Why do I say this?
I was listening to Bill Handel's radio show last Friday (June 17, 2011, heard on 640 KFI-AM). Handel was discussing some new National Security Agency plan or proposal to spy on all the email passing over the internet in the U.S.
Handel said that he has no problem with this. (I don't think he was joking.) He said the NSA already listens in on all cell phone calls and texting, worldwide.
Then Handel said, "Of course, some people are gonna have a problem with that. The First Amendment folks, privacy folks, the libertarians -- not the libertarians. The civil...what word am I looking for? The ACLU types. The..."
And so on.
I think the phrase Handel was seeking was civil libertarians.
Handel's comment demonstrates that the word libertarian is no longer associated with opposition to NSA domestic spying. Civil libertarians, sure, but not libertarians.
No, I don't think Handel was trying to slam libertarians. He is a non-partisan guy, with no particular animus toward libertarians. A middle-of-the-road, common sense-oriented, shock jock. He's praised both Bush and Obama, depending on the issues. He's agreed with California Republicans on the need for severe budget cuts, but he also supports national, single payer health care.
Handel's comment was not intended as a slam against libertarians, but his honest understanding of libertarian views.
You can listen to the above broadcast over here.
Good job, libertarian "vote getters"! Good job, you "big tent" types who don't want the Libertarian Party to take too "extreme" a position on the issues. Congrats also to Wayne Allyn Root for his carefully nuanced position on Julian Assange!
Increasingly, the public perceives libertarians as a right-wing party that supports government domestic spying. I'm sure electoral victories are right around the corner!
At times like this, I sure am glad I'm no longer a member of the Libertarian Party.
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