Wash Post oped: the libertarian war over the civil war

[VoluntaryAmerican]

When an aide to Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was recently revealed to have a history of badmouthing Abraham Lincoln and promoting secession, some conservatives reacted with dismay.

Why aren’t libertarians policing their own? Why is this kind of stuff left to critics of libertarians?
— Jon Henke (@JonHenke) July 9, 2013

In fact, libertarians have spent years trying to deal with the sliver of their movement that is focused on re-litigating the Civil War. Yes, the Civil War, which officially ended 148 years ago.

The divide is between so-called “neo-Confederates” and the “cosmotarians” or “liberaltarians” (all disputed terms) who oppose them.

Cosmotarians see the neo-Confederates as an embarrassing stain on libertarianism; neo-Confederates in turn see cosmotarians as intolerant, hypocritical and pro-war.

“These groups are usually at each others’ throats more often than not,” said Reason magazine editor Matt Welch.

Reason is firmly in the anti-neo-Confederate camp. In 2008 they reported on the racist newsletters put out under Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s name and criticized the presidential candidate for allying himself with that strain in libertarianism. In response, they received scores of angry letters accusing them of selling out the movement. The neo-Confederates are largely centered around libertarian author Lew Rockwell (who worked with Paul and is widely suspected to have written the offensive newsletters), his website LewRockwell.com and his think-tank the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

It’s difficult to police any political movement — but especially one that prides itself on championing freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/07/10/the-libertarian-war-over-the-civil-war/

[A Son of Liberty]

I love the term, "neo-confederate"... always reminds me of:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrcM5exDxcc

[WM_in_MO]

I've never heard of any of these terms. Must be the war on language coming back again.

I call em as I see em, Either you are for more state or less.

[otherone]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/07/10/the-libertarian-war-over-the-civil-war/

BULLSHIT.
It's not "neo-confederates" it's ANTI-FEDERALISTS. Cloaking the movement in racially charged terms is purposefully misleading.

[Origanalist]

I love the term, "neo-confederate"... always reminds me of:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrcM5exDxcc

Every time.

[Origanalist]

BULLSHIT.
It's not "neo-confederates" it's ANTI-FEDERALISTS. Cloaking the movement in racially charged terms is purposefully misleading.

Control the language and control the debate. + rep.

[Origanalist]

I liked Jack Hunter better back in teh old days.

[Origanalist]

Just a few weeks ago, National Review editor Rich Lowry — the author of a new book on why the GOP should re-embrace Lincoln — wrote an editorial condemning ”the rancid Abraham Lincoln-haters of the libertarian right.”

The National Review.
:rolleyes:

otherone is right. This shit is going to come non stop now from the war pig wing of the republican party.

[Scrapmo]

Why aren’t libertarians policing their own?— Jon Henke (@JonHenke) July 9, 2013


You mean why do libertarians allow other libertarians to express opinions as long as they are not infringing on the right for other libertarians to express their own opinions?

:rolleyes: I dont know man good question. I think its time Libertarians work on removeing the first amendment./sarc

[paulbot24]

"Why aren’t libertarians policing their own?"

Does anybody else find this statement hilarious?

[VoluntaryAmerican]

The National Review.
:rolleyes:

otherone is right. This shit is going to come non stop now from the war pig wing of the republican party.

Yeah, the heat has been turned up on libertarianism since the NSA leak... they are attacking us and Rand in monumental fashion. They are getting desperate.

[IDefendThePlatform]

What a poorly written garbage article. Maybe some actual words about what the debate is rather than just assigning labels and talking about infighting? Here's a 30 second rewrite:In fact, libertarians have (spent years trying to deal with the sliver of their movement that is focused on re-litigating the ) long debated the justness of the war between the states, or Civil War.

The divide is between those who see war as necessary to ending slavery and those who believe it was largely fought to preserve power for the federal government and resulted in a lot of unnecessary death and destruction.




Was that so hard?

[A Son of Liberty]

ONE NATION UNDER GOD INDIVISIBLE... GET IT. GOT IT? GOOD!

Anyone so much as thinking that the Holy and Infinite United States of America should ever cease to be as a going concern is guilty of treason... just as it was once treason to even think about the death of the King. A government, supposedly founded upon the principle of securing individual liberty and yet which has lately metastasized into the greatest enemy of individual liberty, shall forever be sustained in your words, in your deeds, and even in your thoughts.

So SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and GET IN LINE.

[cajuncocoa]

"Why aren’t libertarians policing their own?"

Does anybody else find this statement hilarious?

YES!! :)

[Brian4Liberty]

So, in today's America, people are demonized, lives dissected, and careers destroyed, over a person's opinion of a historical figure? Got it.

And tomorrow night, Rachel Maddow will talk crap about Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers, and call people names (Tea-b*ggers). It's good to be a mouthpiece of the Politburo. Wait till she falls out of favor and she is erased from history by her comrades.

[Antischism]

I hate the term "neo-Confederate" as much as I hate anyone and everything being called Marxist. People just apply labels to ideas they disagree with that'll hurt or slander it the most.

[Brian4Liberty]

Well, well, well, Operation-Distract And Divide Part 32 is a resounding success.

Race, race, race, everybody is a racist! Deny. Accuse. Attack. Hate! Everyone jump on in!

(And the NSA, DOJ and IRS scandals slowly fade away into the distant past...)

[Christian Liberty]

ONE NATION UNDER GOD INDIVISIBLE... GET IT. GOT IT? GOOD!

Anyone so much as thinking that the Holy and Infinite United States of America should ever cease to be as a going concern is guilty of treason... just as it was once treason to even think about the death of the King. A government, supposedly founded upon the principle of securing individual liberty and yet which has lately metastasized into the greatest enemy of individual liberty, shall forever be sustained in your words, in your deeds, and even in your thoughts.

So SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and GET IN LINE.

Indeed.

I've never heard Rand, or even Ron, truly bash Lincoln. IIRC Rand offered a nuanced take, while Ron clearly condemned Lincoln but did so in a relatively calm, respectful manner. Neither has obsessed over the topic. I don't see where this criticism is coming from.

I obviously say this in hyperbole because idiotic speech is still free speech, but if I wanted to "police" anyone's speech it would be these idiots who think they can call everyone who doesn't bow down and worship their dear leader "Neo-confederate", all the while confusing true philosophically libertarians with conservatives who just actually believe in freedom. Rand is the latter.

[Brian4Liberty]

I hate the term "neo-Confederate" as much as I hate anyone and everything being called Marxist. People just apply labels to ideas they disagree with that'll hurt or slander it the most.

Lincoln was a Marxist. :p

[Cutlerzzz]

Thomas Woods

http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/were-the-sweetie-pie-libertarians/#disqus_thread

[Occam's Banana]

"Why aren’t libertarians policing their own?"

Does anybody else find this statement hilarious?

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001908705/5810445556_laugh_cry_xlarge.jpeg

[Henry Rogue]

http://www.washingtonpostcom/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/07/10/the-libertarian-war-over-the-civil-war/
:mad:

[daviddee]

I love the term, "neo-confederate"... always reminds me of:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrcM5exDxcc

GREAT VIDEO!!

[Bastiat's The Law]

We should plaster that zombie video everywhere.

[Bastiat's The Law]

Yeah, the heat has been turned up on libertarianism since the NSA leak... they are attacking us and Rand in monumental fashion. They are getting desperate.

That's my feeling too. Libertarianism is looking pretty damn attractive to average people these days, time to go into defcon4 smear mongering mode.

[Red Green]

It's not so much that I dislike Lincoln but that I would rather celebrate John Wilkes Booth.

[Southron]

I liked Jack Hunter better back in teh old days.

I did too. But I don't think Hunter would have considered himself a libertarian then.

[Origanalist]

I did too. But I don't think Hunter would have considered himself a libertarian then.

No, I don't think he did.

[ClydeCoulter]

Notice the intermingling of the labels "liberty movement" and "libertarian" these days? All cats are lions, no wait, all tigers are calico cats, wait, cats hate foxes, no..damn, every stripped cat is a tiger, shit...

[HigherVision]

"Washington Post

In August of 2010 the Washington Post Ombudsman Andrew Alexander stated that the paper censored race. He said that Weekend News Editor Robert E. Pierre supported the censorship.

The Post came under criticism by readings for censoring black mob violence on the local metro system.

Alexander whined, “The Post should always be sensitive to overplaying stories, especially if race is involved.” Keep in mind that Alexander is talking about a story that the Post was criticized for downplaying, not overplaying.

Pierre attacked critics of the paper’s coverage as “racial insensitive.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/should-race-play-a-role-how-the-media-reports-crime

They don't worry too much about overplaying race when the race of the people in question is white though, do they?

[A Son of Liberty]

The implication being, of course, that only a strong central government can prevent racism.

Hey, look what else a strong central government can do:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EHVuZxZ3LZM/UFUcPxgeXPI/AAAAAAAABM4/u_7C3SDRo6k/s400/US-drone-attacks-pakistan-terrorism+(35).jpg

The world is full of stupid people who insist on ruling you.

[WM_in_MO]

These people believe that a written edict can change behavior.

You can't reason with that insanity.

[klamath]

They found the crevice and they are using the pry bars mightily. It is the same problem as people supporting the red team or the blue team. Far too many libertarians instead of saying the whole civil war was wrong they took it upon themselves to support the star and bars team and that exposed them too a legitimate charge of horrible hypocrisy.
The whole argument that the southern states fought for states rights and the right of secession is just as bogus as the north fighting to free slaves.

[Nobexliberty]

These people believe that a written edict can change behavior.

You can't reason with that insanity.A constitution is just words on paper. What matters is culture in the long term, American colonialist just wanted local goverment and have some kind of say. Modern Americans are mostly soften up by luxury in everyday life and is to pre-occupied too give a damn.

[Seraphim]

"Mooooooarrrrrrr Phr33 st00fffffsss!!!!"


A constitution is just words on paper. What matters is culture in the long term, American colonialist just wanted local goverment and have some kind of say. Modern Americans are mostly soften up by luxury in everyday life and is to pre-occupied too give a damn.

[Nobexliberty]

"Mooooooarrrrrrr Phr33 st00fffffsss!!!!" What does the mean?

[angelatc]

Heh. This from the people that don't seem to believe the war is over yet.

[ThePenguinLibertarian]

Did anybody notice the Skeptical Libertarian facebook page called Tom Woods a "propagandist"? just because of a few mistakes and misopinions?

[ThePenguinLibertarian]

Its now CATO/REASON vs Mises institute. two "libertarian" organizations that use the same leftist tactics. its disgusting.

[Krzysztof Lesiak]

Don't know why it's so hard to so hard for so many libertarians to understand Lincoln was a Big Government mass-murdering statist. One of the worst president's in this country's history. Thankfully people like Tom Woods and Thomas DiLorenzo have successfully exposed the truth. I'd really reccomend the books The Real Lincoln and Lincoln Unmasked to anyone who still believes in the PC fairy tyles about Lincoln and the War of Northern Aggression we've been force fed in government indoctrination camps.