Not Wanting to be Called a Republican Does Not Make You a Libertarian

This Daily Kos post addresses an issue that's bugged me for awhile: selling right wing talking points in the guise of libertarianism.

I'm libertarian on a lot of issues. That doesn't make me a libertarian.

But we've had this weird practice for decades of pretending that CATO is a libertarian organization, when it's effectively a Republican one, handling the GOP's attacks on the estate tax or social security, while staying mostly mum on legalizing drugs, and waiting for Bush's approval ratings to fall before mentioning that they're against an interventionist militarily policy.

Try to find Cato speaking in favor on gay marriage, or legalized prostitution, or abortion rights. It ain't easy.

The first two articles I found on a search for Reason magazine abortion turned up 1) a fence-sitting essay, and 2) an argument for turning abortion rights over to the states. (That's Republican speak for "get rid of it.")

I don't agree with everything in the Kos article, but approve of the gist: not wanting to eat elephant meat does not meat does not make you a vegetarian.