"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

THE MORNING AFTER, THE FIGHT CONTINUES

Well, it was a rough night for us on the Right/Libertarian side of things, but there was some good news in my neck of the woods. The Republicans held onto the governorship in Nevada as well as two of the three Congressional seats that we've held for some time and John Ensign easily defeated Jimmy Carter's son to return to the Senate. Nevada seemed to go against the trend, but that's Nevada for you.

I think what has happened will be bad for the country, but the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. And admittedly, I myself am to blame as well. Ronald Reagan came to Washington in 1981 saying government wasn't the solution to our problem, government is the problem. This was the guiding principle for Republicans for two decades, but somewhere along the way, it fell to the wayside. This happened for many reasons: the love of power and the desire to keep it, the unattainable quest to get the MSM to like us, and so on. I myself turned a blind-eye to the growth of government under Republican rule due to the war on terror. So sure I have been (and still am) that President Bush and the Republicans are the only ones that will fight our enemies and feel that our country is indeed worth fighting for that I've taken the position that you have to take the good with the bad. This may have been a mistake. We have to get back to demanding the party run on Reaganesque principles: reduced government; low taxes; low spending; strong defense. Many fatalists are saying the dream is dead and that it'll be generations before we can hope to turn the tide. Not so. Nothing is impossible if you can imagine it and if you're willing to work your butt off to achieve it.

4 comments:

Jim Rose said...

If you think a Nancy Pelosi/Democrat victory is a libertarian victory, you don't know what libertarianism is.

Jim Rose said...

You're being defensive McCoy, which weakens your position greatly. I didn't bother to question your claims because they're so simplistic and pedestrian that I didn't see the point, but very well...

It's true that much of the Bush/GOP agenda is anti-libertarian, but it's hardly a victory for libertarianism when you replace one anti-libertarian agenda with another. Both parties have anti-libertarian positions, just in different areas. Sure the Democrats are for gay marriage/unions, but they want to nationalize health care. Sure the Dems don't want to interfere with family health decisions, but they want to raise taxes through the roof and bring back the "fairness" doctrine to squelch free speech. The Republican's/Bush "oppose science"? Now you're being disengenuous. Whether you agree with their position on stem-cells or not, it's a moral issue and it's not like they're Christian Scientists or some crap like that. As for the wiretap, torture stuff...you need to grow up. Being libertarian doesn't mean you agree to sign a suicide pact with those that want to kill you. That's what wrong with the Libertarian Party...too much ideology and not enough reality.

Bottom line, there's no winning for libertarians at the moment. The only hope we have is gridlock in which nothing gets accomplished.

Reliapundit said...

well said JR!

Jim Rose said...

You do make some good points (finally), but let us not forget that the new "moderate" or "conservative" Democrats that are coming to town are there at the pleasure of Nancy Pelosi. If they want to stick around for more than 2 years, they're going to have to tow the party leadership's line, which is decidely anti-libertarian. But who knows? Maybe they'll have some guts and fight for a more moderate agenda, but I don't have a lot of faith in the likes of Heath Schuler when it comes to intellectual savvy.

Pray for gridlock.

Also, be careful of your use of the term "neoconservative." It's been well established that that term was created by the Left as a sort of slur on Conservatives that favor Israel. The whiff of Leftist anti-Semitism can't be washed off this beltway buzzword. Just a piece of advice...take it or leave it.

Peace out!