A libertarian's dangerous liasons

You probably haven't heard of Gary North, but he's a prolific commentator at Lewrockwell.com. He's also a "Christian reconstructionist," whose ultimate goal is, in his own words, to

use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.

Gary North also claims to be a libertarian and is an ardent supporter of Ron Paul's presidency. In one article on Rockwell's website, he calls Dr. Paul "the Gandhi of our time." (Yes, seriously.)

Aside from his desire to punish homosexuality with stoning (again, yes, seriously), another interesting fact about North is his interest in the so-called Y2k bug. Circa '99, he went on and on about how Y2k "will call into question science, technology, the free market, and the welfare state. It will call into question all of modern humanism." Etc. For 225 dollars, you could (can?) subscribe to his magazine and learn how to protect yourself from the banking collapse that was supposed to occur.

And didn't occur, of course. But I wonder how many subscriptions North sold to libertarians. How much money did he take in? I'm not claiming North talked up Y2K in order to bilk people out of their money -- on the contrary, I believe he was sincere in his uninformed paranoia, like many of Rockwell's folks. To quote a Wired article, "[North] wants to make sure the banking system crashes. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

North's advice for surviving the collapse included stocking up on food, weapons, and gold, and moving to the middle of nowhere in order to avoid riots and looters. Probably, he would suggest gathering up a whole lot of rocks, too, in order to bash in the heads of rampaging homosexuals (in accordance with Biblical law, naturally.)

I ask this question: why does Gary North support Ron Paul? I can think of a few reasons. Ron Paul has described the Supreme Court's action in cases like Lawrence v. Texas as the imposition of an "imaginary constutition." Like Justice Scalia, he apparently believes there is no right to "sodomy" in the federal Constitution. He would leave the criminalization of homosexuality for each state to decide on its own.

Can you see why someone like Gary North would support this doctrine? Suppose a state like Texas outlaws gay sex and actually enforces the prohibition in a way it did NOT just prior to the time of the Lawrence decision. Ron Paul's supporters will say, "Well, ok, if you don't like it, then move out of Texas." Great. Now there are even fewer gays in Texas, and more opportunity for someone like Gary North to marginalize those who remain.

It's not a big leap from my scenario to North's favored scenario, in which, based on Biblical law, gay people have their heads smashed in with stones in the city square.

(Oh, and what's so great about stoning? Quoting an article in Reason magazine that quotes North extensively:

"Why stoning?" asks North. "There are many reasons. First, the implements of execution are available to everyone at virtually no cost." Thrift and ubiquity aside, "executions are community projects--not with spectators who watch a professional executioner do `his' duty, but rather with actual participants." You might even say that like square dances or quilting bees, they represent the kind of hands-on neighborliness so often missed in this impersonal era. "That modern Christians never consider the possibility of the reintroduction of stoning for capital crimes," North continues, "indicates how thoroughly humanistic concepts of punishment have influenced the thinking of Christians."

See? Stoning is cool. Just like knitting, except you don't need needles. Or yarn. Just lots of fairly big rocks.)

It'll never happen, you say? Maybe. But Gary North knows a Ron Paul presidency would make it just a little more likely. Real libertarians should recognize that as well.

We need to separate those who merely want to use liberty in order to eventually quash it (as North is wont to do) from those who truly value liberty for all.

Is Ron Paul a racist?

At Pam's House Blend there's a recent post about the support Ron Paul is receiving from organizations like Stormfront and other neo-Nazi groups. Here is a link to an unintentionally hilarious video Stormfront made to support Ron Paul's candidacy.



Ok, first: even in politics, you can't usually smear somebody based on who happens to support them. Even if Dr. Paul hasn't officially denounced Stormfront et al. that doesn't mean he wholeheartedly accepts their support, either. Like most, he probably doesn't take the Stormfront seriously enough to make the organization worth responding to. If the flat earth society happened to really like this blog, I doubt I'd care enough to officially respond.

(On the other hand, if the flat earth society liked my blog, I might be happy enough to have fans I'd overlook their kooky views. Nevermind, though. Suppose flat earthers really liked Instapundit; would Glenn Reynolds be obligated to respond?)

But, as savvy readers will note, if flat earthers identified with this blog for a reason, it might be worthwhile knowing that reason. So why are the neo-Nazis lining up behind Ron Paul?

Perhaps it is because he's published/possibly wrriten comments like these:

* "Opinion polls show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action."

* "We are constantly told it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers."

* "We don't think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That's true for most people, but black males who have been raised and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such."

Ron Paul has now publicly denounced the views expressed in these quotations, but that could be explained as mere political expediency. What attitude did he take to these comments before he was running for President of the United States?

The blog Alternate Reality dug up an article by Alan Bernstein of the Houston Chronicle in which Paul defends the remarks when he was running for Congress in 1996. Rather than distancing himself from the language, Paul's campaign spokesperson at the time suggested that Paul's rhetoric "mirror pronouncements by black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson."

When running for political office back in 1996, why didn't Ron Paul claim then that the objectionable newsletter articles were written by someone else? Why did everything he say at that time seem to support the racist claims, rather than denounce them?

Libertarians will claim, loudly, that Dr. Paul is not a racist, and that it's not his fault that neo-Nazis are lining up to support him. But what if the neo-Nazis are willing to view the truth, the whole truth, in a way well-meaning anti-war libertarians refuse to do?

Interestingly enough, I've heard it suggested that the original author of the comments about blacks being "fleet footed", etc. was none other than Ron Paul's chief-of-staff at the time, arch-libertarian/Paleo-conservative Lew Rockwell. According to none other than the Cato Institute's Tom Palmer, one of the most interesting people I've had the pleasure to meet, Rockwell is a racist, or at least good friends with him, and uses his ideology as cover for a very evil point of view.

(I knew there was another reason to love Tom Palmer...)

If there's doubt, check out this list of headlines from Rockwell's website. "Heil Abe"? Some things require very little comment...

So perhaps not all "libertarians" are so naive about Ron Paul after all. Rockwell is still one of Ron Paul's most strident supporters online. Do you think he is naive about Ron Paul's views? Stormfront's Nazis could be mistaken about Paul's support for their cause; anti-war libertarians could be blinded by idealism; but is Lew Rockwell confused? If he was the one who wrote the original racist comments, has he changed his mind?

Probably not. Rockwell's website is still churning out the neo-Confederate propaganda. And I'm not saying Ron Paul is a racist. I am saying some very sophisticated, very evil racists see Paul's candidacy as very compatible with their evil, racist views. That should be worrisome, especially to libertarians.