Fairly lame list, so far. Good idea though.
5. is the best. 1. is far too weak (just like the democrats out there).

Should read: lying scumbag monkekyboy sheriff who should be impeached and jailed, along with all the other liars.

How about: "You may be a liberaltarian if you cannot think of one single thing that Bush/Cheney has done so far that is any good."
This is, by the way, the subject of a good question to ask of any of our media, and/or conservative-leaning friends. I am still waiting for an answer every time I ask David Brooks and his ilk.

Well if that's the criteria I guess I am. Keep in mind that the conservative administrations in the world are the problem. It's never that they're too liberal and generous to their citizenry. The comments on Iran in the last two days aren't "Darn, they elected a liberal."

Thanks, Rowland, but you might also be nothing but a liberal by that criteria. The point is to get the other side to listen to you rather than dismiss anything you say. Might work. Might not, but it's worth a try. We'll keep working on the idea for the radio and run it by the student focus group.

And to Mark, you may be right about the problem, but the problem in winning future elections is getting the libertarian independents voting with the liberals for the Democrats. According to the latest polls, cited on the Sunday TV news shows, the independents are turning against the Iraq war on about the same level as those who voted Democratic last time around. That's a good sign for 2006 and 2008, if it can be capitalized upon.

You should just cut it down to "Libertarianism: Because the Democrats just ain't cuttin' now, are they?"

Or: "We're like the Democrats -- except we can kick their asses, too!"

You know, something Americans can identify with since they're, you know, mindless sheep.

Thanks, but no, libertarianism will not work alone.

The Libertarian Pary supports privatization, just like President Bush, even for things like public utilities. As a liberaltarian, I recognize that government is good for some things, like protecting the borders and delivering the mail. To this list I would also add running prisons and mental health facilities, where the profit motive may not be in the best interest of individuals or the public at large.

The point is to combine the best of liberal government with the best of civil libertarianism that has a long, deep history in this country.

And, by coming up with a new term for it, and by getting a disccussion going on how it should be defined, it may actually be possible to make some progress in our public dialogue - rather than a continuation of this two-sided argument that is obviously going nowhere.

Loving Bill Clinton qualifies you as a liberaltarian?

I mean, if you're really looking to go in a socially liberal, generally even socially libertarian direction, as it appears from the rest of the list you are: how does Clinton fit in? He expanded the drug war, left abortion clinics out to dry and ran home to Arkansas to personally oversee the execution of a man so profoundly retarded that he saved the dessert from his last meal to eat when he returned to his cell.

Then there's the hardly liberal welfare bill, "don't ask - don't tell," his capitulation on universal health care...

I didn't say I loved him, but it would be hard to dispute the fact that the government and the economy worked on his watch.

He had a brain (or three in Gore and Hillary) who made it work.

So he got a blowjob from an intern and sided with big business against labor on NAFTA, bigger sins that the one's you mention. He sided with the cops and intel on drug smuggling out of Central America too.

But he didn't capitulate on health care. He was beaten in Congress because the damn program was just too big.

I'm interested in smart people finding ways to make our system work, not just tear it down. That's the difference between liberaltarians and conservatives, who want the government to fail so big business can totally take over, and the liberals, who want government to take over. The idea is a balance between government, business and the environment - something that has been lost in this debate since Henry Ford III sided with Richard Nixon and Jane Fonda to pass the Clean Air Act.

What if that kind of partnership were to happen today? Imagine what we could accomplish?

Mailer weighs in

"Two years after 9/11, Norman Mailer asked: "What does it profit us if we gain extreme security and lose our democracy? Not everyone in Iraq, after all, was getting their hands and/or their ears cut off by Saddam Hussein. In the middle of that society were hordes of Iraqis who had all the security they needed even if there was no freedom other than the full-fledged liberty offered by dictators to be free to speak with hyperbolic hosannas for the leader. So, yes, there are more important things to safeguard than security and one of them is to protect the much-beleaguered integrity of our democracy. The final question in these matters suggests itself. Can leaders who lie as a way of life protect any way of life?"

Good points Rowland. Mailer had it right.

If you think for yourself and you don't blindly follow "THE PRESIDENT", you could be a liberalterian.

If you are more concerned about the cost of gasoline than fighting a useless war, you could be a liberalterian.

If you don't want to be told that you can't buy a lottery ticket, go to a casino or take a drink of whiskey whenever you want, you could be a liberalterian.

If you work for a living and would like your wages to go far enough to stay off of a breadline, you could be a liberalterian.

If you think you're being gouged unmercifully for gasoline by the "good old oil boy fraternity", you could be a liberalterian.

Or...if you've lived as long as I have and seen these things happen every time there is a Republican administration AND NOW compounded by a Republican Congress rubber stamping all these "Big Oil Special Interests" and you're sick to death of it...well..you could be a liberalterian.

Where is John Lennon when you need him to stop another useless, special interest war?
Are we really so arrogant as to believe that we have all the answers for everyone on earth?
There has been war in the middle east for over 5000 years, can the Prez think HE can end it??
I don't think so. I think he can only see the oil $$$ for his cronies that got him elected. If you don't think they are being repaid check out the price of gas.
BRING OUR BOYS AND GIRLS HOME!!! "All I am saying
IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE!

Thanks Dr. Coty and Babs for the comments. Great additions to the liberaltarian list. I'll be updating it for the radio so some of your suggestions will no doubt make the final list. See you at Bubba's.

GW

Thanks Dr. Coty and Babs for the comments. Great additions to the liberaltarian list. I'll be updating it for the radio so some of your suggestions will no doubt make the final list. See you at Bubba's.

GCW