It is NOT time for Libertarians to Embrace Harris-Walz!
This article is a response to Jacob Grier’s “Liberal Currents” Article, “To My Fellow Libertarians: It’s Time to Embrace the Harris-Walz Ticket, and, with his permission, is based on a post from @theHodeman on Twitter/X.
“If they’re leaning Democratic, they’re doing so begrudgingly, in the manner of a toddler eating their vegetables or an adult scheduling a colonoscopy.”
Absolutely not. Libertarians who vote for the Democrats know the Democrats are evil; they just believe it to be a necessary lesser evil. Vegetables and colonoscopies are good for you. We can argue all day about whether the Democrats have been better or worse than the GOP, but they HAVE been BAD. That’s not arguable.
“The threats to liberty, democracy, and the rule of law coming from the Democrats and Republicans are not remotely symmetrical.”
Whenever somebody makes this challenge, I find that I can usually go toe-to-toe with them in terms of the evidence. Walz says misinformation and hate speech should be illegal (of course, the government gets to say what the parameters of that are). Trump is as bad on liberty, sure (see ‘mass deportation’), but they’re both pieces of evidence to consider. Harris put people away for a plant she herself has admitted using, she knowingly used a faulty drug lab, and she withheld evidence that might exonerate someone. She tried to go after mothers who didn’t send their kids to public schools. She denied trans people care and forced them to stay in the prison’s of the opposite gender. Where is the rule of law for all the lives she ruined? Where is her accountability? Again, Trump is bad on this issue, but Harris is also demonstrably bad in, at the very least, roughly equivalent ways.
Trump is bad.
Totally agreed. I’m glad Grier identifies Trump’s political and cultural toxicity. I know this is often said sarcastically, but I can’t stand “libertarians” who pretend everybody who dislikes Trump is an NPC. There are legitimate reasons not to vote for Trump, and EVERY libertarian should agree. I appreciate the sources in the article and I’m sure Grier and myself could toss a few dozen more examples into it if that were the theme.
“Those of us who warned that Trump would attempt to overthrow [the election] results were completely correct. If he loses by narrow margins in 2024, it’s equally obvious that he will try to do it again.”
Indeed, this is a possibility, and Trump is evil for ever doing this. Heck, I think he’ll say he won even if it’s not close. Talking out of his butt and lying to gullible people can and will have violent consequences. But, again, locking up people who committed crimes with no victim has objectively ruined more lives than this course of action. And, while I hate to sound like an insane righty on this point, I do not believe Trump came all that close to overthrowing democracy and installing himself as a dictator. Even if the protesters succeeded, there are MANY other systems in place to stop it. I have no doubt he’d do it if he could, but I don’t think he can.
“Despite her “cop” reputation, Harris has become admirably liberal on cannabis… Walz’s record is even better.”
I don’t like that Harris’ monstrous evils are dismissed as ‘reputation’ here. It’s not some gossip train to know what she did. It’s well-documented. If you can’t acknowledge the depths of her evils, it’s hard to trust you on the rosy vision you’re trying to paint. Biden promised decriminalization of cannabis too. People told me to vote for the Democrats 4 years ago for this same reason. Yet here we are.
“Walz also offers a solid record of criminal justice reform.”
Solid is a strong word, especially if you click the attached link. Credit where it is due, Walz has done some great things. But gun rights? Property rights? Ouch.
“On housing, he also seems to have some YIMBY cred, noting the need to remove barriers that artificially reduce the supply of housing.”
It’s really easy to note the need for a change and to say the right thing. Harris’s campaign ad says that she’ll spend more money to make it tougher on immigrants, yet she, in a speech, talked about how she’s excited about more immigration. Cred is earned by work, not speech. He’s had a chance to do the work. He didn’t.
“Even if her administration is unable to restore Roe, it can take significant steps to ensure access to abortion.”
Same as the last point. Every administration CAN do/say a lot of good things. Heck, they can do basically anything, even unconstitutional things; the courts will just overturn their decisions if it’s bad enough. The Democrats, for my entire life, have toyed with enshrining Roe, and they never did it because they needed to remain the only heroes who could defeat the bad guys. The libertarian wish-list is, historically, not that high up on our politicians’ to-do lists.
“Of course, there are plenty of issues on which libertarians and mainstream Democrats will not see eye-to-eye, particularly in economics and foreign policy. On some of these, Harris and Walz may prove to be genuinely terrible. Libertarian journalists and policy advocates can and should call out bad ideas from the left. But we should also resist the temptation to view these differences as symmetrically on par with dangers posed by the MAGA right.”
When Biden/Harris gave pharmaceutical companies monopolies on virtually all current and future medications in the Inflation Reduction Act, the harm on families like mine has been immense. In exchange for capping insulin at 2.5 times market value, basically, everything else is now whatever they want it to be. This is real, unconscionable tyranny that will likely last forever, stealing from people who are, literally, the most vulnerable among us until they die broke and sick.
Grier provides some persuasive links to try and prop up Harris and Walz, but the article is REALLY glossing over their evils and unable even to mention how terrible they are without saying, “Trump is worse, though!” If you have a family member on medication besides insulin, what Joe Biden was comic book-level of supervillain, and to belittle these people’s injuries is not right. And this is just one single issue.
Harris on the economy isn’t just bad; she promised the MOST spending of any Democrat during her run for president 4 years ago. It’s a nightmare for libertarians and worse than the standard Democrat overspending.
People don’t listen until they feel heard. I want a Libertarian who advocates for Democrats to say exactly what the evil was, detail why it was bad, and offer an understanding of the harm done. The “kinda sucks a lil’ bit” thing is not cool for the millions of people harmed by these policies. As established earlier, I’ll grant that Trump has equivalent harm value. But that’s why I don’t vote for either one. You’re making the argument for what one is so much better and even exciting; it’s hard to get excited for somebody who tossed you in prison wrongfully.
“A vote for Harris and Walz is a vote to send Trump and Vance and their coterie of weird would-be authoritarians packing”
It would welcome a new wave of authoritarians. Yes, Trump’s authoritarians will be gone, and we’ll get new ones.
No mention of character issues.
This is a point that I think might even benefit the article since Trump’s character is as bad as it gets. But it’s important to address that all four people in this race will look at a camera, lie, and sleep well the next day.
“Oliver at least has the excuse of running a futile campaign for president”
Chase Oliver is one of the best people I know. This is a guy who has tasted tear gas a few times. He risked his literal life and freedom to stand up for other people. The man does not make excuses. As the LNC sabotages him, he continues to rise up and work harder, polling better than even our last candidate did at the same time period.
Grier acknowledges in the most mild terms that Harris and Walz have problems. They are evils, even if he wants to say lesser evils. Plenty of people out here don’t want evil. They want a good dude. And Chase is a good dude.
Selling out your neighbors to support people who would harm them but hopefully not harm them as much as the other guy is one thing, but don’t you dare drag down Chase and the people who support him as you navigate your descent into the swamp.
Slavery didn’t end because of the abolitionists who sold out. It ended because of the abolitionists who never let it go. Imagine if libertarians folded on the drug war and gay rights just because the world was 10-to-1 against us? Chase and those who support him aren’t letting it go anymore. The lesser evil isn’t lesser enough anymore. If it’s to the point where we can justify Harris and Walz, then we can justify just about anybody and anything.
This piece solely expresses the opinions of the author, and not necessarily the Classical Liberal Caucus as a whole.
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