“Geez, I hope not. We’ve got to keep the tax-serfs docile and submissive.”
–Godzilla, King of the Statists
“Don’t listen to the seductive lies of the Satanists! Hand your life and property over to Dear Leader! He can manage them much better than you can!”–Baghdad Jim.
Many of the libertarian minded people I know are under the illusion that Conservatives, especially the religious variety, are dangerous to liberty. And have held the impression that Democrats are good for liberty. Hopefully recent events are at least shattering the latter illusion.
Many libertarians (myself included) do indeed have concerns regarding some conservatives vs. liberty, but (in my case especially) those concerns are limited to several aspects of staunch social conservatives. Not all aspects, and not conservatives in general.
As for Democrats: I’m under no illusions. While they might be a bit better (from my perspective) on an issue or two, the bad vastly outweighs the good. To name just one thing; I find the overwhelming intrusiveness of the NSA, EPA, and many other agencies to be downright fascist. I was furious with Republicans for such things as the “patriot” act, expended snooping within the US, etc. But… while I find Republicans politicians to be very often detestable on these issues, the Democrats (their actual effect, not the lies they spout) have been even worse.
On the other hand, there are some Republicans I detest just as much, such as the big-government-and-hardcore-social-conservative types. (Rick Santorum comes to mind, as does Mike Huckabee). Those I consider to be the worst of both worlds.
However… social issues, though I disagree with social cons on some of them, aren’t a deal breaker for me. I’m far more interested in the fiscal and economic side. I won’t vote for a big-government type, nor will I vote for a mendacious lair such as Rubio (he ran as anti-Amnesty, yet he’s been agitating for it since he took office). I also won’t donate to the RNC again unless they get rid of Prebius and other pro-amnesty types (see Prebius’s recent comments on Romney’s self-deportation policy for the latest outrage). I won’t vote for any R who is pro amnesty, period. I held my nose and voted for McCain (whom I despise) in 2008 but I swore I’d never do something that again… and unlike some of the R establishment (Rubio, McCain, Prebius, etc) I actually mean what I say. (And one thing I’m saying is NOT ONE DAMN DIME for the RNC).
I’ll also make a prediction; if amnesty passes, the Republicans buck the mid term trend and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory to lose the house plus a couple of senate seats in 2014, due to lower turnout from Republican voters. Even if it doesn’t pass, I think the current push is already doing damage and thus whittling down the gains that might have been.
“Geez, I hope not. We’ve got to keep the tax-serfs docile and submissive.”
–Godzilla, King of the Statists
“Don’t listen to the seductive lies of the Satanists! Hand your life and property over to Dear Leader! He can manage them much better than you can!”–Baghdad Jim.
Many of the libertarian minded people I know are under the illusion that Conservatives, especially the religious variety, are dangerous to liberty. And have held the impression that Democrats are good for liberty. Hopefully recent events are at least shattering the latter illusion.
Many libertarians (myself included) do indeed have concerns regarding some conservatives vs. liberty, but (in my case especially) those concerns are limited to several aspects of staunch social conservatives. Not all aspects, and not conservatives in general.
As for Democrats: I’m under no illusions. While they might be a bit better (from my perspective) on an issue or two, the bad vastly outweighs the good. To name just one thing; I find the overwhelming intrusiveness of the NSA, EPA, and many other agencies to be downright fascist. I was furious with Republicans for such things as the “patriot” act, expended snooping within the US, etc. But… while I find Republicans politicians to be very often detestable on these issues, the Democrats (their actual effect, not the lies they spout) have been even worse.
On the other hand, there are some Republicans I detest just as much, such as the big-government-and-hardcore-social-conservative types. (Rick Santorum comes to mind, as does Mike Huckabee). Those I consider to be the worst of both worlds.
However… social issues, though I disagree with social cons on some of them, aren’t a deal breaker for me. I’m far more interested in the fiscal and economic side. I won’t vote for a big-government type, nor will I vote for a mendacious lair such as Rubio (he ran as anti-Amnesty, yet he’s been agitating for it since he took office). I also won’t donate to the RNC again unless they get rid of Prebius and other pro-amnesty types (see Prebius’s recent comments on Romney’s self-deportation policy for the latest outrage). I won’t vote for any R who is pro amnesty, period. I held my nose and voted for McCain (whom I despise) in 2008 but I swore I’d never do something that again… and unlike some of the R establishment (Rubio, McCain, Prebius, etc) I actually mean what I say. (And one thing I’m saying is NOT ONE DAMN DIME for the RNC).
I’ll also make a prediction; if amnesty passes, the Republicans buck the mid term trend and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory to lose the house plus a couple of senate seats in 2014, due to lower turnout from Republican voters. Even if it doesn’t pass, I think the current push is already doing damage and thus whittling down the gains that might have been.