What I wanted to write about this time is the conflicting streams of authoritarianism and anti-authoritarianism that flow through the GOP today.

Recently, Chris Matthews talked about the GOP being “junk laden” by the southern segregationists, religious conservatives and the neocons. I think that observation absolutely hits the nail on the head.

But that only describes one stream of passion and thought among conservatives. The other stream is Libertarianism.

I am opposed to much of the Libertarian agenda. The Department of Energy guards our nukes. Ron Paul wants to eliminate it. I think that's a bad idea. The same with the FDA and the Department of Education. Those government departments protect things that I want protected at the federal level. I'm not alone in that opinion which is one of the many, many reasons Paul is viewed as a crank.

Libertarians represent (or think they represent) maximum personal freedom. Government (at least on the Federal level) should be so small you can drown it in a bathtub. Government's sole purpose is to enforce contracts and to prevent and punish theft, fraud and the initiation of force. Paul and the Libertarians would repeal all laws against drug use and prostitution—anything that is private and voluntary.

But Libertarians aren't liberals.

Libertarians agree with other conservatives that the 14^th Amendment is offensive. That's the amendment that extends all the rights and freedoms granted and protected by the US Constitution to all levels of government including state and local. Ron Paul & Co. believe if the citizens of Delaware want to vote in a totalitarian theocracy, they should have the right to do so. Libertarians would try to persuade them out of it but they believe that no law should prevent it. Conservatives lust for that kind of power. Of course, they would use this “smaller government” to make theft, fraud and force easier for rulers to commit but, heck, they might even be willing to legalize prostitution in exchange for the Libertarian dream world.

So Ron Paul and the Libertarians only represent one stream of GOP constituency.

The opposing stream is religious authoritarianism. Rick Santorum represents that stream. If something makes you smile, it should be illegal. He is in favor of minimum personal freedom and maximum government control of your private life. He would never say aloud that he thinks your body is the property of the state, but everything he stands for leads to that inevitable outcome.

This stream of the GOP believes you have no rights at all except those that are explicitly listed in the US Constitution, which ignores the 9^th amendment (rights not enumerated are retained by the people). Furthermore they tend to believe that some of those rights that are explicitly enumerated—trial by jury, search warrants, legal representation, etc.—are weaknesses in the constitution that need to be rectified.

Neither of these streams of thought are especially palatable to the vast majority of Americans, whether Republican or Democrat which is why they are almost never discussed beyond bumper sticker slogans.

The Libertarian cry of “Freedom!” is lovely until you peel back the layers and find out what it really means. The unintended consequence of Ron Paul's freedom is social Darwinism (which was around for centuries before Darwin was born). The conservative cry of “Morality!” is founded on the idea that you are property of the state.

On the one hand we have “you have maximum rights unless you harm another” vs. “you have no rights unless the government grants them.” We have “no military except for defense against aggression on US territory” vs. “Bomb, bomb, bomb … bomb, bomb Iran!”

So we have the hot stream represented by Ron Paul and the cold stream represented by Rick Santorum. What happens when you mix hot and cold? Tepid water.

That brings us to Mitt Romney.

Nobody knows what Mitt Romney thinks and believes. That is intentional. For the GOP, concealing the agenda behind a fog of generalities has been a winning strategy since Nixon.

Freedom! Morning in America! Constitutional Originalism! States Rights! Nanny State!

The only way the seismic cracks can be plastered over is with the putty of Mitt Romney (or John McCain or Bob Dole, whoever's turn it is).

Once Mr. Tepid Water is in power then all the various opposing groups can have a bone. “Freedom!” will become a tax cut for the wealthy. “Morning in America!” will become drone strikes on Iran. “Constitutional Originalism!” will be no abortion and no gay marriage. “States rights!” will cancel separation of church and state, outlaw evolution and relegalize segregation. “Nanny State!” will be cut backs on health care, food assistance and unemployment insurance.

In other words they hope that Mitt Romney will restore the glorious years of the Bush Administration when we were perpetually at war, when millions were uninsured and the Supreme Court was packed with people who pretend that the 9^th Amendment doesn't exist. Or the 1^st Amendment, or the 4^th or the 6^th …