Libertarians, get off your principled asses!

Nothing makes this Libertarian angrier than the radical elements of the party who would rather lose without compromise than acheive a small victory. This phenomenon has caused more people to give up on the LP than probably any other single factor.

J. Daniel Cloud wrote a great editorial in LP News that gets right to the heart of this problem.

I want to see some Libertarians get off their principled asses and do something to enact those principles in America. And I’m ready to do something myself. That’s why I helped write — and proudly signed — the Exit Plan for Iraq. It ain’t perfect. But it shows Americans that the LP wants to see U.S. troops leave Iraq. It shows that we’re tired of the killing. It shows that we are willing to accept incremental change, so long as change occurs. It shows that we are capable of thinking in terms of “transition” instead of “revolution.”

The party spent more than 30 years trying to change American politics from the outside, with philosophical purity in place, and we failed. If you are one of those who think Libertarians shouldn’t be politicians, feel free to continue sending nasty e-mails complaining that the Libertarian Party is “compromising” too much, that we’re settling for incrementalism.

Hear, hear. Thanks to Tim West for drawing this to my attention.

Yours truly,
Mr. X

...stfu and do something...

IJ: Even When They Lose, They Win

Major props to the good folks over at the Institute for Justice. Not only did they not miss a beat after the loss of the Kelo v. New London case, ratcheting up efforts of The Castle Coalition to protect private property rights for eminent domain abuses, it looks like they managed to derail Connecticut takings:

The largest organization of Connecticut municipalities said Monday that a suggested moratorium on seizing private property is unnecessarily broad.

A spokesman for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities said towns and cities using eminent domain laws for traditional public uses, such as building schools and roads, should be able to proceed.

Lawmakers suggested the moratorium after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that New London can seize homes for a private economic development project. They want time to consider changing Connecticut's laws to provide more protection for property owners.

The upshot is that, even though the SCOTUS has ruled that these takings are constitutional, the publicity has made them unpopular enough that they're going to be delayed, hopefully indefinitely.

It just goes to show that the sort of government abuses that are specific to local government are extremely vulnerable to having the light of the public eye shined on them.

Rock on, IJ!

Yours truly,
Mr. X

...supporter...

Something to chew on

...over the weekend.

"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for
this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987)

Yours truly,
Mr. X

...blogging light...