In the continuing GOP contest to out-wingnut the other wingnuts, Ron Paul (R-wacko) offers that Rick Santorum is "very liberal."
And the wingnut who didn't fall far from the tree, son Rand, flies in from the Starship Free Enterprise in the galaxy Trekistan to offer still more spin points.
Talking Points Memo has the story.
Don't ya love how the media is forcing an ad onto this clearly contributed video? Making money off the work of others, it's the lazy-fair way! Not just the local Fox affiliate, CNN, too.
(h/t Thers on Eschaton)
With Rand Paul, caveat emptor is not merely an empty phrase. He lives it personally.
Paul's only certification was provided instead by something called the National Board of Ophthalmology, which is very convenient because he operates that organization himself.If you believe the libertarian bullshit he peddles, he might be able to dig up the title to that bridge he's trying to sell.
Libertarian ideology rejects most of the modern regulatory systems that protect consumers, because everyone should be responsible for determining whether the hamburger contains E. coli on his own.Among other odd beliefs they hide, libertarians such as Paul believe they have every right to lie to you as long as they don't commit the lie inside a contract.
Well, your cow's colon...
I don't worry about the gentle wafting odor of cow shit teasing the scent receptors of my nose, but once your cow's shit starts damaging the commonweal, then you've reached the limit of your freedom and slugged in the nose in a way that matter. You have to clean up, even if you're a walking talking anachronism that romantics who once saw "Witness" fantasize about - just as long as they don't have to give up their cell phones.
The point is that you cannot opt out of society as long as you're interacting with it. All the non-Amish conservatives who plead just to be left alone often want to take what's offered (public roads, schools, criminal justice, a clean environment, common defense, an economy that doesn't crash and burn to the ground every ten years) just as long as they don't have to pay any part of anything they don't use directly.
You can fairly argue about where to draw the line for public actions and the taxes to pay for them. But the radical libertarian position of the likes of Rand Paul is anti-social selfishness, and contrary to Ayn Rand and Gordon Gecko, it doesn't work.
Click image for full Jen Sorensen/C-VILLE Weekly cartoon.
"Take me to your John Galt."
Click image for full Rob Rogers/Pittsburgh Post Gazette cartoon.
