# What was so extreme about Barry Goldwater? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 1, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281 "2014-02-01T15:13:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/81 "2014-02-04T22:45:24Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Sure it is. That’s why libertarians are such sticklers for the Constitution. Under the Constitution as originally drafted, only the federal government would be limited by it and your state could fuck you over any way it liked, state constitution permitting. A fact extremely relevant to Goldwater’s states’-rights stance on segregation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/82 "2014-02-04T22:47:52Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Only the libertarian interpretation of the Constitution. Not surprisingly, pretty much every American political ideology say that they are “sticklers for the Constitution”, and each group interprets it in different ways. [Indeed . . .](http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-passionate-defender-of-what-he-imagines-c,2849/) ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/83 "2014-02-05T23:46:45Z")
One of Goldwater’s quotes used to show his extremism was, “I’d like to lob a nuke into the mens room of the Kremlin.” Not a popular idea so few years after The Cuban Missile Crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/84 "2014-02-06T00:17:30Z")
To be fair to him, he was joking. He didn’t really want to nuke Moscow. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/85 "2014-02-06T05:49:19Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Only the libertarian interpretation of the Constitution. Not surprisingly, pretty much every American political ideology say that they are “sticklers for the Constitution”, and each group interprets it in different ways. Not quite. Many liberals and Progressives are quite vocal that they believe the Constitution to be a dated document in need of a re-write. Go to any college campus and you will see it, not least from the professors themselves. The euphemism for completely de-legitimizing the Constitution is to label it a “slave-owner’s document.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/86 "2014-02-06T07:19:44Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > Not quite. Many liberals and Progressives are quite vocal that they believe the Constitution to be a dated document in need of a re-write. See [_The Frozen Republic: How the Constitution Is Paralyzing Democracy,_](http://www.amazon.com/The-Frozen-Republic-Constitution-Paralyzing/dp/0156004941) by Daniel Lazare. Fascinating historical perspectives even if you reject the conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281/87 "2014-02-06T07:47:25Z")
> [@Alex\_from\_CB](#): > > One of Goldwater’s quotes used to show his extremism was, “I’d like to lob a nuke into the mens room of the Kremlin.” > > Not a popular idea so few years after The Cuban Missile Crisis. > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > To be fair to him, he was joking. He didn’t really want to nuke Moscow. And I’m going to Hell – I thought it was kind of funny. But I’m sick like that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-so-extreme-about-barry-goldwater/680281.md?page=4)