More Libertarian regrets...

[txaslftist]

The Libertarian pointyheads are still whining with regret over the way their unseemly alliance with the conservative "revolution of 1994" got hijacked. Got this off of Rockwell, but as usual he proposes no solutions, no hint of alliance with the democrats, no possibility of compromise. This is the typical Libertarian directionless hand-wringing:

"Editor & Publisher, for example, posted a small note the other day about a column written by Al Neuharth, the founder of USA Today, in which he mildly suggested that the troops be brought home from Iraq "sooner rather than later." The editor of E&P was just blown away by the letters that poured in, filled with venom and hate and calling for Neuharth to be tried and locked away as a traitor. The letters compared him with pro-Hitler journalists, and suggested that he was objectively pro-terrorist, choosing to support the Muslim jihad over the US military. Other letters called for Neuharth to get the death penalty for daring to take issue with the Christian leaders of this great Christian nation.
I'm actually not surprised at this. It has been building for some time. If you follow HATE-FILLED SITES SUCH AS FREE REPUBLIC, (emphasis mine) you know that the populist right in this country has been advocating nuclear holocaust and mass bloodshed for more than a year now. The militarism and nationalism dwarfs anything I saw at any point during the Cold War. It celebrates the shedding of blood, and exhibits a maniacal love of the state. The new ideology of the red-state bourgeoisie seems to actually believe that the US is God marching on earth – not just godlike, but really serving as a proxy for God himself.

Paul Craig Roberts is right: "In the ranks of the new conservatives, however, I see and experience much hate. It comes to me in violently worded, ignorant and irrational emails from self-professed conservatives who literally worship George Bush. Even Christians have fallen into idolatry. There appears to be a large number of Americans who are prepared to kill anyone for George Bush." Again: "Like Brownshirts, the new conservatives take personally any criticism of their leader and his policies. To be a critic is to be an enemy.""- From Lew Rockwell's site.

Alas, poor Libertarians. In advocating unqualified support for the Gingrich revolution, they helped bring about the very movement they are now lamenting. Now they are left without an ally in what has become a political battle between the left and the right.

"I could have told you, (Lew). The world was never meant for one as beautiful as you..."

[Maat]

1. Thanks for the post.

Just read it. We DUers have seen the train heading for the cliff for some time now. Too bad others don't want to see it no matter what you point out to them.

[Randers]

2. interesting article/perspective

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/red-state-fascism.html

[housewolf]

4. Thanks for posting the link...

I was looking for the whole article before I read the responses and couldn't find it... thanks for helping out!

One of my biggest surprises over the past 2 years has been finding common ground with Libertarians in the areas of pro-civil liberties and anti-was - some of their writers are articulate, intelligent and make darned good sense.

I emjoyed much of this article. Of paraticular note is this:

"In 1994, the central state was seen by the bourgeoisie as the main threat to the family; in 2004 it is seen as the main tool for keeping the family together and ensuring its ascendancy. In 1994, the state was seen as the enemy of education; today, the same people view the state as the means of raising standards and purging education of its left-wing influences. In 1994, Christians widely saw that Leviathan was the main enemy of the faith; today, they see Leviathan as the tool by which they will guarantee that their faith will have an impact on the country and the world.

Paul Craig Roberts is right: "In the ranks of the new conservatives, however, I see and experience much hate. It comes to me in violently worded, ignorant and irrational emails from self-professed conservatives who literally worship George Bush. Even Christians have fallen into idolatry. There appears to be a large number of Americans who are prepared to kill anyone for George Bush." Again: "Like Brownshirts, the new conservatives take personally any criticism of their leader and his policies. To be a critic is to be an enemy."

In short, what we have alive in the US is an updated and Americanized fascism. Why fascist? Because it is not leftist in the sense of egalitarian or redistributionist. It has no real beef with business. It doesn't sympathize with the downtrodden, labor, or the poor. It is for all the core institutions of bourgeois life in America: family, faith, and flag. But it sees the state as the central organizing principle of society, views public institutions as the most essential means by which all these institutions are protected and advanced, and adores the head of state as a godlike figure who knows better than anyone else what the country and world's needs, and has a special connection to the Creator that permits him to discern the best means to bring it about.

The American right today has managed to be solidly anti-leftist while adopting an ideology – even without knowing it or being entirely conscious of the change – that is also frighteningly anti-liberty. "


http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/red-state-fascism.html

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Guess he should have been more familiar with Martin Niemoller's words:

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."

He knew what he was talking about back then. And with a few updates, it still holds true.