Quote of the Day

“This weekend Sarah Palin begins a nationwide bus tour, which I think is a good way for her to learn the names of all the states.” –Jay Leno

Rand Paul, No Libertarian On Free Speech

Pure libertarians, while disagreeing with liberals on areas where government is necessary, often are of value in supporting liberal policies on civil liberties and social issues. Unfortunately many in the libertarian movement, like the Tea Party movement, have adopted many of the attitudes of the Republican right wing. They promote a bizarre brand of libertarianism which is limited to guaranteeing the rights of the ultra-wealthy to exploit others.

I’ve pointed out several times how Ron Paul is no ally to those of us who want to promote individual liberty. His son, Rand Paul, is also showing a bizarre view of freedom. On the one hand, he equates making affordable health care available to all as slavery. On the other hand, he has no problem with restricting freedom of speech. Think Progress has this quote:

PAUL: I’m not for profiling people on the color of their skin, or on their religion, but I would take into account where they’ve been traveling and perhaps, you might have to indirectly take into account whether or not they’ve been going to radical political speeches by religious leaders. It wouldn’t be that they are Islamic. But if someone is attending speeches from someone who is promoting the violent overthrow of our government, that’s really an offense that we should be going after — they should be deported or put in prison.

I really do hope that it turns out that Paul was quoted out of context, although it is difficult to see how this might be the case looking at the entire excerpt. I even tried checking out some of the saner libertarian-leaning blogs to see if there is an explanation. Eugene Volokh has the same wish. Even more depressing, Volokh find that, while it might not be morally right, it might even be Constitutional to deport  (but not imprison) someone under such a situation. I wouldn’t think anyone in their right mind, which apparently excludes Rand Paul, who would see imprisonment as being desirable, morally right, or Constitutional.