Posted on 12/30/2009 4:51:48 PM PST by Publius804
It appears that some state and county Tea Party groups are trying to cleanse their ranks of libertarians. That's a shame since the movement started with Ron Paul and his libertarian followers, and was then co-opted by mainstream GOP Sean Hannity types.
Lawrence Samuels, editor of Facets of Liberty: A Libertarian Primer and participant in the Monterey County Tea Party, is witnessing the purge firsthand:
[A]fter a successful 4th of July Tea Party parade and Freedom Rally in Monterey, the cracks in the alliance split wide open. I was accused of belonging to too many leftist organizations. In fact, I am co-chair of the local Libertarians for Peace, which joined the 27-member Monterey County Peace Coalition to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Libertarians for Peace is neither Left nor Right….
Obviously, the Tea Party conservatives were neophytes; never before had they been involved in political activism. Some had never heard of Congressman Ron Paul. Prof. David R. Henderson, one of the libertarian Tea Party Board members, described this curious phenomenon as "activism without ideals." I thought my phrase captured it best: "a cause without a rebel." In fact, as demands to purge the libertarians intensified, we got the distinct feeling that the purgers fit the category of "reactionary" since they seemed to know only what they were against, not what they were for. Amazingly, they never pointed out any philosophical differences that they found objectionable. It was as if they were devoid of ideas, marooned with empty rhetoric and no real solutions….
In retrospect, it did not help our case when we asked these rookies embarrassing questions. We asked them why they had done nothing when President Bush bailed out the banks and auto companies, spent money like a drunken sailor, bashed civil liberties and advanced socialized medicine with Medicare Prescription Drug law, a program that some in Congress estimated will have a price tag of $1.2 trillion by 2016. I suppose our questioning merely rubbed their noises too deeply in their ignorance.
You can read his entire account here.
If the Tea Party movement is to function merely as the activist wing of Republican talk radio, it won't get very far.
also what is this author on about?
totally out of touch with what the tea party is about and who got it going.
ios this another way for the fools from both sides to break the tea party movement.
boy they’re really afraid of the tea party arn;t they
I think you're right.
Typical Paulestinian.
Paying attention to the news stories, and actually getting out there and holding a sign, marching with like minded folks, are two entirely different things.
Did a little research on the Heritage Foundation. Ron Paul had nothing to do with the founding of this movement. I can understand why Conservatives are weary of libertarians...they tend to turn a legitimate grass-root movement into a Freak-show...In the end they only diminish the effort of real Patriots who take action.
Can't disagree with that statement. Paul's problem was he inspired thousands, when he needed to inspire millions.
Paul was the only Republican who could have match Obama's online presence, grassroots support and fund-raising.
Huh? Sarah Palin trumps all Republicans in that regard.
exactly
we have groups right now trying to destroy the movement because they’re afraid.
Lets just keep getting the word out about this white house and Govt and leave these fools who want to destroy the movement to their little pathetic lives
Most libertarians are pro-life and even the ones who supposed support abortion at least support taking tax dollars out of it and letting states decide.
drug use without consequence
But drugs are already being abused now, and they're illegal.
open borders
Libertarians oppose the welfare state and anchor babies. Getting rid of the regulations would force businesses to hire Americans. They're more pro-border security than most Republicans.
demilitarization
You mean stop the nation-building and fighting police actions in 3rd world hell-holes, right? Libertarians support a strong national defense.
Perhaps the Libertatians should return to their roots
That's fine but don't bitch when the Republican loses by several hundred votes because of the libertarian in the race.
This has been the spin out of the Ron Paul movement for a while. I’ve heard it several times.
Honestly, the more I hear out of the Ron Paul camp, the more I think it qualifies as the political version of a CULT. Everything somehow relates back to Ron Paul.
That’s probably the cause of the tension with the Tea Party movement. It’s pretty well documented how it started (with a reporter’s outcry on a trading room floor) and it had nothing to do with Ron Paul. The Paul supporters are causing the tension (and distrust) by claiming they started it instead. It’s hard to trust someone when you know they are flat out lying about something (like starting the Tea Party movement.)
Political views
Beck says of his political views, "I consider myself a libertarian. I'm a conservative, but every day that goes by I'm fighting for individual rights." Among his core values Beck lists personal responsibility, private charity, the right to life, freedom of religion, low debt, limited government, and family as the cornerstone of society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_beck#Political_views
Sounds good to me!
Yes, Rick Santelli christened the name but by and large the movement was already underway during Paul's presidential run.
Ron Paul? Sheesh, his minions need to give it a rest.
Say what you want about him but he was the only Republican to bring in younger voters and small gov't voters back into the GOP.
The tea parties need to be about principles not party
All anyone needs to know about Ron Paul that it was his camp that gave the "code pinkers" the Convention tickets that they used to protest both McCain and Palin when they delivered their speeches.
Paul has WAY too much Ross Perot in him. After a while, they really start to believe some of their own BS.
*ping*
Stop promoting this lie - I already called you on the carpet for it before.
You know those kooks were trying to exploit Paul's campaign and only represented a fraction of his overall support
I don’t bitch when republicans lose. Many of them are too far to the left as well.
I voted for Keyes this last time, and things are going pretty much exactly as I expected. Unemployment and housing bubble included.
The tea party movement is inspiring conservatism.
And really, the country isn’t worth saving without a return to conservatism.
I agree with the sentiment but the movement did not start with Ron Paul and his followers as far as I know.
>> What is this guy smoking?
I guess it’s not a movement until you stick a label on it. /s
Why not point to the movement Jim Thomson started in the late 90s? Or, the movement Rush started in the 80s?
Maybe the movement is really the continuum of that which began through the courage of our Founding Fathers - better yet, the teachings and sacrifice of Christ.
And let’s not forget, the swingin’ indies put Obama into office.
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