CNNs Wolf Blitzer

There should be two groups in the United States that must be ripping their hair out in a fury: Trump supporters and libertarians. Now, thats not to conflate the two groups. There is more overlap than libertarians like to admit, however, they are quite distinct. In any case, both have to be frustrated with the media coverage of the new president. Trump supporters are angry that the media will not let go of its deranged pathological hatred of the man, and libertarians wonder where this skeptical media has been.

Every other president in the past decades, except maybe Richard Nixon, has gotten a full pass from the media. Yes, even George W Bush and Ronald Reagan, but especially for Democrats. Obama bombed a dozen countries, many Muslim, with heartless drone strikes, and not a peep. Trump launches a few dozen missiles and it makes world news, both positive and negative. While Obama and Bush bombed, Trump has not done much to increase war. His rhetoric has been some of the strongest in awhile, but he has stayed the course mainly. One mightve hoped he was going to pull back forces, but it seems the neocons got to him in the end.

This past weekend, we saw the so-called 100 Day milestone, which is supposed to be the first assessment of a new president. He is supposed to have accomplished things. Trump is being criticized for not doing much, but historically, no president has. Presidents are elected for a full four years and with all the clowns in Congress we love to hate, but keep reelecting, it would take a miracle to get anything passed in the first 100. Obamacare didnt start rolling out until afterwards and wasnt passed until a year into his term. Does anyone even remember Ws first 100 days? It was soon overshadowed by 9/11.

Speaking of which, Trump is criticized as a tyrant who has eroded civil liberties and caused terrorism. As if Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, etc did nothing towards the same end in their terms. If the media had been this critical of anyone else, the country would be so much better off. Every breath this man takes is scrutinized, while Obama received cheers every time he blinked.

Every president has stomped on our rights. Every president has raised and lowered taxes. Every president has increased and decreased spending. Every president for quite some time now has pursued war. Why is this one president being treated differently? Can we finally expect the media to hold presidents accountable. Surely not, if Mike Pence were president, they would be less critical, and as soon as a Democrat returns to the White House, you can be sure he (or she) will be said to walk on water (or, in our case, part it).

Libertarians have joked for months about how cynically excited they were to have the anti-war left back when a Republican takes office. Indeed, a number of them have returned, but somewhat troublingly, not all. Most of the left establishment and media have been ecstatic that Trump attacked Syria. Oy.

And where has antifa been? They claim to oppose authoritarianism, racism, xenophobia, etc, but had no problem with Obama deporting more illegal immigrants than Bush, indeed more than Trump in the same time period in 2014. They had no problem with Obamas wars and chilling of civil liberties. They were silent, mostly coming out to break ATMs and Starbucks windows during G8 and G20 conferences. Even under Bush they did not do much. The Tea Party ought to take comfort that they were never attacked to the extent that Trump supporters have been. Where were these maniacs all this time?

The only people with any sort of consistency are libertarians. We opposed the last war, we oppose the current war, and we already oppose the next war. It is somewhat of a self backpat, but its true. We have stood here pushing for smaller government consistently regardless of who is in charge. The more diplomatic of us have endorsed any move by any president in a good direction. We have insisted on civil liberties and freedom of speech, whether attacked by a Republican or a Democrat. And we have watched the tide come and go as each party abandons us when they get in power. Ironically, libertarians suffer from not wanting power. No one is more against running for office than libertarians. The few that do get crusty like Dana Rohrabacher (a former ancap who as recently as 2005 attended Konkins funeral) or wobbly like Rand Paul, who is in his last term if he keeps his promise to only run twice. Since we dont want power, it is anathema to wield it even to throw the ring into the volcano. So here we are, once again, disappointed and dizzied by the hypocrisy of everyone around us.