Working on catching up on e-mail — just getting started, really; I probably won’t get it done today — I ran across this one:
Dear Mr. Warthen,
I thought you might be interested in a piece I’ve written for Governing Magazine’s blog, pondering why Gov. Sanford is so frequently described as a libertarian: http://ballotbox.governing.com/2008/08/south-carolinas.html .
All the best,
Josh Goodman
Before following the link and reading the post, I hazarded a guess as to the answer: "Because he IS?"
I suppose Josh has a point in noting that more and more people are calling him that these days. I remember when I was the only one I knew of. That’s because I got an early start. One day in his first months as governor, I was visiting him in his office, and after we had touched on various topics that seemed to have a recurring theme, I blurted out, with the tone of one who just realized he’d been a chump, "You ran as a ‘conservative Republican, and you still call yourself that. But you’re not. You’re a libertarian." As I recall, he nodded soberly — I guess "soberly" is how you describe the expression in my mind’s eye. In any case, he didn’t argue about it.
As for people using it as a "pejorative" — perhaps they do. I know I wasn’t thinking happy thoughts when I realized the sort of governor we had. You see, a libertarian is not a good thing to has as governor of one of the most undergoverned states in the union. Maybe it would be a good thing to be in Massachusetts. But in a state that lacks so much in the way of basics that citizens of other states take for granted, the anti-government stance is at best superfluous, and at worst positively malevolent.
Of course, some purists may do what Josh does and quibble that not all of his views are purely libertarian. But you can say that about Ron Paul, too; that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s America’s best-known libertarian.
Related Posts
much for granted as being owed to him by the Nanny State.
Why should people in South Carolina have the things others have? They haven’t earned them!
1/3 of students don’t graduate high school.
1/2 of blacks don’t graduate high school.
70% of blacks have only one parent in the household.
“Family” incomes are less than 80% of the national average.
Mr. Warthen, like too many people, takes too
Typical of Warthen – the writer that emailed him about the blog piece wrote an entire feature for Governing Magazine about Sanford’s efforts to restructure government and the need for it. It’s a serious piece of journalism about a very serious topic that continues to hold our state back. (Article at http://www.governing.com/articles/0808sc.htm)
In spite of endorsing guys like Jake Knotts who killed restructuring last session, Brad claims to believe in the need for it. So does he focus on the article or even mention it? Nope – because Sanford is involved.
So instead, he gleefully writes about a blog post from the same journalist that calls the governor a name. Thanks a lot for more 4th grade journalism…
Undergoverned? When I have to wait on someone buying a lottery ticket every time I buy gasoline?
What do you want — a police state?
Brad, Are you a masochist? Why do you keep putting your head in the lion’s mouth? Do you think the lion is going to morph into a lamb? A good Governor cuts out the deadwood. A good Governor attracts business to invest in the State. He doesn’t try to revive the New Deal by turning the government into the state’s main employer. There is no point in telling you what you already know. Governor Sanford is the embodiment of the American Dream. He is an excellent Governor, unless of course you are a Socialist.
When was alprazolam created.
Alprazolam.