WhatFinger


Constitutional conservatives and liberal-tarians have almost nothing in common

Do Liberal-tarians threaten the Conservative Resurgence?



The T.E.A. Party began as a simple but firm message from millions of average American citizens, "Taxed Enough Already..." --which is to say, the runaway federal government must rein itself in or the people will begin to send spend-n-tax politicians out to pasture.

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But over the last year, the movement has been morphed into several very different agendas, most of them operating at odds with each other. Although the different factions can work together to dismantle the existing political power structure, working together towards building a new viable power structure is something which remains somewhat illusive. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. So even I can find statements by liberal-tarians which I agree with, such as this statement from Ron Paul --"There is nothing wrong with describing Conservatism as protecting the Constitution, protecting all things that limit government. Government is the enemy of liberty. Government should be very restrained." That might be the most valid statement Ron Paul has ever made, and he has regularly identified the conservative movement as the true defender of freedom and liberty throughout American history, as in this statement --"To me, to be a conservative means to conserve the good parts of America and to conserve our Constitution." I agree wholeheartedly with these statements by Paul. But then there has been another Ron Paul from time to time, a liberal-tarian Ron Paul which I disagree with and find someone dangerous.
  • "Another term for preventive war is aggressive war"
  • "Have you noticed the debt is exploding? And it's not all because of Medicare."
  • "I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas."
  • "I have never met anyone who did not support our troops."
As any national security expert will tell you, the best way to avoid war on U.S. soil is to address threats towards the U.S. before they reach U.S. soil. The best defense is very often a good offense, which means, the leftist notion of waiting to be attacked before defending our nation is a suicide mission. While Medicare alone is not the only reason for an exploding national debt, social spending overall, which now accounts for more than 60% of the federal budget, certainly is the primary problem. The quest for "social justice" is the primary reason for our current financial calamity. To ignore that is to cover up reality. Minding our own business abroad is akin to watching a lady being viciously attacked in the supermarket parking lot, and deciding it is none of our business. Defending our own personal freedom and liberty has always required defending the freedom and liberty of others. And yes, Ron Paul has met people who don't support our troops. Much of his 2008 presidential campaign was funded by Code Pink and MoveOn.org anti-war protesters who like nothing about our troops. The fact is - constitutional conservatives and liberal-tarians have almost nothing in common. Yet both are wrestling for control of America's conservative party, the GOP, via the Tea Party. Many of the Tea Party organizations are supporting liberal-tarian candidates in the GOP primaries, like Rand Paul in Kentucky. If the vast majority of Tea Party members are indeed "constitutional conservatives," why are they supporting liberal-tarian candidates who are largely aligned with leftist progressive's, issue-by-issue? Leftist Democrats are strategically using the most extreme elements within the Tea Party movement to define the entire conservative patriot resurgence as a bunch of "fringe nuts." Only hours after winning the GOP primary in Kentucky, Rand Paul finds himself under attack for some of the more extreme sounding statements in his closet. The DNC has gone so far as to write and distribute a strategy paper on how to neutralize the conservative resurgence by promoting liberal-tarian extremists in the GOP primaries, giving "mainstream" Democrats so-called "extremists" to run against in the general election come fall. Still, many average patriots remain unaware of the official policy positions behind the effort to build a liberal-tarian powerbase within the GOP.

Official Liberal-tarian Issue Positions

  • Pro Abortion Rights
  • Pro Gay Rights
  • Pro Illicit Drug and Prostitution
  • Pro Illegal Immigration and Amnesty
  • Anti Strong National Defense
  • Isolationist Security and Economic policies
  • Pro Freedom from Religion
  • Pro Civil Rights for known Terrorists
  • Pro Criminalizing Acts of War
For those who doubt my assertions, the full official liberal-tarian platform and issue statement is available at the Libertarian Party web site. If constitutional conservatives take time to fully inform themselves of the real liberal-tarian agenda, they will not support liberal-tarian candidates. Everyone from Ron Paul to Nancy Pelosi claims the title of "constitutional patriot" today. If nothing else, the Tea Party has taught every politician the proper campaign talking points for the upcoming election cycles. True constitutional conservatives are going to have to separate real constitutional conservatives from the pretenders in order to advance the conservative resurgence needed to save this nation from certain ruin. Not all who claim the name patriot are true patriots. Liberal-tarians have perfected the art of nuanced policy positions in an almost John Kerryesque way.
  • They are both pro life and pro abortion rights
  • They are pro-national defense and anti-security
  • They are pro-national sovereignty and pro open borders
  • They are anti-social spending but pro-social depravity
  • And just like all other progressives, they pander for illegal alien votes and Puerto Rico statehood
Again, I can go on and on with this list, but at the end of the day, the liberal-tarian gray area of nuanced nonsense is actually ideologically aligned with the leftist progressive movement, not the constitutional conservative resurgence. There are exceptions to every rule, but even in the case of liberal-tarians, the rule remains the standard. The only place where liberal-tarians share common ground with conservatives is the area of taxation. Both want lower taxes and less intrusive government. But only conservatives seem to understand that liberal social policies always result in liberal social spending. So even here, the two are not really on the same team.

Who is the T.E.A. Party?

According to an in-depth CBS/New York Times poll taken mid-April 2010, the following information rings true about T.E.A. Party folks...
  • 94% are dissatisfied and even "angry" at the current federal government's direction with 92% saying the country is headed in the wrong direction
  • 88% disapprove of the Obama Administration --96% disapprove of the Democrat controlled congress
  • 91% disagree with current economic policies
  • 93% disagree with current Health Care policies
  • 91% oppose the increasing deficit spending
  • 84% dislike and distrust Barack Obama specifically --73% say Obama doesn't understand the problems --75% say he does not share their American principles and values
  • 92% say Obama is forcing the country deeper into socialism
  • 94% say that congress does not deserve re-election
  • 66% say Sarah Palin is the leader of the movement --59% say Glenn Beck is the leader
  • But Palin supports John McCain who earns only 35% - and Beck likes Ron Paul who earns only 28% TP support
Clearly, T.E.A. Party folks plan to force a change of direction in this country. However, what kinds of change remain unclear...

What Change?

In 2006 and 2008, American voters were foolish enough to vote for "change" without stopping to ask what kinds of "change" leftists around the globe had in mind for Americans. If we are foolish enough to do it again in 2010, we will likely never recognize this country again for generations. Progressives had socialism in mind and it only took a few weeks or months after the election to figure that out. Too bad we didn't take a few minutes to figure it out before the election. Before T.E.A. Party folks get too excited about forcing "change" in 2010, they had better step back for a moment and very carefully define what kinds of change they have in mind.
  1. We have no "broken immigration system." We have a good immigration system backed by good immigration laws, but a very bad record of enforcement. If patriots want that to "change," they cannot support leftists or liberal-tarian progressives, both of whom support "immigration reform" that essentially does away with legal immigration and rewards illegal migration.
  2. Unless patriots want Puerto Ricans helping vote on the policies of the continental USA, they had better not support leftists or liberal-tarian progressives, both of whom are pandering for the Puerto Rican vote via statehood for Puerto Rico.
  3. Neither leftist nor liberal-tarian progressives think we are in the middle of a global war with Islamic terrorism and neither wants to treat terrorism like an act of war, preferring US civil rights and criminal courts for known terrorists, while questioning the honor and tactics of real US heroes serving in the US Military.
  4. Both leftists and liberal-tarians want to do away with a free-market economic system that both feel is unfair to many citizens and replace it with their version of a new economic system, complete with new currency and more government intrusions.
  5. To cut taxes, you must first cut spending and in a nation with more than 60% of its federal budget tied up in social spending, you had better curb the social habits that cause social ills and result in social spending, or you can't do any of it. Leftists and liberal-tarians overlook this little gem of reality.

My point is this...

Change, YES! But just any kind of change, NO! Constitutional conservatism is the foundation that made the USA the greatest nation on earth. No nuanced or pretender platform can compare and only true constitutional conservatives will put constitutionally conservative principles and values back at the helm of this nation. This time, before you jump at the blind offer of "change," stop for a moment and ask what kind of change. I have come to the conclusion that the most significant difference between true constitutional conservatives and liberal-tarians is the conservative agenda of saving a nation and a liberal-tarian agenda of exploiting current conditions for benefit of building a liberal-tarian movement, no matter the cost for our nation. In the end, it's one thing to remove a RINO from office. It's a whole different thing to put the right person in their place. It requires more than unity...it requires clarity of purpose.


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JB Williams -- Bio and Archives

JB Williams is a writer on matters of history and American politics with more than 3000 pieces published over a twenty-year span. He has a decidedly conservative reverence for the Charters of Freedom, the men and women who have paid the price of freedom and liberty for all, and action oriented real-time solutions for modern challenges. He is a Christian, a husband, a father, a researcher, writer and a business owner.

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