I really like it whenever Libertarians actually open up to questions and state exactly what they think about the burning issues of the day. Or even the ones from 46 years ago. Mainly because about half the time they say something that seems dead spot-on reasonable, and the other half of the time they say something that makes you think they must be bat-guano crazy.
Take for instance the pile of dung that Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul stepped in last week – three times - when he averred that it should be the right of any private business owner to determine who may use their place of business. Said it on three separate occasions to three separate interviewers. Said that Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was an infringement of the rights of business owners to the freedom to associate with whomever they wished, or in this case, the freedom not to associate with some people for personal reasons or beliefs.
When called out on this, Paul went into a dancing act that displayed why he will be a fun candidate to watch this fall: the man dances with the stars far better than Tom DeLay could – and they didn’t play a bar of “Por Una Cabeza,,” the tango to which Tom and Cheryl danced on Week 2 of DWTS.
Rand Paul danced himself right into a corner and appeared on “Good Morning America” where he whined about not getting a honeymoon from the press after his primary win last Tuesday, and stated that he was not in favor of repealing the Civil Rights Act – something no one actually claimed he was in favor of. Then Paul canceled his appearance on “Meet the Press” tomorrow.
Whew. That was a close one. Rand Paul is set to move on and move away from these wild accusations from the liberal media. Except for the fact that what Paul said this week will definitely be heavily discussed tomorrow on that news show, but without him being there to defend himself.
No matter, because then Fox’s John Stossel – another person who ascribes to Libertarian views, just as Rand Paul does - opened up.
“I would go further than [Rand Paul] was willing to go as he just issued the statement and say it’s time now to repeal that part of the law because private businesses ought to get to discriminate . . it should be their right to be racist.”
Nice one, Stossel. Talk about throwing gasoline on the fire.
Another thing that I discovered today in doing research for this piece is that Libertarians have a word for those of us who do not hold to their unique worldview. They call us Authoritarians. I like that name. It sounds like pure evil.
Pure evil that made civil rights the law of the land in 1964. Pure evil that dictates the lowest amount an employer may compensate an employee for their labor. Pure evil that sets health and safety standards so people don’t get hurt or get sickened by eating spoiled prepared foods. Pure evil that has rigid regulations that prevent oil companies from spoiling the marine environment by allowing subsea oil wells to gush freely for days on end.
Oh well. Win some, lose some.
