Alex Libman
Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2007
- Messages
- 1,423
I came across this great opinion piece by Brian Miller that I think everybody should read -- A Public Service Reminder: The Libertarian Party Is Not The GOP --
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As a centrist in the Libertarian Party, I'm certainly accustomed to the barbs of radicals and their sting, when I have disagreed on a policy position. However, I'm also attuned to the exclusionary policies of some in the right wing, and the problems that Republican Party divisiveness creates within a big-tent party like the LP. That latter dynamic represents the gravest threat to a successful Libertarian Party electoral campaign in 2008 - regardless of the opinions to the contrary of GOP organs such as the American Spectator.
One has to have a fundamental grasp of the difference between the LP and the Republican Party in order to understand the cultural conflicts arising within it today. The Republican Party is a centrally-managed, top-down organization with "leaders" who "set the agenda" and foot soldiers (primarily on the social-conservative right) who "spread the news."
The Libertarian Party, in contrast, is a voluntary association of liberty lovers from various walks of life who have come together to debate the role of liberty in everyday life and in governance. Rather than serving as a top-down organization which gets its marching orders from the Leaders On High, we're a democratic organization that debates every point and then encourages our elected leaders in the LNC to take our message out to the general public - along with, of course, Libertarian candidates for office.
Our principles are stated in our platform, voted upon by the delegates - not by the Bill Bennetts, Pat Robertsons, and George W. Bushes who set the GOP agenda. As a Libertarian, I can criticize the dismal and unbroken record of failure of both the Republican Party and the conservative movement - but I would never dream of telling the Republicans how to run their party, even as it careens to laughing-stock status in the polls and permanent minority status in Congress and the Senate.
If only Republicans had the same courtesy vis-a-vis the Libertarian Party.
The reason why Shane Cory left the executive directorship of the Libertarian Party under such a cloud is simple - his Republican-style command-and- control, centrally-managed approach emulated a GOP style in a party that is not, and never will be, the GOP. Those of us who want a Libertarian approach to the operation of our own party are not "radicals" - we are engaged party members who demand that the professional standards of conduct developed by the membership and the LNC be applied to all staffers to give us a party organization that represents the broad interests of our party - not the narrow interests of a self-styled elite.
I'm a fan of Chuck Muth, a former Republican-turned-independent who has cozied up to the conservative wing of the LP as the master of ceremonies of a recent LP outreach effort in Nevada last year.
Unfortunately, Muth's latest blog post, entitled "Libertarian Fringe Comes Unhinged," reads more like a press release from the Republican National Committee than an independent and informed analysis on the recent controversy. Muth complains that "unhinged" Libertarians from "the fringe" pushed out his friend Shane Cory to defend a "woman who is nuts" and a "loon" (based on a selective and out-of-context interpretation of a book published over a decade ago by Ruwart). Note that Dr. Ruwart was never asked by Muth to clarify her position (as she did on Steve Kubby's recent radio show) - she's instead immediately demonized.
This is a classic Republican-style smear job, and a frequent tactic by the failed Republican right wing. It has its roots in right-wing talk radio - a slew of out-of-context quotes, righteous indignation, epithets, and table-pounding, spittle-projecting, double-chin wobbling purple-faced rage which we are told is "mainstream". Such manufactured high-blood-pressure outrage is used in GOP campaigns against Democrats (most notably the Clintons), Libertarians (including Harry Browne and Michael Badnarik) and Greens (Cynthia McKinney) on a regular basis. "My opponent is interested in harming THE CHILDREN!" they scream. "We must stand up against them!"
I am not a Mary Ruwart supporter - my preferred choice is George Phillies. I disagree with a significant number of the opinions expressed in Dr. Ruwart's book. I supported George Phillies's good-faith efforts to draw policy-level contrasts between his positions on the issues and those of Dr. Ruwart. That's a real spirit of debate, and to be applauded. I look forward to Dr. Ruwart responding and advancing the debate.
However, I also know that recent GOP efforts to smear Dr. Ruwart - a mother and grandmother - as a "supporter of child porn" from an out-of-context quote is ridiculous and slanderous blood libel. And the truth is, so do Wayne Root, Shane Cory and Chuck Muth, despite their efforts to position themselves as the brave and solitary opponents of The Well-Funded And Powerful Lobby For The Unspeakable. These Republican recent arrivals are trying to transform an exceptional activist within the Libertarian Party into something less than human, through Rush Limbaugh style insults and attacks.
It's unfortunate that they're grabbing onto this irrelevant and out-of-context quote to manufacture right-wing style "protect our children" outrage for their own political advantage - while simultaneously avoiding any real debates on actual policies that matter to our party and our country.
Further, they're assuming that voters who are dim-witted enough to fall for their rhetorical tricks represent a vital mainstream voting constituency, rather than the tiny fringe found split between the Constitution Party and the hard right wing of the GOP. The penalty for not accepting the ad hominems against Dr. Ruwart, we are warned, is the derision of the "mainstream" (defined as the far-right Republican fringe who couldn't even win their own party's nomination battle). They would have us believe that the Libertarian Party must ignore the 85% of voters who are moderates and liberals and instead embrace those who "propelled" Tancredo, Hunter and others to sub-1% support levels in the Republican primary.
The overarching objective of this approach is to change the subject, enabling right-wing GOP-lite candidates - a prominent few of whom have participated in no debates at all - to avoid talking about real issues and instead spam the dialogue with "bold" claims that "I am against The Unspeakable" ... as though that is a highly unique position.
Talk about the politics of cynicism!
A word of advice to recent candidate arrivals to the LP (and their supporters): Libertarians don't like GOP-style smear politics - it's one of the reasons they're registered with America's third party to begin with. Continued Limbaugh-lite demagoguery will go over like the proverbial flatulence in church. The widespread calls for Cory's departure illustrate this clearly.
At the Libertarian National Convention, those of us who are Libertarian Convention delegates will get an opportunity to compare declared candidates. There will be significant pressure for meaningful debate on real issues, and LP delegates will expect all candidates to participate in a good-faith dialogue.
If Libertarians with decade-old books are to be held accountable for their positions in those books, recent arrivals from the Republican Party with anti-liberty legislative or publishing records from the early 2000s will be equally held to account. GOP-style, right-wing-fringe attacks on candidates for office will not thrive in this environment of principled analysis - they'll flop.
Secondly, please note that Libertarians do not have backbones of gelatin. We do not seek the approval or the enthusiasm of the Republican Party, any more than we seek the same from the Democratic Party. As Paul Jacob of the Sam Adams Alliance notes, we've always been "the little party that could," and the derision of the failing and desperate right wing GOP commentariat is likely the least of the challenges we have faced -- and conquered -- over the years.
We as Libertarians all seek a candidate who will clearly articulate Libertarian values as a big-tent leader - someone who will be intellectually honest, who has campaigned honestly and forthrightly over the last several months, whose intentions for high office are clear, and who will make a clean break with the divisive and exclusionary dirty politics of the GOP that have so grievously harmed our party in the last several months.
We will demand that candidates debate and campaign on their records, on the candidates they have endorsed in recent elections, on their affiliations, on their longterm involvement in the fight for liberty, in their efficacy as freedom fighters, and in their policy prescriptions for America. We will honestly discuss the policies articulated in Dr. Ruwart's book - and we will also ask candidates who are, to be charitable, recent converts to explain how they intend to undo anti-freedom policies for which they voted - policies such as the Law of the Seas, the USA PATRIOT Act, the Defense of Marriage Act, border-closing laws, federal school prayer mandates, and various Drug War statutes.
As a party, we will organize a grassroots campaign based not around old-party GOP-style politics of fear, but rather the politics of new ideas and belief in the founding principles of our Republic. We will hold the Republican and Democratic Parties, and their apologists, accountable for their dismal records. And we will succeed.
As a moderate Libertarian Party member and activist, I welcome the involvement of all people - from all political walks of life - who want to advance the cause of liberty. The cause of freedom is not advanced through Republican style epithets, nor Rush Limbaugh style table thumping, nor smearing of longtime Libertarian Party activists. Former Republicans and Democrats are welcome to become involved in our party and our movement, and should be excited to trade in their old-party dirty politics baggage for a real debate - open, engaged, honest, forthright, ethical, transparent and passionate.
Brian Miller is a delegate to the Libertarian National Convention in Denver, and a member of the executive committee of Outright Libertarians.
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