. Every single Libertarian Party member ever elected to a State Legislature – Alaska, Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan – caucused with the Republican Party in the House.
The Libertarian Party is to the Republican Party, as is the Conservative Party of NY to the NY GOP. We are an extension of the Republican Party, and proudly so.
@ Eric Dondero
Do all you Libertarians honestly think we Liberals are not smart enough to recognize political propaganda in phrases like “an old trick out of the Left playbook.” If anyone has infiltrated your movement it’s the right.
And btw Eric, just because you’ve never heard of someone doesn’t mean they don’t exist nor does it mean their opinions have any less validity than your own
@Eric Dondero
Seems strange Libertarians don’t want to call themselves Republicans if that is what they really are and what the are proud to be.
mmmmm, that’s a conundrum
@Eric
1. I have not claimed to be a Libertarian. I have no idea where you got that from.
2. The Kos person has not claimed to be one either.
3. I have never heard of you.