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What Obama Should Have Done During Subsequent Debates
October 29, 2012 | 6 comments
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Just Another Casual Conversation About Voter Fraud
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Acts of Terror, etc.
October 16, 2012 | 15 comments
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Devastating RNC ad captures Biden laughing at the issues
October 11, 2012 | 9 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Slate has just gone through a round of layoffs, which makes me wonder if Slate editor Jacob Weisberg is willing to reconsider this graf from a piece titled “Libertarianism is Dead:”
The argument as a whole is reminiscent of wearying dorm-room debates that took place circa 1989 about whether the fall of the Soviet bloc demonstrated the failure of communism. Academic Marxists were never going to be convinced that anything that happened in the real world could invalidate their belief system. Utopians of the right, libertarians are just as convinced that their ideas have yet to be tried, and that they would work beautifully if we could only just have a do-over of human history.
I don’t begrudge Weisberg for still believing that free market ideas were what destroyed the economy (and of course, I think he’s wrong!). But two and a half years into the Obama administration with 9.1 percent unemployment, I wonder if he’s willing to admit that he’s just as “unwilling to be convinced that anything that happened in the real world could invalidate” his belief system.
Whatever the case, he was clearly wrong that libertarianism is dead: even if Ron Paul doesn’t get the nomination, Kentucky elected his similarly minded son to be senator, the Tea Party thrives on libertarian ideas, and the presidential contenders are each pandering to the libertarian set.
It hardly seems like the philosophy is limited to those who are, in Weisberg’s own words, “intellectually immature, frozen in the worldview many of them absorbed from reading Ayn Rand novels in high school.”
Sadly, the lone libertarian (that I know of) on Slate’s staff, Jack Shafer, was among those laid off. Shafer says he will continue writing for Slate on matters other than press criticism, which will be an excellent opportunity for him to rebut Weisberg’s bearish take on his own philosophy.
View all comments (23) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by J.P. Freire
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/08/25/does-slate-editor-jacob-weisbe
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Derek Leaberry| 8.25.11 @ 3:26PM
I suggest libertarians should come over to the side of light and read Chesterton and Belloc.
W| 8.26.11 @ 10:30AM
Like both of them, but I don't see them as incompatible with libertarian ideas of freedom from government regulations. What do you get out of Belloc and Chesterton?
British| 8.25.11 @ 3:27PM
Weigel is some form of libertarian (or worse, a libertarian symp.)
Occam's Tool| 8.25.11 @ 4:06PM
The idea that Government should be as little as possible is an excellent Libertarian idea. Grave doubts about many others. Most Libertarians should read Sir Thomas More's quotes from "A Man for All Seasons," in which he discusses the importance of a thicket of laws for protection.
W| 8.26.11 @ 10:35AM
I agree we need laws to have an orderly society that protects our rights. The issue is always where do you draw the line. Government types love to regulate your life, from the amount of water in your toilet bowl to the type of light bulb to the salt in you Big Mac to circumcision in San Fran.
I would like to see a candidate say we have too many laws and I will work to remove as many as possible.
But on foreign policy, we need a strong defense, and support our allies. And the best defense is offense.
JP| 8.25.11 @ 4:21PM
Of course Capitalism didn't cause the financial meltdown and attendent recession. There are several books out on the subject. And while Wall St was complicit in the mortgage security meltdown, the root causes go back to Congress and the WH. Hence, our recession came about through massive government intervention into areas it has no business interfering in.
The Left should stop mentioning Wall St as the culprit. For everytime they do, the light of the truth exposes the fraud of interventionist social policy. Barney Frank, for instance, used to get on his grandstand daily and accuse the "malefactors of Wall St". You don't hear much from him these days. And if the Senate changes hands in 2012, he might just find himself the target of a criminal investigation (along with retiring Senator Dodd).
Clint| 8.25.11 @ 4:26PM
Ronald Reagan,
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.
Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are traveling the same path."
9thID| 8.25.11 @ 4:29PM
The Tea Party "thrives" on conservative ideas including Social, National Security, and Fiscal (Reagan). If you want to describe these three as "small-l" libertarians, so be it. However, the vast majority of Tea Partiers are NOT "capital-L" Ron Paul Libertarians. There will always be a small group of Liber-tarians, just as there will always be some like their cousins, the Liber-als. Libertinism has existed since the fall of man and it will continue until there is a new heavens and earth. We just pray that these two twisted sisters never join forces to shape any elections...
Clint| 8.25.11 @ 4:34PM
"Tea party activists are divided roughly into two camps, according to a POLITICO/TargetPoint poll: one that’s libertarian-minded and largely indifferent to hot-button values issues and another that’s culturally conservative and equally concerned about social and fiscal issues.
The survey, an exit poll conducted Thursday by Edison Research at the massive Tax Day protest on the National Mall, found that the attendees were largely hostile to President Barack Obama and the national Democratic Party — three-quarters believe the president “is pursuing a socialist agenda.”
Yet they aren’t enamored of the Republican Party as an alternative. Overall, three out of four tea party attendees said they were “scared about the direction” of the country and “want to send a message to both political parties.”
Palin, who topped the list with 15 percent, speaks for the 43 percent of those polled expressing the distinctly conservative view that government does too much, while also saying that it needs to promote traditional values.
Paul’s thinking is reflected by an almost identical 42 percent who said government does too much but should not try to promote any particular set of values — the hallmarks of libertarians. He came in second to Palin with 12 percent.
When asked to choose from a list of candidates for president in 2012, Palin and Paul also finished one-two — with Palin at 15 percent and Paul at 14 percent. "
Margie| 8.26.11 @ 12:43PM
A Politico poll? LOL!
Gee, now they're polling wouldn't be slanted to try and reflect the wanting of a turd, oops I mean third party now~ would it?
Duh.
Margie| 8.26.11 @ 12:44PM
Rats. That's their polling, not they're.
Simon Templar| 8.26.11 @ 2:13AM
9th, that comment was a work of art! Excellent summation!
fundamentalist| 8.26.11 @ 1:27PM
9th, Libertarianism is not libertine. They're far from it. To claim so only advertises your ignorance of libertarian thought.
Clint| 8.25.11 @ 4:30PM
Obama 39%, Paul 38%
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The president and the maverick are running almost dead even in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup.
Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul earns 38% of the vote to President Obama’s 39% in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters. Fourteen percent (14%) like some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) remain undecided. "
Clint| 8.25.11 @ 7:09PM
Rasmussen Has Ron Paul Running Closest With Obama
Erik Hayden Aug 24, 2011 1,
Who does the president fare worst against in a head-to-head matchup? On Wednesday, Rasmussen released its latest nationwide early campaign survey. And right now, Barack Obama does well against Mitt Romney (46 to 38 percent) and narrowly leads Perry (43 to 40 percent) and Michele Bachmann (43 to 39 percent).
Which means, if you combine these results with the Rasmussen poll released Tuesday, the GOP candidate doing the best against the president is....Ron Paul? Yesterday's head-to-head poll showed the libertarian trailing the president 39 to 38 percent, by presumably the same methodology.
fundamentalist| 8.26.11 @ 1:34PM
Chesterton and Belloc never cared for the Bible much. The government that God established in the Torah was about as libertarian as one will ever get. It had no executive branch, no legislative branch, no standing military and no mandatory taxes.
God asked the citizens of ancient Israel to tithe, act morally and take care of the poor, but he set up no state agency to enforce them. The governmental apparatus consisted of nothing but judges to hear cases.
The decisions of judges were enforced by the people as a kind of militia, but for the most part they were limited to civil and criminal cases involving damage to life and property.
Of course, everyone wants to know about Jubilee, the return of property to the original owner every 50 years. God created no means to enforce jubilee by the government or the people. He enforced it directly and then only after centuries of Israel disregarding it. He never intended for the government to enforce it.
Anyway, Jubilee was nothing but an ancient form of bankruptcy law
MyGirlFriday| 8.26.11 @ 2:04PM
A good read on this subject "Ron Paul Reportedly Cuts Ties to Russian Channel." Posted by Cliff Kincaid at www.aim.org. More interesting is the link to Politico's response to the FEC complaint filed by Cliff Kincaid over the on-air fundraising for Paul's presidential campaign.
Clint| 8.27.11 @ 6:34AM
"Whatever you think of Ron Paul, you have to admit that the media are notoriously biased against him."
Cliff Kincaid
February 4, 2008
Oldefarte| 8.26.11 @ 4:37PM
'.....A Republican, in a wheelchair, entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. The Republican looked across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus sitting over there?"The waitress nodded "yes," so the Republican requested that she give Jesus a cup of coffee, on him.The next patron to come in was a Libertarian, with a hunched back. He shuffled over to a booth, painfully sat down, and asked the waitress for a cup of hot tea. He also glanced across the restaurant and asked, "Is that Jesus, over there?"The waitress nodded, so the Libertarian asked her to give Jesus a cup of hot tea, "My treat."The third patron to come into the restaurant was a Democrat on crutches.
He hobbled over to a booth, sat down and hollered, "Hey there honey! How's about gettin' me a cold mug of Miller Light?" He too looked across the restaurant and asked, "Isn't that God's boy over there?The waitress nodded, so the Democrat directed her to give Jesus a cold beer. "On my bill," he said loudly.
As Jesus got up to leave, he passed by the Republican, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Republican felt the strength come back into his legs, got up, and danced a jig out the door.Jesus passed by the Libertarian, touched him and said, "For your kindness, you are healed." The Libertarian felt his back straightening up and he raised his hands, praised the Lord, and did a series of back flips out the door.Then, Jesus walked towards the Democrat, just smiling.The Democrat jumped up and yelled, "Don't touch me ... I'm collecting disability.".....'
Robert | 8.30.11 @ 8:47AM
Thanks for the article.
For information on what Libertarians using voluntary solutions are actually doing, please see http://www.Libertarian-International.org the Libertarian International Organization.
yisong| 10.27.11 @ 9:52PM
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