At Least He Sounds Consistent in His Libertarianism

I read in this morning's USA Today about the Tea Party movement.  The article quoted a number of grass-roots 'tea-partiers' about what they believed.  Refreshingly, they seemed to stay away from the social issues like gay rights and abortion.  What seems to motivate them politically was stated this way by one man: limited government (VERY limited), fiscal responsibility, and the free market.  In other words, this seems like a truly libertarian movement.

With one possible exception, which is American foreign policy.  This is where the split in the Tea Party comes, between the Palinite 'for war-any war' perspective' and the Paulian non-interventionist position of 'American first'.  Palinites are, in my opinion, simply hypocrites in their libertarianism if they remain wedded to our militaristic foreign policy of the last 60 years.  Nothing takes away more liberties or increases the size of government and its impact on society more than a huge military/intelligence establishment.

Which brings me to a pleasant surprise of the day: Clint Didier, former NFL player and Washington state farmer, now running in the Republican primary for the Senate (primary on August 17).

Clint Didier is also a candidate most Americans, to date, have never heard of. The Tea Party-anointed candidate in his home state of Washington, Didier has received the endorsement of both Palin and Paul in his bid for U.S. Senate, but his politics are far more in sync with the latter. While many on the libertarian or traditionalist Right, or critics of the Tea Party on the Left, wonder if Palin-loving conservatives are truly prepared to break free from the pro-war, any war rhetoric that animated the Right during the Bush years–rhetoric Palin still mouths herself–Didier makes his foreign policy clear: “I subscribe to Jefferson’s view, and favor a non-interventionist philosophy. We need to stop trying to police the world and telling other nations how to manage their affairs. It is depleting our wealth and draining our national spirit. America is a republic; therefore let’s stop trying to spread ‘democracy.”

Whether the Palin wing of the Tea Party can widen their critique of government spending to foreign policy–an absolute necessity if they are serious–remains to be seen. Whether Tea Party candidate Didier’s critique of government largesse extends beyond foreign policy is already clear to see–as the multigenerational small farmer has included ditching federal farm subsidies as part of his platform, along with slashing the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, phasing out Social Security, and opposing just about every unconstitutional department, function, or folly the federal government now chooses to involve itself in. Says Didier of ending federal farm subsidies–money that has benefited both him and his neighbors–”It’s the kind of a move that we all better be willing to make for this country… We’ve got to all realize this is unsustainable. We’ve got to quit taking this money.”