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Entry: Ron Paul versus the Beltway "Libertarians" Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/ron_paul_versus_the_beltway_libertarians#8106 Post contents: As a disgruntled, formerly apathetic conservative Republican who has been a Ron Paul grass roots activist since April, I have run into hundreds of people who call themselves libertarian (both small 'l' and capital 'L'). The dumbing down of American youth is painfully evident when trying to discuss the difference between someone who, coincidently, holds a position that can be attributed as aligned with libertarian principles and Ron Paul who is a constitutional libertarian not because of some positions he holds but because of the principles he follows to arrive at those positions. Principles, libertarian, progressive, monarchist, etc, should not be variable by geography, age or modern-ness. Libertarian principles have been the conscience of conservatism since long before Barry Goldwater so eloquently described them, without the use of a label since the term 'libertarian' wasn't necessary until we became such a label-oriented society. In US politics Conservatism traditionally meant the adherence to the rule of law and a conservative application of the force of government and liberalism meant the liberal application of force according to the rule of a small number of elite who comprise the ruling class. The best evidence of these meanings in practice is the fact that liberals have started ever war over the past century and conservatives have ended them, with the exception of Harry S. Truman, who found a way to both exert maximum force and end a war. Yes, I am calling the Bush family liberals; there is nothing conservative about them. Their ends justify their means in the boldest liberal fashion possible. I think a better word to describe them would be Republican-liberals rather than neo-conservatives since there is nothing conservative about them. Yours in peace, prosperity and individual liberty, Jahfre Fire Eater Sent at: 2008 07 04