Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.

Every time I get gung-ho about finally taking the plunge and joining the Libertarian Party, a few minutes of perusing their website reminds me that their members still largely consist of disgruntled Democrats whose party wasn't moving fast enough on the drug legalization issue. As a white, male, software engineer falling smack dab in the middle of the libertarian demographic, I appreciate the fact that the LP takes for granted that they have my vote. But by devoting their website to Bush-bashing, the LP convinces me to stay registered as a Republican until the grown-ups can take over running their offices.

That's not to say that I don't appreciate the scrutiny of an administration as spend-happy as this one. And, indeed, this blog has been plenty critical of the Bush Administration (see here). But it was the Katrina article on the LP website that inspired this post.

If I'm on a libertarian website, about the only thing that I would expect to see written on Katrina is how poorly the local government responded to the disaster, and even more importantly, how the federal government had no jurisdiction in usurping the state National Guard. (More here) Instead, the LP article chooses to engage in the same old he said/she said hissyfitting that can be found anywhere left of the Blogosphere's prime meridian. Is the news of the White House stonewalling the Hurricane Katrina investigation helping to promote and educate libertarian ideals, or helping to recruit would-be Libertarian Party voters?

Well, at least not in my case. Not until the Libertarian Party can show me they're cured of Bush Derangement Syndrome.