Writing with reference to Glenn Beck’s equivocal support for prohibition, LRC reader Brian Engle astutely observes:
“I can’t have been the only one to notice that he has what poker players might refer to as a `tell.’ Any time he says `I’m a libertarian’ the next several words out of his mouth almost always have something to do with increasing the power of the state. For example, `I’m a libertarian, but is it really such a bad idea to round up Ron Paul supporters as suspected terrorists?’ and `I’m a libertarian, but what’s wrong with imprisoning people for smoking marijuana?’ or `I’m a libertarian, but wouldn’t it be great if we had a big fence to keep out the Mexicans and made English the national language of the US?.’
If he followed his claims of being a libertarian with something remotely resembling an understanding of personal liberty, I might give him a little more credit. But from what I’ve seen, he only ever brings up his libertarian credentials when he wants the state to commit violence against some group or another that he disagrees with.”LRC reader JB contributes another valuable insight:
“[A]nyone having a show on any major media outlet has a gun pointed to their head over what they say, and [we should remember that] the illegal drug trade is very big $$ to both the government and the corporations that run it. End the [War on Drugs], and you end a lot of income for a lot of criminals (the kinds in DC, corner offices in Manhattan, and the Prison Industrial Complex).”
5:22 pm on February 27, 2009
