Monday, February 4, 2008

Another Reason I'm Libertarian Leaning

This posting about a letter from a police officer is an anecdotal tale that illustrates a big reason I call myself libertarian leaning. I really distrust those with official government authority. Power leads to abuse, inevitably. Who watches the watchers? Usually, no one does. Or those that are supposed to are in league with those they are watching. Look at official Washington and the war crimes Bush and co have gotten away with these past eight years.

I have a big beef with overzealous, too-powerful police and prosecutors. The above posting is an example of why. If I were supreme dictator of the world, I'd have those DA's disbarred and put in prison for the bullshit that was outlined in that article. Though perhaps they did see the light and didn't follow through. But if the only reason they didn't follow through with their illegal and horribly unethical conduct was they didn't think it would fly, that doesn't excuse them.

Once the state has accused you of something, you are generally screwed, which is why it is so important that prosecutors actually do their job and seek justice rather than just convictions.

2 comments:

Larry Hamelin said...

I really distrust those with official government authority. Power leads to abuse, inevitably. Who watches the watchers?

This concern is not Libertarian, it's a classical liberal concern. What is specifically Libertarian is the proposed solution: Eliminate the government completely except as it pertains to protecting their own property.

DBB said...

I obviously don't advocate eliminating the government - I just want it weaker and with a lot more checks on what power remains. I worry about the tyranny of the majority.

So maybe that makes me a classical liberal, but then I don't claim to be a Libertarian. Of course, admitting to being a 'liberal' these days is akin to admitting you are a blood-sucking vampire who wants to rape children (to listen to the MSM and its amplification of the right-wing noise machine).

Eliminating the government is big-L Looney.