Iraqi Voters
Well, I’m busily finishing up a slew of projects (writing letters, reviewing scholarship applications, etc., etc.) and packing up for my trip. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do any blog writing or have much access to email (I suppose that I’ll have some!), so tomorrow morning I may go on a little blog vacation. (I may shut down the comments sections, to avoid accumulation of pornographic spam that has to be cleaned off otherwise.) Nonetheless, I will try to post the English, Arabic, and Kurdish versions of my talks when I’m there, as well as a PDF version of the Powerpoint presentation, as well.
So far, my friends have set up talks on economics at several universities, workshops for women in politics, some meetings with student leaders and professors, talks on political science, and meetings with members of the Parliament, as well as presentations to several new (and old) think tanks and research centers. (I’m not posting the details, for obvious reasons.) My topics will include “Principles of Constitutional Democracy,” “Challenges of Democratization,” “The Promise of Globalization,” “Rational Choice and Economic and Political Institutions,” and “Economics of Property Rights, Cooperation, and Prosperity.”
P.S. I’m likely to be out of internet connection for a while. If I do get access, I may post a few items, but since I can’t clean off the comment spam (or respond to the non-computerized spam — see comments on this posting), I am turning off the comments section for a while. I will miss the conversation.
Tom G. Palmer is off to Iraq!
“So far, my friends have set up talks on economics at several universities, workshops for women in politics, some meetings with student leaders and professors, talks on political science, and meetings with members of the Parliament, as well as presentations to several new (and old) think tanks and research centers. (I’m not posting the details, for obvious reasons.)”
Lest anyone not understand this last, parenthetical, comment, Tom G. is concerned that, should his itinerary be published, Jeremy Sapienza, Justin Raimondo, and Lew Rockwell might spring out from behind a rock and waylay his vehicle (one of those long black limos with little American flags fluttering in the breeze, of course) and — well, you can imagine the subsequent horrors for yourself.
JR
Poor Mr. Riggenbach. I guess it doesn’t occur to him that no one posts their itinerary ahead of time when traveling in Iraq. (I was specifically warned not to do so.) The scenario Mr. Riggenbach presents had not occurred to me; but the fact that it occurred to Mr. Riggenbach says a lot.
(And speaking of comment spam, Mr. Riggenbach seems to be the first. But I’ll just let it stay. The words aren’t obscene, only the ideas expressed. It’s true that Mr. Sapienza has called for killing Americans, but it wouldn’t have occurred to me that he would travel there to actually do it himself. It took Mr. Riggenbach to come up with that vision. Anyway, Mr. Riggenbach and his ilk can stay in their little Orc holes and worry themselves to death about the idea of other people trying to make moves toward liberty and the rule of law. The rest of the world will go on.)
Well, I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Tom lecture several times, and it is such an enjoyable experience that I, for one, would temporarily cease the killing of my enemies to sit in the audience and listen to him. Here’s hoping my tastes are not idiosyncratic.
For crying out loud, Palmer, would you leave Sapienza out of this? You know full well that he didn’t call for attacking (he didn’t actually say “killing”, although that is the presumable result of men fighting with guns) Americans because they are Americans, but because they’re soldiers occupying Iraq. Since the vast majority of Americans are not soldiers in Iraq, to say that he called for killing Americans is misleading to say the least. It’s quite small of you to persist in trying to use this brush to smear your opponents.
That said, despite any lapses of ideology or good behavior on your part, I certainly hope you will remain safe on your upcoming trip. If we’re lucky, maybe some of your libertarian ideas will rub off on somebody there and allow them to resist the occupation more cogently.
Mr. Kerner, you should note that I did not raise the topic or the name. That required the unpleasant imagination of Mr. Riggenbach. Your comment is misleading. Would it be a smear to mention that “attacking Americans” means killing them? And do you doubt that Mr. Sapienza favors killing Americans *in Iraq*? (That was the point of mentioning that it had not occurred to me, as it did to Mr. Riggenbach, that he “would travel *there*.”) There’s a simple test: would Mr. Sapienza only favor killing grunts, or also Embassy personnel? And what of the people who drive the fuel trucks? Or people who go to engage in promotion of constitutionalism? In the minds of some, they are all “forces of occupation.” So Mr. Riggenbach’s fantasy, although wildly implausible and foolish, seems built around a grain of insight. After all, Mr. Raimondo quite roundly denounces people who go to Iraq to promote constitutionalism. Better that the Iraqis fail utterly than that any good whatsoever might come after a foolish war.
In any case, it’s a shame that the pure ugliness of Mr. Riggenbach has set such an unpleasant tone for this conversation.
Otto Kerner:
S = A
Someone calls for the killing of S
He therefor calls for the killing of A
Logic 101
Jeff Riggenbach: Let’s not forget the vison of Mr. Palmer scheming with the United Fruit Co. and the El Presidente!!! Meanwhile the pure and good (like yourself) plot the great Peoples Revolution.
You should write a novel Jeff, you are soooo creative. (cough…sacrasm…cough)