But what exactly is an extremist? What extreme religious right policies stand a chance of becoming law in the nation as a whole, or in any state? If Roe were overturned, abortion laws would eventually reflect the very mixed views of the people. Its much more likely that the Left's extreme view on this issue -- abortion on demand -- would remain law in large sections of the country whereas the Right's extreme view -- all abortions banned -- would be rejected everywhere. As to marriage, well it takes a lot more than the religious right to garner the overwhelming majorities that have rejected gay marriage in each and every state that has submitted the matter to its people. For example, if it were only the religious right who opposed gay marriage, then I doubt the Calif ban of it would have won with 61% of the vote, or with 56% in Oregon.
I can understand that libertarians tend to be more liberal on social and cultural issues, and as a big tent party, the GOP should be able to accomodate such members. But what I don't understand is the seeming support from many libertarians for the outrageous manner in which the courts impose liberal social policy on the entire nation on nonexistent constitutional grounds.
We need to have a certain respect for the concept of voting with one's feet; if you don't like the cultural values of a conservative state, then either deal with it or move, likewise if one doesn't like the liberal values of a state, then either deal with it or move elsewhere. Things not protected from or elevated above the normal democratic processes by the Constitution should be left to those normal democratic processes.
This is of course made impossible by the type of jurisprudence favored by Warren Rudman.
I cannot speak for all Libertarians; but, as for me, I see extremism in a 40-year War on Drugs that has failed miserably when a better program would be to decriminalize petty products like pot and tax the hell out of its sale; then use the income to treat and educate the users of hard drugs. I see extremism as the left not understanding that there is a point of no return in pregnancy (somewhere in the mid second trimester when "quickening" occurs). I see extremism on the Right as not understanding that some unfortunate people are burdened with a same sex proclivity from birth and that they should be allowed the same advantage that traditional man-woman unions have, however, that advantage cannot be called marriage in that it doesn't follow the looks like, acts like, quacks like duck logic. I see extremism as an abuse of power by both parties when it comes to confiscatory taxation of the citizenry when a flat tax is the fairest tax. I see extremism in welfare, whether it is individual, corporate or disquised as foreign aid.
Libertarians (at least in my case) strongly believe in the right to ownership of firearms, in free trade (and neither CAFTA or NAFTA meets that definition), in free borders (but where non-citizen migrants do not have the benefit of free education, health care or social service programs), in the freedom to exercise religious preferences anywhere or anytime, in private charity to replace all government handouts, in a war only when Congress declares it, in private property rights with certain limitations on what is in community standards of good taste and is not harmful to neighbors, in the marketplace to solve labor issues and establish wage earnings, in tough, truth in sentencing punishment for violators of law, and most of all in freedom. Succinctly, I would love to have Republicans out of our bedrooms, Democrats out of our wallets, and BOTH OF THEM OUT OF OUR CONSTITUTION!!!!