re: #19 Obdicut

In the case of libertarians, I think it really is a case of true scotsmen.

The actual ideology of ‘libertarianism’— which is a category so broad it includes anarcho-capitalism and socialist libertarianism— is that the maximization of individual freedom is the greatest good.

Most people who call themselves libertarians do not have this as their ideology, but instead have the ideology that the government should be small and have less power than it does now. They don’t tend to consider whether or not the government has profound roles in safeguarding individual liberty.

Most people who claim to be libertarians are minarchists. And, as this story shows, most of them are minarchists right up until they need or want something from the government.

While you are absolutely correct. I really don’t think that quibbling over the words is quite germane to this case. The teabag libertarians are of a very specific ilk and they are in the majority. The ones out there who are some form of far left whacko anarchist are far outnumbered by those who simply like to use big words to cloak their greed and sense of exclusion from social duty in terms that sound patriotic.