Copyright by James Carlson
Reagan and Trump Are Both Libertarians
Ronald Reagan was an old school libertarian that respected principles of right and wrong. Morality was a part of the libertarian mindset that he grew up with and followed in public office. Donald Trump, however, has captured the imagination of a new kind of libertarian. The kind of libertarian who wants no moral boundaries. The kind of libertarian who accepts no limits to freedom. The kind of libertarian who eventually becomes an anarchist. Reagan and Trump are both libertarian. But Donald Trump was not born of the school of thought that gave us the Reagan Revolution. Instead, get ready for a new revolution that is absent many moral boundaries.
Going back to the American Revolution, we should recall the first libertarians in America, the Patriot’s of 1776. Back in the day, the Patriot’s Dream of was the freedom to do what is right in the sight of God. The idea of self-governance was meant to provide relief from government overreach as people were willing to do what is right before the government ever told them to do so. Libertarians once embraced the ideas of morality and liberty as freedom and responsibility are forever entwined with each other. Modern Libertarian philosophy, however, runs aground with their absence of moral resolve and their willingness to do whatever they please simply because they please. No longer are they constrained by the principles that come from God’s throne. Modern libertarian philosophy is, in fact, a betrayal of all things conservative and promises to betray our nation’s body politic.
President Elect Donald J. Trump began his political career on the curvy couch of the Fox News Channel (FNC). Far from being a bastion of conservative values, FNC represents a new type of media bias that champions the modern libertarian viewpoint. FNC doesn’t have the traditional media liberal bias but they do have the modern libertarian media bias that so often characterizes their news shows. The curvy couch on Fox and Friends was not where most conservative leaders got their start. Mr. Trump certainly gained favor with FNC and their target audience. As he reached out to a voting block of people who often fail to stand for morals in society, Mr. Trump has become their champion.
Back in the day when Trump was exercising his views for the public to review, the Tea Party was rolling through FNC and the two soon became fast friends. The Tea Party captured a significant portion of the GOP and other voters throughout the nation. Typical of left leaning political groups, the Tea Party hid their social liberalism and focused more on their fiscal conservatism. Modern Libertarianism often masks their social viewpoints so they can have currency in more conservative political circles. This was the audience that Trump reached out to and was successful with. Standing for fiscal conservatism, the Tea Party was absentee on the social moral issues and Trump took opportunity from the remains of this political movement.
Before Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan appealed to an audience that was far more concerned with moral issues than people seem to care today. Reagan was a social conservative, fiscal conservative, defense conservative libertarian. He and his campaign team reached out to all conservatives from all political walks of life to vote for Republican candidates. That was the definition of the Reagan Coalition. This coalition reached out to:
· Social/Religious Conservative Democrats (the Reagan Democrats – Swing Vote)
· Social & Fiscal Conservatives Libertarians (Independent Vote)
· Social and Fiscal Conservative Republicans (Base Party Vote)
This mix of the base vote with the independent and swing votes was a winning strategy for Mr. Reagan. Years later before he died, Lee Atwater, Reagan’s Campaign Manager, said concerning homosexuals in the Party that, ‘we are a Party big enough to include a FEW among us who disagree with the rest of us.’ This was the beginning of a modern Libertarianism that dismisses social moral values (and the Reagan Democrat Swing Vote). The problem wasn’t with Mr. Atwater, it was in the Republican National Committee (RNC). The RNC morphed Mr. Atwater’s comment to say, ‘ We are a Party big enough to include MANY among us who disagree with the rest of us.’ This was the beginning of an internecine war in the GOP. Moderates who were usually absentee on social moral issues joined with a new crowd of libertarians to create a Big Tent that would challenge the conservative base of the Party.
Creating a Big Tent libertarianism, the RNC waged war against social/moral/religious Republicans who wanted a more traditional conservatism in the Republican Party. This Big Tent Libertarianism embraced the whole set of modern Libertarian viewpoints.
· End the Law the prosecutes Abortion as criminal
· End the Law the prosecutes Sodomy as criminal
· End the Law the prosecutes Recreational Drug Abuse as criminal
As the GOP was the party of Law and Order, this modern libertarian viewpoint was anarchist. A complete betrayal in conservative values was the result of the RNC attack against traditional conservatives in the 1990s.
Enter again Mr. Trump who instead of riding the wave of the Reagan Coalition, rode the wave of the Tea Party. This is where we begin to see similarities and differences between Reagan and Trump. Like Reagan, Trump is in favor of:
· Social/Moral Viewpoints
· Strong Economy
· Strong National Defense
· Freedoms for all to enjoy
Reagan supported social moral views and was in favor of the Pro-Life movement. However, he was not in favor of the extreme social liberal view of modern libertarians that champion homosexuality and drug abuse. And this is where we will likely where we will see differences and begin to have problems with a new Trump administration. An administration that is not established on a rock solid foundation of social moral conservate values. Fiscal conservatism will be highlighted as moral decay will be hidden in political corridors behind the scenes.
Further, the fiscal conservatism of Reagan was genuine across the board. He sought to reduce spending on the entitlements of the left. Mr. Trump, however, is not so reserved in his fiscal restraints. This is likely to backfire on him with his social liberal friends in the GOP who are also fiscally conservative. Also hidden behind the scenes will be the tug of war where the ex-Democart, Trump, advocates similar policies of the fiscal left in order to gain popularity and his new friends in the GOP (modern libertarians) will fight against them.
So where do we begin. The first challenge I see is to end the Federal Funding of Abortion. Reagan was not an advocate of Abortion and attracted that faction of conservative voters. Trump appointed new Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and they delivered the Dobbs decision, which left the matter of Abortion with the States. However, Trump, like the Tea Party, wants to leave the issue with the States so he doesn’t have to deal with it (absentee on Abortion). But will he keep his promise and actually leave it with the States? Will he actually work to end the Federal Funding of Abortion? Let’s see if Mr. Trump, and the modern libertarians that support him, can end this national policy and actually leave it with the States. Promises made, promises kept. Defund abortion at the national level, a fiscal conservative policy. I doubt they can stomach it.
The idea that Moderates and modern Libertarians tell people in the GOP is that we need to deal with the fiscal issues this year and the social/moral issues next year. However, I heard that line for 20 years while serving the GOP in the 1990s and 2000s. I began to realize we were being Gas Lighted with their dismissive rhetoric. This was proven when in the Obama years the issue came before the U.S. Senate, and the Moderates and Libertarians broke discipline and voted against fiscal conservative values in favor of a social liberal viewpoint. They refused to defund the Federal Funding of Abortion – hypocrites.
The danger with the modern Libertarian viewpoint in the GOP is that it leads to a betrayal of genuine conservative values in public policy. Values that add value to government. It is certain that whether one is vocal on the social liberal/fiscal conservative views or hides them, modern Libertarianism will divide the coalition that elected Reagan (Reagan Democrat – Swing Voters), undermine the GOP with MANY social liberal advocates, and betray fiscal conservatism when it serves their social liberal interests. The whole of the matter rests as a betrayal of all things conservative.
And as the Republican Party is likely to control the U.S. House, Senate, White House, and the Supreme Court (non-political branch of government), we may find ourselves in a whirlwind of trouble with those who are likely to stab us in the back. So be forewarned: modern libertarians will likely swell their ranks during the next Trump era. And if we are not careful, we will find they are nothing more than a “scorpion on the turtle’s back.”
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