Liberty Conservatives

I am a Libertarian-Leaning Republican. No, not a Libertarian, no not a mainstream click my boot heels for party dogma Republican either. I'm everyone's favorite enemy, for I have free thought and can understand that conservatism isn't owned by the GOP. I'd actually say it barely exists any longer in the GOP itself. I personally am so tired of libertarianism being marked as some kind of foreign thought process in the GOP. It once was quite prevalent in the Party.

 So many people are uneducated, especially here locally. There are clear differences in the Libertarian Party and the Liberty Republicans. I have heard everything from libertarians want anarchy to they are liberal on social issues. I'd say some of that is correct in the actual Libertarian Party. They do support gay marriage. They do support open borders. They also support severely limited government.  Another good line is that libertarians can't win so they are invading the GOP as Liberty Republicans. Again, false. Most Libertarians wouldn't vote Republican to save their lives. They see the party as beyond salvation and out of step with any founding principles. This is even more so after the insanity of the whole Ron Paul issue last election.  Paul did bring a huge influx of libertarians, but they are mostly all gone, and dislike Paul, Jr.  So fear not, they are not returning. I do give them their due as at least they stand on principles they believe in. They know they won't win, they know it doesn't matter, yet they refuse to fall prey to the lesser of two evils most Americans have.

Liberty Republicans, are usually still strongly pro-life. Are there some who aren't? Yes, just as there are some regular Republicans who are not. It is clear on a Jeffersonian principle of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, abortion is indeed infringing upon that right of the child. Most Liberty Republicans refuse to give government the right to define marriage. Though we may personally disagree with each other as far as gay marriage, one thing is for sure, asking the government for permission to marry is not at all what Christians should be doing. The government takes its involvement as deep as possible to split the family unit, and our faith here. Here is where the misunderstanding on social issues may come from.

We have a strong belief that government should function as closely as possible as to what the founders envisioned. Period. We don't on one side say this then approve special pork for things we claim to stand against. Something our current elected officials do far too often.  We want real  solutions now. Not solutions in 40 years. We have concerns about a National Debt that is unsustainable. We have concerns over the Federal Reserve abusing its power to control the money supply and devaluing our dollar. We have serious issues with federal overreach in education and in almost every issue imaginable. Other Republicans claim the same, but continue to elected representation they KNOW will continue these habits. They know no one they vote for will actually tackle a budget, much less a balanced one. None of them will fight our very own leadership when they are wrong.  They do this under the guise of party loyalty, but they are putting party before principle.

So, next time you feel I, we, a certain group is too libertarian, know your facts. Know the correct definition of libertarianism. Do a better job of knowing the true definition of conservatism and understand how our party is drifting way beyond what it truly is. When you think we are less Republican because we refuse to vote and back candidates who will not stand on principle but on party dogma, look at the facts. Don't be afraid to look at the voting records of your 'conservative' representatives. Sometimes that fringe guy in the primary....is the only guy with real principle. Perhaps, the lesser of two evils is why we are in the mess we are. Should you vote third party? No. That's right, no. You SHOULD vote in the primary to elected quality conservatives so that come November, you have someone you can back without holding your noise while doing so.

I will vote for the losing primary Republican every time before any one of the main stream gets my vote to continue endless spending, debt, deficits and war. 

The Lone Dissenting Voice

Since the illegal immigration resolution passed unanimously in Liberty County, Texas, I offer the lone dissenting voice. First off, this is my personal opinion. It does not represent anyone else’s opinion in any group or organization that I may belong to.

I am sick of fear mongering. There, I said it. I’m sick of the refrains of “diseases, plagues, future democrats, and end of days”. Let’s just be honest about it. We are a nation of immigrants which hates immigrants. We always have been and always will be. The Irish were an issue at one time, as were the Chinese, and the Italians too. One has to wonder if the modern Tea Party would have turned away German Jews as well. I realize that this notion of banning any “holding” of illegals has become a popular political slogan in Texas. I realize I am a minority voice on this subject. However, I try to consider myself a man of principle, far above any party dogma. I also find it totally repulsive that most of these very same people show more concern for imaginary lines in the Middle East than they do for the southern one here.

I am a huge supporter of securing the border. I will stand firm on that. However, I still believe in humanity. I still have a sense of pride that our nation is one that people will risk everything to come to be a part of. They will fight, die and even send their children off alone because of our exceptionalism and the promise of a better life. It kind of used to be our mantra, but that’s no longer so.

Shame on this court in Liberty County, for not even one single man was willing to say, “Hey, maybe this is a bit of an overreaction to the issue at hand.” What have we become? When did we turn into a nation of cowards? Much like we bomb other countries out of fear, without a thought of the future consequences, we as conservatives are also blocking any common sense solutions out of fear of brown people, that some Texas conservatives have gone so far as to compare to diseased animals. For what, I ask, “the burden on the school system?” The school system is already broken. Anyone who doesn’t know this is living in a dreamland to begin with. “They are going to steal our jobs!” Yes, mowing your lawn that you’re too lazy or busy to do, or being recruited by that McDonald’s Drive Thru which you’d rather collect unemployment benefits than work in. “What about the rise in treating them with medical care?” Sure, but there are vast numbers of our own citizens, outnumbering them by far, doing this very thing.

We refuse to accept any responsibility in our own problems we create. We prohibit drugs, while our population consumes more and more, only fueling the cartels these people are fleeing. We create a welfare state that our very own citizens abuse and wonder why immigrants will abuse it as well. Do we even consider their plight? I wonder how far we’d go to protect our children if they were walking by fence posts with human heads on them. I’m quite sure we’d do whatever is necessary to get out of that situation. Now, of course there is an argument to be made that these people’s very own government should be better in stopping gangs and cartels. I suppose by the same logic one could ask: Why are we willing to protect and fight and lose our sons and daughters in lands that are extremely anti-American to ‘keep peace’ and supposedly ‘save’ people, but we aren’t at all considerate to our very own, fellow democratic neighbors? Perhaps a real ‘War on Drugs’ should look quite different from the policies we pursue today. Or perhaps, just perhaps, Mexico’s oil reserves just aren’t in enough jeopardy to warrant any significant level of American concern for the Mexican people. But, what do I know?