The Galt and the Lamers 0

In the Hartford Courant, Colin McEnroe looks at the results of Tuesday’s elections and makes a some predictions. In particular, he suggests that the inside-the-beltway punditocracy will invariably draw the wrong conclusions (after all, that’s what they do–he doesn’t say that, I do).

I particularly want to highlight his “Three Commandments of Political Analysis”:

I. Thou shalt not extrapolate from local elections — which are often about the cost of new high schools or the zoning regs affecting drive-through restaurants — to elections taking place 12 months later.

II. Thou shalt occasionally ignore I.

III. If a Libertarian lieth with a Green, everything whereon they subsequently sitteth shall be unclean.

In the bulk of his column, he focuses on item II, suggesting that Tuesday’s outcomes may well offer lessons for the 2018 national races; follow the link for his reasoning.

I want to comment a bit on item III:

Remember, a Libertarian is one who seeks an elaborate, fancy-smancy rationale for denying the existence of the common good. Libertarianism is a creed that appeals most notably to 15-year-old boys, regardless of their ages.

For all practical purposes, a Libertarian in today’s political scene is little more than a Republican who’s ashamed to admit it.