8 responses so far ↓

• 1 A Yalie // Mar 22, 2008 at 2:34 am

  You’ve been kind of an Obama partisan lately. I watched the video and it asked some tough questions. While some parts were taken out of context (“I was not at church” remix) the majority hit on statements which people ought to take a serious look at before voting for the guy.

  Could you explain why a libertarian should vote for Obama? (We’ve got the FISA message loud and clear… is there anything else?)

• 2 Julian Sanchez // Mar 22, 2008 at 2:48 am

  This particular post isn’t really about being pro-Obama, or even about objecting to valid criticism of stupid things said by Obama’s pastor. Of the current crop, I tend to prefer Obama primarily on foreign policy grounds, secondarily, because he seems to have good civil libertarian instincts, and tertiarily (if that’s a word) because bullshit Ohio rhetoric aside, he seems to have a better appreciation of the value of markets than most Dems.

  But that’s really not the issue. That video is a grotesque attempt to play on white racial anxieties, and I want nothing to do with anybody who finds it remotely defensible.

• 3 Laure // Mar 22, 2008 at 11:31 am

  I guess this goes to show that making your twitter list private ain’t much protection in times of “controversy”

• 4 Gil // Mar 22, 2008 at 8:29 pm

  Julian,

  Perhaps you have more details about why your “friends” decided to join the group, but it’s not clear from your post why their joining the group warrants your de-friending them.

  Couldn’t a friend of yours think that suspending someone for private activity like this is an overreaction, without defending the video itself?

• 5 AemJeff // Mar 22, 2008 at 10:52 pm

  Couldn’t a friend of yours think that suspending someone for private activity like this is an overreaction, without defending the video itself?

  Not coherently. Do you think he’s putting it up to entertain his friends? He’s putting it onto a private feed to distribute it without his own fingerprints. Even if that isn’t true, it can be plausibly argued. If the guy couldn’t see that then his stupidity is actionable.

• 6 Julian Sanchez // Mar 23, 2008 at 10:55 am

  The group’s about section explains that its premise is that the video is an awesome piece of truthtelling that should be disseminated everywhere.

• 7 Gil // Mar 23, 2008 at 2:48 pm

  Ok, so maybe he thought it was a powerful piece of propaganda.

  It seems similar to Wright’s hyperbole being effective at rallying his congregation’s emotions.

  The video that you find despicable tries to link Obama to the words of his associate. You must think it’s ok for Obama to fall short of a complete repudiation of Wright. You might think less of him if he did so.

  Isn’t it a bit inconsistent to think it’s wrong to criticize Obama in this way, and to also think it’s wrong to question McCain’s reaction?

• 8 Chris // Mar 24, 2008 at 11:54 am

  How can a libertarian prefer someone on foreign policy whose people believe this sort of nonsense:

  http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_obama_doctrine

  ‘Obama’s advisers argue, national security depends in large part on dignity promotion. Without it, the U.S. will never be able to destroy al-Qaeda. Extremists will forever be able to demagogue conditions of misery, making continued U.S. involvement in asymmetric warfare an increasingly counterproductive exercise — because killing one terrorist creates five more in his place. “It’s about attacking pools of potential terrorism around the globe,” Gration says. “Look at Africa, with 900 million people, half of whom are under 18. I’m concerned that unless you start creating jobs and livelihoods we will have real big problems on our hands in ten to fifteen years.”‘