The Politics of Hero-Worship
By Aaron - January 19, 2011 at 12:56 AM
Filed under Florida , GOP Party , GOP Platform , News , Opinion , Special Interest , States , Students
Filed under Florida , GOP Party , GOP Platform , News , Opinion , Special Interest , States , Students
Laurence Vance, a columnist who posts at LewRockwell.com, has a new piece up in which he provides a not-so-thoughtful analysis regarding his views about the Republican Party in general and the Republican Liberty Caucus in specific. This is his second write-up about the RLC this month. I’m pleased that we’ve caught his attention.
Mr. Vance received a postcard from the Florida chapter of the RLC inviting him to attend the recent Florida RLC Convention in Kissimmee.
Vance’s first criticism is that the RLC postcard he received said that Republicans “won big on libertarian themes”. I am not involved in the Florida RLC chapter and therefore did not pen that language (and I would have chosen alternative language), but winning in politics can take a variety of forms. Perhaps the Florida RLC was talking about candidates running campaigns on libertarian themes — as new RLC-endorsed State Rep. Glen Bradley of North Carolina did. His campaign theme was “Restore the Constitutional Order” and he featured the RLC logo at his campaign hub. Mr. Bradley was just one of many newly elected RLC-endorsed state legislators.
Or perhaps the author of the postcard was talking about ballot initiatives with libertarian themes, such as the anti-Obamacare measures passed in states like Arizona and Oklahoma and the medical marijuana initiative passed in Arizona. Still, there are other measures of successful libertarian themes in the Republican Party, such as the push for state sovereignty by elected Republican legislators, the anti-TSA resolution championed by Republican legislators in New Jersey, the legislation to decriminalize pot possession sponsored by a Republican legislator in Virginia, and the “Health Care Freedom” bills that many states are pursuing with Republicans taking the lead.
Some of this legislation has been successful, some will be in the future, and other items will fail. The legislation that fails will do so because there aren’t enough liberty-loving Americans serving in public office — which the RLC is working to change through retail politics.
In referencing the “liberty wing of the Republican Party,” which was mentioned in the Florida RLC postcard, Mr. Vance claims that the liberty wing has only one member: his hero, Ron Paul. 
Mr. Vance likes one politician, but no others.
I’ve noticed that trend in the Mises economic circles. All politicians and both political parties are evil, the story goes, with one exception — Ron Paul.
What makes Ron Paul different?
He was elected — that’s what separates him from the rest of the crowd.
To be elected, he had to participate in the political process, something Mr. Vance says he explicitly opposes.
In my e-mail response to Mr. Vance’s original blog entry from January 3, in which he initially made the claim that the “liberty wing of the GOP” was made up of one person, I cited examples of other elected officials who make up the liberty wing of the Republican Party:
—–Original Message—–
From: Laurence M. Vance
To: aaronjbiterma
Sent: Tue, Jan 4, 2011 2:35 pm
Subject: Re: Your post about the Republican Liberty Caucuswho are the current and former elected officials?
Subject: Re: Your post about the Republican Liberty Caucus
Date: 1/4/2011 2:41:17 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: aaronjbiterma
To: lmvanceGovernor Gary Johnson
Congressman Justin Amash from Michigan
City Councilman from New York City (Dan Halloran)
County Commissioner from Maryland (Cindy Jones)
State Representatives from Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin
The elected officials I mentioned in the e-mail to Mr. Vance are just some of the decent liberty-loving folks who will be attending the upcoming RLC National Convention. The list excludes a plethora of legislators who were just elected in November and who have been serving as loyal libertarian Republicans for many years, such as State Senator Sam Slom of Hawai’i and State Senator Bob Hedlund of Massachusetts.
Mr. Vance chose to ignore the information I provided to continue his hero-worship instead.
I admire Congressman Ron Paul just as Mr. Vance does. What freedom-loving American doesn’t?
But there is a point where hero-worship becomes counter-productive, and Mr. Vance illustrates the point quite well:
He opposes participation in electoral politics and instead believes that writing for LewRockwell.com is going to change the direction of our country.
If Congressman Ron Paul is as wonderful as Mr. Vance says he is (and I believe he is), then why aren’t we all working to find more principled people to run for office and win?
Well, some of us are. Others would instead prefer to get paid to write articles.
Laurence Vance needs to work on his persuasion skills.
I’m a longtime libertarian, and his efforts have only dissuaded me from wanting to associate with the purity club that is LewRockwell.com and the Mises Institute.
Mr. Vance expresses that he has treated the RLC fairly. He then falsely claims that the Florida RLC endorsed Ron Paul for President in 2008 (not true) and goes on to say that the Florida RLC website is out of date (also not true). He commends the “hardcore” members of the Florida RLC who have written to him in the past (presumably, these members met his litmus test) and then goes on to criticize their choice of State Senator Mike Haridopolos as a speaker at the recent Florida RLC Convention (who did not meet his litmus test).
Unlike the intellectual elitists (and racists and homophobes) who write for LewRockwell.com — sitting in their comfy computer chairs criticizing the masses who do not agree with every tenet of their ideological platform — the Republican Liberty Caucus is working to change the makeup of the Republican Party. So it’s a friendlier place for liberty advocates. So the policies in our country can change dramatically for the better. And to engage folks who may not agree with every libertarian idea but are open to the prospect of learning more about libertarian principles.
Whoever added Mr. Vance to the mailing list of the Florida RLC chapter would be well advised to remove him. Vance neither understands (nor cares to understand,) nor agrees with the mission of the organization — and the RLC Statement of Principles doesn’t jibe with his rigid purity test.
Readers interested in hearing a substantive response to Vance’s claims about the Republican Party should register to attend the 2011 RLC National Convention on February 12 in Arlington, Virginia. Professor Randy Barnett will give a speech entitled “Rediscovering the Libertarian Roots of the Republican Party.” At the same time, we’ll be celebrating 20 years of the Republican Liberty Caucus.
Anyone can run for office, including those of us who have deeply-held libertarian convictions. The idea that the liberty wing of the Republican Party is made up of one elected official — a lie stated and repeated by Laurence Vance — should be expunged from our discourse.
And the politics of hero-worship should be purged from the libertarian movement so that we can recruit, support, and elect libertarian-minded citizen leaders who are in the same mold as Ron Paul.
After all, it was Congressman Paul himself who said, “We must redouble our efforts to educate our fellow citizens, recruit and support liberty candidates, and marshal our resources for the battle ahead.”
On January 19th, 2011 at 2:48 am
You know, I sent him information on all the same politicians you did who are true libertarians elected last year. And do you notice that he glossed over that particular criticism in his new article and made no effort at all to address the truths we pointed out to him?
Dave
On January 19th, 2011 at 4:24 am
So, one is to assume from Mr. Vance, since he believes Ron Paul is the only “true” advocate of liberty in congress, that his own son Rand Paul, along with Tom McClintock and Jeff Flake are “statists”?
Even thought, quite ironically, Flake actually scored a couple points higher than Ron Paul on the RLC’s very latest Liberty Index. And McClintock is known in California as a diehard “Ron Paulist on economics,” and even backed him for President in ’08. And Rand Paul agrees with his father on 99% of all domestic issues, and about 80% of his foreign policy.
Still, these 3 guys, cause they’re not the true blue Ron Paul himself, are “statists,” according to Mr. Vance.
Interesting.
On January 19th, 2011 at 7:33 am
I would welcome Vance’s critique of my contemporaneous documentation of my work as a Libertarian in the Maine House of Representatives.
http://www.libertyunbound.com/sites/files/printarchive/Liberty_Magazine_July_2006.pdf
On January 19th, 2011 at 8:10 am
In my experience it is more likely I will have a rational discussion with a liberal then one these “purists”. They would rather remain ideological pure and exclude from their club anyone that isn’t Ron Paul, then to make any progress at all.
While we have hard working RLCers in Fl we also have the Laurence Vance types who think they are above all others because they blog about statist politicians and criticize those who would work for/support a candidate who is only right 99% of the time. This ‘political sage’ mentality does nothing to advance the cause of liberty and their readership generally consists of those who have already given themselves over to the purist way of thinking.
On January 19th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Missy, Ken Hi friends! Good to see both you here.
Sorry I haven’t been able to get up with either one of you while I was visiting your states.
But Ken, something tells me I’ll be back up in Maine real soon. Go LePage! Man, I loved that “Kiss my butt” comment of his to the NAACP.
On January 19th, 2011 at 9:44 am
If Ron Paul is his standard, then he’d be pleased to know that there are now 3 Ron Paul endorsed state legislators in Iowa, including one who came directly out of Campaign for Liberty. Dr. Jim Forsythe was elected in New Hampshire where he joins at least a few others who endorsed Paul in 2008.
Granted, Dr. Paul does stand out like a sore thumb amongst the crooks and liars in Washington, so its easy to see why our critics think of us as only supporting one man. But that’s a criticism I usually hear from outsiders, not from people supposedly in our movement. Its also one reason I’m starting to prefer Gary Johnson as a Presidential candidate and hope Paul decides to pass on the 2012 race and focus on his great work on the monetary policy subcommittee.
On January 19th, 2011 at 10:44 am
The writers here are being kind calling Mr Vance a “purist” when his thinking is really irrational extremism. We have enough battles to fight with the real enemy (the statists) in the political arena that we shouldn’t waste time with sniping from the irrelevant extremists like Vance, and for that matter, Rockwell and the LP. They claim to be libertarians but fight efforts of serious, active libertarians who are actually putting libertarianism in practice in real life politics where liberty could be –and needs be– defended and advanced. Aaron’s response was articulate and complete representing the mainstream libertarian activists.
On January 19th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Thank-you Aaron. That was an excellent post.
There are many good points that the Rockwell and the Mises gang discuss that coincide with RLC principals.
Still, their distrust of “everyone else” goes along with their training of never associating with anyone else since you’ll be lumped in with them if something goes wrong. Too many political groups think this way, and perhaps even the RLC does this too at times.
What people need to realize is that the powers at be want this separation. Split people up. Never get them to work with each other. If that were to happen then we, those in control, would lose our power.
Thanks again for a great read. I’ll be reminded of your post the next election cycle when we have to go through yet another week or two of “why vote?” from their camp.
On January 20th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Yes, very good comments George. RLC is MAINSTREAM LIBERTARIAN. That is pre-cisely why I founded the RLC 30 years ago, in Florida I might add. As a home for MAINSTREAM LIBERTARIANS. Lord knows such as home was desperately needed.
One issue though George. I don’t think the Libertarian Party on the whole is quite as far out there as the Lew Rockwell/Vance folks. Some of them are, for sure.
But even some of the former LP folks have left the LP complaining that it’s too “much of a sell-out.” Like Jim Davidson, Tom Knapp, et.al.
The LP is fringe, but Rockwell & Co. are hyper-fringe, so much so, that they almost are leftists.