Ron Paul & Supporters At CPAC: Libertarians Or Libertines?

Greg Hengler | February 14, 2011 5:21 PM

I was at last week's CPAC; therefore, after seeing and hearing what I did, I must agree with Leg Thrill Chrissy. The Paulistinians were everywhere. Most of them were in their 20s and 30s--which made up about half of the 11,000 attendees. They call themselves Libertarians, but a more appropriate label would be libertines. What these young Libertarians call--as Matthews said--"self-reliance," is expressed as self-indulgence.

This crowd speaks in the proverbial one key: me, me, me. Whether it is two dudes shouting over invited speakers, Cheney and Rumsfeld, girls dressed like they are going out to a Vegas nightclub--during the conference, or ambulances pulling up to the hotel at 3am to deal with alcohol poisoning, there is very little conservatives--especially Christian conservatives--have in common with these libertine Libertarians.

We may cheer and pound our chests when a speaker expresses the greatness of our country and the free market, but after three days of this, I found it a bit old and lacking any depth. I recognize the conference is not a Christian one, but cheering American greatness without acknowledging universal morality--in other words: why is it objectively excellent?--is unsatisfying to say the least. I pray these so-called Libertarians find something deeper than self-gratification, because based on what I saw at CPAC, it looked more like self-destruction. This libertine/Libertarian me-me-me philosophy is poison to the conservative--dare I say, Christian-conservative--values expressed in the Republican Party.