A friend emails:
I'm still thinking about this for some reason. I came to the conclusion that if the term "Libertarians for ... " is used, the next word(s) should be something a libertarian would be for.
If Trump takes a position that Libertarians would support, it can go "Libertarians for getting out of NATO," or "Libertarians for getting out of Iraq".
There is no compromise with saying that.
If Trump was lying just to get votes (which would surprise no one) then Libertarians can't be put in a 'gotcha' situation from a PR standpoint. Libertarians still stand for what they said they stand for.
But saying "Libertarians for Trump" exposes libertarians to the full candidate, and not just a sound position. Now when Trump breaks campaign promises and causes all types of damage, libertarians look like a bunch of naive fools.
The only time it would be safe for Libertarians to be for the full candidate would be in the case of someone like Ron Paul. A person with a 30 yr track record of voting against state expansion. In other words, never again (most likely).
Libertarians should be for Liberty only. If there's a specific libertarian position that a politician is for, then throw your weight behind it. Otherwise, no compromise. No endorsing the whole pig.
Well said. Precisely why I got out.
ReplyDeleteHow about "libertarians for the Establishment getting its ass kicked"? That would be synonymous with "libertarians for Trump".
ReplyDeleteIndeed, and it’s also a misuse of the word libertarian to call someone the “most libertarian” of a group when they have a lifetime of usually (almost always in Trumps case) having non-libertarian positions on issues.
ReplyDeleteIt's like saying libertarians for authoritarians. Trump is not on our team. Unfortunately it's been really hard to find another minarchist like Ron.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how many people remember Ron Paul endorsing Ted Cruz for senate (Tx seat). I'm not from TX, but I remember "people" (in the RP grassroots) saying, "huh? thought he was the enemy..."
DeleteFully agree, despite what Justin Rainmondo thinks, I don't believe Trump is anti-war or getting the US out of NATO which seems to be the one issue that Trump-tarians say the reason they are supporting. One is either for liberty or they're not
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