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FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY:

Libertarians Give Time Magazine an Earful

Libertarians across America flood Time with letters to the editor after Michael Kinsley’s Oct. 18 article

Quick Quotes:

Shane Cory, Executive Director, Libertarian Party

-«Apparently, Libertarians must have felt slighted by Mr. Kinsley’s casual analysis of their party, and chose to respond in mass.»

-«I don’t believe Kinsley was trying to slam or intentionally besmirch the Libertarian Party. In fact, we appreciate the optimism that Kinsley has for the future of our party.»

Washington, D.C. – After Michael Kinsley’s article titled «Libertarians Rising» was published in the mid Oct. issue of Time Magazine, Libertarians from across the country sent a deluge of letters to the editor decrying the misrepresentation of the Libertarian Party. The Nov. 12 edition of Time included six letters from Libertarians regarding Kinsley’s article—more than twice the number published for any other single issue. «Apparently, Libertarians must have felt slighted by Mr. Kinsley’s casual analysis of their party, and chose to respond in mass,» says Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian Party.

Time stated the libertarian response to Kinsley’s article as the biggest mail getter. According to Time, 63 percent of respondents said «libertarians aren’t antisocial—they just want smaller government.» Additionally, 37 percent of respondents said «Dems and the GOP have failed us—Libertarians are the only answer.»

«I don’t believe Kinsley was trying to slam or intentionally besmirch the Libertarian Party,» says Cory. «In fact, we appreciate the optimism that Kinsley has for the future of our party. It’s just that in his terse analysis of the libertarian movement, he missed the larger libertarian message of smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.»

Libertarians who sent in letters to the editor felt Kinsley’s statements that Libertarians are «against government in all its manifestations» and «think the rest of the world can go to hell without America’s help» hurt the image of America’s largest third party.

H. Ann Tacket, from Fullerton, CA, said: «Libertarianism is on the rise because the Democratic and Republican parties have been grotesquely distorted by their misguided leaders. The Libertarian Party is attractive because Democrats want to create a nanny state and Republicans want to extend the U.S. empire to the Middle East.»

«I know many constitutionalist libertarians who by definition support and love the idea of limited government for certain purposes, as specified in the Constitution,» said Ben Orona of New Port Richey, FL, in his response. «How could we love the Constitution and be against government in all its manifestations?»

The Libertarian Party is America’s third largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.lp.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.