Lew: It is encouraging to see the statists resorting to name-calling — rather than thoughtful analysis — when confronting ideas that run counter to those upon which they depend for their exercise of force over others. Today, alone, I have seen libertarians described as “kooks,” “supercranks,” and “wackerdoodles,” words that place no burden on intelligent minds. The tendency is also seen in the use of the word “extremist” — a term which, by itself, fails to distinguish between the “extremism” of Albert Einstein and the Unabomber. Queen Noor of Jordan fell into this pattern of thinking in an interview on CNN the other day, wherein she said she hoped for a solution to the “crisis” in Egypt that came from the “center,” while avoiding “extremes on both sides.” A “centrist” approach, by definition, is one that would maintain the status quo, of which she and her husband are principal beneficiaries. If these pervasive problems are to be resolved, perhaps it is time to have a major transformation in thinking, which only a consideration of “extremist” alternatives might provide.

The Best of Butler Shaffer