Rand Paul and Berkeley: Libertarian and liberal hotbed

[Roger Bacon]

As I was saying yesterday in my YAL ARK speech, "For decades, libertarianism has hovered on the fringe of the Republican party, associated with Ayn Rand novels, anarchists and tax refuseniks. Now it is suddenly a political force to be reckoned with..." -Jack Hunter


Rand Paul and Berkeley: Libertarian and liberal hotbed find common cause opposing NSA

By Paul Lewis, The Guardian
Saturday, March 15, 2014 15:06 EDT

Ronald Reagan famously described the University of California at Berkeley as “a haven for communist sympathisers”. Another rightwing politician – who styles himself as Reagan’s intellectual successor – will stand at a lectern this week at the Bay Area campus to decry the excesses of government surveillance.

Rand Paul, 51-year-old senator and standard bearer of the right, can expect an enthusiastic reception from his young leftwing audience on Wednesday.

The rise of Paul and his libertarian brand of politics, one of the few intellectual movements with appeal across the spectrum, is turning old political assumptions on their head. Paul, the son of libertarian guru and former congressman Ron Paul, was the star of last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) – an annual litmus test for the Republican base. For the second year running, Paul won the straw poll of likely Republican 2016 presidential contenders, trouncing fellow senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz as well as scandal-hit New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

It used to be centrists who crossed the aisle to reach compromise. Today, it is those on the libertarian right, like Paul, who are finding common cause with Democrats such as Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren, both among the most leftwing voices in the Senate.

Paul’s father, who retired from his Texas congressional seat in 2012, said in an interview that the Snowden disclosures “awakened a lot of people [who said] ‘hey, we knew it was bad, but not that bad’”. But the phenomenon that has seen Paul and his affiliates take centre stage has deeper roots than Snowden and the NSA. While Republicans and Democrats remain as diametrically opposed on tax and spending as they were in the 1980s, on a host of other issues libertarians are exploiting political overlap with the left.

Read more: www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/15/rand-paul-and-berkeley-libertarian-and-liberal-hotbed-find-common-cause-opposing-nsa/

[Roger Bacon]

And there is every indication that America is increasingly susceptible to his ideas. A recent survey revealed that, for the first time in almost half a century of polling, most Americans are inclined to think the US should “mind its own business internationally”. That is practically a catchphrase for both Pauls. The libertarian shift is particularly acute among so-called “millennials” – those aged between 18 and 33.

[Shockwave]

Certain brands of semi-libertarianism just make sense, and are essentially what the US was founded on. It's what conservatives SHOULD be, and honestly many of their viewpoints are simply very practical and aimed at making sure the US is headed down the track the founding fathers generally intended.

Conservatives now days are all basically war mongering democrats. Democrats are generally big spending rich republicans who promise to give money to the people who don't earn anything. They're on in the same and have the same end result for the country.

[Roger Bacon]

Certain brands of semi-libertarianism just make sense, and are essentially what the US was founded on. It's what conservatives SHOULD be, and honestly many of their viewpoints are simply very practical and aimed at making sure the US is headed down the track the founding fathers generally intended.

Conservatives now days are all basically war mongering democrats. Democrats are generally big spending rich republicans who promise to give money to the people who don't earn anything. They're on in the same and have the same end result for the country.

Wow, yeah.... Very true^^^

[JOHN MATRIX]

Certain brands of semi-libertarianism just make sense, and are essentially what the US was founded on. It's what conservatives SHOULD be, and honestly many of their viewpoints are simply very practical and aimed at making sure the US is headed down the track the founding fathers generally intended.

Neoconsnow days are all basically war mongering democrats. Democrats are generally big spending rich republicans who promise to give money to the people who don't earn anything. They're on in the same and have the same end result for the country.

Fixed

[Shockwave]

Fixed

pretty much synonymous now. 99% or our republican politicians are neocons.