Neither Liberal Nor Libertarian, and I Dislike Republicans and Democrats Equally

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I normally let my posts go viral without responding to some of the ridiculous exaggerations of my views that end up out there in cyberspace. But there is one blog entry that was filed in response to my last posting that cries out for rejoinder, so here I go.

As noted in that post, I read in the Wall Street Journal that Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid was handing out goodies to senators wavering on healthcare reform. I do believe the Democratic approach to healthcare is a big mistake, and one that will come back to haunt the party if it's able to push thru the so-called public option. The costs to the taxpayer will be so enormous, Democrats will suffer years of losses after it's a fait accompli, as they did when they were labeled the "party of tax and spend" by former President Ronald Reagan.

I did not mean to bash Sen. Mary Landrieu specifically in that blog post, although in fact I did. I apologize to her for that. She's actually one of my heroines in the Senate, coming as she does from Louisiana where politics is particularly tricky to navigate for the Democratic Party.

Now for the post. Some website called "newsbusters.org," which is apparently a conservative site, posted the following:

Readers are advised to strap themselves in tightly, for the following blog posting by Erbe is quite a departure from her normal liberal views.

I guess hard-line partisans just don't get the fact that some of us think for ourselves and toe no party or ideological line. I dislike both parties equally for entirely different reasons. I do not think it's accurate to call me a liberal, any more than labeling me as any kind of ideologue or partisan, because I am not. I am a strong supporter of some so-called liberal values—the environment, women's rights and cultural diversity—but I'm also a fan of limited government and lower taxes. Some people tell me that makes me a Libertarian, but I'm not an anarchist so that label doesn't apply either. What I can say is labels generally make me nervous as none of them truly fits.

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