Justin Amash, LP Interloper, Part 8: Play It Safe versus Going Bold | Jacob Hornberger Libertarian for President - Jacob Hornberger:
May 1, 2020 - "In ... the interview that Congressman Justin Amash gave on MSNBC, specifically focusing on his plan to have the federal government give every American a monthly free check ... as long as the coronavirus crisis lasts ... Amash was asked what his qualifications were to be president. He answered that he is a 'determined' person, a 'practical' person, and an 'honest' person. When pressed, he said that this is about 'democracy' — i.e., giving people more choices on who to vote for. That’s not the way I see things at all. For me, this is all about liberty, not democracy.... Democracy is not freedom. In fact, the Bill of Rights expressly protects us from democracy.
"Amash did not even describe the virtues of libertarianism or even mention the Libertarian Party. I think the reason for that is that he isn’t accustomed to doing so given that he has been running for Congress for 10 years as a Republican and, as of the last year, an Independent.
"Shifting gears, there is no doubt that Joe Biden and the Democrats are going to wage one of the nastiest campaigns in U.S. history against President Trump. It’s going to be a visceral, highly personal campaign. We have seen this during the past three years in liberal editorials, op-eds, speeches, websites, and social media. They are going to say that Trump is a rotten person, a liar, and worse. They are going to say that Joe Biden is a good person and, therefore, more qualified to be president.
"A presidential campaign between Amash and Trump will be no different. There is tremendous personal animosity between these two men. Trump has already called Amash a 'loser.' Amash, of course, joined up with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to try to remove Trump from office through impeachment, first based on the Robert Mueller report and then later on the basis of the 'quid pro quo' with Ukraine. There is no doubt that an Amash-Trump political battle will be one great big food fight involving endless personal invectives. One thing is for sure: discussion of libertarian principles is going to be submerged and suppressed during that food fight.
"Nonetheless, as we an see from the MSNBC interview, Amash’s general position will be much the same as Biden’s — that would make a better president than Trump because he is a 'determined' person, an 'honest' person, and a 'practical' person. All my adult life, I have heard this concept — that what we need to do to extricate America from the morass in which we find ourselves is just put 'better people” in public office. It’s a pipe dream. You could put the biggest saint and the most brilliant person in the world into the presidency and it wouldn’t make one bit of difference.... When you have a bad system with good people, the bad system will always win out.
"I have nothing personal against Trump. Sure, he has been a disaster as a president, but that’s not because he’s a bad person. It’s because he’s part of a bad system.... [T]he political-economic system under which we live ... is based on both conservatism and progressivism, two of the most morally and economically bankrupt philosophies known to man. This is what Amash can’t see, because he is a conservative. Granted, a libertarian-leaning conservative but a conservative nonetheless. He can’t see that it is both conservatism and progressivism that have destroyed liberty, peace, prosperity, health, and harmony in our land. That’s what causes him to see himself as someone who, with his 'determination,' 'honesty,' and 'practicality,' is more 'qualified' to manage America’s welfare-warfare state system than Trump and Biden....
"I say: Let’s run a bold campaign, not one based not on personal attacks or on getting 'better' people into public office. Let’s run a campaign employing what we are good at — philosophy, ideology, principles, ideals, and sound ideas on liberty. I want to explain to our fellow Americans what libertarianism is all about, what we are all about, what we are fighting for, and why we gave devoted our lives to the cause of liberty.... Let’s run a presidential campaign of principle for The Party of Principle."
Read more: https://jacobforliberty.com/2020/05/01/justin-amash-lp-interloper-part-8-play-it-safe-versus-going-bold/
May 1, 2020 - "In ... the interview that Congressman Justin Amash gave on MSNBC, specifically focusing on his plan to have the federal government give every American a monthly free check ... as long as the coronavirus crisis lasts ... Amash was asked what his qualifications were to be president. He answered that he is a 'determined' person, a 'practical' person, and an 'honest' person. When pressed, he said that this is about 'democracy' — i.e., giving people more choices on who to vote for. That’s not the way I see things at all. For me, this is all about liberty, not democracy.... Democracy is not freedom. In fact, the Bill of Rights expressly protects us from democracy.
"Amash did not even describe the virtues of libertarianism or even mention the Libertarian Party. I think the reason for that is that he isn’t accustomed to doing so given that he has been running for Congress for 10 years as a Republican and, as of the last year, an Independent.
"Shifting gears, there is no doubt that Joe Biden and the Democrats are going to wage one of the nastiest campaigns in U.S. history against President Trump. It’s going to be a visceral, highly personal campaign. We have seen this during the past three years in liberal editorials, op-eds, speeches, websites, and social media. They are going to say that Trump is a rotten person, a liar, and worse. They are going to say that Joe Biden is a good person and, therefore, more qualified to be president.
"A presidential campaign between Amash and Trump will be no different. There is tremendous personal animosity between these two men. Trump has already called Amash a 'loser.' Amash, of course, joined up with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to try to remove Trump from office through impeachment, first based on the Robert Mueller report and then later on the basis of the 'quid pro quo' with Ukraine. There is no doubt that an Amash-Trump political battle will be one great big food fight involving endless personal invectives. One thing is for sure: discussion of libertarian principles is going to be submerged and suppressed during that food fight.
"Nonetheless, as we an see from the MSNBC interview, Amash’s general position will be much the same as Biden’s — that would make a better president than Trump because he is a 'determined' person, an 'honest' person, and a 'practical' person. All my adult life, I have heard this concept — that what we need to do to extricate America from the morass in which we find ourselves is just put 'better people” in public office. It’s a pipe dream. You could put the biggest saint and the most brilliant person in the world into the presidency and it wouldn’t make one bit of difference.... When you have a bad system with good people, the bad system will always win out.
"I have nothing personal against Trump. Sure, he has been a disaster as a president, but that’s not because he’s a bad person. It’s because he’s part of a bad system.... [T]he political-economic system under which we live ... is based on both conservatism and progressivism, two of the most morally and economically bankrupt philosophies known to man. This is what Amash can’t see, because he is a conservative. Granted, a libertarian-leaning conservative but a conservative nonetheless. He can’t see that it is both conservatism and progressivism that have destroyed liberty, peace, prosperity, health, and harmony in our land. That’s what causes him to see himself as someone who, with his 'determination,' 'honesty,' and 'practicality,' is more 'qualified' to manage America’s welfare-warfare state system than Trump and Biden....
"I say: Let’s run a bold campaign, not one based not on personal attacks or on getting 'better' people into public office. Let’s run a campaign employing what we are good at — philosophy, ideology, principles, ideals, and sound ideas on liberty. I want to explain to our fellow Americans what libertarianism is all about, what we are all about, what we are fighting for, and why we gave devoted our lives to the cause of liberty.... Let’s run a presidential campaign of principle for The Party of Principle."
Read more: https://jacobforliberty.com/2020/05/01/justin-amash-lp-interloper-part-8-play-it-safe-versus-going-bold/
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