The Libertarian-types are losing thier sanity.

[Odin2005]

Until Obama was inaugurated they seemed at least sane although I disagreed with them. Then came this thread on a history & current events message board I frequent in which they start screaming that the welfare state is slavery (I'm the poster "Odin". Then they hijack this thread with Ron-Paulite isolationist nonsense. I have noticed this off-line as well. Libertarian-types that I thought were reasonable are calling Obama a fascist.

:banghead:

[Ganja Ninja]

1. Not surprising.

Libertarians are really just Republican's that like to imagine themselves as being more independent thinking than the run of the mill GOP supporter. They take pride in being critical of both parties but actually all they do is complain twice as much as Democrats or Republicans.

[Odin2005]

9. I get that same feeling. They whine and whine and whine instead of doing anything constructive.

The poster "The Rani" on the threads I posted is a perfect example. Whine, snark, whine, snark, whine... :eyes:

[corruptmewithpower]

2. The libertarians called Bush a fascist.

And they were right.

[LeftishBrit]

7. RW-libertarians think that *all* governments are fascist

Since *some* governments actually are fascist, this means that occasionally they happen to be right on this topic. It still doesn't mean I'd trust them further than I could throw them!

[corruptmewithpower]

14. I wouldn't worry. They're about, 2 or so percent of the electorate?

[Warpy]

3. Libertarians only made sense on social issues

Unfortunately, they've long been infected by Randorhhoids and laissez faire economic theorists, complete with the free market fairy who takes care of everything. When they start talking about government and its role and economics they stop making sense completely.

I'm surprised it took you so long to notice.

[kenichol]

8. Free market fairy who takes care of everything

"...complete with the free market fairy who takes care of everything..."

You really have a way with words. I hope it's ok that I intend to repeat this whenever I can.

[Warpy]

11. Please do, it's public domain

once I post it here.

I have seen my stuff popping up in some remarkable places, actually. Either other people have equivalently diseased minds or they're picking up my lunacy and repeating it.

[Odin2005]

10. Don't forget Austrian School "economics", which is pseudoscientific BS.

I will smack the next idiot who uses Von Mises and Hayek as a source.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. Libertarians never make sense. Period.

Their whole premise is based upon the flawed belief that one lives in a bubble, and what one does neither affects anyone else or is not affected by anyone else.

It's an offensive ideology, IMHO.

[Odin2005]

22. They forgot (or never learned) Aristotle's wiity quip...

..."One who lives completely independent of others must either be a beast or a god." Forgot, or think they are gods...

[Mrs. Overall]

4. Libertarians are simply Republicans who smoke pot.

[TheCoxwain]

13. Good one !

[mikeytherat]

18. "Libertarians are Republicans who are too chickenshit to admit they're Republicans."

mikey_the_rat

[BurtWorm]

5. Democrats make them insane.

They were as bad in the Clinton era. I think they're about to get worse, actually.

[LeftishBrit]

6. I don't think they ever had much sanity

But it fits in with what I've been saying for a while: that some progressives have been tempted to make common cause with people who regarded the Bush government as evil because they regarded *all* government as evil, and who opposed the war on xenophobic-isolationist rather than rational or humanitarian grounds. And that some RW-libertarians were passing as progressive because of their hostility to Bush. I argued in several posts (some of them in my journal) that any progressive acceptance of the likes of Paul is dangerous, not so much because he's so important himself, as because it is dangerous for the left to give aid and comfort to the anti-establishment Right, just because it's anti-establishment.

At the moment, there is exceptionally fertile soil for the growth of anti-establishment Right movements: they always flourish in hard economic times, and if one were trying to imagine a leader of the political establishment who would most arouse the ire of such people, it would be difficult to find a better example than Obama: liberal, black, international in heritage and upbringing, *and* a member of the Educated Elite! (tut tut!) At least this means that the anti-establishment right-wingers are now beginning to show their true nature more clearly: they could sometimes pass as 'progressive' under Bush; their right-wing tendencies are harder to disguise under Obama.

[Odin2005]

12. I agree. The Paulite nuts are frighteningly batshit crazy.

[anonymous171]

15. Libertarians only make sense on Foreign Policy issues.

However, they are wrong on all the other issues.

[Odin2005]

16. IMO there are wrong on foreign policy too.

I have no use for the Isolationist nonsense spewed by Paulites.

[anonymous171]

17. Moderate Isolationism would help us.

Removing all military bases from foreign lands, no foreign intervention, and eliminating certain trade agreements would probably be a good thing.

[Odin2005]

19. I must disagree.

If military intervention is necessary to stop genocide and ethnic cleansing then it should be done. I remember when I was a kid seeing stories on the news about the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia, stories that left me in tears. Rwanda is what happens if we stand by an do nothing. In the case of Bosnia we made very clear to Miloshivich and his fellow Serbian Nationalist monsters and thier actions would not be tolerated, words backed by military force.

[anonymous171]

21. I should elaborate my previous statement. I think Unilateral Intervention is bad.

Multilateral intervention, organized through the UN is OK though. Multilateral interventions cost less money. Also, having multiple countries involved helps us avoid any international backlash that may result if the intervention becomes unpopular.

But I'm still not a big fan of intervention. It should be used as a last resort and only for the most heinous of international crimes.