Tuesday, October 27, 2015

OMG Rand is Being Prepped By "Libertarian'" War Hawk Randy for Wednesday's Debate

Randy Barnett
At Rand Tries Not to Lose His Third Debate in a Row, Olivia Nuzzi informs that Rand Paul is being prepped for Wednesday's CNBC Republican presidential debate by a team that includes Randy Barnett.

Yes, the Randy Barnett who wrote this in the Wall Street Journal in 2007:
Does being a libertarian commit one to a particular stance toward the Iraq war? The simple answer is "no."...
Naturally, the libertarians who supported the war in Iraq are disappointed, though hardly shocked, that it was so badly executed. The Bush administration might be faulted, not so much for its initial errors which occur in any war against a determined foe who adjusts creatively to any preconceived central "plan," but for its dogged refusal to alter its approach -- and promptly replace its military commanders as President Lincoln did repeatedly -- when it became clear that its tactics were not working. This prolonged delay gave the enemy time to better organize its resistance and, perhaps most important, demoralized those Americans who had initially supported the war but who needed to see continued progress toward victory to maintain their support....
These libertarians are still rooting for success in Iraq because it would make Americans more safe, while defeat would greatly undermine the fight against those who declared war on the U.S. They are concerned that Americans may get the misleading impression that all libertarians oppose the Iraq war -- as Ron Paul does -- and even that libertarianism itself dictates opposition to this war.
 -RW

4 comments:

  1. Randy who? Any way, ah, 2007, what a long strange trip it's been since then... I would be appalled at my own political thoughts from that time. True confession; I actually wrote an email to my congress critter in support of the "surge" in Iraq back in 06 or 07. It would really be weird if I somehow saw it printed by RW in a post like this. I guess unlike this guy, I never had a background in libertarianism, as I identified as a "conservative" or really just a Republican. I had never heard of Ron Paul or anyone else even remotely tied to libertarian thinking or economics and, even though I had worked on Wall Street for a dozen years by then, I had no idea what the Fed really did even though its activities were the very first thing discussed at a weekly investment committee meeting I attended.

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    1. I can both relate and sympathize. You've made great progress and shown capacity for change, that's a huge plus.

      You know, "glass half full", yada yada yada

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  2. 06-07 was about the time I became anti-war after I realized there was no WMD and we was lied to. Then I heard Ron Paul in 08...but yeah, this guy is no libertarian and neither is Rand.

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  3. Randy is a libertarian. His Restoring the Lost Constitution and his The Structure of Liberty provide his ample credentials. Hell, Rothbard published him in Vol 1, No 1 of the Journal of Libertarian Studies back in the day. (1977). Sadly, he was and is very much wrong about current American foreign policy, as seems to be the case of so many east coast intellectuals.

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