What did I get this year? One of the best gifts I've ever gotten: a boatload of libertarians making fools of themselves in public! After years of calling these guys out on their bulls**t and trying to direct attention to this issue, the public is finally starting to see libertarians for what they really are...and the reaction isn't pretty.
First, we had libertarian think tanks such as the CATO Institute and Americans for Prosperity funding and supporting a parade of drooling, illiterate troglodytes in front of television cameras at townhalls all across America. We saw them on TV, literally screaming in protest of one of the most popular policy initiatives in recent memory. The net result? Average, not-so-politically-engaged Americans watching at home realized that opponents of health care reform are mostly dittohead buffoons that are incapable of forming complete sentences. You can rest assured that your average American is less than impressed to learn that our President is a "scholiast" (whatever that is) because he wants to fix the health care system that right-wing raiders have fucked up for the past 50 years. Morans!
D'oh!
Of course, real libertarians are much more bright and generally have excellent spelling and grammar, unlike the fools pictured here. If you have trouble spotting them, they can no doubt be found in the comments section of this diary posting youtube videos about how slavery should be blamed on the Fractional Reserve Banking system, not on the market, and other completely insane bullshit.
Next up we had John Mackey's comments in the Wall Street Journal. Could a critic of libertarianism ask for more? The libertarian CEO of a grocery store chain that is patronized largely by liberal "values consumers" decides to open his mouth. That's about as good as it gets. Mackey outlines how to "fix" health care with more of the right-wing economic medicine that has given us the worst health care system in the industrialized world. Priceless. His liberal customers where left bewildered as they read over bullet points about reducing costs by allowing insurance companies to offer even less coverage. Many were left asking themselves "is this what libertarianism is?" Yes. This is libertarianism. It's past last call, the house lights are going up, and we can now see these vampires for what they really are. A boycott was called for, 10,000 people joined the Facebook group in less than 24 hours, and mainstream media coverage ensued.
Finally, today we have even more libertarian hilarity. Urkel brings an AR-15 to a health care protest. In the youtube video, you can clearly see posters in the background of the Arizona libertarian bat cave with slogans about 911 Truth nuttery and "Vaccines are Poison." Bwwwahahahahaha. Thank you Urkel, for the best birthday present I've gotten so far. Sure, we've had libertarian wannabe minutemen packing heat at town halls for a few weeks now, but this takes the cake. This video presents more plainly than anything else I've seen that libertarians are, in fact, scarier than neo-cons and fundamentalists. Thank you for pointing out that libertarian anti-tax zealot views are on par with 911 conspiracies and the idea that vaccines are witch medicine. As my mother used to say, "you can't un-ring that bell." Most responsible gun owners don't exactly look kindly on a guy brandishing an assault weapon at a political event. I talked to many of my 2nd Amendment advocate friends this morning, and they are all scratching their heads over that one, frustrated that such a buffoon is getting media coverage in the name of a cause that they care about. To say that such an act falls short of the kind of reasoned dialog about responsibility that many 2nd Amendment advocates are aiming for is an understatement. It really drives home the point: libertarianism isn't about rights, liberties, nanny laws, etc. It's about duping people that are interested in such things into joining the cause of eliminating the tax burden on the rich. To top it off, the guy actually says that "taxation is thievery" while spewing the usual bullshit about the Founding Fathers, the Boston Tea Party, etc. Never mind that those historical revolutionaries were protesting taxation without representation, not the concept of taxation itself. And don't even think about bringing up the fact that the Founding Fathers taxed Americans even more than the King George in order to pay for the war. The Founding Fathers were learned men, and Urkel is just another neckbeard dork with a poor understanding of 6th grade history.
So thanks Urkel! Thanks John Mackey! Thanks Glen Beck! This month has so far been the best in memory for a critic of libertarianism like myself. The public are finally starting to realize what you actually stand for. For the first time, they are seeing that libertarianism is not a reasonable alternative to the GOP, but in fact it is the GOP's fucked up, meth addicted little brother.
P.S. - My Facebook group, "Criticism of Libertarianism," is growing.