Vulgar Politics

The Chutzpah of the “Do Something” Crowd

by Isaac Bergman May 3, 2011

Supporters of free markets are often attacked for their “Do Nothing Principle” position, which tends to deeply upset policy wonks and media talking heads alike. Obviously this is buncombe, and to the contrary it is these would-be do-somethingers who are intellectually or ideologically incapable of grasping the sweeping scope of necessary changes that free market advocates [...]

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Idealistic Politics

by Geoffrey Allan Plauché April 21, 2011

But what we in politics wish to know is whether Mr. Minister X understands his business, whether he has initiative, whether he is informed, whether he steals more than is absolutely necessary, whether he lies more than is publicly beneficial, and so on … — Eric Voegelin In other words, just tweak a few things here [...]

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Democracy Distorts Democracy!

by Geoffrey Allan Plauché April 9, 2011

That, at least, was my impression of the worry expressed in a recent Wired.com article, “Real-Time Debate Feedback Distorts Democracy.” What’s all the hoopla about? Well, you may recall that back in the 2008 presidential election CNN debuted a new ratings-capturing gimmick below the bloviating candidates: “A real-time graph depicting the averaged reactions of 32 [...]

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The Shutdown and What It Means To You

by Isaac Bergman April 8, 2011

With all the hysteria in the mass-media in concern to the shutdown, your friendly Libertarian Standard blogger is here to deliver a public service announcement to allay any dissonance you may be needlessly experiencing. You, dear citizen, will not be regaining any freedoms you might have had before; anything that otherwise might have been permitted [...]

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“Defense” Secretary Gates Rediscovers Most Famous Classic Blunder

by Geoffrey Allan Plauché February 25, 2011

With great solemnity, “Defense” Secretary Robert Gates imparted on West Point cadets this Friday a hard-earned pearl of newly discovered wisdom: “In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as [...]

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The Tyrant Rehabilitation Party

by Brian Martinez February 3, 2011

Aside from his legacy as one of the giants of the Austrian school and modern anarcho-capitalism, Murray Rothbard was for a time a political activist, one of the founding members of the Libertarian Party, which got its start in the basement of David Nolan’s home some 40 years ago.  Rothbard’s radicalism kept the LP honest [...]

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Senator Is Not Smarter Than A Fifth Grader

by Matt Mortellaro February 1, 2011

Sen. Schumer on the Three Branches of Government We have three branches of government: we have a House, we have a Senate, we have a President. I guess passing civics class was not a requirement for becoming a Senator.

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