As libertarians, we are notoriously bad at politics. Partly because we are cynical about things actually changing, but also because we are so principled on certain issues, including opposition to unjustified war and distrust of the Federal Reserve, that we tend to render ourselves irrelevant before we even have a legitmate opportunity to establish our position.
The response is “but it shouldn’t be that way,” and you’re right. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is reality, and sometimes we have to work within the system to achieve a desired change.
On Friday, CPAC attendees were given a surprise as former Vice President Dick Cheney showed up to intro Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense in the Bush Administration, who was set to receive the “Defender of the Constitution” Award from the American Conservative Union.
It was rumored early in the day that several dozen Campaign for Liberty members were going to stage a walkout during the presentation of the award. But I’m afraid the addition of Cheney to the stage was too much for some people to stand.
After a steady round of applause, someone or a group of people - presumably supporters of Ron Paul - began taunting Cheney from the crowd, shouting “war criminal,” calling Cheney “murdering scum,” asking “Where’s bin Laden” and for him to “show us the shekels.”
I was sitting in the Bloggers Lounge at the time watching from the closed circuit TV provided to us. I had hoped that the protest during this time would be limited to the pre-planned walked out. Unfortunately, some had other plans.
I know what I’m about to say is not going to be popular, and frankly, I don’t care. The shouting at Cheney and Rumsfeld was inappropriate and childish. I’m not a fan of either of them, so I’m not debating the substance of what was said. However, it was an exhibition of a complete lack of class.
What exactly did this solve? Sure, the folks that shouted at Cheney may have felt better, but it put a lot of libertarians in attendence at CPAC in a very odd situtation.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone inside the liberty movement. Most self-indentified libertarians that went to CPAC were respectful, courteous and likely added some flavor in their interaction and discussions with other conference goers.
But the sad fact of the matter is that we are viewed skeptically by most conservatives. They don’t know what to make of us, and when a few people who cannot play well with others, it makes the rest of us look bad. Like it or not, this is a case where a few bad apples spoil the bunch.
Ron Paul and Gary Johnson cannot control the actions of their supporters, and they shouldn’t be blamed here. But the bottomline is conservatives are looking for reasons not to take us seriously, and they were given a reason at CPAC.
There is a time and a place for everything, but CPAC wasn’t the place to make your feelings known. If we are truly interested in being taken seriously, there is a certain amount of responsibility that we must shoulder, like it or not, to be included in the dialogue.
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