Re: The Anarchist TEA PARTY who have had "ENOUGH!!" The states’ rights doctrine was center stage at the Liberty Political Action Conference, held in Chantilly, Va., in September and sponsored by the Campaign for Liberty, a group created in 2008 by Ron Paul, in some respects the godfather of post-consensus politics. Speakers and attendees praised the 10th Amendment, as one would expect. Several also criticized the 17th, which allowed for the direct popular election of senators, who had previously been chosen by state legislatures. Why would libertarians — many of them Tea Party-aligned — object to giving voters more say in choosing their senators? Because, as a young, Harvard-trained law professor at the event told me, the amendment diminished the authority of state lawmakers. This is the perspective of a self-conscious minority that seeks not to build consensus but to rally the likeminded. We see it as well in the anti-tax pledges promoted by conservative groups and in the fielding of right-wing challengers to ideologically suspect Republicans. “ ‘It does not take a majority to prevail,’ ” Mr. Paul said at the conference’s climactic event, quoting Samuel Adams, “ ‘but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men.’ ” This is the sentiment guiding today’s post-consensus politicians, who look back even as they gird for the next battle.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 10:51:41 +0000
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