I got email four or five years ago from someone who had seen and liked something I’d written online about limited government. He asked if I’d be interested in a “conservative writing project.” I replied in a yeah-maybe-what’s-it-all-about kind of way. And he told me about a consortium type of thing he had in mind with rotating writers and an occasional dinner speech, if interest was there.
Well, that sounded like a lot of fun to me. I love writing, and I love public speaking. (Really.)
I wrote back and said “I should tell you that while I’m quite conservative fiscally, I’m also pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro-marijuana decriminalization. Is that a problem?” He was polite but clearly horrified in his reply, and I never heard from him again.
I began wondering in earnest that day whether my chosen political self-identification of “moderate conservative” was something I needed to rethink.
I have voted for them before. But today, by and large, I can’t stand Republicans. Most of them are social neanderthals. Also, given control of the government for the past six years, instead of being good stewards of my money, the lying assholes have grown the government like smack-addicted pit fiends.
I have voted for them before. But today, by and large, I can’t stand Democrats. Most of them yammer about the rich “paying their fair share” when the top 1% of earners pays more than a third of all federal income taxes; the top quarter pays 84%; and the top half pays 97%. And guys and gals, “Republicans suck!” is not a platform.
I became a Libertarian when I realized that of the “big two,” I really didn’t think it mattered who was in. I have a couple of asterisks, as my profile says, and I’m sure I’ll talk about them at some point. But really, the Libertarian platform most closely matches my beliefs, and all practical motivation for holding my nose and voting for one of the “big two” has vanished with the ample demonstration of the past ten or so years that it just doesn’t matter whether who’s in has a (D) or an (R) after the name. Not a dime’s worth of difference, sports fans.
2008 is shaping up to be a bizarre election for me. It’s probably going to be the most exciting contest since at least 1960, and I’m really looking forward to the theater of it. And yet I’ve never cared less about the outcome. Holding those two thoughts simultaneously is strange.
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I pretty much identify with the libertarians too. Geez louize we are getting waaaay too much gubment from both sides
No child left behind – being the republican’s version of more gubment lately
Go watch V for Vendetta,it’ll make you feel better.
Oh, what a marvelous movie! I savored every second. And I thought Hugo Weaving did one of the greatest acting jobs of the (young) 21st century. How can I get so involved with a character and never once see his face? Enjoying a phenomenal thespian at the top of his craft, that’s how.
I also love that John Hurt played Winston Smith in 1984. It makes his role in V for Vendetta just deliciously ironic.
I couldn’t describe my feelings any better.
My grandfather used to say: “Politicians is politicians”. (D) (R) or whatever, they are playing the game of politics, which includes viewing the rest of us as sheep waiting to be flocked at their leisure.
If people aren’t voting, it may be because of the partisan vendetta displayed every two or four years.
Whose fault?
Pat: If by “partisan vendetta,” you mean the way the Democrats and Republicans operate their campaigns, I agree. Ballot access is a big problem, too. The system is deeply stacked against any non-Republocrat voice.
I agree with most of your post. I would like to see you folow this up with some ideas how we can change America. I would like the see the federal income tax law repealed, and the federal Reserve abolished. Both have put way too much money in the hands of politicians and Bankers. Give the Gonvernmet enough money to operate under the way of tazes and levies before 1913. Worked great back then. I beleive anyone who servers in the House or senate should by law be banned from ant lobby group for life. And politicans who tack on pork to a needed bill just for the sake of getting relected in his own state should have to pay for it out of his own pocket if it is proven pork. The New deal dragged out the depression another 7 years. The stimulus package will to more harm than good. I urge each one to not vote for either democrats or republicans. I lean toward the Constitution party right now because they agree on cutting government growth and stopping the money flow. I am afraid citizens will be so ready for change they will elect anyone. Much like Germany did with Hitler. Why sould you and I have to help pay for a bunch of crooks advertising on TV?
Ben, thanks for your comment.
I’m struggling right now with my political identity. I like a lot of what the Libertarian and Constitution Parties have to say. I have little doubt that philosophically, I’m a libertarian.
However, the reality on the ground, I believe, is that I’m not going to see a significant presence of either party in Congress, much less in the White House, in my lifetime.
I’m not sure that being correct but absent is a pragmatic course. So, what to do?
Well, guess who else is struggling with their political identities right now, after getting a once-in-a-generation pasting last year?
Is there a legitimate chance right now to restore fiscal responsibility to the Republican Party? Can 2010 be like 1994 was (and I still maintain that the Contract with America was the start of genuinely moving in the right direction)? I don’t know, but I’m intrigued by the possibility.
Many people characterize me as a one-issue voter, because almost all I care about is small government. That’s not quite fair, though, because I believe the country I want largely follows as unavoidable consequence of small government. I have significant disagreements with much of the social Republican platform, for example, but if the fiscal side of it wins out, I’ll get my way anyway.
I take my Christian faith seriously, but I don’t think anyone who knows me would characterize me as a “typical” Christian. I believe in making the tent larger, even at the expense of some longstanding things people think they “know” about Christianity.
I’m wondering if I shouldn’t be that kind of Republican, as well. Politically, should I be correct, but ultimately meaningless? Or should I be partially correct, and influential?
Once upon a time, I believed the Republicans were killing our country 10% slower than the Democrats. What if that 10% is real? In the practical absence of an alternative, shouldn’t I pursue it?
I really hope voters are so enraged by the antics of the Federal Government that they will forget the my Dad and Grandfather where Democrats or Republican so that’s what I am. At least that is what I hear most. Othes say Democrats are for the poor and republicans are for the rich. Hogwash!!
Both parties should and always be first Americans. Then maybe they would have the guts to do what is necessary instead of what the party says, or will this help me get reelected. I am 64 and have seen republican presidents with the house and senate…and democratic presidents wihh the same. So they sure can’t just point the finger at the other party. They are both to blame for the mess our country is in. When Congress got warnings way ahead for what was going on in Fannie mae and freddie mac they did nothing to prevent it. They should all be at least censured. I would support a public caining right now. I love this country and most Americans do also. We are not red and Blue states..we are red, white and Blue. The news is split also..we have Democrat news and Republican news anymore..just choose your site for their version of the truth. It seems politicans believe if they mix a little truth with a whole package of lies (disinformation I believe it is called?) we will fall for it. Keep up the good work! I like what I hear from Ron Paul and hope he will keep speaking out on the abuses in government. Forgive my typos..I am getting up there in age and can’t see too well anymore.
Oddly enough, both “pro choice” and “pro gay marriage” could be considered anti Libertarian positions. “Pro choice” because at some point, by any reasonable definition, the unborn baby’s right to life should become protected by the Constitution. And, “pro gay marriage” because the government really shouldn’t be confering special privileges on any one segement of the population, be it hetero or homo, anyway.
Hi, Lee.
If you said the gov’t should not be conferring special privileges, therefore prohibiting gay marriage, aren’t you contradicting yourself? In the anti-gay-marriage argument, marriage is a special privilege afforded to the heterosexual populace. Legalizing gay marriage would make it a right all sexual orientations have.
Well said. I came to the (small l) libertarian party the same way you did. And was raised a Democrat because my mom was a Democrat and my grandparents were Democrats.
Well guess what? My grandma passed away last November and while she wouldn’t get into heated political discussions with me or anyone for that matter (beyond the one time she told me we should bring back Civil Conservation Corps and other such social programs whereupon young people are forced to give back to their communities), my grandpa always loved a good political argument. I was raised to think that Republicans were bad (and rich) and Democrats good.
The worst thing you could be in my family was Republican. So when I matured as an adult and realized I wasn’t a Democrat after all despite my proper Democrat upbringing (in ultra liberal Madison, WI none-the-less!), it was with a lot of shame that I confessed my conservative bent to my family.
My grandpa and I got to spend a month together while my grandma was in the hospital just before she died and we would sit and watch CNN, MSNBC, all of it. It was almost comforting for us to yell at the TV and pick apart the news, and I was happy to be able to spend the time with him. I grew up with them doing the same thing except this time I was an adult and had (a lot of) opinions about everything and had the information to back up my feelings.
And you know what? Grandpa might be a libertarian too. His breed of Democrat (he lived through the Depression) no longer exists. If it did, I’d be more likely to say I am one.
It’s all such a ruse. They’re all ridiculous, power-mad freaks. Do you ever actually watch politicians? They’re sketchy and plastic, puppets trotted out to entertain the masses. Sort of like the royal family in England or the bread and circuses of Rome.
Now grandpa and I talk every week and rail on the same sketchy crap that continues to go on. Obama, Bush, it doesn’t matter. When will people GET that?