The Moral Bankruptcy of Rand Paul
Libertarianism is one of the “crazy uncles” of American Conservatism, along with Neoconservatism, Christian Law advocates and Militia paranoids.
They all overlap somewhat in that they mostly attract angry older men, and that they all respect defeating over compromise. Lastly, of course, they all promote various versions of victimology wherein people who aren’t as successful as they’d planned to be can blame someone else.
Particularly after their disappointing showing in last election, Libertarians have developed a code language that doesn’t really reveal their true beliefs. So Democrats were giddy and surprised when Rand Paul jumped the shark so quickly.
After only 48 hours, he’d revealed so much about the true nature of Libertarianism that he canceled his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, lest he do even more damage to his campaign – becoming only the third cancellation since 1947.
Paul is the latest of a long string of ideologues who can dish it, but not defend it.
After he fell apart, Paul blamed “the media,” specifically Rachel Maddow, and quickly retreated back into the strategy of statements rather than conversations.
Rand Paul’s recent self-immolation is the direct result of giving us a peek inside of his fringe ideology. Libertarians believe they should not be required to make a sacrifice for participating in society.
In real terms, this means they shouldn’t have to do things like, well, serve black people, pay taxes, or help others. They believe they should not be required to pay any price for membership in the USA. In their view, taxes are robbery. Anyone who believes in society is a thief and they themselves are always the victim.
Another odd characteristic of Libertarian theology is this notion that the seller gets to make all the rules. This concept of “private property uber alles” is the most revealing of their ideological insolvency. It’s “Un-American,” says Paul, for the president to say he’s holding BP to account. "Accidents happen."
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