As if you had any doubts about who wears the pants at Establishment Libertarianism, Inc., check out who’s been dominating the London narrative at their blog. At 1:15 pm Central, I count eight foreign-policy related posts – seven of which are by warmongers Charles Paul Freund, Michael Young (check out this incoherence), and Ronald Bailey, one by the antiwar Jesse Walker.
The problem I have noticed over the last few years is not a shortage of antiwar folks at Reason and other high-profile libertarian organizations, but a certain timidity. At Reason, for instance, in addition to Walker, the people who have made some declaration of opposition to the Iraq war or Bush foreign policy generally include Nick Gillespie, Tim Cavanaugh, Jeff Taylor, Julian Sanchez, and Brian Doherty. Yet only a couple of these ever talk about foreign policy as if it’s more important than, say, gay marriage or copyright law, and even then they include all sorts of “well, the neocons might be right” hedges. Meanwhile, Young, Freund, Bailey, et al., are out making the liberventionist case with admirable conviction and tenacity, spinning what should be major blows to their thesis into rhetorical victories. How do they get away with it?