Potential Libertarian presidential candidate R. Lee Wrights says anyone opposed to war has a clear choice in this election. by Brian Irving
(libertarian)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Anyone who opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has a clear choice in this election. They should vote Libertarian, said R. Lee Wrights, a potential candidate for the 2012 Libertarian presidential nomination.
"Anti-war liberals who supported President Obama in 2008 should know by now that he's not going to end America's foreign wars," Wrights said. "Instead, he's sent more troops into harm's way, with no clear end in sight, and he's spending an even larger percentage of the GDP on these military adventures than the Bush Administration."
Wrights said that President Obama has not only failed to reverse the curtailment of our civil liberties begun under Bush, he's actually shred the Bill of Rights even more. "Not only has he claimed the immoral authority to murder American citizens overseas without indictment or trial, he's also used the screen of 'state secrets' to prevent his targets or their families from challenging him in court."
"There is nothing liberal about this; Obama is operating out of the neoconservative playbook," Wrights said. "Even liberals who are proud of being tolerant, patient and understanding should realize by now that they have been betrayed by this president," Wrights said.
Many Democrats actually voted for the authorizations for these wars and for the PATRIOT Act, yet now are claiming to be opposed to them.
"It's curious that during the Bush Administration, Democrats were openly opposed to the wars, even though they had supported them," Wrights said. "Now that a Democratic president is doing the war-making, they are strangely silent."
On the other hand, the Libertarian Party has gone on record opposing the wars, Wrights said. The national committee has passed resolutions opposing both Iraq and Afghanistan invasions.
The anti-war movement in the Libertarian Party itself inspired Wrights to consider seeking the presidential nomination. "I believe the Libertarian message now and in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop all war," he said.
Wrights said that anti-war liberals can vote for Libertarians with a clear conscience because in addition to opposing wars, Libertarians share their core values.
"We're uncompromising supporters of free speech and all civil liberties, we oppose corporate welfare, abhor big corporations manipulating the government to get subsidies and protection from competition, and we believe the war on drugs is insane."
Nearly 82 percent of voters will be able to vote for a Libertarian candidate on November 2, according to Ballot Access News.
The party has 21 candidates for U.S. Senate and 169 candidates for U.S. House. As the third largest political party in the U.S., the Libertarians have more candidates on the ballot than any other third party.
Wrights, who was born in Winston-Salem, is a writer and political activist living in Texas. He is the co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All.
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