George Phillies: 'To Libertarians civil liberties are fundamental'

By George Phillies

We’re the Libertarian Party. We’re for liberty. We’re against people who believe that the state should be omnipotent, knowing no limits to its powers or deeds.

Once again, Mr. Root has missed the boat on positions that a libertarian should take. And when you are on our National Committee, you have a real obligation not to miss that boat.

I quote for purposes of review a recent Facebook message he sent to me:



Wayne wrote: “Obama is an extension of Bush only to people who understand ZERO about economics and have never run a business in their lives. There is no comparison. Bush violated civil liberties that 90% of Americans did not even notice.

“Obama effects my business, my bank account, my savings, my stocks, my real estate, my future business decisions, the jobs that I decide to create or not, and for millions of business owners- whether they choose to stay in America or not. If you don’t understand this…you are probably without a job, own no stocks, own no home, own no business, have no family.

“Sorry but listening in on a phone call is not on par with destroying capitalism and redistributing my income. One is a pesky Nanny State…the other is communism. [emphasis added]

“And the irony for Libertarians who don’t get it…is that Obama still listens in on your calls, still runs 2 major wars, hasn’t cut one dollar in foreign aid. Yes on certain issues, Obama is an extension of Bush. On all of Bush’s worst issues.

“But Obama has added hundreds of bad economic policies that are plunging USA into economic Armageddon and destroying capitalism.

“Obama is in a league all his own.

“That could be why I have HUNDREDS of friends who all own businesses…and they all agree…to a man and woman…that Obama is the worst President of our lifetimes…and a threat to our existence. Not one of them would say that about Bush.

“So I guess Libertarian leftist radicals and anarchists are living in an alternate world…or just don’t own anything that Obama is grabbing.”

To this I answer: It’s hard to see how you could go farther off the rails. We are the party of liberty, not the party of greed.

Sir, the essence of Communism is the police state, the KGB and its American counterpart the National Security Agency listening to our every phone call. That’s what real Communism is about, and that’s what George Bush brought to America. The KGB apparatchiks who tried to listen to every thought of every Russian were enemies of civilization, enemies of freedom, enemies of basic civil liberties. The NSA apparatchiks who listen to our every phone call are equally evil and far more of a danger to us and our fellow Americans.

You just don’t get it. We’re here about LIVE FREE OR DIE, not about TAKE MY FREEDOM, JUST LET ME KEEP MY LOOT.

I understand that your small business friends, like the legendary Mr. Babbitt, have thus far spent the first third of the book completely missing the point about what is wrong with their lives. They still do not know. What is clear is that it is not you who will lead them to the libertarian understanding of why America is rotting out from the core.

Mr. Root, the basic problem that you share with your Republican friends, from the banksters and defense contractors who just want more corporate warfare to the Bachmanns, Angles, Palins, Savages, and their fellow shock troops of the Republican Party’s Christian Taliban wing, is that you have not the least understanding of what it means to be a libertarian.

And for readers who think that I spend all my time discussing the inadequacies of Mr. Root as an LNC member, be prepared for change. Another LNC member has volunteered to be next on my list.



George Phillies is a contributing editor for Liberty For All. You can contact Dr. Phillies at phillies@wpi.edu.