Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Showing Original Post only (View all)

cthulu2016

(10,960 posts)
Fri Aug 23, 2013, 12:41 AM Aug 2013

If Republicans are the real enemy, why call them Libertarians? [View all]

Last edited Fri Aug 23, 2013, 01:33 AM - Edit history (2)

The Democratic Party faces continual challenges from the Republican Party, and we lose about half of those contests. We are in a perpetual fight with them... a see-saw battle for big stakes.

I do not recall a Democrat ever losing any major race to a candidate for the Libertarian Party. Like the Green Party, the Libertarian Party has never, IIRC, elected a congressperson or governor, and certainly never a president.

Given this dynamic, it is a bit odd that any Democrat would become obsessed with referring to Republicans as "libertarian." Ron Paul was elected many times, always as a Republican. He ran for president a time or two... as a Republican seeking the Republican Party nomination. Rand Paul was elected as a Republican and remains, in fact, a Republican. There is talk that he will run for President in 2016... as a Republican.

If my concern was that the Democratic Party do well, I don't see why I would continually claim that certain Republicans are libertarian. To what purpose?

Reversing the tags to attack Republicans would be like calling Nazis, "Spaniards." Spain was a fascist-friendly neutral in World War II and thus not a beloved nation, but calling Nazis Spaniards would have been a damn peculiar approach to the war effort. (Assuming one opposed the Nazis, rather than using the war to drum up bad feeling about some neighbors of Spanish descent who one wished would leave the neighborhood.)

Is the Tea Party somehow a "libertarian" organization? I seem to recall that such claims were promulgated by the Tea-Party and debunked decisively. The Tea Party is merely a faction within the Republican Party that seeks to dupe somebody, somewhere, into thinking there is anything libertarian about them.

Curiouser and curiouser.

At some point one has to ask themselves what the game is. Why call Republicans who are quite authoritarian (anti-abortion is a distinctly authoritarian stance, for instance) "libertarian"?

I suspect that the motive has nothing to do with Democrats doing well and everything to do with stigmatizing ACLU types within the Democratic Party, for whatever reason.

Speaking for myself, calling Rand Paul a libertarian is worse than merely misleading... it is a freaking kindness to the man. He is a Republican, which is like saying he is a plate of dog-shit.

But some folks get excited about calling anti-choice pro-jail Republicans who are neither Libertarians NOR libertarian by the L-word. And most of those Republicans would welcome the tag!

Very strange stuff.

As a die-hard civil-libertarian, something all liberals used to be, and that actual liberals still are almost definitionally, I find the game of tagging Republicans with a name that flatters them in relative terms, but happens to serve to erroneously de-legitimize the brand of political thought long supported by and ably represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as well as the word "liberal" itself, an odd one.

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»If Republicans are the re...