Another long time Republican has become fed up with the “Security leads to freedom” mentality, divorcing himself “from the Republican Party, and keeping my distance from any group that doesn’t place the defense of liberty as the prime goal of the political system.”
Columnist and senior editorial writer and columnist for the Orange County Register Steven Greenhut wrote those words to describe the increasing frustration he’s been feeling for the neocons. Here’s more:
Now even the rhetoric of freedom is mostly gone. Most “mainstream” Republicans don’t talk about liberty anymore. The advocates for this emerging New Republican Party are becoming surprisingly outspoken. A good example is New York Times “conservative” columnist David Brooks, a former editor at the Weekly Standard, the neoconservative journal that shilled vociferously for war in Iraq. (Hint: The results of that policy might offer some warning to Republicans before they jump too quickly on his latest advice.)
In a column reprinted today (beginning on Page 1 of Commentary), Brooks rebutted those of us who argue that “in order to win again, the GOP has to reconnect with the truths of its Goldwater-Reagan glory days. It has to once again be the minimal-government party, the maximal-freedom party, the party of rugged individualism, and states’ rights. This is folly.”
Obviously unaware of the ever-growing Leviathan around him, Brooks claims that the old days of oppressive government are over. The idea of limited government - that silly, fuddy-duddy notion advanced by our Constitution, and ensconced in the Bill of Rights - is so 18th century. Time for something more appropriate for our time!
He’s got a new idea (actually, the oldest of ideas, the one that says that government and power are what matters, and that freedom and individualism are outdated). And he’s even got a catchy slogan for it. He calls it, Security leads to freedom.
Forgive me a Dave Barry moment, but I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. Doesn’t this sound like something out of an Orwell novel? War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Security is freedom. Brooks argues that the “liberty vs. power paradigm” is passe. Government doesn’t necessarily mean less personal liberty, he writes. Modern voters aren’t worried about an overweening state. Instead, the public wants to be protected from the complex modern threats to their existence: “Islamic extremism, failed states, global competition, global warming, nuclear proliferation, a skills-based economy, economic and social segmentation.”
This seems like a fairly accurate assessment of the people in power within the GOP heirarchy. The Freedom Movement would like to welcome you as you escape the clutches of the Leviathan, Steven.
From US Libertarian Party
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
