TheAgitator.com
Honest Voices
Friday, October 15th, 2004Longtime conservative writer and pundit Robert George makes the case against George W. Bush.
Twenty years from now, I think we’ll be able to look back at what was written in these months leading up to the election and be able to draw a clear line of demarcation between true advocates of limited government and, to borrow phrases from George, “movement conservatives” who are supporting Bush because they value “power for power’s sake.”
There’s probably a third category – libertarians driven insane by 9/11. I don’t think a lot of the Instapundit/LGF crowd have much power to gain from a Bush victory – they honestly believe that America will not be safe from terrorists if George W. Bush loses this election.
I would agree with digamma, with the exception of the perjorative “insane”. When you start doubting that if a group of people can’t disagree with you without being mentally ill, then there is a good chance that the problem is with you, not them. I am one of those libertarians who will be voting for Bush. I have listened to Badnarick often in interviews, and he strikes me as woefully incompetent as a Commander in Chief, and like it or not, we are in a war. Justified or not, I intend to win any war we are in, the same that I intend to win any fight I am in, whether I started it or not.
I nominate Tom Delay as the most power hungry big government Republican in the house. What I’d give to bring Newt back…
Newt would put the smackdown on Hot Tub Tom.
How do you know when you’ve won the war without a well defined enemy?
Perhaps, digamma, but George’s point is that even through the Cold War, when Russia could have hurt us far more than terrorists ever could, we never had such systematic attacks on civil liberties as we have seen under this administration. Isn’t that something to be worried about as well?
Hell Has Frozen Over
I was scanning The Agitator today when I saw that he’s linking something by my former professor! Upon reading it, the strangest thing occurred. Two things have happened that I’d never thought I’d ever see: 1) Robert George, the famous conservative pr…
sal.t, i understand your point, but when did russia succeed in an attack on civilians on US soil?
i’m not tying terrorists to iraq or justifying the insane growth of government, only your point that “russia could have hurt us far more than terrorists ever could.”
also, i think that people, myself included, still believe that growth will be big if GW wins, but not nearly as big as if JK wins. i’m willing to risk the growth under GW over the possibility of the limitations provided by deadlock.
i’m also considering Kerry’s insane arguments that the Constitution “affords” us our rights and that he’ll appoint judges who “interpret the Constitution according to the law.” Um, huh?
That’s just it supergenius. You never know if you have won the war–it is a war against ideology and hate. You can never really “win” that war. But you can lose it–and no one wants to reach that point. Limited governments are not self-sustaining; they are relatively new, and, in some ways fragile. I think the Instapundit crowd realizes that sometimes to sustain freedom, you have to sacrifice.
Sally, two comments:
1) Well, we did have that whole McCarthyism, college kids mowed down at Kent State, people like Eugene V. Debbs imprisoned thing. I actually think our civil liberties are A LOT safer now. Technology is a bigger concern than social attitudes.
2) This is a different enemy. The big concern with the Soviets was that there would be a spy or that they would drop a really big bomb. But the enemy was large and well-defined. Now the enemy could be anywhere. He or she could be your grocer,a nd at any time they could launch an attack less destructive to our material nation, but more destructive of our psychologies.
That is a hard thing to guard against.
2)
Balko On Movement Conservatives
Movement libertarian Radley “Wepubwicans Fwighten Me” Balko has this to say about honest voices:Twenty years from now, I think we’ll be able to look back at what was written in
Sal.t
How would you deal with terrorism? It’s easy to find fault, but let’s hear what you would do–please.
John also left out the WW II internments, amongst other things.
When I do up my eventual list of the top political arguments that annoy me, “I dislike X, therefore he is the worst example of his kind ever in history!” is going to pretty high on that list.
If we lessened the power of the federal government and allowed the states to make their own independent decisions about the size and scope of government services, we would have a more efficient, effective, and responsible government. George Bush can get re-elected (and sponsor all his government spending) without ever visiting 30 states on the campaign trail. If the governor of your state, and not the federal government, had the power that the president does today over programs in your state, would you feel better or worse about your ability to affect changes in those policies? Do you think the governor would do a better or worse job? Libertarian ideas may not be the be-all, end-all answer, but arenâ??t they a step in the right direction?
Crispin does it again:
http://www.crispinsartwell.com/teardowncheneys.htm
Phelps: “Justified or not, I intend to win any war we are in, the same that I intend to win any fight I am in, whether I started it or not.”
If you honestly think that a war is unjustified, what possible moral grounds could you have for trying to stick through and win it?
Obviously you do think that war is justified–that’s why you keep fighting to win.
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