Rick Santorum ... just go away

Rick Santorum ... just go away

Neal Boortz
Feb. 10, 2012

There has always been something about Rick Santorum that put me off a bit … scared me. I’ve referred to him here and on the air many times as a theocrat, and there has always been something a little creepy with the intensity of his desire to control the reproductive processes of women.

Well it seems that someone has come up with a little video of Santorum addressing some gathering. There’s a question and answer session going on, and Santorum is getting a bit peeved at some of the questions. Been there; done and understand that. A lot of people will ask questions that are designed not to garner information so much as they are to embarrass the person being questioned. At any rate … during this session Santorum finds it necessary to address libertarianism and has this to say:

“I am not a libertarian, and I fight very strongly against libertarian influence within the Republican Party and the conservative movement. I don’t think the libertarians have it right when it comes to what the Constitution is all about. I don’t think they have it right as to what our history is, and we are not a group of people who believe in no government.”

Well, there you have it. Rick Santorum believes that Libertarians believe in “no government.” Now anyone with just the most basic education would know that it is anarchists who believe in not government, not libertarians. So why would Santorum utter this absurdity?

Here’s a link to a Cato Institute study from about two years ago addressing the question “How many libertarian voters out there?” The study shows that the number of libertarian voters really hinges on just how you ask the question, but at a minimum it would be around 14% with a high of 59%. To ask the question these pollsters had to define libertarianism for the respondents. Gallup has found the number to be from about 20% to 25%

The job of defining libertarianism for the purposes of polling falls to a group called American National Election Studies (ANSE). That definition can be boiled down to “economically conservative and socially liberal.” When the question is phrased that way 59% of Americans say it describes them. When Cato rephrased the question to “Economically conservative and socially liberal, also known as libertarian.” The numbers drops to 44%. Even then that’s the largest voting segment.

Well here’s Santorum’s problem. Santorum is anything but socially liberal. He’s a social conservative stalwart. He calls himself the “consistent social conservative.” If you start your journey through the Internet researching the definition of “social conservative” you will find the following:

• First and foremost, abortion must be made illegal in most if not all cases.
• The so-called gay rights movement must be stopped and gay marriage banned.
• Embryonic stem cell research must be stopped.
• Children in government schools must be led in Christian prayer

To be sure, libertarians and social conservatives are in agreement on many issues. The Second Amendment, for instance, maintaining a strong national defense and promoting self-reliance. The key here is that libertarians do NOT believe in “no government.” But to Santorum I guess a government that cannot use deadly force to compel a woman to continue with a pregnancy she does not want is the same as “no government.” A government that does not place gender restrictions on love and long-term relationships is “no government.” A government that does not subject children attending government-operated schools staffed by government employees under compulsory attendance laws to government-mandated prayer is “no government.”

For me libertarianism is pretty simple. The government should not make any action a crime unless that action interferes with another person’s right to their life, their liberty or their property through either force or fraud. That definition reveals a requirement for government. Some entity must exist, after all, to step in to prevent one person from denying another those rights.

Would you like to know whether or not you are more libertarian than not? For over 25 years there has been something out there called “The World’s Smallest Political Quiz.” Here’s your link. Just go to the site and respond to ten statements with “agree,” “maybe” or “disagree” and see where you fall on the political spectrum. I took the test this morning and my personal score was 90%, my economics score was 100%. My little red dot was right up there at the top of the scale. Take the test and see where you stand.

If Santorum truly believes that libertarians believe in “no government,” then he’s a idiot. If he knows that statement was untrue he’s a liar. Your choice.

Never was a fan of Santorum anyway.