Today, I joined the Libertarian Party. The screenshot of my signup can be found above. For the first time since 1984, I no longer identify as a Republican.
Pejman Yousefzadeh
Pejman Yousefzadeh
Scribbling, scribbling, scribbling on the Internet.
Tagged Libertarians
Is There an Actual Liberal Crackup?
Jennifer Rubin seems to think so. I am not so sure. Yes, the Democratic party has sustained a lot of losses in midterm elections, but the Republican party has proven unable to win the popular vote in 5 out of the last 6 presidential elections, and has lost 4 out of the last 6 presidential elections in the Electoral College, where it counts. For all of the controversies that the Center for American Progress has suffered, there is no think tank on the right with as much power and influence. I don’t see problems at the New York Times and Newsweek…
More Evidence that Paul Krugman Is a Partisan Hack
Behold. As though more evidence were actually needed. By the way, at times like this, it is worth remembering that Krugman burst onto the scene as a superstar economist because of his work regarding international trade theory. Credit where it is due; that work is actually quite good and I agree with the basic thrust of Krugman’s arguments on the issue. Indeed, Krugman’s contributions to the development of trade theory were what won him the Nobel Prize–an award that was entirely warranted and justified as far as I am concerned. It would have been nice if Krugman picked up a hint from his…
Millennials Are Politically Confused
Nick Gillespie explains: A new national poll of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 — the Millennial Generation — provides strong evidence of a new generation gap, this time with the Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) playing the role of uncomprehending parents. When Millennials say they are liberal, it means something very different than it did when Barack Obama was coming of age. When Millennials say they are socialists, they’re not participating in ostalgie for the old German Democratic Republic. And their strong belief in economic fairness shouldn’t be confused with the attitudes of the Occupy movement. [. . .] Millennials use language differently…
Hacks and Flacks
Having blogged for some time now, I understand that there are partisan divisions in the political blogosphere, and I understand as well that they are here to stay. That having been written, it is worth noting–as James Oliphant notes–that port-side bloggers are acting as publicity agents, apologists and all-around hacks on behalf of the Obama administration to a degree not seen before. Certainly, the administration of George W. Bush never benefited from the presence of a similar cyber-praetorian guard acting to advance its interests. Read the following excerpt well, and note that there are a host of “journalists” who act…
The Koch Brothers Have a Lot to Learn if They Want to Be Genuine Villains
Maybe Tom Steyer can teach them a thing or two: The psychiatric world defines “projection” as the act of denying unpleasant qualities in yourself, while attributing them to others. Consider liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s riff this week about the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers. Mr. Steyer took exception in a C-SPAN interview to comparisons between his big-dollar funding of Democrats with the Koch brothers’ big-dollar funding of Republicans. The Kochs’ priorities “line up perfectly with their pocketbooks—and that’s not true for us,” said Mr. Steyer, who is fighting against the Keystone XL pipeline. Moreover, he insisted, his politicking is “completely open,” whereas…
Let’s All Please Stop Allying with Crazy People
I am going to give the microphone to Jonathan Tobin so that he can preach some righteous truth at all of us: You may have noticed that among the many and varied topics touched upon by COMMENTARY writers in recent weeks, none of us chose to weigh in on the Bundy Ranch controversy that attracted so much notice on cable news, talk radio, and the blogosphere. The reason was that none of us considered the standoff between a Nevada tax scofflaw and the federal government over grazing rights fees to rise to the level of an issue of national interest.…
Jason Brennan Is Wrong
These aren’t hard questions, and as a libertarian-conservative, I am more than happy to provide answers. Behold: 1. Fabio Rojas suggested via social media that I obey the Koch brother who is willing to be the highest bidder. Sounds like a plan to me. 2. Coca-Cola. (As though this was a hard question to answer.) 3. If there is no supply of poor people ready to mete out some libertarian justice, definitely go with the kicking. Your shoes will protect your feet from bruising and fracture. 4. You see right through me. 5. At least there was no reality television back in…
Kudos to Eugene Volokh and the Volokh Conspiracy
He and they are the subjects of a properly admiring profile, one that describes very accurately the scope of the Conspiracy’s influence: Last week, when the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether religiously owned corporations like Hobby Lobby should be exempt from providing contraception coverage to their employees, the government’s reply brief cited dozens of cases and statutes—and one blog with a weird name, The Volokh Conspiracy. It wasn’t the first time the site made itself heard before the nation’s highest court. In the wake of the passage, in 2010, of the Affordable Care Act—the cornerstone of President Obama’s domestic agenda—libertarian writers…
Responsibly Reforming the Welfare State
Today, James Pethokoukis tweeted this old blog post of his. I think that it is a good one: . . . while the recovery’s glacial pace, both in terms of GDP and jobs, is unacceptable, the safety net’s performance is encouraging. The pain from the Great Recession, as bad it was, would have been far worse for middle- and low-income Americans if we were still in a sort of 1920s, Coolidgean world that many on the right these days seem to long for. As Arthur Brooks, AEI’s president, puts it: One of the things, in my view, that we get wrong in…
