Ron Paul #1 on Amazon

Here's the book, and here's the top-sellers list.

A bestselling cult-leader. Whodathunk?

H/t, as usual, to David Freddoso. I hate to keep stealing his posts, but he's on top of the libertarian scene, it seems. Here are his most recent posts on the Corner.

-MT

The Thugs of Redford Township

The powers that be don't like to be hassled. (H/T Eric Dondero).

Ron Paul Supporters "a Cult"

On his show today, during the bottom of the 4:00 (Eastern) hour, Hannity was talking to Serena (sp?), a delegate to (?) the NV GOP convention (and the daughter [?] of Las Vegas talk radio personality Alan Stock) about the commotion at said convention.

Before warning other state Republican parties to beware, lest Paul supporters try to disrupt their conventions as well, Serena (Ms. Stock?) called Paul supporters a cult.

Which would seem way over the top, were it not for this. Not that all Paul supporters would go for that kind of thing.

-MT

Love, A is A style

If you believe that Rachmoninoff and Vermeer were "objectively" the greatest composer and painter ever, and you only wish to date like minded people, there is hope. See here.

-RC

Undercutting Collectivist Thinking, One Award at a Time

FYI:

Michael Hirsh's “How the South Won (This) Civil War” was given the inaugural "WEeding Award" today, for its misuse of the first-person plural.

Since the misuse of words like "we" (as when one speaks in the first-person of some action in which one actually had no hand) supports a distorted sense of group identity -- including the reification of The Group as something over and above the individuals which comprise it, and the portrayal of The Group as something to which individuals must bow -- it is time that such mistakes be "weeded out."

The WEeding Awards will, in a light-hearted way, bring awareness to this critical issue. It's time to stop speaking "Collectivist."

For the inaugural announcement, and to find out "How the South Won (This) Civil War"'s WEediness Quotient, visit my personal blog.

And if you find any articles that need WEeding, just send 'em my way.

-MT

Is Your Doctor/Lawyer/Accountant Endangering Your Privacy?

Liberty Coalition's Aaron Titus on ABC 7 News:

Enivornmentalism Turns Against Itself *UPDATED*

After Dr. Foldvary's article (Ethanol subsidies starve poor kids) and seeing a report on Comcast News about the rising cost of "organic" and "environmentally friendly" food -- and headlines like "Era of cheap food ends as prices surge" (h/t Drudge) -- I'm beginning to wonder whether the environmentalist movement doesn't need to be a lot more centralized and coordinated.

If environmentalist causes drive up the cost of food, and that keeps people from buying "environmentally friendly" foods, then . . . . What was that about "a house divided against itself"?

Speaking of the unexpected results of environmentalism, did you see this from NPR last Fall?:

Rice fields are a major source of methane — one of the so-called greenhouse gases linked to global warming. But switching to other crops is unthinkable in Asia, where rice is the primary source of calories for many people. So scientists in Thailand are trying to find rice cultivation techniques that produce less methane.

And speaking of government subsidies (in the name of environmentalism) getting in the way of "environmentally friendly" causes, see Peter Robinson's interview with T.J. Rodgers (in five parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five).

The centralized power of the US government evidently isn't enough to coordinate the environmentalist movement. And it would be no use appealing th the UN.

(But why use a government body at all?)

-MT

UPDATE:
Looks like it's a busy week on the ethanol/food/environmentalism front. See the following four pieces on NRO today:

Hungry Like the Ethanol Wolf [Editorial]
A New Environmentalism -Victor Davis Hanson
Global Food Riots -Deroy Murdock
Saving the world is cheaper than free -David Freddoso

And see the following recent headlines on Drudge:
Americans hoard food as industry seeks regs -Patrice Hill, Washington Times
Load Up the Pantry -Brett Arends, Wall Street Journal
Two major US retailers ration rice amid global food crisis -AFP
Run on rice makes its way to U.S. -Jerry Hirsch and Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times

Hillary Hung On

Hillary Clinton's victory in Pennsylvania makes a remarkable statement about how important *strategic thinking* is and that you shouldn't give up because of a few nicks and bruises. Wait, what was his name? Oh, Mitt Romney -- the Republican who threw in the towel before the race was over.

Although a lot can be said about the ordering of the primaries governing the outcomes of the nomination races, there is still a lot to be said for those candidates who have the pluck and courage to stick it out till the bitter end. The presidency is about character after all.

Way to go Hillary! I don't support your campaign, but I admire your dedication to your cause. We can all learn from your example.

/KDR

Orwell update

Latest outrage in airline security: Elena Reichman, a 74-year old Holocaust survivor has been charged with battery for allegedly shoving a Transportation Security worker.

Latest outrage from the federal prosecutors: "Adult" filmmaker and libertarian activist John Stagliano is the latest target of the "war on obscenity." I bloged about the absurdity of the federal government putting a priority on protecting us from dirty pictures here.

Obama Between the Extremes of Excess and . . . Excess?

To balance out Obama's association with Ayers, Sunstein points out that Obama hung out with libertarians: (h/t Frum)

I know for a fact that Obama has actually played basketball with Richard Epstein, a libertarian on the law school faculty who has written some pretty controversial things on property rights and government regulation.

This is the new centrism, I suppose. It's nice that Aristotle's understanding of virtue as "the mean between the extremes of deficiency and excess" still has some sway in our society. But it seems to me that Sunstein's balancing attempt is like saying Obama is okay because he hangs out with both Bad Prince John and Robin Hood. Sunstein seems to think that both domestic bombing campaigns and libertarian thinking are excesses.

But there are two problems with that: First, having two forms of excessive companions doesn't make you a centrist. There is no mean at the extremes, as Aristotle himself points out. You can't commit adultery at just the right amount (not too much, not too little) says the Stagirite.

Second, libertarians are much more like pacifists than Robin Hoods (i.e., libertarianism is much more like a deficiency of action rather than an excess thereof). But if Sunstein said, "Obama hangs out with people who did too much, and with people who don't do enough" -- which would be more plausible -- the argument would lose it's force. It's always worse to be Prince John than to be an absolute pacifist; pacifism can't balance out tyranny.

And then there's the portrayal of libertarianism as being a right-wing ideology, tout court. After all, if Ayers is left-wing, we've got to balance Obama's friends with a right-winger.

I'm confused, obviously.

-MT

Pauline Gated Communities

"Pauline" is the word they use to describe the New Testament epistles written by St. Paul, so I guess the same would go for these:

http://www.paulville.org/

Sorry if other people have noticed this before. I was just made aware of it. (h/t Freddoso)

Banding together is a nice idea. Where the banding-together ends and the hunkering-down begins is what I haven't figured out yet. (Says the guy who was homeschooled all the way through high school, and thinks it was a good idea.)

Not that hunkering down is always a bad thing. It's just nice to not have to look at the world as something in the face of which you need to hunker.

Of course, such a view of the world (the "No Need to Hunker Here" view) may be an illusion. I'll let you decide.

-MT

Park Police Thugs Destroy Liberty in the Shadow of Jefferson

Do you think the police are really there to protect you? We are told from childhood that the police are our friends and are there for our benefit. While minorities have often seen and experienced otherwise, the rise of youtube and other "democratic" media outlets has shown increasingly how police act like jerks, take our liberties, and treat average people like dirt.

One recent example of that recently occurred on Thomas Jefferson's birthday at the Memorial in our Nation's Capital which honors him. Radley Balko discusses the details of this recent example of police abuse at Reason's blog.

Obama under Attack over Patriotism at Debate

No punches are being pulled at tonight's Dem debate.

Both candidates started the evening with references to "the promise of America" (which is what Progressive patriotism is about). But after getting attacked for a while, Obama tried to position himself closer to the Conservative version of patriotism by talking (as he has before) about himself as evidence that America has actually fulfilled some of its promise already.

Evidently, Obama's campaign can't get by on "hope" alone. There's got to be something good about America now.

Thought Crimes and Misdemeanors

Brigitte Bardot is being tried in France for nativist remarks she made in a letter to the newspaper. Will American defenders of socialism and hate crimes laws use this as another example of how wonderful and "progressive" Europe is today? Free speech as long as it is approved. Final exit on the road to serfdom?

Perhaps, we will see French writers who stand in opposition to the intellectual status quo adopting what Leo Strauss called, "a peculiar technique of writing, and therewith to a peculiar type of literature, in which the truth about all crucial things is presented exclusively between the lines."

At least on the 'Net, we will see more and more blogs emerge where dissidents can speak freely. Wait, are we talking about France, or China?

Frightening.

/KDR

Milton Friedman: Singlehandedly responsible for libertarianism

Or so Peter Goodman's NYTimes article ("Reconsidering Milton Friedman") might lead you to believe.

Furthermore, it seems that the experts cited in Goodman's article believe libertarianism has been refuted by the current financial crisis. That despite Jason Lewis's convincing (to me, at least) argument this past Thursday that government involvement was a cause of said crisis (or would at least make it worse, in the long run).

But what do I know? I'm neither an historian nor an economist.

Politicians Live by One Set of Rules, We Live by Another

I just love how politicians get to make their own rules. The latest case of this comes from Minnesota where bars that typically must close at 2am may be allowed to stay open until 4am to accomodate all those drunken Republicans. So, if you are a regular Joe who wants a drink at 2:30am in Minneapolis, you're out of luck, but if you happen to be in town for the Republican Party Convention, hey, no problem! Nothing like re-writing the rules to suit your own purposes. Maybe they'll legalize prostitution and marijuana for the week as well?

The kicker is that for the privilege of serving those GOP-ers, bars will have to pay a $2,500 fee, ostensibly for the extra police. Am I mistaken in believing that tourism and these conventions are big money-makers for cities. I'd think that would especially be the case if the convention-goers are out drinking and spending money. Sounds like another tax to me.

Early Retirement = Unpatriotic?

Andrew L. Yarrow of the Baltimore Sun argued recently that Americans who retire early from the work force are both "selfish and unpatriotic."

Why is that? For starters, Yarrow argues, people who retire at 55, 62 or even 65 have many good, productive years of work yet and those people should be contributing to the nation's economy and paying taxes. He goes on to make a few somewhat more valid points about our overburdened Social Security and Medicare systems and even discusses some incentives that could get older people to work longer.

While Yarrow makes some valid arguments about the problems with Social Security and Medicare, these are not really the fault of people who retire early. These programs are flawed in their very design and, if policymakers wish to alter their incentives, they must change them. The only way in which these people are being "greedy" is if they vote for and support policies that preserve the broken Social Security and Medicare programs rather than supporting market-based reforms that will benefit their children and grandchildren. Yarrow doesn't even touch on real reforms to either of these programs.

Ultimately, Yarrow's mistake is in approaching the entire issue from the collectivist perspective. In other words, he believes that Americans must work harder to strengthen the nation and preserve these government programs. He should be encouraging policymakers to find ways to alter these programs in ways that allow individuals to make the decisions that are best for themselves, without unfairly burdening others. That is the best way to ensure America's future strength and make sure that Americans live long, productive, and fulfilled lives.

Taxation is Theft. Go for it!

Wow! Jan Helfeld’s interview with Harry Reid sure touched off a firestorm of comments. The interview and its reactions illustrate the twin dangers of radicalism and rationalization.

Taxation for the most part is theft. (Exceptions are certain user fees and externality taxes.) However, doing without taxation is truly problematic. Without taxes, we might not be able to fund an adequate military, a broad social safety net, astronomical baseball player salaries, or a helium fund for our mighty dirigible fleet.

Machiavelli provided the answer: if evil is required to accomplish a greater good, then go for it. But be honest. There is no social contract. We tax because the ends justify the means.

Or do they? For national defense I would say the answer is a strong “yes.” Without theft by our own government, we might suffer worse theft by a conqueror. Some social safety net programs might be justifiable as well. Given the choice between robbing the rich to pay for institutions and group homes or letting the severely mentally handicapped go without care, I’ll take robbing the rich. (But if I can dodge this choice through charity, then methinks charity is the better answer.)

On the other hand, I am not persuaded that the benefits of a city owned baseball stadium justify theft. Professional baseball is entertainment for people who like boring sports. Let them fund their boring pastime through ticket sales or donations. (Or better yet, let them watch chess tournaments. The players are cheaper and the action is far more intense.)

Your values may differ. If you think getting a Major League franchise in your city is so important that it justifies robbing your neighbors – including those of us who hate baseball – then go for it. Just realize that you are committing robbery to support your pastime and take moral responsibility.

And don’t be surprised when someone robs you back to pay for that mighty dirigible fleet.

Wal Mart Katrina Response Illustrates Government's Failure

"A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level," was Scott's message to his people. "Make the best decision that you can with the information that's available to you at the time, and above all, do the right thing." This quote from Lee Scott, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, was made to his employees shortly before Hurricane Katrina made landfall illustrates the mind set the company took prior to the greatest natural disaster in American history which allowed the company to succeed where the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed.

According to a new study by Steven Horwitz, an Austrian-school economist at St. Lawrence University in New York, the entrepreneurial mentality of Wal Mart's employees allowed them to excel while indecision paralyzed their highly-paid, "expert" colleagues in the federal government. A few of the specific acts of "heroism" or at least tremendous individual initiative on the part of certain Wal Mart employees:

In Kenner, La., an employee crashed a forklift through a warehouse door to get water for a nursing home. A Marrero, La., store served as a barracks for cops whose homes had been submerged. In Waveland, Miss., an assistant manager who could not reach her superiors had a bulldozer driven through the store to retrieve disaster necessities for community use, and broke into a locked pharmacy closet to obtain medicine for the local hospital.

Among the recommendations of Horwitz's study designed to improve the response to future natural disasters:

1. Give the private sector as much freedom as possible to provide resources for relief and recovery efforts and ensure that its role is officially recognized as part of disaster protocols.

2. Decentralize government relief to local governments and non-governmental organizations and provide that relief in the form of cash or broadly defined vouchers.

3. Move the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

4. Reform "Good Samaritan" laws so that private-sector actors are clearly protected when they make good faith efforts to help.

Hillary vs. McCain Faux Pas: Which Matters More?

By now, most readers are undoubtedly aware of Hillary Clinton's fib about her coming under fire (video here) on the tarmac in Bosnia back in the 1990s. While Clinton has been rightfully pilloried for her remarks, another candidate, John McCain, was making equally-ridiculous remarks, yet was being given a pass by the media.

McCain, an extreme hawk who has asserted that American troops might be in Iraq for 100 years, recently stated that Al Qaeda in Iraq (a Sunni organization) is receiving support from Iran (a Shiite organization). This was, unfortunately, not an isolated incident and it either shows a great deal of ignorance on the Senator's part or is an outright lie because the two sects hate each other almost as much as they hate us.

Unfortunately, the media, either not grasping the importance of McCain's gaffe, has worked to downplay the error/lie and even argued that McCain is viewed as such an "expert" on foreign policy that he should simply be given a pass. Unfortunately, McCain is only perceived as an expert by the media because he is a hawk.

Is it any wonder that the media give Democrats the advantage on economic policy issues and Republicans the advantage on foreign policy? The media by and large love big government!

Ron Paul r(EVOL)tionary triumphs

Congratulations to Ron Paul supporter Kane for winning the ECW Championship at Wrestlmania XIV.

Today ECW tomorrow the world!

Publish JDM!

Our old friend Jonathan David Morris has completed a book. He sent out this message today:

Dear Everyone In My Address Book,

As you may or may not know, I recently finished
writing a book. That's the good news, but here's the
bad news. Now comes the hard part: Getting it
published!

Luckily, there's something you can do to help me. A
petition has been established to make sure my novel
hits store shelves. It takes only two minutes to sign
this petition, and it only hurts a little tiny bit (I
promise). Please take a moment to add your name to the
list:

http://www.petitiononline.com/readjdm/

Thank you all in advance.

-JDM-