Amp:

Thanks for the link, and for the kind words.

I also think that Bartlett’s case about CATO is fair. Since CATO and the Libertarian Party are hardly small and irrelevant parts of American libertarianism, I don’t think it’s true that Bartlett’s argument is, as Rad Geek says, a “ridiculous strawman.”

Well, I don’t dispute that CATO and the LP are significant parts of American libertarianism. But you don’t have to find some crazy-ass Red-card-carrying left-mutualist anarcha-Dworkinist like me to find self-identified libertarians who speak out vocally and repeatedly on the specific political issues that Bartlett claims libertarians aren’t speaking out about. You can find that standpoint among many people in the LP (including pretty much all LP presidential candidates prior to Bob Barr), or in any issue of Reason, which is not even remotely a radical publication, which you can find on the newsstand at any Barnes and Noble, and which is, as far as I know, the highest-circulation libertarian publication in the United States. These aren’t small or irrelevant parts of American libertarianism either, and if Bartlett can’t find the kind of libertarians that he’s looking for, then my suspicion is that he’s not looking very hard.

The claim that libertarians don’t speak out often enough about the War on Drugs, of all things, strikes me as particularly loopy and ill-founded.

William H. Stoddard:

[The Republican Party] also has moved to big government, denial of Constitutional rights by presidential [fiat], unbalanced budgets, fiscal irresponsibility generally

Well, you know, all that’s not really anything new for Republicans.

I read the platforms of the dozen Libertarian candidates who got onto the California ballot (not including Paul, Barr, Gravel, or Ruwart) and I only thought three of them were remotely credible as libertarians; the rest included some conservative Republicans trying to claim the libertarian label

Indeed. As much as I despise Bob Barr, I actually have to say that he’s not the biggest tool in the LP race. Unfortunately, I can only say that because his competition happens to be Wayne Allyn Root.

Roxanne,

Given that Ron Paul is currently running in the Republican primary, whom will he defeat if he wins the race?

Seems to me the answer is: Other Republicans.

Do you think that any of his current opponents are preferable to Paul as candidates for the presidency?