[298] in libertarians
Re: liberal Dems not pro-civil liberty; FBI wiretap bill proves
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vernon Imrich)
Fri Oct 7 15:11:40 1994
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 94 15:06:50 -0400
From: vimrich@flying-cloud.mit.edu (Vernon Imrich)
To: hhuang@MIT.EDU, libertarians@MIT.EDU
I know many Dems are not pro-civil liberty (remember the ACLU is often
downplayed by Dems, remember Dukakis?). Thing is, the R's can not
be counted on to defend them except when politically expedient (i.e.
accuse their opponents of being hypocrites). I think we should all
call Kennedy's office to urge him to stop supporting it. He is up
for re-election you know. Also, I hear Feinstein is getting it bad
from her constituients on this as well.
*D MA Kennedy, Edward M. 1-202-224-4543 1-202-224-2417
Has stated that he is supporting the bill (bad)
Voted in favor of the bill leaving the Judiciary committee. (bad)
An interesting demographic for D's are the so-called "urban/working class/
Catholic liberals." These people are described as socially conservative
economically liberal, many are union people. They deplore the Dem's
attachment to ACLU type civil liberties, but like how the Dem's "support
the workers" (i.e. socialism). On the Nolan chart they come out as
Authoritarians. This bunch is the classic Northeast, union state Demographic
pool. It is the bunch that the Dem's and Clinton have been trying to
court by being tough on social issues while still being big government
on economic concerns. This tactic is driving away many from the D's
who are NOT social conservatives. My point is that these old time civil
libertarians may find they have no where else to go but the LP since
the R's are not going to adapt socially liberal policies anytime soon.
On the Social front, we should expect defectors from both parties. Combine
that with the re-examination of economics taking place after the fall
of most socialist policies and there is much room for LP growth from
the left and right.
My fear is that we have too many LP's who can listen to Rush Limbaugh
and strain out the social rhetoric, but not enough who can listen
to Alan Dershowitz or William Kunstler and forgive the economic foibles.
If we become known as "right wing radicals" then we turn off the ACLU'ers
from the get-go and only end up splitting the conservative vote. We've
got to split off voters from both parties. Belive me, talking to many
leftists gives you a real sense that they are fed up with "conservative
Democrats." A recent example is the actor Micheal Moriarty who has
a great interview in the most recent LP News. He voted for Clinton in
the last election but can't belive the actions of Reno and Company on
the liberties front and is seeking to run as an independent in the next
elections.
Vernon
