BARKING AT THE MOON

James Joyner | Friday, January 23, 2004

Ethan Wallison, reviewing John Stossel’s new book, Give Me a Break, offers this observation of the 1996 Libertarian convention:

Two things stood out over the course of the event: First that the Libertarians had the kind of vigorous and intelligent debates that never occur anymore at the major-party meetings; and second, that maybe a full half of the delegates were nuts. There were folks who insisted there was no such thing as judicial “authority,” some who believed citizens are obligated to evade income taxes, and others who probably saw no use in paying them anyhow, since American currency actually had no value. Listening to the Libertarians made one thing clear: If government succeeds at nothing else, it does make some grown men bark at the moon.

Insert your own Howard Dean joke here.

Stossel’s book sounds a lot like his TV specials:

We [journalists] like to think we’re superior to the people who, centuries ago, burned “witches” for no better reason than a neighbor’s belief that his crop failure or impotence was caused by that woman’s action. But reporters are still prone to the same mental errors that caused these killings: seeing patterns where there are none, finding causes where there is only coincidence, ignoring our sources’ political agendas, and turning scanty evidence into panic.

There’s something to that.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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Stossel is so good. He sees through scare-tactic journalism because he used to engage in it. He's the man.

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Posted by Little Miss Attila | January 24, 2004 | 02:41 am | Permalink

 

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