Libertarians Set to Destroy Themselves over Ron Paul

In the wake of TNR’s article about Ron Paul, several libertarian websites and newspapers expressed upset and disavowal. The recent posts in The Liberty Papers are more or less indicative of the tone. But note that TLP refuses to conclude that Paul himself is racist. In fact, my review has found that no one seriously believes Paul was the author of the newsletters. First, it is perfectly plausible that he was offered a minority interest in the publications in exchange for his name alone. Second, no one thinks the letters sound like Paul’s tone or sentiment. Third, it’s almost impossible to reconcile the writers’ contemporary accounts of such things as the Chicago Bulls 1992 win with Paul’s seeming-obliviousness to pop culture. At worst, everyone from Andrew Sullivan to Reason.com condemns him for publisher’s negligence. I would be more worried if Ron Paul ignored a sexual harassment claim at Ron Paul Barbeque.

The stakes are simply too high to wait for the perfect libertarian. With front-runners in both parties pushing pro-federal agendas, Ron Paul may be our last stop on the way to irreversible statism. By the time another viable libertarian comes along, the federal government will have abrogated so many civil rights and tinkered with the economy so badly that citizens will be carrying IDs to walk on the sidewalk and applying for permission just to turn a profit. Worse, the red tape required for reform and the normative expectations of the Federal Government’s duty make pose insurmountable challenges to the future generations who will have to bear the burden of this government’s recklessness. When that happens, it will take more than love to make a rEVOLution.

For a reality check, compare Paul’s newsletter problem with the problems of the mainstream candidates. McCain and Giuliani are ingratiated with the military industrial complex which is precisely what Eisenhower used his last moment in office to warn us about. McCain flippantly promises to keep an American presence in Iraq for the next 100 years. Huckabee seems to be interested in doing whatever is popular, which means that minority interests will be quashed. None of them rebut Paul’s predictions about the economy, which is wise, because Paul has anticipated every economic turn since 1997. Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all promise massive entitlement programs despite dire predictions by the Comptroller General about our ability to handle our current entitlements. And the irony is that no one but Obama is likely to be alive to watch the real havoc this government’s fiscal irresponsibility will wreak on our economy.

And let us not forget the most oppressed minority in the United States right now is the active duty military and its family members. Over 4,000 Americans have died tragic, inglorious deaths far across the planet from their loved ones. Tens of thousands more are returning home with their faces melted, arms and legs amputated, and their blood filled with pathogens due to Halliburton’s negligence. They cannot afford the liberty movement to become fractured over an anachronistic look at some nonsense newsletters intended to provoke a newly-minted, politically correct era. If libertarians wait, they will abandon everyone who desperately needs them for nothing but a gamble that a better, cleaner libertarian will charm his way onto a national stage. If so, that is their choice. But at some point the liberty movement stops looking useful and starts looking opportunistic. And libertarians cannot claim to fight the good fight when they only pick the easy ones.