[x]

Maybe people are reading too much into this. It’s not a serious look at libertarian philosophy or libertarian factions. Somebody just notices that Obama seems to be calling for less government when it comes to abortion and more government when it comes to everything else — that he seems to be invoking liberty here and opposing it everywhere else. Where you want to go after that and how you want to characterize his position is up to you.

[presidio9]

No political philosophy is perfect. Some are more perfect than others, but every last one of them is wrong on SOME issue. Libertarianism is a simplistic political philosophy, which elevates personal liberty above all else. Everything's ok, as long as nobody else gets hurt. They base this on a faulty understanding of the Constitution. Unfortunately, for this to work, it has to always apply. Otherwise, it never does. So, for example, the argument for legalizing marijuana also applies to heroin, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine -And if it doesn't, why not?

The correct libertarian viewpoint on abortion, at least until the third trimester, is pro-choice. This doesn't work for so-called "libertarian conservatives" because it forces them to make an exception to the rules, something that is not allowed in libertarian political philosophy. So we end up with what you have here: A not-so-bright true believer playing mental gymnastics with the obvious.

I suppose that the majority of the conservatives here leaned at least a bit libertarian when we were in college and the world seemed much less complicated. There is a very good reason why most of us grew out of it as we got older and took on more responsibilities.