Stefan, what part of Baldwin's phrase "no objections" do you not understand?
I have no idea what you mean by "some Libertarians are supporting the surge and funding (like Obama)". Neither the LP Platform nor presidential nominee support the "surge" in Iraq. Barr says "the invasion and occupation of Iraq were two separate mistakes" and wants to "exit from Iraq as quickly as possible". The LP Platform says "the United States should both abandon its attempts to act as policeman for the world". Stop making stuff up about the LP.
Yes, neither Barr nor Root are quite as obsessive as Ron Paul is about America's "empire". If you're willing to pay for some anti-empire rhetorical icing on your Iraq-withdrawal cake, at the price of endorsing antediluvian protectionism and theocratic support for legislating personal morality, that's up to you. Your "zero chance of being elected" rationale could be used to excuse any shortcoming whatsoever of any third party or candidate. I believe that ideas are in the end all that really matter, and I'll never agree that "the details of their platform really does not matter".
It's absurd to say I "have not touched on" the economic policy differences between Paul and Baldwin. In this thread I've pointed out both Baldwin's protectionism and his opposition to all foreign investment. Elsewhere I've written that these are by far the biggest difference between Paul and Baldwin.
Yes, the LP Platform emphasizes the rights of the individual. We are unapologetic about that, because we completely deny that groups have rights. It's illiterate to claim that the LP Platform does not emphasize personal responsibility. The very first sentence of the very first plank of our Platform says: "Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and to accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make." We go on to say: "Our support of an individual's right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices."
The LP Platform talks repeatedly about the nation and its borders: "We support the maintenance of a sufficient military to defend the United States against aggression. [...] The defense of the country requires that we have adequate intelligence to detect and to counter threats to domestic security. [...] Intelligence agencies that legitimately seek to preserve the security of the nation must be subject to oversight and transparency. [...] American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world and its defense against attack from abroad. [...] We support control over the entry into our country of foreign nationals who pose a threat to security, health or property."
Flash, a third-party vote is a vote about ideas, not about candidates or leaders or father-figures or heroes. You want a hero, then go read a comic book. You want a free country, then go vote Libertarian.
