 SH: How do you see the Libertarian Party’s growth over the past
several years affecting the outcome of the Georgia Gubernatorial
elections?
GMH: Growth for a political ideal is often a fitful thing, coming
in spurts and largely based on the events and issues of the day.
It isn’t like building a house, where everything goes at
a measured pace where you can see the progress from day-to-day
and predict when the project will be completed. It’s more
like growing a garden, where you spend time tilling the soil, sowing
seeds and watering the ground until, one day, the conditions are
right and the seeds sprout. That’s what we in the Libertarian
Party have been doing for the last several years - preparing the
ground.
The last time around, Georgia voters said they’d had enough
of Democrats in charge, and thought it was time to put a Republican
in the Governor’s mansion. They elected what they thought
was a fiscal conservative and got a tax-and-spend Dempublican instead.
Governor Perdue has taken Georgia from a B grade in economic management
under the Democrats (of all things) to a D in just a couple of
years. This is according to the most recent Cato Institute’s
report on the performance of the various state Governors.
I think that’s just one of many reasons that the Libertarian ‘seeds’ are
ready to sprout.
SH: The recent upswing of the radical right in the Republican Party
has been a concern for freedom lovers all over the U.S. How do
you think that this influences the public’s view of the Libertarian
agenda?
GMH: The public is beginning to understand that the Libertarian
agenda is not the same thing as a ‘liberal’ agenda,
because we oppose the use of government to enforce EITHER a liberal
or conservative view of the world. Just a couple of examples, in
the area of education: the far right opposes the teaching
of evolution in schools and demands creationism; the far left demands
evolution and opposes creationism. The far right wants prayer in
school; the far left wants it forbidden.
In both cases, the Libertarians want YOU to decide, not the government. Imagine
it’s like a boat going from one shore to another. In both
cases, the extremes are fighting over control of a single tiller,
because everyone’s in the one boat. As Libertarians, we don’t
want control of |
the tiller; we want a lot of different boats, so
everyone can decide their own course.
The recent upswing on the right is nothing more than a reaction
to the previous upswing on the left. And both are about the
way Government controls your life. We want it to be about how YOU
control your life.
SH: With all the Christian Collation’s press, do you think
that people really want to be guided by the dictates of churches
and forced to follow those dictates by the government? Especially
the abortion issue? And the legalization of marijuana for medical
purposes?
GMH: Well, it’s certainly true that there’s a vocal
group that wants to GUIDE people. And there have always been lots
of people who would rather be led than take the responsibility
that comes with liberty. But sooner or later when people give up
that liberty for the ‘safety’ of being led they learn
that giving government the power to do God’s work gives it
an equal power to do the Devil’s mischief as well. The government
that they thought they were empowering to enforce their ideals
on others soon start enforcing the ideals of others on them instead.
As far as the medical marihuana issue, I was appalled at the recent
Supreme Court decision on the subject. And anyone who is
a true believer in the Constitution should be equally outraged,
whether they think marijuana is medically helpful, or horribly
wrong in any regard. Even Justice Antonin Scalia, long regarded
as an ‘originalist’ on the court, revealed himself
to be a conservative activist instead, by sending down a ruling
that extends the power of the Federal Government to ridiculous
lengths.
Justice Clarence Thomas, certainly no darling of liberals, got
it exactly right when he said, “Respondents Diane Monson
and Angel Raich use marijuana that has never been bought or sold,
that has never crossed state lines, and that has had no demonstrable
effect on the national market for marijuana. If Congress can regulate
this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually
anything–and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited
and enumerated powers.”
SH: Speaking of Marijuana, do you think the Libertarian Party’s
having the legalization of pot as a plank in the platform is harming
the chances of the Party making major headway into top government
positions?
GMH: Certainly it has in the past and with a certain number of
people it always will, especially those who think of it as “legalizing
pot”. But the more people see that Libertarians are
not wild-eyed drugies, but productive members of their communities,
the less that will be a problem. Certainly our opponents will continue
to try to make it a problem for us, but we have to stand on our principles. |
