Libertarian Party or Looney Party?

Quite a few people distrust the Libertarian Party, considering their views too extreme. They may stand in support of liberty and freedom, but even those principle can be defending in unreasonable ways. Even some libertarians can find other libertarians to be a bit extreme.

Ed Brayton writes about the new Libertarian Party candidate for president, Michael Badnarik, quoting his statement about one of the first things he would do as president:

Issue another valid executive order to my subordinates executives working for the IRS. That order would instruct them to come to work, make a pot of coffee, and begin working on their resumes' pending a federal grand jury investigation as to the legitimacy of the Sixteenth Amendment and the Internal Revenue Code. High ranking officials from that department would be closely monitored as flight risks, pending indictments for fraud in the event that evidence proves that they knew that no statute exists that requires Americans to fill out a 1040 form and relinquish a significant percentage of their hard earned money to an unconstitutional government that refuses to operate within a budget.

Brayton comments:

Look, I'm against the income tax too. I'd like nothing better than to see the income tax done away with. But this crap about arresting IRS officials and declaring the 16th amendment illegitimate is not serious thinking, it's militia-level nonsense. It's the kind of thing that sounds good to stupid rednecks with gun fetishes, but anyone with an IQ over room temperature and any common sense is going to conclude that Badnarik is a wingnut. If you want to do away with the income tax, you fight the political battles to convince people it's a good idea, you don't threaten to arrest IRS officials and convene grand juries to indict them on trumped up charges of fraud.

I am embarrassed for the party I have supported today. And sadly, it seems to be a trend. In 1992, the Libertarian Party had its best nominee in Andre Marrou. He was bright, eloquent, telegenic and moderate in tone. Then for the last 2 cycles they've had Harry Browne, who didn't impress me much. And now they've got Badnarik, who sounds like he's ranting in an internet chatroom. If they can't do better than a yahoo like Badnarik, the Libertarian Party is going to be taken about as seriously as the Natural Law Party.

When libertarians are this critical of the Libertarian Party, it’s a pretty serious situation. I have to wonder, though, whether Badnarik’s extreme views are incompatible with libertarianism. If he is looney in a way that contradicts libertarian principles, that’s an excellent reason to be embarrassed and upset. If, however, he is looney in a way that is completely consistent with libertarian principles, that is also a reason to be embarrassed and upset — but it seems to me that the focus should then be on the principles rather than the person. It would cause me to reconsider my position a bit, looking for what needs to be adjusted in order to step away from whatever leads to being looney.

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