Posted on 03/16/2005 3:22:22 PM PST by swilhelm73
Since the 2008 campaign season seems to be off to an early start, Americans should think about getting a better handle on one of the other political parties--specifically that smaller one whose candidate finished with 0.3% of the vote in the 2004 Election.
I'm not talking about the Green Party, with whose tenets most Americans are by now familiar but which drew an even smaller 0.1% of the vote. I'm talking about the country's third-largest, yet still somewhat enigmatic, party, the Libertarians--which is often overshadowed by other minor parties (even the Greens, if you can imagine), and whose candidate's name I'd wager most people still don't know. (It's Michael Badnarik.)
Most of us have heard at least vaguely the party's guiding principles, which usually center on a "government out" ideology that says the government has exactly two functions: to protect citizens from foreign attackers, and to create and defend a body of law that protects citizens' property rights and physical safety. There is also an emphasis on personal liberty and individual responsibility.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
As sympathetic as we might be to Libertarian ideals, to canvass votes for a third party only helps Hitlery's bid for the White House.
What's with the focus on sex? I've never heard libertarians characterized as being licentious horn dogs.
Even if I agree with the Libertarians on some issues, I am as likely to EVER vote for any Libertarian candidate as I am a Green candidate since the two cozeyed up and joined forces in Ohio to cause trouble. That finished any interest or good feelings I ever had for the Libertarian party.
The extremes of the left and the right always find they have more common ground than any of us would ever think.
The same thing happened over here: the far left (Greens) and far right (One Nation) joined forces to oppose the liberation of Iraq.
I used to follow the R-L-D rule. After the disgusting actions of the LP the last few years, no more though.
As you note, the LP has decided on several occasions to sell its soul to the Democrats in return for ...? Even the bone of drug legalization isn't around any more, which makes the likes of their Ohio actions all the more bizaare.
Libertarian: A person with faith in the natural wisdom and restraint of pro wrestling fans
libertarian, blah blah blah
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