That’s Exactly The Point

Barbara O’Brien, a liberal who blogs at The Mahablog, distills, quite unknowingly, the essence of libertarianism:

I still say that libertarianism and “limited government” ideology is essentially anti-democratic. It deprives We, the People of the ability to use government in our own interests. Certainly the powers of government must be limited — the power to censor, the power to search and seize property, the power to intrude on citizens’ private lives generally — but placing artificial limits on the size and functions of government doesn’t restrict government as must as it restricts the will of the people.

And what’s so wrong about that ? What makes the “will of the people” any more valid than the Divine Right of Kings ? Even in a democratic society, government needs to be limited precisely because unfettered power in the hands of the majority will, inevitably, lead to oppression of some minority somewhere. My rights should not be subject to your vote.

Does Ms. O’Brien really believe that there shouldn’t be any limits on the will of the people ? If she does, then we’ve got to toss out most of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, because that’s precisely what they do.

Then, again, maybe that’s precisely what she and her progressive allies want.

H/T: The QandO Blog