I have been very occupied with other matters and not very attentive to the scandal surrounding “those newsletters,” but I’ve gotten a fair number of emails, some from friends with links to very strange internet postings and some from, well, really disturbed people. Julian Sanchez of Reason (why, at one time, he even was a colleague of mine, and before that, he attended seminars at which I lectured! he is therefore my tool, or, since I have also written for Reason, maybe I am his) shines the light of reason on the whole ugly matter.
For the record, as I have stated elsewhere, I had never met or communicated with Mr. Kirchik prior to the publication of his article. (After the publication of his article, he introduced himself to me at a happy hour and we talked for less than five minutes.) The fact that, as it turns out, I am “openly gay” and he is “openly gay,” and we live in the same city must, you know, mean that we were, you know, “friends” is one of the favorite insinuations of the LewRockwell.com crowd and has been posted on a number of prominent websites. Sorry to disappoint. But then, it seems we may both live near metro stations (I’m between a Red line station and a Green line station), so if the sexual orientation doesn’t clinch it, that certainly does. Whatever.
While not teaching at a university (the horror), I can say that I have also not been a “ringleader” of any movement to “smear” anyone by unearthing things he wrote or published under his name. I guess that’s a lot of “nots” for one life. (I am also not a member of the Trilateral Commission and I’m not a member of the CFR. And I’m not a member of the Federal Reserve Board. Whew. I don’t know how I manage it. So many nots!)
But while not doing those other things, I do have some things to attend to that keep me pretty busy.
Tom,
You are too gentle, as is Julian. I’ve read through the various attacks on you and it’s like apple bobbing in a toilet. The Rockwellians really have “issues,” especially DiLorenzo and DeCoster. They’re also unable to quote accurately and don’t seem to understand what quotation marks mean.
I recommend that you continue to do as you’ve done and just carry out your work on behalf of freedom, which you do very well. The Ron Paul newsletter affair really blew Lew Rockwell’s cover and lots of people who did not know before now know what a racist and enemy of libertarian ideology he is. And we can thank you for having alerted us to the wider context.
I’m beside myself with glee; I’ve been denounced by Tom Dilorenzo at the same time he denounces Tom Palmer! I’m moving up in the world!
Admittedly I was denounced primarily for allegedly identifying myself as “someone who “lives” in three states plus “the former Soviet Union.” He sounds like he lives in his car and lists no place of employment).” Still, it’s a start…maybe LvMI will eventually get around to addressing (or dressing me down for) my ideas & arguments.
Found this entertaining movie on Andrew Sullivan’s blog:
http://juliansanchez.com/notes/archives/2008/01/i_have_no_words_1.php
That DiLorenzo fellow seems….a little troubled.
I strongly support Dr. Paul, despite what happened a long time ago when I was a kid. I think he has a lot to say that is important about where our country is going. The Iraq war is getting us deeper and deeper into the Middle East’s problems and the economy is being burdened by inflation and too much spending. I think you agree, but are upset about Dr. Paul’s past misjudgements.
I found this through the Ron Paul Forums. I apologize for the really bad treatment that some people have shown you there. I think your work for human rights is important and I hope that you will come over to become an enthusiastic backer of Dr. Paul. He is an important voice for people of my generation and I hope that you will support his bid for the presidency. The hatred that some persons have shown should in no way affect your support for Dr. Paul’s real issues, peace, freedom, sound money, and and end to the domination by special interests.
I guess it’s all mostly a matter of strategy: the Mises Institute plays the politically incorrect card, and Cato has always been playing the politically correct card.
To my esteem both strategies are honourable, although I have to admit that Ron Paul is rather being politically correct (sort of….) and achieving a lot. However he draws certain affiliations of the past with him (maybe some non-libertarian people who were in the temporary paleolibertarian – paleoconservative “alliance”) and therefore it was probably a wise decision of Cato to keep him at a distance.
“Belthway” Libertarians and “countryside” libertarians: maybe the debate among them may be benificially and draw attention away from our ideological anti-individualist opponents that become more and more unattractive to anyone with a sincere interest in ideological political debate.
However on the short term I hope that Paul manages to overcome the racist stigma and that he manages to keep on “spoiling” the political circus with his great talk.
The social ultra-conservatism pushed by paleos in the ’90s is a poor match for the Ron Paul Revolution demographic. The evangelicals and social conservative voters go for Flip and Huck, not for Ron. Exit polls show Ron’s largest support base are the 18-29s, not particularly religious, Internet-savvy independent voters. I mean, Ron really kills in that demographic.
Hopefully their takeaway will be a deeper love of liberty and not more cynicism and despair.