follylama, you quoted Kevin Tuma where he said, ..."I just did what, six years ago, I would have considered preposterous. I voted Democrat, for the first time in my life. It took me a long time to get to this point. I used to think myself a conservative"...
I wonder if Kevin Tuma is trying to find himself or at least a political party that reflects his views?
Kevin Tuma wrote: ..."As a libertarian voter, I can use my own feelings as a barometer"... He also suggest draining the libertarian world which he equates ..."is a kiddie pool populated by dreamers who paddle around on inflatable toy animals."...
..."It's time for libertarians to discuss political effectiveness. We are in need of some.
It's clear that John Q. Citizen is tuning out. Even though we essentially have two libertarian parties---in the form of both the Libertarian and Constitution parties---we still can't break the one-percent barrier in a presidential election. Both parties are ineffectual. Some people are ready to start another Third Party. There is a lot of talk that the platforms need to be changed, and nuanced...especially the Libertarian Party platform. This is possible, for if one thing is certain, it's that the number of professed libertarians greatly outnumbers the number of people who actually vote 'Libertarian'.
I would submit that the problem with the Libertarian and Constitution parties is not that they have bad platforms or ideas. The problem is that their priorities are spectacularly off base.
As a libertarian voter, I can use my own feelings as a barometer...and then consider just how much more turned off non-libertarian voters might be when reading their messages."...
Ends with: ..."The obvious irony here is that libertarians are supposed to care about things like civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. Yet very little I hear from libertarians convinces me they take such things seriously. Instead, libertarians seem to embrace what feels good to talk about. Things like Big Brother are painful, and require sober thought.
If the political world is a roiling, tempestuous ocean, the libertarian world is a kiddie pool populated by dreamers who paddle around on inflatable toy animals.
Perhaps before draining the swamp on the Potomac, we should consider draining the kiddie pool. And getting serious about the ebbing of our freedoms."...
Kevin Tuma writes that in 2002 he considers himself a paleoconservative
paleoconservative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoconservatism ..."Paleoconservatism (sometimes shortened to paleo or paleocon when the context is clear) is an anti-authoritarian right wing movement based primarily in the United States that stresses tradition, civil society and classical federalism, along with familial, religious, regional, national and Western identity.
Chilton Williamson, Jr. describes paleoconservatism as "the expression of rootedness: a sense of place and of history, a sense of self derived from forebears, kin, and culture -- an identity that is both collective and personal.” It is not an ideology and has no party line.
Paleoconservatives in the 21st century often focus on their points of disagreement with neoconservatives, especially on issues like immigration, affirmative action, foreign wars, and welfare.
They also criticize social democracy, which some refer to as the therapeutic managerial state, the welfare-warfare state or polite totalitarianism. They see themselves as the legitimate heir to the American conservative tradition."...
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