TIME article on libertarianism in 2008

[AJ Antimony]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1821675-1,00.html

Article positively discusses how starting with Ron Paul, libertarianism has become much more popular during this election year than it ever has before. First there was Paul with his $35 million Republican campaign, and now there is Libertarian Bob Barr who is polling around 6% nationally, before even starting his campaign.

Freedom works.

[ItsTime]

I have not read it. but everywhere I go freedom is ringing. random people all over the place. talking about the things Ron Paul opened up, the fed, the failing dollar, liberties. The neo-con time has come. Just a few more years and they are gone. To bad they know that and who knows what they will do to keep that power.

[mrchubbs]

I loved this article... maybe too much. :-) Here was my take (as posted on Liberty Maven):
http://www.libertymaven.com/2008/07/11/bob-barr-standing-on-ron-pauls-shoulders-the-best-libertarian-msm-article/1272/


David Franke at ThirdPartyWatch called the article possibly “the most amazing article to cover the 2008 presidential campaign so far, at least to libertarians and Bob Barr supporters.” I agree with him but I’d take it a step further. I think it may one of the most positive libertarian oriented articles ever to appear in the main stream media. I may be using a bit of hyperbole when I say those words. The title alone could suggest otherwise: “The (Not So) Lunatic Fringe”.

Nathan Thornburgh in TIME magazine has written an article that should make not only Barr supporters proud, but all small and big ‘L’ libertarians proud as well. He describes how the two major parties are both moving to the mushy center and are becoming indistinguishable from one another. Meanwhile on the shoulders of Ron Paul’s massively successful Presidential campaign sits Bob Barr crying out for liberty to anyone who will listen. According to the article, people are starting to listen.

I wrote quite a long time ago (it seems like it anyway) that Ron Paul has laid the foundation for future liberty minded candidates to build upon. An article that celebrates the libertarian American spirit like this one will be read by millions. We have Ron Paul and now Bob Barr to thank for planting these seeds of freedom that may someday grow into something truly special as long as we liberty loving individuals keep watering them with our ideas, time, effort, and money.


Enjoy!

[klamath]

Yes I do believe Paul started a movement. He will go down in history and the father of the libertarian/libertarian republican movement.

[roshie]

Yes I do believe Paul started a movement. He will go down in history and the father of the libertarian/libertarian republican movement.

I concur, if it were not for my friend telling me about Ron Paul, youtube, this forum and its intelligent people, Ron Paul's book, precinct leaders, and Ron Paul state HQs, I wouldn't have made it this far (or even be educated in these things).

This movement is full of intelligent people, which is why we will be so successful.

[BarryDonegan]

we must remember that while supporting ron paul and an unbelievable saintlike type figure such as him is an easy choice, finding the politicians that will get us the things that we want, who aren't as perfect as him, is a lot more complicated.

retrospectively, you need people to set the bar, and then when other people try and copy that to get some new hype, they will slowly dismantle bits of government and bits of public opinion.

theres much more at play than you might think with this tuff. especially if you read Doug Wead's articles.

it wouldn't surprise me if you had someone like Mitt Romney copy ron paul's platform in 10 years, and actually pass the legislation. These people are human like you and me. they have become accustomed, as politicians, to voting for things they dont like, and giving speeches about things they don't agree with.

you can simply watch Mitt Romney, for example, squirm in his seat when Ron talked about the war, and think about his other flip flops, being pro-choice in an election in Mass(the most liberal state you'll find), then suddenly flip flopping when he got a bill on his desk.

so in that case, Mitt Romney is a liar, hes used to lying, and he is in a precarious situation when someone is saying the stuff Ron Paul is, because it exposes how bad the truth makes him feel. If enough public opinion finally turned, and he thought he could get elected while saying things he believed! he'd be free.

I'm not endorsing Mitt Romney, but I'm giving a human example, i think that Mitt, by the end of the presidential campaign, may have completely lost faith in everything he was saying. He did leave the campaign pretty suddenly from a position where he still could very easily have won.

10 years from now you might be seeing the consequences in a lot of polished, mainstream candidates dropping the lies and dropping the positions they are being fed and siding with the people.

[Truth Warrior]

Time? I just love it when TPTB MSM talking head mouthpieces try to limit, define and explain "libertarian". ( Not the [GOP] statist LP oxymoron piece of cake, BTW :p )

:D

[Menthol Patch]

Calling Bob Barr a Libertarian is like calling Adolf Hitler a humanitarian.

[constituent]

10 years from now you might be seeing the consequences in a lot of polished, mainstream candidates dropping the lies and dropping the positions they are being fed and siding with the people.

More than likely they'll just be telling different lies.