[supercat]

No Republican can turn his back on the social conservatives and win re-election...unless, of course, he/she sells his/her soul to the liberals in which case the libertarians won't want anything to do with them.

Once upon a time libertarians may have been rightly regarded as "social liberals". That's really not quite so true anymore.

Libertarians disagree with many Republicans on whether the state should punish people for committing sodomy if those people are taking reasonable efforts to keep their activities private and are only caught due to factors they could not reasonably have foreseen. Some libertarians disagree with Republicans on the extent to which such acts should be permitted or punished in less-than-totally-private situations(*). Libertarians are in substantial agreement with Republicans, however, in thinking that government should not be actively promoting immoral behaviors as it is now doing in many places.

(*) Many libertarians would have no problem with statutes and ordinances which prohibit lewd behavior in public; the fact that an observer saw and was disturbed by such behavior would constitute prima facie evidence of the offense. Such evidence could be rebutted by showing that the complainant was someplace he had no right to be, that the suspect had explicit reason to believe that the complainant consented to be exposed to the behavior, or the exposure came through some means the suspect could not reasonably have foreseen.

Many libertarian-leaning conservatives, myself included, believe that public lewdness, drunkenness, drug use, etc. should be forbidden and punished, but that government should not generally seek out such vices when they would not otherwise come to police attention. This distinction is made out of a wish not so much to protect those activities, but rather to keep government under control.

[FormerLib]

An interesting and well thought reply. I want to make sure I say that up front.

Now, would it surprise you that what you've posted very directly contradicts a large percentage of what certain "libertarians" on this forum have told me?

Libertarians disagree with many Republicans on whether the state should punish people for committing sodomy if those people are taking reasonable efforts to keep their activities private and are only caught due to factors they could not reasonably have foreseen.

This, for instance. I don't know how many times I've been called a socialist by a "libertarian" because I've supported the idea of prosecuting men who have public sex in restrooms and/or public parks.

You need to divest yourself of that fringe as much as we need to jettison Jerry Falwell!