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Why Did the Libertarian Chicken Cross the Road?
Townhall.com ^ | August 18, 2013 | Daniel J. Mitchell

Posted on 08/18/2013 12:38:51 PM PDT by Kaslin

The good thing about being a libertarian is that you are motivated by freedom, which is a very noble principle, and you have lots of evidence on your side, whether the issue is economics or personal liberty.

You can’t afford to be smug, of course, since it’s still a big uphill battle to convince politicians not to engage in plunder.

But at least you can sleep soundly at night knowing that you’re on the side of the angels.

And that even means you have self-confidence about your ideas and you can laugh when someone puts together some clever anti-libertarian humor.

Here’s the latest example, sent to me by a TV journalist.


What makes this funny is that libertarians are sometimes quick to defend their rights, even when nobody’s trying to take them away.

Which is why we sometimes get pigeonholed as being weird, like the family in the lower left of this poster, or paranoid, like the guy in the #8 spot of this poster.

But let’s be thankful that there are some libertarians willing to raise a stink about government even if the rest of the world thinks we’re a bit odd. As we’ve seen dozens of times, most recently with the IRS and NSA, bureaucrats and politicians have a compulsive tendency to grab more power and make government more intrusive.

I started yesterday’s post with a mother-in-law joke, so I’ll end today’s post by mentioning the fable of the frog that gets put in a pot of water and doesn’t jump out because the temperature feels comfortable. But then the heat is slowly raised and the frog no longer has the energy to escape when he finally figures out he’s being cooked.

Well, libertarians are the ones who loudly complain when the government puts us into pots.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: libertarians; medicalmarijuana; randsconcerntrolls
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To: cripplecreek

“We need some of both”

I agree. Boiled down to their simplest terms I see them like this...

Conservatism—”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Libertarianism—”Mind your own business”.

Since I agree with both of those, I consider myself both.


21 posted on 08/18/2013 2:14:23 PM PDT by Hugin
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To: Kaslin

To get to the weed. :-)


22 posted on 08/18/2013 2:19:40 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Hugin

I’m certainly not going to slap libertarians for reaching out. I’d rather negotiate an acceptable compromise for both.


23 posted on 08/18/2013 2:29:46 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Hugin

Stealth liberals are something, I don’t know who you think you are fooling, real conservatives - not the RINO’s - know what you are all about, very little different from Obama’s agenda, you want once Christian America to be remade in your image, an antichrist atheist type country.


24 posted on 08/18/2013 2:37:02 PM PDT by sasportas
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To: Kaslin

A “Because someone else told him ~NOT~ to do it!”


25 posted on 08/18/2013 2:40:07 PM PDT by JSDude1 (Is John Boehner the Neville Chamberlain of American Politics?)
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To: Veggie Todd
Thanks for that.

hahahahahahahahaha......ahhh...hehehe

26 posted on 08/18/2013 3:02:36 PM PDT by HusbandMan
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To: Kaslin

I appreciate the humor and I notice that the general tone towards Libertarians on FR has softened somewhat. That’s a good thing in my view. Not because I agree with libertarianism: I often don’t, but because the enemy of my enemies can be my friend.

I also think that if conservatives and libertarians are not able to change the current trajectory of things, we will have plenty of time to discuss the relative merits of each political philosophy at length over our daily rations of soylent red in the gulags.


27 posted on 08/18/2013 3:07:54 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat (Power disintegrates when people withdraw their obedience and support)
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To: Standing Wolf
The Banner of the Republican Party

The Motto of the Republican Party:

Je Suis Un Collaborateur Veuillez Comme Moi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Republicans vs. Democrats: Maybe A Dime’s Worth Of Difference

~ Larry Elder, The Ten Things You Can’t Say In America

28 posted on 08/18/2013 3:08:10 PM PDT by Old Sarge (Opinions are like orgasms: only mine count, and I couldn't care less if you have one...)
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To: Old Sarge; Standing Wolf

George Wallace got a lot of things wrong. But one thing he really got wrong was in saying there wasn’t a dimes worth of difference between the gop and the ‘rats.

He was off by 9 cents.


29 posted on 08/18/2013 3:13:21 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat (Power disintegrates when people withdraw their obedience and support)
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To: gorush
Our Constitution, if followed, provides liberty.

Not exactly. The Founders were not even vaguely libertarian, by modern standards. We think they are because they established a federal government with limited powers.

This was not because they wanted government to leave the people alone, as much as because they wanted the state governments rather than the federal governments to control the people.

Originally, the Bill of Rights did not apply to state action and were violated routinely by the states. The Constitution put remarkably few limitations on what the states could legislate with regard to "domestic affairs."

30 posted on 08/18/2013 3:17:06 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: RKBA Democrat

There isn’t a dimes worth of difference between libertarians and the rats. Since they choose the Republicans to infiltrate, they must see them as easier to deceive than the rats. This is true of only the RINO’s.


31 posted on 08/18/2013 3:21:42 PM PDT by sasportas
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To: sasportas

” you want once Christian America to be remade in your image, an antichrist atheist type country.”

That is complete, utter BS.

Libertarians are all about letting people do what they feel is right, as long as they don’t infringe unduly on others. You know, “freedom”, including “freedom of religion”.

Too many so-called conservatives have become statist control freaks.


32 posted on 08/18/2013 3:43:41 PM PDT by PreciousLiberty
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To: Kaslin

The graphic spelt Losertarian wrong.


33 posted on 08/18/2013 3:48:00 PM PDT by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
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To: Old Sarge
Je Suis Un Collaborateur Veuillez Comme Moi = I'm A Contributor, Please Like Me
34 posted on 08/18/2013 3:56:38 PM PDT by ~Peter
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To: Old Sarge
Je Suis Un Collaborateur Veuillez Comme Moi = I'm A Contributor, Please Like Me
35 posted on 08/18/2013 3:56:54 PM PDT by ~Peter
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To: Georgia Girl 2

Why did the libertarian chicken cross the road?

Like because the corn was across the road and
all that weed made me hungry?


36 posted on 08/18/2013 4:00:23 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

Probably get pulled,,,, that’s okay. Sorry!


The d—k or the chicken?


37 posted on 08/18/2013 4:06:47 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: supercat
Additionally, "libertarian" factions often push a number of things which conservatives should be happy with if certain other things happen first, but which would have pro-leftist side-effects if they're done before those other things.

Example, please? I don't have any idea what you're talking about.

38 posted on 08/18/2013 4:34:58 PM PDT by BfloGuy (Keynesians take the stand that the best way to sober up is more booze.)
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To: RginTN
I can not support Libertarianism as they want to give up on social issues while knowing the Left is using those social issues to take liberty from dissenters.

Sounds kind of like me and the GOP - I can't support them as long as they have lefties like McCain, Boehner, Gayham, Rubio who want to give the left a lot of what they ask for. And that's just a few of the numerous lefties in the GOP. Damn shame how bad things have gotten and how blatant they are about their loyalties.
39 posted on 08/18/2013 5:12:21 PM PDT by af_vet_rr
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To: PreciousLiberty
Too many so-called conservatives have become statist control freaks.

"So called" conservatives, eh? A conservative seeks to preserve the concepts this country was founded on. Not a one of the founders would support your libertarian sodomizing of America. The founders weren't a bunch of sissy long haired pot smoking queers.

"Statist control freaks?" You are no more against socialism than Christian conservatives. Libertarians accuse Christian conservatives, because we are against the moral destruction of America they assume we want a theocracy. Not so, all we want is the conservation/preservation of Christian values - which doesn't meant a thing to you as a libertarian.

40 posted on 08/18/2013 5:20:45 PM PDT by sasportas
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