As noted previously, according to the standards of Claremont “Lincoln Fellow” Timothy Sandefur, there are an “alarming number of libertarians willing to humiliate themselves with such concoctions as the ‘right to secede.'” He recommends we “sober” ourselves with the brilliant book by non-libertarian, mainstream Ivy League law professor Akhil Reed Amar. Yes, that’s what we libertarians need–a good dose of modern academic law professor thinking.

So let’s see. Sandefur’s list must include those of us who appreciate the USA’s federalist origins, such as Tom DiLorenzo, Tom Woods, yours truly, and many others who commit the crime of being honest and perspicacious enough to look at the issue with open eyes and with suspicion for the central state (or maybe not: he told me he doesn’t view those in our crowd as libertarians but as paleoconservatives–hahahaha, this, coming from him?). But as noted in other posts (1, 2, 3), Sandefur’s schoolmarm, cocktail-party, politically-correct “libertarian” standards would also condemn as “humiliated” such lightweights and constitutional ignoramuses as:

• John Taylor of Caroline
• Lord Acton
• William Lloyd Garrison
• Ezra Heywood
• Alexis de Tocqueville
• Richard Cobden
• Thomas Jefferson
• Albert Jay Nock
• Raoul Berger
• William Rawle
• Murray Rothbard
• Walter Williams
• William Watkins
• James J. Kilpatrick

In Tom DiLorenzo’s superb review of the latest book by Judge Andrew Napolitano, The Constitution in Exile, Tom points out that the book contains a hard-hitting chapter, “Dishonest Abe: The Lincoln You Didn’t Know.” In this chapter Judge Napolitano notes how, “In order to increase his federalist vision of centralized power, ‘Honest’ Abe misled the nation into an unnecessary war.” And, “with very little regard for honesty, Lincoln increased federal power and assaulted the Constitution. His actions were unconstitutional, and he knew it.” Moreover, “Lincoln’s view was a far departure from the approach of Thomas Jefferson, who recognized states’ rights above those of the Union.” (And I’m sure the cocktail-party libertarians will be scandalized that Napolitano cites both DiLorenzo (23 times in one chapter!), and, a footnote in the chapter on Lincoln, to Lew Rockwell. I mean, how can he not know who he’s allying himself with? Horrors!)

So, I guess now Judge Andrew Napalitano should be added to the list of libertarians who have “humiliated” themselves–in the eyes of so-called “libertarian” Lincoln idolators–by recognizing the constitutional right of secession.

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