Actually the tea party is more made up of social conservatives and the religious right, not social liberals and libertarians ...My experience in attending several Tea Party rallies in Ohio (including events around the beginning of the movement) was that the crowds had two large contingents - social conservatives and libertarians (and I was surprised at the strength in numbers of the libertarians).
I personally think that it is time to join together to defeat the marxists. We should find a way to support each others' virtues the way the Left supports each others' vices.
These two guys are on the same team and could show the rest of us the way forward.
Your personal experience doesn’t reflect the reality.
The tea party is not so libertarian, but it is overwhelmingly social conservative, the tea party is made up of a more religious crowd than the GOP is.
The Marxists agree with the libertarians on social issues, which of course GUARANTEES, LIBERAL ECONOMICS, let’s not do what you say, let’s not join together against conservatism.
Thank you for injecting common sense, based upon accurate observations, into this thread. Anyone who understands American Conservatism will recognize that the American tradition is based upon both social & economic Conservatism, with a basic libertarian orientation.
Why else did the Founders leave questions of health, safety & morality to the States & local communities? (There is absolutely no Federal role delegated over such questions. They are matters for self-determination--not by disassociated individual, but by organized communities. Thus each State could retain their own cultural values--as different as they were.)
On the other hand, Federal taxes upon individuals were not allowed unless they were "flat." (No forced redistribution of the fruits of anyone's labor.) The Preamble looked to the Founders lines of descent--their "posterity," for whom they intended to secure the Blessings of Liberty, etc. etc. (A clear appreciation of the continuity of families, with multi-generational purpose.)
The idea that there is a dichotomy between Conservatism and a people dedicated to Liberty from their inception is absurd. Because some people in a self-designated "Libertarian Party," in some communities, may have lost sight of the basic Libertarian concept that used to allow American communities to freely exercise religious principles--The First Amendment was clearly written to prohibit Congress from interfering with same (just read it)--should not confuse what is historically true.
Yes, it is an American libertarian principle that you can display the Ten Commandments; that you can enforce standards of behavior that those who live in a community agree upon; again, that health, safety & morals, are State, not Federal issues.
William Flax