If the Libertarian Party ever decided to get rid of its pro-drug, open border, weak national defense, and pro-abortion platforms, then it would become a significant force in American politics overnight.

That just made me laugh.

If the Libertarian Party ever decided to get rid of its pro-drug, open border, weak national defense, and pro-abortion platforms, then it would become…

…the Republican Party.

Made me laugh too.

I hadn’t seen any Freepage for a couple years. I’m surprised, with their little teeny attention spans, they’re still pissing and moaning about “open borders” and haven’t moved on to some new outrage du jour.

Oops, pardon my traitorous appeaser French.

Card-carrying ACLU member?!?!

I didn’t know anyone actually talked like that.

I’m fairly surprised by this, because Barr himself has a long history as a culture warrior. That wouldn’t seem to be consistent with the LP’s claimed principles.

Djur: Principles, schminciples. These guys are all about snagging the highest-profile fool they can find.

Any gun rights supporter would be strongly tempted to vote for retired NRA board member Barr, a leading light in the fight for gun rights for years. McCain is very tepid on the subject of gun ownership, and (to the average NRA member’s mind) both Obama and Clinton favor door-to-door searches and confiscation.

Barr seems to have changed his mind at least a bit about the Drug War and (in particular) civil liberties. He’s very anti-PATRIOT Act and very pro-habeas corpus.

If Hillary wrestles the nomination away from Obama, particularly through more “nominate me or I’ll blow up the party” shenanigans, I think you’ll see quite a few pissed-off ex-Obama-ites move over to voting for Barr. I know I’d be awfully tempted to.

His V/P candidate is Wayne Allyn Root, described as a “Las Vegas oddsmaker.”

The assassination of Bobby Kennedy in 1968 is a well-known historical fact.

What would it be like to have an “oddsmaker” in the White House?

Like the Green Party’s first outing with Nader, the Libertarian Party’s goal here is to boost their own profile by taking advantage of a Big Two party’s weakness. Barr’s high profile and current agreement with their party platform is all that’s important to that; it doesn’t really matter if he used to be pro-Drug War and anti-abortion rights.

The Freepers aren’t the people who are going to switch their vote to Barr; it’s all the slightly more reasonable conservatives who are crazy for property rights, ending affirmative action programs, and cutting social programs to the bone but who don’t care about the “culture war.”

I hope there’s a defection to the Libertarian party–just a percentage point or two would be awesome–but I suspect that most of the Freepers are talking big. They’ll convince themselves that Obama is way worse than McCain is, and they’ll make a big show of holding their noses while voting, but they’ll fall in line like they always do.

So are you ignorant, crazy, or a liar? Neither Obama or Clinton have said anything even remotely resembling this.

commisarjs, I think that was what we here in the irony business call “exaggeration for comic effect.”

commissarjs, it does say “and (to the average NRA member’s mind)”.

My best friend’s in-laws believed that John Kerry would come for their Bibles and guns. I was under the impression they thought he’d personally come to get them. They’re a little wacky (lots of drug use in their history).

Oh, sure, now they get it.

Sorry! My mistake

Bob Barr is NOT even close to being a libertarian. He is an authoritarian in libertarian clothing. He is out of touch with the real Libertarian Party values.

Which means he’s the perfect representative for the Libertarian Party.

BlackBloc wins the thread.

Ooh, his VP candidate looks like all kinds of entertaining. I just read about him in Saturday’s Las Vegus Sun.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/24/vegas-white-house-hope/#/The_candidate/

An excerpt (emphasis mine):

“Like any great American success story, Root has created a carapace of legend around himself, the truth of which is a little hard to know. But it’s compelling and deeply entertaining, which is why Root is so good on TV and thinks he can deliver more votes than any Libertarian in history. (The Root Experience can also be exhausting, like being the straight man on the stage of a filibuster infomercial in which Wayne Allyn Root is selling Wayne Allyn Root and Wayne Allyn Root-affiliated awesomeness.)”

The guy is like a parody of the stereotypical rich prick, except he’s serious.

Oh, and why I still love the Las Vegas Sun:

“If the campaign is just a way to drum up business, he really is the perfect candidate for the Libertarian Party. A founding tract of the movement, after all, is Ayn Rand’s “The Virtue of Selfishness.â€

The party deserves a man who cares about himself, his family and his money, and very little else.”

Chapter Three - in which the Libertarians select a candidate who is just as bad as the candidates for the two major parties. He does not make a good candidate for any of the three parties.

When you look at these candidates, it makes you wonder about the fundamentals of our American system. Seemingly, it has become impossible for ANY party to nominate a candidate with a solid track record of philosophically consistent positions, votes and actions.

I have my own thoughts on this, but they’re libertarian in nature and not welcome here.

So Libertarian, why do you think your party turned to Barr?

And do you think ideologic purity is more important than the ability to facilitate effective governance?

“I have my own thoughts on this, but they’re libertarian in nature and not welcome here.”

Okay…

Since when has the prevailing Pandagon vibe prevented you from expressing yourself? And when have you been stopped from expressing yourself?

Just because we may not agree with what you say doesn’t mean you shouldn’t say it. Who knows, you might even contribute a valuable point… (that was just a gentle tease…)

Now if that racist idiot Tanstaafl (from the recent Science vs. ID thread) shows up, that’s entirely different…

Kate

I wasn’t there (at the convention) but assume they chose Barr for name recognition and the possiblity of getting more attention and votes. But, as conservative Repub’s are learning, it does no good to compromise your principles to get more votes. Ultimately, you end up with less. McCain is a great example of this. The Repub’s could possibly have nominated someone I could vote for (and small gov’t conservatives too); instead, they (with the media’s help, and a quirky primary process) nominated the Repub most like the Dem’s.

I know it’s unpopular, but I think being called an ideologue is a compliment. To me, it means being true to your principles, even if that is not the most successful road in the short run. I’m not that interested in effective gov’t; I’m interested in less gov’t.

Mike, I agree, I don’t think I’ve been censored.

Kate

Another good example is John Kerry. Many thought he was the most “electable.” In fact, he was a terrible candidate. It’s really hard to believe he could lose to Bush four years ago. A good Dem candidate should have won in a landslide.

Its silly to even talk about gun control at the federal level, aside from very loose and general regulations. Its nuts for Chicago to have the same gun laws as Cheyenne.

Libertarian, its not like your party can actually go any lower in terms of the number of votes you gather at the Presidential level.

The Greens got a lot of their ideas into the mainstream after Nader. Ex., every other product on the shelf is now “green” or “organic” and even the nominee of the Republican Party endorses government action to combat global warming. That would’ve been unthinkable eight years ago. The LP could conceivably do the same if they got even 3-4% of the vote.