>>>Is this the first time that you have heard of this idea, that Libertarian is different from libertarian?
Not at all. But when people have differing views from the political philosophy that drives that party agenda, they usually don't continue to confuse the issue by endlessly connecting themselves with that philosophy. That's why I suggested you become a politcal independent. But regardless of how you choose to define yourself, your form of libertarianism is part of a minority faction, within a minority faction. Sorry to burst you bubble, but thats the truth and I think you know it too. You don't appear to exhibit the typical libertarian mindset of a reactionary absolutist. So far anyway. And I give you some credit for not dwelling out there on the rightwing edge of the American political spectrum. Sometimes I think that edge is a curve, but thats a topic for another day.
However, you know what they say, if you ask three libertarians a question, you're liable to get four answers.
>>>I cannot think of a government program or department, outside of the military or intelligence, that benefits our nation today.
Of course not, thats one reason why you're a libertarian. There are even some libertarians who advocate the idea, that America would be better off if the military was run by private enterprise. The same is true for intelligence and law enforcment agencies. Thats the free market rule carried to the extreme. Wouldn't you agree?
Libertarians oppose government, because they disagree with the basic job of any government, which is to regulate and restrict human behavior and interaction, that isn't consistent with the desires and demands of society. The simple fact is, thats the job of government in any civilized society.
Personally, I believe there are far too many regulations and restrictions that have been imposed on the people and society at large and these should be rolled back. But there is a need, almost a requirement for society to have some order to it, or else we would have chaos and anarchy. There's those other two words again. The ones that libertarians always want to distance themselves from and for good reason too.
While I would support the abolishment of the Education and Commerce departments and would support combining Energy with EPA, I don't believe it would be practical to dissolve an agency like the INS. But that doesn't mean it should remain in its current compositional makeup either. Many departments and agencies could be done away with and the responsibilty returned to the states. Many others should remain a federal responsibility. The main purpose of reducing the federal governemnt, is to get the beltway bureaucracy out of the business of spending the taxpayers money. In that regard, tax reform and cutting waste, fraud and abuse, would go a long way to reducing the overall size and scope of the federal government. But slashing the federal government down to the military and intelligence entities, as you have suggested, is just more libertarian extremism. And here I thought you were different then the average libertarian.