It isn't really important to decide when you are very young
just exactly what you want to become when you grow up.
It is much more important to decide
on the way you want to live.
Golda Meir
Tweet of the Day
NOT the Onion: pro-abort Catholic Bob Brady (D-Pa) treats @Pontifex's abandoned water glass like the Holy Grail. http://t.co/sux10Nb4Oh
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) September 26, 2015
Image of The Day |
| via Rand Paul campaiign |
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| via Independent Institute |
Tom Woods Hasn't Let It Go
I mentioned in a recent post a spat I had on a Tom Woods Facebook thread a while back. He had posted a birthday message to Ron Paul with a 'thank God you're the real thing vs. all the phonies out there [like Mitt Romney]'. I rebuked him for an unnecessary cheap shot of Romney, while he dug in his heels, insisting that Romney has no discernible political principles. [It's not that Woods is alone in this belief.] A Fortune op-ed contributor (with a name similar to a well-known MSNBC host) took on Tom Woods on one of his signature contributions to modern libertarianism, the Catholic Church and the free market. Perhaps most salient to my discussion here is the author's statement: "So, how can the 48% of Catholic-American voters who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 justify their support for the candidate’s economic policies?" He then goes after Woods. Now I think Woods does a credible job refuting the piece, but he just can't pass up the opportunity to comment on the Romney reference. He says at a point in the broadcast how he had to make a point recently of Romney's vacuous political principles to someone; I'm 100% sure that he was referring to me. (I cited a copy/paste I republished of the thread in question.) I suppose I should be grateful that he didn't identify me, although I would have welcomed extra eyeballs to my blog. If he mentioned me on a podcast after I started boycotting them, I'm not aware of it. Now, personally, I have a different political perspective than Romney and disagree with a number of his positions but I disagree that he's unprincipled. It's not my responsibility to flesh out his perspective; I would probably describe it as a variation of pragmatic conservatism. But note that Woods is a self-described AnCap; AnCaps typically regard us minarchists as unprincipled (although I should point out Woods' hero, Ron Paul, is not an AnCap), like if we allow for State involvement in common defense and a court system to enforce contracts, we have given the State unlimited power through these exceptions.
Rev. Sirico Addresses Critiques of the Pope's Visit
Lord Acton is a prominent nineteenth century British historian and Catholic, perhaps best known for his quote "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Acton wrote powerfully on the history of liberty and religious liberty/tolerance and is regarded as a classical liberal by many, including Deirdre McCloskey. I also consider myself a classical liberal; we focus on negative rights/liberty, i.e., things where the government or others cannot constrain us from exercising.
Choose Life: A 6-Year-Old Girl Wants Her Divorced Parents To Be Friends
Political Cartoon
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| RE: IL Democrats, Courtesy of Eric Allie via IPI |
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| Courtesy of Bob Gorrell via Townhall |
Lionel Richie, "My Destiny"
