The Free State Takeover of the Republican Party

What these people want to be "free" of is obligations. (0.00 / 0)

Basically, they're of a predatory or exploitative mind set and don't believe in "give and take."  On the other hand, it's possible that the reason they don't give and just take is because they don't know how.
Giving, as opposed to just getting rid or dumping something you don't want, implies an awareness of the recipient's interests and needs. Absent that awareness, it's really impossible to give.  Indeed, any effort to simply mimic the behavior -- to give gifts like other people do -- are likely to backfire or be unappreciated simply because the "personal touch" was missing. Gifts that aren't properly appreciated, as unsuitable gifts often are, then validate the feeling that giving is a waste of time or, worse, grossly disappointing.

Oddly enough, in German, the word "Gift" means poison. You know, like that apple from the step-mother.

One of the good things about Democracy for America is that it encouraged citizens to ask people to be candidates, presumably on the basis of recognized skills and attributes.  Chambers of commerce recruit candidates, but they do it either to promote some local commercial interest or to "place" someone who's otherwise dispensable.

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by: hannah @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 12:30:37 PM UTC

Put another way.... (4.00 / 4)

The NH Republican Party, no longer able to find any NH Republicans, rely on temporary labor to fill in gaps in their labor requirements.

Hope >> Fear





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by: Mike Hoefer @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 13:11:33 PM UTC

The GOPP (Grand Old Puppet Party) is no longer able (4.00 / 1)

to find NH Republicans who will agree to do what out-of-state interests tell them to do.  Our previous Republicans were pretty damn independent, but that's not the new lock-step variety they have been morphed into since the Tea Party mindset took over.  

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by: Lucy Edwards @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 13:24:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bet the spread (0.00 / 0)

Once again I am hearing excuses here. I don't care if they call themselves the party of the livid, these folks are running and ruling as Republicants. The Republicant party is responsible for them. All those "old style Republican moderates" are just as responsible for these reich wingers as are any other members of their party. If you didn't realize that their purpose was to mostly run for any open office,  shame on you. They have training meetings to plan the disruption of town meetings and have for years. There are many many at the local level filling in uncontested positions. Just waiting till they were in a position to promote their reich wing programs. Free Staters have been proclaiming their message in everything they said and describe how they plan to accomplish it. There are a huge number of sleepers in the Democratic Party as well. Their purpose was to get elected as whatever would get them elected. In a Republicant district they run as Republicants. In Democratic ones, the opposite. There is a whopper in the Concord Democratic ranks now that used to live in Deerfield. They only blow their dog whistles to each other.  

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by: xteeth @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 16:17:21 PM UTC

I would guess (4.00 / 1)

that there are fewer than, say, 30 Free Staters/sympathetic libertarians working closely with the Democratic Party. Just based on my discussion with a few other libertarian-ish Democrats.

It's completely possible that there are more, and I simply don't know about it.

And if you count anyone who is a registered Democrat, there are probably more.

Be fiscally responsible: nhecon.blogspot.com

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by: Will May @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 02:01:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

The FSP steps in (4.00 / 1)

Have been doing a lot of thinking about how the Free State Project has been able to get this far in NH. Certainly from the beginning, they set out to create a viable political structure, through the NH Liberty Alliance and the Republican Liberty Caucus of NH. They have also exploited political vacuums wherever they've seen them at the local level, and there has been much to exploit, as more people each year are running around too busy and distracted to be involved politically.

The FSP has also been able to exploit the backlash of outraged citizen as a result of the recession and the Obama administration, - and seems to have easily and strategically gathered momentum by joining forces with Ron Paul/Tea Party people.

I believe the FSP has also exploited a social/ cultural vacuum in America - in encouraging people to gather together in NH to build some kind of simpler, safer, personal responsibility based nirvana. People coming here do get support of various kinds from each other, as they try to live out a dream of a different kind of America. The next thing you know, some of them are running for office, with a ready made support system in place.

Their dream is of course an unsustainable one, if one connects all of the dots. Having lived in NH for 30 years, and realizing how hard it is to truly have a sustainable local economy and local support systems, I understand this. But the FSP people either are too new to NH, too naive, - or they are the puppeteers who are playing with the others.

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by: vparmele @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 17:02:08 PM UTC

I think we might have (0.00 / 0)

multiple layers of puppets and puppeteers going on.  I also agree with you that the economic policies foisted on the American people by the corporations and their bought politicians have left all too many of us so stressed by the constant insults to our ability to survive to think about being part of our communities, never mind running for office at any level.  We have been co-opted.

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by: Lucy Edwards @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 18:09:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And the Republican Party Takeover of the Free State Movement (4.00 / 4)

In order to move up in Republican ranks, libertarians have had to put aside any qualms they had about government interfering with health decisions, or discriminating against gays, or suppressing voter rights.

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by: elwood @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 20:01:27 PM UTC

Interestingly, (4.00 / 4)

once I took a step back from it all ("it all" being libertarianism), I started to find areas where it seems like libertarian philosophy has been corrupted by the long political coalition with the right.

Unions are a good example. Generally, the nicest thing you'll hear about unions is that "they're bad for the economy, but I don't want the government to stop them," meaning they don't want the police to drag people away for unionizing.

Yet when you look at it, right-to-work laws, which most of these people would support, call for the government to prevent two parties from voluntarily entering into a contract. And in fact, this has been the Libertarian Party's official position in the past-- more pro-union than almost all self-described libertarians.

I was pretty shocked when I discovered this, despite being a libertarian for years.

I've also noticed that, since I've gotten involved with local Democratic Party and progressive politics, I'm much more tempted to adopt liberal beliefs-- because it just makes things so much easier for me. It's something I've been very aware of, and I've had to be very careful to make sure I don't simply replace one irrational position with another.

So there's probably some truth to the reverse-takeover theory.

Be fiscally responsible: nhecon.blogspot.com

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by: Will May @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 01:53:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Part of the problem, (4.00 / 2)

as I see it, is the Libertarian worship of rationality.  When reason is reduced to the rational we lose the underlying spirit of our collective experiment.  Positions and opinions based only on verifiable fact quickly become fundamentalist positions with no room for compromise, or allowances for persuasion.

There are limits to reason that's based on rationality - it seems to me that there's just a short step from such a reason to self-absorption and possessive individualism.  Using Rawl's Veil of Ignorance, I think we would all do well to balance our rational selves with transrational allowances - which I think helps to create a much stronger culture and healthier communities.

I find it interesting, Will, and a bit admirable, that you can still find yourself "awakened" by new information, and more so that you can speak about it.  That truly is progressive.


In the immediate aftermath of Since the start of the financial crisis, the Fed/Treasury lent, spent, or guaranteed $28 $29 $30 trillion to save the banking system.

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by: StraffordDem @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 14:33:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

*THIS* (4.00 / 1)

Most libertarians are more rational than empirical.  Indeed, I would call them hyper-rational.  This is another reason why they typically support the Austrian school: it's very axiomatic, with small truths being deduced, logically, from "higher" principles.

I say hyper because, once you get involved in the moral heirarchies conducive to rational epistemology, you begin to question very little of your own dogma, and those who disagree with you become "ignorant" or "evil", as opposed to just being different.

I consider it one of my purposes in NH, and Will and Thom would likely agree, to counter, from the "inside" so to speak, the inevitable elitist tendencies of hyper-rational group think.

There's a lot of group think amongst Free Staters.  Will and I broke free of that by getting out and working with liberals.  You could all do a lot by reaching out to Free Staters and letting them know why our current House agenda is not pro-liberty.

Stronger dialogue = stronger democracy.

pragma supra ideo
http://carroll4nh.com/

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by: Andrew Carroll @ Tue Apr 12, 2011 at 23:39:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

One difference I've noted.... (0.00 / 0)

...Many of the GroupThink, RightLibertarian FSPers see personal autonomy from all rules as the overriding goal in and of itself. Ergo, any government rule that requires or prohibits their personal action is opposed, without any further discussion or analysis.

For those who have distanced themselves from the FSP and rightists, and have adopted a 'renegade' Leftist approach (either outright Liberal-Progressive, or Leftist-Libertarian), the overriding goal is the of the individuals in the society.well-being  

For this latter group (which is where I land), government regulation is opposed generally when it has a propensity to run counter to those goals...and, perhaps more importantly, the actions of Private entities (corporations, employers, landlords, financiers) are OPPOSED when the exercise of their so-called 'freedoms' runs counter to the goal of the individual's well-being...and SUPPORT for government regulation that enhances that well-being comes much more easily than among rightists.

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by: Tully Fitzsimmons @ Wed Apr 13, 2011 at 00:06:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

If there's one thing the Republican base loves, (0.00 / 0)

It's coming up with new names for itself.

--
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 06:51:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What do you call a moderate Republican (4.00 / 1)

A DEMOCRAT

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by: tchair @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 10:43:40 AM UTC

That's what they'll be called after the 2012 election n/t (0.00 / 0)

"We start working to beat these guys right now." -Jed Bartlet

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by: cblodg @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 19:08:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Live Free (State) Or Die n/t (4.00 / 1)

note to close readers: this might be sarcastic so think twice before reading to candidates for use in their attacks on each other

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by: JonnyBBad @ Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 19:11:19 PM UTC

Interesting (0.00 / 0)

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/e...

He is mistaking a battle for the war.

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by: archmac @ Thu Apr 14, 2011 at 04:39:47 AM UTC