Coronavirus trail leads to Wuhan labs (II)

The Trail Leading Back to the Wuhan Labs | National Review - Jim Geraghty

April 3, 2020 - " {A] documentary filmmaker who used to live in China ... Matthew Tye, who creates YouTube videos, contends he has identified the source of the coronavirus — and a great deal of the information that he presents, obtained from public records posted on the Internet, checks out. [see video]

"The Wuhan Institute of Virology [WIV] in China indeed posted a job opening on November 18, 2019, 'asking for scientists to come research the relationship between the coronavirus and bats'.... On December 24, 2019, the [WIV] posted a second job posting. The translation of that posting includes the declaration, 'long-term research on the pathogenic biology of bats carrying important viruses has confirmed the origin [in] bats of major new human and livestock infectious diseases such as SARS and SADS, and a large number of new bat and rodent new viruses have been discovered and identified'....

"Scientific American verifies much of the information Tye mentions about Shi Zhengli, the Chinese virologist.... 'Shi — a virologist who is often called China’s "bat woman" by her colleagues because of her virus-hunting expeditions in bat caves over the past 16 years — walked out of the conference she was attending in Shanghai and hopped on the next train back to Wuhan. "I wondered if [the municipal health authority] got it wrong," she says. "I had never expected this kind of thing to happen in Wuhan, in central China" Her studies had shown that the southern, subtropical areas of Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan have the greatest risk of coronaviruses jumping to humans from animals—particularly bats, a known reservoir for many viruses. If coronaviruses were the culprit, she remembers thinking, "could they have come from our lab?"'....

"In his YouTube video, Tye focuses his attention on a researcher at the [WIV] named Huang Yanling: 'Most people believe her to be patient zero, and most people believe she is dead.' There was enough discussion of rumors about Huang Yanling online in China to spur an official denial. On February 16, [WIV] denied that patient zero was one of their employees, and interestingly named her specifically.... Press accounts quote the institute as saying, 'Huang was a graduate student at the institute until 2015, when she left the province and had not returned since. Huang was in good health and had not been diagnosed with disease, it added'

"The web page for the [WIV]’s Lab of Diagnostic Microbiology does indeed still have 'Huang Yanling' listed as a 2012 graduate student, and her picture and biography appear to have been recently removed.... Her name still has a hyperlink, but the linked page is blank....

"Tye says, 'everyone on the Chinese internet is searching for [Huang Yanling] but most believe that her body was quickly cremated and the people working at the crematorium were perhaps infected as they were not given any information about the virus'.... As Tye observes, a public appearance by Huang Yanling would dispel a lot of the public rumors, and is the sort of thing the Chinese government would quickly arrange in normal circumstances — presuming that Huang Yanling was still alive....

"At some point in February, Botao Xiao posted a research paper onto ResearchGate.net, 'The Possible Origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus'..... The paper was removed a short time after it was posted.... The first conclusion of Botao Xiao’s paper is that the bats suspected of carrying the virus are extremely unlikely to be found naturally in the city, and ... bats were not sold at the market.... Botao Xiao’s paper theorizes that the coronavirus originated from bats being used for research at either one of two research laboratories in Wuhan....

Within ~280 meters from the market, there was the Wuhan Center for Disease Control & Prevention. WHCDC hosted animals in laboratories for research purpose, one of which was specialized in pathogens collection and identification. In one of their studies, 155 bats including Rhinolophus affinis were captured in Hubei province, and other 450 bats were captured in Zhejiang province.... Surgery was performed on the caged animals and the tissue samples were collected for DNA and RNA extraction and sequencing. The tissue samples and contaminated trashes were source of pathogens. They were only ~280 meters from the seafood market.... The second laboratory was ~12 kilometers from the seafood market and belonged to [WIV]....

"[I]t is a remarkable coincidence that the [WIV] was researching Ebola and SARS-associated coronaviruses in bats before the pandemic outbreak, and that in the month when Wuhan doctors were treating the first patients of COVID-19, the institute announced in a hiring notice that 'a large number of new bat and rodent new viruses have been discovered and identified.' And the fact that the Chinese government spent six weeks insisting that COVID-19 could not be spread from person to person means that its denials about Wuhan laboratories cannot be accepted without independent verification."

Read more: https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/coronavirus-china-trail-leading-back-to-wuhan-labs/

Also read: Coronavirus trail leads to Wuhan labs (I)

Atlas Shrugged and the literary critics

Who Is Ayn Rand?: - Lisa Duggan, Jacobin magasine:
The following is an excerpt from Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed by Lisa Duggan (University of California Press, 2019).

August 23, 2019 - ""When Atlas Shrugged made its incendiary appearance in 1957, it cracked open the apparent political consensus in favor of the welfare state to reveal intensely warring camps. The mainstream press, leading academics, and prominent literary figures didn’t just dismiss the tome; they abhorred it. [Author Ayn] Rand herself predicted to Nathaniel Branden that her novel was 'going to be the most controversial book of this century; I’m going to be hated, vilified, lied about, smeared in every possible way.' Her characteristic grandiosity notwithstanding, she was prescient.

"Atlas Shrugged was described as 'execrable claptrap,' 'grotesque eccentricity,' and a 'shrill diatribe' comparable in its godless, heartless overwrought cruelty to Nietzschean-inflected fascism. Ex-Communist ... literary critic Granville Hicks opined in the New York Times, 'It howls in the reader’s ear and beats him about the head in order to secure his attention. And then, when it has him subdued, harangues him for page upon page. It has only two moods, the melodramatic and the didactic, and in both it knows no bounds.'

"But the most notoriously devastating review came from William Buckley’s National Review. Echoing the views of many religious conservatives, ... ex-Communist ... Whittaker Chambers wrote that Atlas Shrugged substitutes 'the Sign of the Dollar, in lieu of the Sign of the Cross,' presenting the 'Randian Man' who, like 'Marxian Man,' is at 'the center of a godless world.' Chambers continued: 'Out of a lifetime of reading, I can recall no other book in which a tone of overriding arrogance was so implacably sustained. Its shrillness is without reprieve. Its dogmatism is without appeal.... From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard from painful necessity, commanding: "To a gas chamber — go!"'

"These over-the-top negative reviews combined bitter rejection of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, from the Right as well as the Left, with attacks on ... the writing style and on the tone or sheer meanness of the novel. They were met with a much smaller number of equally over-the-top positive reviews and private evaluations, deeming Atlas Shrugged 'vibrant and powerful' and Rand a writer of 'dazzling virtuosity.'

"Economist Ruth Alexander, Rand’s friend, predicted that 'Ayn Rand is destined to rank in history as the outstanding novelist and most profound philosopher of the twentieth century.' A private note to the author from famed right-wing economist Ludwig von Mises praised the book as a political achievement:

Atlas Shrugged is not merely a novel.... It is also – or may I say: first of all – a cogent analysis of the evils that plague our society, a substantiated rejection of the ideology of our self-styled “intellectuals” and a pitiless unmasking of the insincerity of the policies adopted by our governments and political parties.....

"Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews in the mainstream press, Atlas Shrugged quickly became a word-of-mouth best seller, generating thousands of fan letters from gushing enthusiasts. Though never regarded as serious by cultural gatekeepers, the novel nonetheless became undeniably socially and politically important, sometimes compared to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Gone with the Wind, and 1984."

Read more: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/08/mean-girl-ayn-rand-culture-of-greed-lisa-duggan-excerpt
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Revisiting the 'Libertarian Moment' at Cato

The 'Libertarian Moment,' Revisited – InsideSources - Graham Vyse:

March 18, 2016 - "Nearly two years since the New York Times asked, “Has the ‘Libertarian Moment’ Finally Arrived?,” the answer appears to be a resounding 'no.'

"First, libertarian-leaning Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul failed to take off in the Republican presidential race.... Now presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is frequently called an authoritarian, embracing an activist, indeed muscular, role for the federal government on issues ranging from publicly funded healthcare to rounding up and deporting undocumented immigrants.

"And yet for libertarianism’s biggest devotees, accepting defeat isn’t an option.

"Earlier this month, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson was pitching his Libertarian presidential campaign through the halls of the Conservative Political Action Conference, when InsideSources asked whether talk of a 'moment' for his movement was overblown. He was quick to say that Paul never called himself a pure libertarian, so the senator doesn’t prove any conclusive case against the cause.

"'They’re social conservatives,' Johnson said of Paul and his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who ran as a Republican in the 2012 White House race. The former governor argued that Americans should try a true believer — someone like him.

"Conor Friedersdorf isn’t so sure. The Atlantic writer got laughs Wednesday at the Cato Institute, libertarians’ flagship think tank in Washington, when he joked during a panel discussion about Johnson’s charisma — or lack thereof.... At the same time, Friedersdorf ... stands by 'a belief that libertarianism is just fine, that it’s won some big victories in the very recent past, and I expect it to win more.'

"'Conservatives and progressives are widely judged with the understanding that most political change happens gradually and on the margins,' he said, 'but especially in the press, antagonists and champions alike often act as if libertarian success would mean a radical shift toward an ideologically pure, uncompromising, small government utopia — or distopia, depending on who you ask.

"'In reality,' Friedersdorf continued, 'libertarian ideas will only ever be implemented incompletely, gradually, in the system of checks and balances that we have, and the question [is] whether future voters will support policies that enhance liberty compared to the status quo. If that’s what we mean by a libertarian moment, I think we’re coming off several. We can expect many more.'

"Another panelist, Reason Magazine editor Matt Welch, also argued libertarians should keep their chins up. Compared to 2008, prior to President Barack Obama’s election, he said the liberty movement is strong. 'We didn’t have Rand Paul in the Senate back then,' he said. 'We didn’t have Republicans who said, "Let’s actually cut military spending’ year over year. … California tried to legalize recreational pot in 2010 and got smacked down, right? … Now we have legal weed as a thing that happens.'

"Enactment of gay marriage and nationwide criminal justice reforms were also cited as libertarian victories, but not everyone in the Cato discussion was as upbeat. Ramesh Ponnuru, an editor at the conservative National Review, said flatly that there never was a libertarian moment, and 'libertarians shouldn’t kid themselves about the appeal of their philosophy.'

"Ponnuru added that some trends in American culture appear to be headed in an overtly anti-libertarian direction, including the public’s answer to the question, 'Do you think that people should be allowed to say things that are offensive?' 'With that question, it seems to me, the trend lines are going in the wrong direction, particularly among young people,' he said.

Read more: http://www.insidesources.com/libertarian-moment/
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The importance of David Boaz's Libertarian Mind

The 'Live And Let Live' Philosophy That Informs The Policies Of Rand Paul - Ralph Benko, Forbes:

March 23, 2015 - "Libertarianism no longer seriously can be considered marginal. It has emerged as an important part of our public discourse.

"Sen. Rand Paul writes, 'They say the libertarian moment has arrived.  If you want to understand and be part of that moment, read David Boaz’s The Libertarian Mind where you’ll be drawn into the "eternal struggle of liberty vs. power," where you’ll learn that libertarianism presumes that you were born free and not a subject of the state'....

"David Boaz, gentleman and scholar and long time friend, has picked a great time to help clarify libertarianism and define it with his revised and retitled book The Libertarian Mind: A manifesto for freedom.

"Once upon a time conservatism, too, was a tiny, marginal, and not very influential school of thought.... Thinkers on the Right lamented the condition of conservatism and the seemingly irresistible tides against it. To many, like F.A. Hayek, it seemed as if the whole world was turning Left. Seeking support for his new conservative magazine, William F. Buckley Jr. conceded that the Left easily dominated the realm of ideas in America and that 'the few spasmodic victories conservatives are winning are aimless, uncoordinated, and inconclusive.'

"There the matter might have rested, with liberals gloating and conservatives lamenting, except for the publication of a remarkable book by a young assistant professor of history at a Michigan 'cow college.' The unknown historian was Russell Kirk; the book was The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Santayana (1953); and modern American conservatism has never been the same.

"The days of irrelevance for conservatism and libertarianism are long gone. Libertarianism is gaining both in popularity and stature. The Libertarian Mind belongs in the canon with the writings of Nozick, Hayek, and Epstein....

"As it happens, long ago conservatism and libertarianism came to an intermittently tense but mostly happy modus vivendi, challenging and strengthening both. The rapprochement came about primarily thanks to National Review’s Frank Meyer. Meyer postulated, and brought forth upon this continent, a new doctrine. He called it “Fusionism,” wherein, to oversimplify, conservative ends are to be achieved by libertarian means.

"As contemporary conservative pillar Donald Devine wrote, last November, in The Federalist:

Reagan identified his philosophy with the great Western tradition especially as elaborated by the conservative theorist Frank S. Meyer, who "in his writing fashioned a vigorous new synthesis of traditional and libertarian thought—a synthesis that is today recognized by many as modern conservatism."

[Reagan stated:] “It was Frank Meyer who reminded us that the robust individualism of the American experience was part of the deeper current of Western learning and culture. He pointed out that a respect for law, an appreciation of tradition, and regard for the social consensus that gives stability to our public and private institutions, these civilized ideas must still motivate us even as we seek a new economic prosperity based on reducing government interference in the marketplace"....

"Boaz’s manifesto for freedom presents as the contemporary gold standard of the libertarian creed ... 'the philosophy of live and let live,' which might serve well as any libertarian’s bumper sticker, and as extolled in The Libertarian Mind: A manifesto for freedom, has much to recommend it."

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2015/03/23/the-live-and-let-live-philosophy-that-informs-the-policies-of-rand-paul/2/
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Conservatarian Manifesto "first-rate"

"Conservatarians" Welcome Both Cowboys, Community - Peter Berkowitz, Real Clear Politics:

March 8, 2015 - "Limiting government to protect individual freedom is the precious inheritance of the American constitutional tradition. Conserving that legacy is American conservatism’s unifying task.

"It is an appreciation of this task that lies at the core of Charles Cooke’s first-rate contribution, The Conservatarian Manifesto, to the robust debate within conservative circles about the future of conservatism. A writer at National Review and a proud immigrant to the United States from his native Britain, Cooke sets forth with vigor and subtlety a summons to conservatives to unite around the “timeless principles” that inform the American founding. In applying those principles to a host of prominent issues of public policy, he demonstrates refreshing common sense, a confident command of empirical realities, and savvy political judgment.

"What, specifically, does Cooke advise conservatives in America to conserve? His answer embraces the fundamentals of freedom: 'property rights; separation of powers; hard limits on the power of the state; staunch protections of the rights of conscience, assembly, speech, privacy, and self-protection; a preference for local governance over central planning; a free and dynamic market economy that permits rapid change and remarkable innovation; and, above all, a distrust of any government that would step in to answer questions that can be better resolved by civil society'....

"Cooke the fusionist, or 'conservatarian,' embraces the formula of Ronald Reagan, who 'reduced taxes, cut regulations, and relentlessly attacked the popular conceit that the answer to the nation’s problems was invariably more government intervention,' while recognizing that new times require new applications of that formula. For Cooke, as for Reagan, the essence of conservatism is limited government.

"But that does not, Cooke emphasizes, imply indifference to the moral questions. To the contrary, proponents of limited government, he argues, regard the virtues and moral beliefs as of the first importance, and therefore reserve the people’s responsibility for them and seek to assign legislation that touches them most directly to the level of government nearest to the people.

"Whereas progressivism, according to Cooke, 'is built on the core belief that an educated and well-staffed central authority can determine how citizens should live their lives,' Cooke’s conservatarian is a federalist who wishes, in conformity with the Constitution’s design, to decentralize power. Federalism promotes genuine diversity by offering Americans in different regions with varying sensibilities the opportunity to 'thrive on their own terms.'

"The conservative defense of federalism is not, as progressive critics and some misguided conservatives contend, anti-government. Rather, it strives to keep federal and local government focused on their proper tasks. Accordingly, the principled federalist whole-heartedly affirms the federal government’s constitutionally mandated responsibility to protect constitutionally proclaimed rights and uphold federal law everywhere in the United States."

What's behind the new crusade against capitalism

Catholics Against Capitalism | National Review Online - Kevin Williamson:

June 10, 2014 - "The errors of the Catholic hierarchy regarding the economy are the product of errors in its thinking regarding the state. Catholic thinking about the role of the state has evolved precious little since 'render unto Caesar,' even though there is, especially in the Christian world, a blessed shortage of Caesars just now, and has been for some time. The Catholic clergy still operate under the Romans 13 assumption that 'the powers that be are ordained of God'.... From the old royalist Right to the redistributionist Left, there is an implicit and sometimes explicit belief that the state is a channel for moral expression, whether that expression takes the form of entrenching traditional ideals about family life or of collaborating with the state in the seizure and redistribution of wealth....

"This is true even among the so-called conservatives. Consider John Paul II writing on the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum:

If Pope Leo XIII calls upon the State to remedy the condition of the poor in accordance with justice, he does so because of his timely awareness that the State has the duty of watching over the common good and of ensuring that every sector of social life, not excluding the economic one, contributes to achieving that good, while respecting the rightful autonomy of each sector....

"But the state in fact has no way of knowing to any practical effect what the common good even is or how its policies might affect priorities relating to it.... Meanwhile, he also expects the state to determine just wages and union work rules, to administer unemployment insurance, to calculate the economic consequences of immigration, and a hundred other things that the state has no capacity for doing. Like Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga and others, he assumes that the state will act in the cause of justice for the poor rather than being the most ruthless and pitiless exploiter of the poor, as history, including the history of this country, very strongly suggests that it will be....

"'The case against libertarianism'? As usual, the most important part of the question goes unstated and unanswered: 'Compared with what?'"

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379954/catholics-against-capitalism-kevin-d-williamson/page/0/1
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Twisting libertarianism

Twisting Libertarianism | National Review Online: - Kevin D. Williamson:

Michael Lind either misunderstands it or is intellectually dishonest.

May 15, 2014 - "If you would like to see everything that is wrong, shallow, and dishonest about our contemporary political discourse in one neat package, read Michael Lind’s recent drive-by defamation of Bryan Caplan, 'Libertarians’ scary new star'....

"Mr. Lind’s piece contains no analysis.... [I]t is mostly a half-organized swarm of insults out of which emerges the occasional tendentious misstatement of Professor Caplan’s views and those of the libertarian thinkers with whom he is sometimes associated. Mr. Lind begins by bemoaning our alleged national descent into plutocracy and writes: 'Some on the libertarian right have responded to this research by welcoming our new plutocratic overlords. Among these is Bryan Caplan.'

"Professor Caplan, author of The Myth of the Rational Voter, is a trenchant critic of electoral decision-making. Voters, he argues, suffer from specific, predictable biases — anti-market bias, anti-foreign bias, make-work bias, and pessimistic bias — that cause them to hold, and act on, untrue beliefs about the way the world works.... He characterizes the typical American voter as a moderate national socialist who strongly supports state intervention in many areas, and remarks, 'Given public opinion, the policies of First World democracies are surprisingly libertarian.'

"There is a great deal of agreement among the poor, the middle class, and the rich on most political issues, but the rich are significantly more libertarian ... not only on economic issues but also on social issues. The poor are 'much more anti-gay,' Professor Caplan writes. 'They’re much less opposed to restricting free speech to fight terrorism.' On the relatively few issues on which there is strong disagreement between the poor and the rich, the preferences of the rich have tended to prevail, and that pleases Professor Caplan, because that means that more libertarian policies are put into place than public opinion would suggest. 'To avoid misinterpretation,' he writes, 'this does not mean that American democracy has a strong tendency to supply the policies that most materially benefit the rich. It doesn’t.'

"But there is no avoiding misinterpretation when the opposite side is committed to misinterpreting you. Professor Caplan celebrates the advance of gay rights, pushback against the surveillance state, and, regrettably ... abortion rights, among other items on the progressive social agenda. Mr. Lind sees only a champion of plutocracy — because that is all he is inclined to see."

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/378004/twisting-libertarianism-kevin-d-williamson
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Rand-oriented economics professor to primary House Leader Cantor

Eric Cantor’s Challenger from the Right | National Review Online - Betsy Woodruff:

January 6, 2014: "An economics professor from Henrico, Va., Dave Brat, will announce his entry into the race for Eric Cantor’s House seat on January 9.... 'I want to be Eric Cantor’s term limit,' he tells National Review Online....

"He ... intends to target Cantor for his support of the Ryan–Murray budget deal, as well as his stances on immigration reform. He’ll also go after the majority leader on the Affordable Care Act. 'He hasn’t moved the ball down the field at all,' Brat says.

"'He had two CRs at the end, one in favor of the shutdown and one opposed to the shutdown at the same time,' Brat continues. 'And that’s fairly symbolic of unprincipled leadership. I mean, that’s not a leadership position, where you’re on Side A and Side B at the same time and you’ve got your finger up in the air, checking which way the wind is blowing.'

"Brat’s background should make him especially appealing to conservative organizations. He chairs the department of economics and business at Randolph-Macon College and heads its BB&T Moral Foundations of Capitalism program. The funding for the program came from John Allison, the former CEO of BB&T (a financial-services company) who now heads the Cato Institute. The two share an affinity for Ayn Rand:...

"Brat can expect backing from much of the Virginia grassroots, especially the libertarian and tea-party activists who have long been frustrated with the state party’s leaders.... Brat received a warm welcome at the last Richmond Tea Party meeting."

Read more: http://m.nationalreview.com/article/367690/eric-cantors-challenger-right-betsy-woodruff
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Krauthammer: Rising libertarianism top story of 2013 (after Obamacare)

Krauthammer's Take: Other than Obamacare, Biggest 2013 Story is Rising Libertarianism | National Review Online:

December 31, 2013 - "When asked what the biggest story of 2013 was, besides Obamacare, Charles Krauthammer said it is how American social attitudes are becoming more libertarian.

“The swiftness with which attitudes have changed on gay marriage is simply astonishing,” Krauthammer said. Beyond marriage, Krauthammer was also surprised by the advances of the marijuana legalization movement.

The only social issue bucking the libertarian trend is abortion, “in part because of the Gosnell trial, the fact that people are becoming aware that late term abortions are so near to infanticide,” Krauthammer said. “With everything else heading left, with this issue the movement has stopped and has reversed, especially among young people.”"

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/367348/krauthammers-take-other-obamacare-biggest-2013-story-rising-libertarianism-nro-staff
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Sarvis is not a Libertarian: National Review

Sarvis a Libertarian? Nope | National Review Online - Charles C.W. Cooke:

October 31, 2013 - "I can only imagine ... that the better-informed voters in Virginia have been somewhat perplexed by Robert Sarvis.... In a recent Reason interview, Sarvis explained that he was 'not into the whole Austrian type, strongly libertarian economics,' preferring 'more mainstream economics' instead. The candidate expanded on this during an oddly defensive interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, in which he ... told Todd, he would be hesitant to cut taxes, unsure as to how he might 'reduce spending,' and open to indulging the largest piece of federal social policy since 1965 by expanding Virginia’s Medicaid program....

"Looking through his platform, one is left with the impression that what Sarvis really means to say is that he is a social liberal. He is in favor of gay marriage, is (radically) pro-choice, and supports the legalization of marijuana. In this regard, he stands in stark contrast to the Republican candidate, Ken Cuccinelli....

"Cuccinelli has an A rating from the National Rifle Association; he has promised to cut the state’s income-tax rate by a stunning '15 percent for individuals and 33 percent for corporations'; he was against expanding the death penalty when the state GOP wished to make it part of their platform; he fought hard against the smoking ban; he has been a strong and active foe of Obamacare from the start; and he staunchly opposes the Medicaid expansion that further expands the power of the federal government. For these positions, he has been endorsed by both Ron and Rand Paul."

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/362690/sarvis-libertarian-nope-charles-c-w-cooke/page/0/1
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The 'conservative movement' an obsolete model

PJ Lifestyle » No to Corporate Neoconservatism, No to Paleo-Libertarian Anarchism, Yes to Augustinian Realism - Dave Swindle, PJ Media:

August 9, 2013 - "Here’s the problem: on foreign policy today’s 'Conservative movement' is an obsolete model. And more importantly, a misnomer ... the 'Conservative Movement' is more accurately understood as a tool of the Anti-Communist movement. Defeating the Soviet Union is what animated William F. Buckley, Jr. and Ronald Reagan. The building of the Conservative Movement was just a means to that end.

"The philosophy of Fusionism was developed by ex-Communist Frank Meyer in the pages of National Review in the 1950s. The goal: get national defense conservatives, business conservatives, traditionalist conservatives, libertarian conservatives, and religious conservatives to unite around the common threat of Communism.

"Over the course of decades this ideological movement grew until it elected politicians, took over the Republican party, elected Ronald Reagan as president, and then successfully implemented the needed strategies to defeat the Soviet Union, freeing the millions of people enslaved within it. Reagan spoke publicly of his debt to Meyer and how he implemented the strategy. But without the unifying threat of the Soviet Union the coalition came apart in 1992. The Chris Christie vs Rand Paul fight of a generation prior was George H.W. Bush vs Ross Perot. The result of that split in the coalition was 8 years of Bill Clinton and a Conservative Movement adrift without a purpose anymore.

"Nowadays the three legs of the conservative stool squabble over which is the most important – foreign policy, economics, or social issues. There is no longer a consensus on who the enemy is or how to defeat them."

Read more: http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2013/08/09/no-to-corporate-neoconservatism-no-to-paleo-libertarian-anarchism-yes-to-augustinian-realism/
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George Will on "The rise of the libertarian strand of Republicanism" at CPAC

George Will: "What I Did See At CPAC Was The Rise Of The Libertarian Strand Of Republicanism" | RealClearPolitics:

March 17, 2013 - "GEORGE WILL: First, here's the New York Times headline on the CPAC conference 'GOP Divisions Fester at Conservative Retreat.' Festering – an infected wound – it's awful. I guarantee, if there were a liberal conclave comparable to this, and there were vigorous debates going on there, the New York Times headline would be 'Healthy diversity flourishes at liberal conclave'.

"Republicans have been arguing, social conservatives and libertarian free market conservatives, since the 1950s when the National Review was founded on the idea of a fusion of the two. It has worked before with Ronald Reagan. It can work again.

"What I did see at CPAC was the rise of the libertarian strand of Republicanism, which has an effect on foreign policy, that is a pullback from nation building and other kind of ambitions abroad that they never countenance from government at home, and a sense of live and let live with subjects such as decriminalization of certain drugs and gay marriage."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/03/17/george_will_what_i_did_see_at_cpac_was_the_rise_of_the_libertarian_strand_of_republicanism.html
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Libertarian Super PAC pledges ‘six to seven figures’ for Amash Senate run

Libertarian Super PAC Encourages Amash Senate Run, Pledges ‘Six to Seven Figures’ - By Robert Costa - The Corner - National Review Online:

February 15, 2013 - "Liberty for All, a libertarian super PAC, says it’ll put 'six to seven figures' behind Justin Amash, should he run for Senate next year.

"'If he runs, he can count on six to seven figures,' says Preston Bates, the super PAC’s executive director, in an interview with National Review Online. 'He represents a fresh start for a state whose economy has been devastated by sugar-high economics and crony capitalism.'

"NRO broke the news on Thursday that Amash, a 32-year-old Michigan Republican, is seriously considering a bid. Democrat Carl Levin, the incumbent, is up for reelection in 2014, but he is reportedly considering retirement.

"John Ramsey, a 22-year-old venture capitalist, has poured millions into Liberty for All, which he founded after supporting Ron Paul’s presidential campaign."

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340825/libertarian-super-pac-encourages-amash-senate-run-pledges-six-seven-figures-robert-cos
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Roger Stone Eyes Florida Run for Libertarians - National Review Online

Ex-GOP Bad Boy Roger Stone Eyes Florida Run - By Robert Costa - The Corner - National Review Online:

Feb. 7, 2013 - "Roger Stone, an infamous political consultant, tells National Review Online that he will probably run for governor of Florida.

"The former campaign adviser to Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan says he wants to run as a libertarian, third-party challenger to incumbent Republican governor Rick Scott and the Democratic nominee.

"'I don’t have any illusions about winning, but I’d like to carry the flag for the liberty movement,' Stone says. 'The Republican party is dead and it can’t be revived, so it’s time for the Libertarian Party to be a force.'

"Stone will make a final decision on a gubernatorial run by the end of the year. In the meantime, he’ll ask libertarian activists for their support.

"His politics have evolved since he once practiced the 'black arts', as Stone describes his past activities, for Nixon and other Republican contenders. He now supports marijuana legalization and open borders; on social issues, he is pro-choice and pro-gay-marriage. He’s also a fiscal hawk and detests 'Beltway Republicans' for their frequent 'spending orgies.'"

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340095/ex-gop-bad-boy-roger-stone-eyes-florida-run-robert-costa
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Without You Meddling Libertarian Voters, Romney Could Have Lost By Only 2.7 Million Votes!

Without You Meddling Libertarian Voters, Romney Could Have Lost By Only 2.7 Million Votes! - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Matt Welch:

November 19, 2012 - "Over at National Review, Jim Geraghty takes to task those 1.22 million of us who voted for Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson....

"Even if a vote for Gary Johnson was 100% transferable to any Republican (which it is not), let alone to the hands-off-my-Medicare-and-military-spending Mitt Romney (which it definitely is not); and even if applying that bogus math would have changed the outcome in even one state (which it did not), it does not automatically follow that causing the lesser of two evils to lose is a bad strategy."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/19/without-you-meddling-libertarian-voters
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Ron Paul, conservatives, and the war on drugs

New PAULITICAL TICKER WITH JACK HUNTER - Ron Paul, Conservatives and the War on Drugs:

July 19, 2012 - "Ron Paul is right when he says that the federal War on Drugs has been an abysmal failure. William F. Buckley and National Review were right when they said the same thing in 1996. Milton Friedman was right when he said the same thing in 1972 when President Nixon created the federal War on Drugs....

"Reports The Hill today: A bipartisan group of House members has proposed legislation that would make it easier for people to defend themselves in federal cases for possessing marijuana, if they can show that they are using marijuana for medical purposes in line with relevant state laws. The Hill headline emphasizes that this legislation was co-sponsored by Ron Paul and Barney Frank....

"Other Republicans on the bill are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Justin Amash (R-Mich.). "Amash and Rohrabacher are not moderate Republicans, but strong conservatives....

"Recent polls have shown that more Americans than ever are fed up with the failed War on Drugs, with 18-29 years olds comprising the most irritated portion of the populace. These are the same young people who now flock to Ron Paul and his message."

Read more: http://politicalnews.me/?id=15769&keys=DRUGS-WAR-CONSERVATIVE-BLOWBACK
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Romney woos Senator Paul - National Review Online

Romney Woos Senator Paul - By Robert Costa - The Corner - National Review Online:

May 24, 2012 - "Sources close to Senator Rand Paul tell National Review Online that Paul and Mitt Romney had a private meeting on Wednesday. Details of the topics discussed are hazy, but Paul — the son of Texas congressman (and presidential candidate) Ron Paul — reportedly found the meeting productive.

"The one-on-one conversation in the nation’s capital lasted 30 minutes. Sources say the tone was cordial but it wasn’t meant to be an exchange of pleasantries. The Kentucky Republican focused his questions on policy.

"Senator Paul is one of the GOP’s rising stars. Many of his father’s followers are wary of Romney, the presumptive nominee."

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/301001/romney-woos-senator-paul-robert-costa#'
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The Next Debate’s Convenient Qualifications Threshold

The Next Debate’s Convenient Qualifications Threshold - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online:

Aug. 25, 2011 - "The Politico/NBC News debate had an interesting threshold for qualifying candidates: They must be at 4 percent in one of eight national prominent polls of Republicans taken since November 2010....

"Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, and Rick Santorum qualified to participate in the September 7 debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Thad McCotter, Buddy Roemer, and Gary Johnson did not qualify....

"Huntsman? Well, his campaign must be breathing a sigh of relief that the threshold was exactly 4 percent because the highest Huntsman has ever been in a reputable national poll is . . . 4 percent.

"In fact, among the polls conducted by Politico and NBC News’s approved pollsters, he’s achieved that rank only once: earlier this month in a CNN/Opinion Research poll.

"But if Politico/NBC News wanted to make sure even the candidates lagging in the polls currently got included, why 4 percent instead of say, 3 percent?

"Maybe because in a May Gallup poll Johnson got 3 percent.

"Apparently, not all of the lagging candidates are considered equally worthy of air time. "

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/275552/next-debates-convenient-qualifications-threshold-katrina-trinko#
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