Willis Hart Sez I Am A Jackass With A Minuscule Mind B/C I Said Libertarianism Has Infected The Republican Party

The Libertarian blogger Willis Hart sez, in a 7/27/2015 commentary from his blog, that I am a jackass with a minuscule mind because I said "Libertarianism has infected the Republican party".

Willis Hart: On the Idiotic Claim that Libertarianism Has "Infected" the Republican Party... The jackass who made this claim has said a myriad of stupid things in the past but this one takes the cake... (7/27/2015 AT 9:12pm).

I was speaking of Libertarian economics, but Willis slams me because the infection does not include being "opposed to war and foreign entanglements, mostly pro-choice on abortion, mostly pro immigrant, mostly in favor of marriage equality, mostly opposed to warrantless wiretaps, mostly opposed to the drug war, etc".

Mostly pro-choice? Perhaps, but two of our nation's most prominent Libertarians, Ron and Randal Paul, both ran as Republicans and both oppose abortion. Randal Paul, a Libertarian, believes in "fetal personhood" and introduced a bill to outlaw abortion.

What about the fact that THREE Libertarians - Ronald Paul, Gary Johnson and Jon Huntsman - all ran in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries? Also, Ronald's son Randal (who calls himself "Rand" in honor of Ayn Rand) is running in the 2016 primaries as a Republican. Yet Willis argues that Libertarians are vastly different than Republicans??

"I'm basically a libertarian", Koch brother David said (on 12/14/2014). Although Dave the Libertarian "cares much more about fiscal issues and the economy than about social issues"... which explains why the Kochs are enthusiastically supporting the Republican Scott Walker for prez (infecting our political process with 1 BILLION in campaign spending to support their puppet).

Obviously Libertarianism and Republicanism align STRONGLY when it comes to fiscal matters. So much so that the Kochs can overlook the social regressiveness of Scott Walker, who "opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest [and] swore an oath to uphold the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage [and supports] marriage between one man and one woman".

Regarding war and foreign entanglements, the Libertarian Koch man Scott Walker says "American troops should play a larger role in the fight against [ISIS] and that... for political reasons, President Obama isn't willing to expand the role of American troops...".

The Libertarian Randal Paul describes himself as a "social conservative" and sez he does not endorse same-sex marriage... although he supports marriage contracts for same-sex couples. "I'm an old-fashioned traditionalist. I believe in the historic and religious definition of marriage... that being said, I'm not for eliminating contracts between adults" Randal sez. So he favors a second class status for same-sex couples (so that would be NO on marriage equality).

Regarding war and foreign entanglements, the Libertarian Randal Paul sez he supported the war in Afghanistan and opposed rapid withdrawal from Iraq (although he says he would have voted against the invasion of Iraq to begin with). According to the Huffington Post, unlike his more stridently non-interventionist father, Paul sees a role for American armed forces abroad, including in permanent foreign military bases (so YES, on foreign entanglements).

In regards to being "pro immigrant", Randal supports granting legal status in the form of temporary visas to illegal immigrants but opposes a "special" path to citizenship.

Conclusion? The only reason "this one takes the cake" is because I dared to tell the truth about Libertarianism, which is that the greed of the oligarchs takes center stage with this ideology. Everything else is secondary, and can be easily set aside in pursuance of the primary goal.

The fact is that "Libertarianism" was created by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), which is the very first Libertarian think tank. FEE itself was put together as a big business PR project by GM, Ford, Chrysler, US Steel, Gulf Oil, Standard Oil, Dupont, Monsanto, Con Ed, BF Goodrich, Eli Lilly, Merrill Lynch, General Electric and other fortune 500 companies to lobby for special governmental favors.

FEE and the MANY other "think tanks" (actually plutocrat-funded propaganda machines) exist to serve the interests of big business and the uber wealthy. Yes, they attempt to influence public perceptions, but they also lobby government for special favors, belying their stated opposition to crony capitalism.

According to Mark Ames of NSFWCORP (article via AlterNet) if you "pull up libertarianism's floorboards, look beneath the surface... you'll start to get a sense of its purpose"... which is to serve the interests of the billionaire class.

In this regard Libertarianism ABSOLUTELY has infected our political process. Although, concerning the objectives of both the Republican party and Libertarianism... perhaps it is more of an alignment of objectives as opposed to an "infection".

Regardless, I stand by my characterization. The proliferation of "think tanks" has most certainly had a HUGE impact on the Republican Party. Willis Hart deludes himself when he sez "how can libertarians be pro big business when they are opposed to ALL bailouts and ALL corporate welfare?".

What Willis doesn't realize is that the plutos are playing both sides! So what if it's hypocritical to SAY they're opposed to bailouts or welfare via their "think tanks" but send lobbyists to the Hill to bribe the politicos in exchange for these gifts?

Willis is being fooled by the plutos who are speaking out of both sides of their mouth! They'll tell the true-believers and dupes what they like to hear (via their "think tanks") while doing what is best for their bottom lines (via their lobbyists).

How Koch Industries Makes Billions By Demanding Bailouts And Taxpayer Subsidies (excerpt from a 3/1/2011 ThinkProgress article by Lee Fang) Koch Industries, the international conglomerate owned by Charles and David Koch, is not only the second largest private company in America, it is the most politically active. ...over the last three years, Koch groups have spent tens of millions to influence government policy — from financing the Tea Parties, to funding junk academic studies... to a large network of state-based and national think tanks. Charles portrays himself as simply an ideological advocate, and says his money to political groups is only meant to "enhance true economic freedom". He chides special interests that have "successfully lobbied for special favors", claiming "crony capitalism is much easier than competing in an open market". But in reality, the focus of the Koch political machine is geared toward crony capitalism - corrupting government to make Charles and his brother David Koch richer. Koch's Tea Party libertarianism is actually a thin veneer for the company's long running history of winning special deals from the government and manipulating the market to pad Koch profits...

Dupes like Willis (a jackass who has said a myriad of stupid things in the past and continues to say stupid things) have been totally fooled by this "Libertarian" BS. So, yeah, in that regard Libertarianism ABSOLUTELY is an infection. An infection I suspect is responsible for his Libertarian brain disease.

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