Sen. Paul to DOE : My Toilets Don't Work 'And I Blame You'

You're reading too much into what I wrote. I wasn't trying to draw an extreme distinction between "libertarians" and "most rational people". In my experience, the libertarians I have known hold their libertarianism as a political philosophy (almost disconnected from everyday reality since there aren't that many libertarians in office and they don't have to deal directly with political realities as a party), but when you sit down and have a conversation about what should be public policy, the thoughtful ones tend to become less doctrinaire, and much more practical (from my perspective). The less thoughtful ones tend to launch into rants and accusations.

That's essentially all I was trying to say.

I would not say "never", but many libertarians are doctrinaire instead of practical and don't seem to consider the realities of our lives.

You are throwing around words like "always" and "never" which is not what I said at all.

Regarding this point, I mentioned having a conversation, not showing people "the error of their ways." In a conversation, people listen to each other, try to understand the other's point-of-view, and give consideration to the relative merit of their other's opinions. I'm not talking about anything as condescending as you describe or even your questions toward me.

I have found that doctrinaire people of all types become much more reasonable when you engage them, take their opinions seriously and reason with them. I have a former fundamentalist Baptist, now pseudo-Buddhist, lesbian, feminist friend (who is married to a guy), and we could not be farther apart on almost every issue (social, political and spiritual). However, we have great conversations because she knows I genuinely care about her and I take her views seriously. I make her think and reconsider her views.

She knows exactly where I stand but she also knows I won't make personal attacks or be dismissive of her.

Generally the ones who want to attack profess Jesus to be their Savior. Sadly, those who claim Christ tend to think less and be less civil to those who disagree.