Goldwater and Santorum, two peas in a pod?

As a longtime libertarian/conservative, one of my heros is Barry Goldwater.

OpinionJournal has a piece from a social conservative point of view arguing that Goldwater was really a social conservative and only embraced libertarianism late in his life.

At least it makes clear that Goldwater was disgusted with the people that make up the current religious right. Long before Rick Santorum made a career out of comparing homosexuals to dog molesters, Goldwater said, "Every good Christian should kick [Jerry] Falwell in the ass."

It's worth a read. If you know your history, then you would know where you coming from.

Still, the author seems to confuse libertarianism with amorality. We know that Goldwater was a moral and religious man. That doesn't make him anti-libertarian. It's possible to be against cultural decay but also to be against censorship, and to be against drug abuse but also against the war on drugs. In fact, I think that's the most enlightened position to hold.