Topic: Political Parties
The Libertarian Party Got What Was Coming
No political party has principles; some people do. So what? It only matters what they DO to promote those principles; that's what counts. Ron Paul brought principles to the GOP table this year. What are we going to DO about it?
by Jahfre Fire Eater
(libertarian)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

No party has principles, some people do.

The LP got the candidate they had coming, whether they deserved it or not. Its just the way things work. You see, most folks have a single goal, winning, and principles be damned if they make winning harder. What has concerned me is the American Idol mentality that so many people have brought with them as they attempt to change the world with a text message or a meetup group or disruptive behavior. Those who selected Bob Barr are only in the game for the next round. All they care about is improved numbers in the next election, not promoting Libertarian Idealism. It seems so short sighted and, well, unprincipled.

This isn't big news, except to those who have just had their illusions shattered by the reality of party politics. Political parties tend to disillusion a steady stream of folks who just don't understand what they are involved with. Political parties are tools, not brands, not ideals, not religions or tattoos. They are tools that individuals can use to promote their vision of community and government. Unprincipled individuals always end up controlling political parties because they have no scruples about how to best use the party tool to their personal advantage. Over time it is inevitable that we end up with Bushes and Clintons running things.

The same struggle goes on in every party. The Ron Paul conservatives are struggling to restore principled leadership in the GOP. It is never a done deal, only an eternal struggle. For the past 50 years or more principled people have let the unprincipled people have full control of the Republican party tool and they have built an awful monument to unprincipled politics. Oh, wait, I was wrong, this struggle isn't happening in every party; no one would ever promote principles in the Democratic Party. That would be an oxymoron.

It will take time to change this. The Ron Paul Revolution has brought conservative Republican libertarians out in droves. From what I've seen not many of them are in for the long haul. One of my primary motivations for my activism is to keep as many of these newly active Republicans working to promote "Trickle-up-Integrity" in their local candidates so that in 4 or 8 years we will have some conservative candidates in the pipeline for local and state positions. Starting at the top with a presidential candidate like Ron Paul is fun and got people moving but the real work needs to be done in our local communities, not at the national level. We need to restore principles in our communities before candidates will begin to emulate them for their own personal advantage.

Even if by some fluke of text message technology the grass roots Republican were able to get Ron Paul elected, or the LP were able to get anyone elected, it would be a blip on the neocon agenda. The could just wait it out for 4 or 8 years because the candidate pipeline is stacked with their candidates. The fluke will flush itself out and the neocon candidates in the pipeline will step in for the next election. The Ron Paul cult of personality is a wonderful thing to behold but we need to keep it in perspective. Dr. Paul's run for the candidacy must be a catalyst for conservative and libertarian Republicans to begin filling the GOP candidate pipeline with folks who promote our principles.

A lot of people will drain from the GOP as quickly as they signed up recently. I don't have a problem with that. I only care that motivated, effective conservative activists remain who will rise to the challenge of becoming the forge in which our candidates metal is tested. There aren't many of you out there so don't look for a big social club to goad you into stepping up. Just do it. Its on you. Become a fire eater. We started the Alphaville Decoder Organization as a communication tool for people doing their own thing but doing it on the same page as us. You can see what it takes to get started at The Alphaville Decoder.

I hope more LP members will realize that even if they "win" their struggle in the LP, all they have is the LP and its eternal 1-3% support. Maybe the grim realization that Bob Barr is to Libertarians what John McCain is to conservatives will spur more LP members registering Republican in the future. Step up to the big league, we need all the help we can get to create candidates with principles. If we "win" the struggle in the GOP, we've got a tool powerful enough to make a difference. No matter what happens in the LP, the effect it can have on our reality is nil.

That said, I'll be voting for Bob Barr in November to register my protest against the neocon McCain and his liberal, empire building vision of "the land of the free." Bah. I need a drink.
Jahfre Fire Eater

©2008 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Jahfre Fire Eater only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jahfre Fire Eater is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

Report violation by Jahfre Fire Eater of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.

More Articles By Jahfre Fire Eater

Reader Comments:

Posted By: Mike Stahl
Date: 2008-05-28 21:08:06

You are quite right, parties do not have principles. Do you suppose we could get rid of them? Or at least end the two-party system? That seems a more mannageable goal than reforming the GOP, or the DEMs honestly.

Report violation

Posted By: rtbohan
Date: 2008-05-28 21:16:16

Great article.  Campaigns, especially presidential campaigns are fund.  Making change is hard work.  If we really want change we have to start at the grass roots.

Report violation

Posted By: Steve Dasbach
Date: 2008-05-29 07:14:22

I supported Barr in Denver because he can reach far more people with the Libertarian message than any of the candidates.

 Most of delegates concerned about nominating Barr didn't object to what he was saying. They just weren't convinced that he would continue to deliver a strong Libertarian message after the convention.

I believe that Barr's change of heart is sincere, especially since it occurred several years ago, long before he considered running for President. It is also consistent with his long-established libertarian views on privacy. Time will tell.

Steve Dasbach - LP member since 1979

Report violation

Posted By: Mrs. Fire Eater
Date: 2008-05-29 08:17:36

Get rid of parties? Good luck with that. Our founders could see no way to prevent this "evil" enterprise in a free society, and they were right. People will always form coalitions based on common goals. The problem with the parties is the branding/tatoo loyalty aspect, divorced from principle and outcome. That problem isn't with parties - it's with people themselves. That problem is an evolutionary one that is immune to social engineering, except over a very long time and through small, measured actions of individuals pointing their fingers at the right place and time. The only place finger pointing does any good is among those who wouldn't know what you were pointing at otherwise. There are many in the GOP who are simply looking for permission - for some inspiration and strength - to take the principled route. So I point - THAT WAY! - because I don't have the blindness or the loyalty. They follow, one at a time...

Report violation

Posted By: John Campbell
Date: 2008-05-29 08:58:53

>>"All they care about is improved numbers in the next election, not promoting Libertarian Idealism."

The biggest thing holding back the LP is the waited vote argument.  Improved numbers are crucial for breaking through.  Otherwise all the effort of LP candidates and activists is wasted.

 >>"the LP and its eternal 1-3% support" 

Check your numbers.  The high water mark for LP presidential campaigns is 1980 with 1.1% of the vote.  Most recently Michael Badnarik got a whopping .34% of the vote.

Report violation

Posted By: FormerLPMember
Date: 2008-05-29 10:29:18

If I read this correctly, you are a libertarian supporter of the Republican Party and its presidential candidate Ron Paul, but will now support the LP and its presidential candidate Bob Barr as a protest vote against your party’s presumptive nominee John McCain.  Obviously you do not protest for principles but are “only in the game for the next round” and “all you care about is improved numbers in the next election, not promoting Libertarian Idealism.”

 

This “seems so short sighted and, well,” VERY “unprincipled.”

 

Report violation

Posted By: C. Al Currier
Date: 2008-05-29 12:08:35

 

"Get rid of parties? Our founders could see no way to prevent this "evil" enterprise in a free society, and they were right." -- By: Mrs. Fire Eater

[George] Washington was not a member of any political party, and hoped that they would not be formed out of fear of the conflict and stagnation they could cause governance. 

-from Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington

I do not believe that the LP ever had principles. I've been barred from the LP about a dozen times.  The first time was in Denver Co in 1973.  I showed up at an LP meeting as an anti-Amtrak-democrat.   The LP'ers were about 45 minutes late showing up for their own meeting, then spent about 15 minutes griping about how hard it was to find the place.  Then they starting preaching about Ayn Rand and atheism.  I wasn't an atheist (barring offence) nor did I know about Ayn Rand (barring offence).  After barring me, they told me to "show up next month so we can do this again"!

Well, for 30+ years, we've been barring each other, and now we got Bob Barred .

I guess there just weren't 'nuff purists left to put up a fight.   Politics is run by those who show up, and too much in the LP is run by those who show up late.

Report violation

Posted By: a knight
Date: 2008-05-30 02:25:46

"The Ron Paul Revolution has brought conservative Republican libertarians out in droves."

The term "conservative Republican libertarian" is an absurdity, non-existent in reality. Consider this also: This article attempts to portray giving up core libertarian theory for a wider party base, and potential electoral wins, yet is this not the very same reprehensible practise that this author claims was the motivation to high-tail it from the Republican Party in the first place?

Do not be deceived because of the way this argument has been dishonestly framed. This isn't about a little easing all around on the hard-core liberty positioning. The author is actively seeking to rid the LP of the planks he does not personally care for. In short, he wants you to become a breathing gexample of an oxymoron: a "conservative Republican libertarian", just like he thinks he is. Yet it is hard to get that conservative label to stick, since he did not approach the LP hat in hand, and on his knees, profusively apologising for the evil manifestation that his previous party has become. Real conservatives stand-up and accept personal responsibility for the effects of their past actions. They do not flee from them in the dead of night, and come the morning stand upon the opposite shore as renunciates reminscent of Trotskyists.

If he is neither a libertarian or a conservative, and is assuredly not a liberal or leftist, then he muist really be a righty, which is logical, since rightys claim to embrace the concept of presonal responsibility, because the strategy provides soapbox time, which they use to hurl abusive derogations at single moms.

Report violation

Posted By: bruce
Date: 2008-08-24 13:59:22

You are wrong,   Parties are not to express ideas.   Parties are ther to get candidates elected.   Those elected are then supposed to make laws to influence our lives in a positive way.   

By standing by a principle and not waivering, the party has excluded all of the members which could help it get elected and to get some of its principles passed into law.    Why did Ron Paul run and continue to run under the party of Repulican?    Because the extremist in the Libertarian party are too closed minded to allow him to express any moderation in his views.

 

Report violation