It's unfortunate that the Tom Woods post was even deemed necessary. Anyone who knows Tom understands that he is a class gentleman and a serious scholar. One reason for the attacks on him is perhaps because, even at a young age, he is already several up on his peers. Books, magazines, popular articles, and blogging - he does it all. And a NYT bestseller can't make his detractors too happy.
I'm beginning to like the dimwit-Serioso tag name for the catfighting-type libertarians. Thing is about these types is that they stike up these strange relationships 'round the 'Net with the most un-libertarian of folk. The dimwit-Serioso/Cocktail/PC libertarians, as well as the Beltway libertarians, make sure to never piss off the really popular, statist-Republican, fascist, warmongering types that gather 'round InstaPuppet & Company. Once they tee off this crowd, they will lose their ability to be blogrolled, patted on the back for their agreeable disagreement, and linked for their "thoughtful ideas." The Kevin Bacon Connector would be a breeze with this crowd.
I've been reading Tom's book this week, and what a great job he did. His presentation style is unique and fun. His stuff on the Kentucky Resolutions, the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Antifederalists and the Constitution, and nullification theory is simply a blast, and completely necessary. The book's headings are upfront and divine. I also love the "books you are not supposed to read" notations.
In essence, on page 33 of his book, Tom makes the point that we have known and observed for a long time about the PC crowd: "many historians portray states' rights as merely code words for slavery. But as historian Eugene Genovese reminds us, of the five Virginians who made the greatest intellectual contributions to the strict constructionist interpretation of the Constitution - George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, John Randolph of Roanoke, St. George Tucker, and John Taylor of Caroline - only Taylor could be described as pro-slavery..."
I see supposed libertarians constantly praising Bush, InstaPuppet, and, God help us - VD Hanson, guys who have 0% worth to any serious libertarian who denies the validity of the State's persistent wars, monopoly, oppression, lifestyle fascism, and theft. Oh, but lest I forget, as with States' rights, such notions are far too radical and "extreme" for the cocktail libertarians to swallow.
