David Boaz

P. W. Botha, who was prime minister of South Africa as the struggle against apartheid reached its climax, has died at 90. In 1988, I attended a conference organized by South African libertarians in neighboring Swaziland. When I arrived at the conference and approached the registration table, the first thing I ...

P. W. Botha, who was prime minister of South Africa as the struggle against apartheid reached its climax, has died at 90. In 1988, I attended a conference organized by South African libertarians in neighboring Swaziland. When I arrived at the conference and approached the registration table, the first thing I saw was a stack of bumper stickers reading "I ? PW." I was appalled -- libertarians proclaiming their support for the boss of the apartheid state? Then I got closer and realized it wasn't a heart, it was a tomato, as in "I PW." Why a tomato? My hosts explained to me that the bumper sticker expressed solidarity with a protester who had thrown a tomato at the State President. Well, that's better, I thought. Botha was pushed out of power soon after that by F. W. de Klerk, who freed Nelson Mandela from jail and negotiated the end of apartheid.

A big tip of the hat to John Tierney for his column today. It's hidden behind a TimesSelect wall, but here's a selection: These federal intrusions are especially scorned by independent voters in the Western states where Republicans have been losing ground, like Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Montana. Western Democrats have ...

I have an op-ed in the Washington Examiner on Virginia's proposed constitutional amendment to restrict marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships, and various contractual arrangements: This amendment goes too far. But even its first sentence � the ban on gay marriage � is unworthy of a state that was the birthplace of ...

When Washington Post racing columnist Andrew Beyer says "democracy," he means "communist country": At a time when the populations of Arab countries are seething with resentment against their own leaders, the rulers of Dubai don't hesitate to engage in self-indulgence on a gargantuan scale. They are unembarrassed that this money is ...

If you didn't know better, you'd think that Republican politicians are obsessed with sex.

When Washington Post racing columnist Andrew Beyer says "democracy," he means "communist country":

At a time when the populations of Arab countries are seething with resentment against their own leaders, the rulers of Dubai don't hesitate to engage in self-indulgence on a gargantuan scale. They are unembarrassed that this money is derived from the natural resources of their country -- resources that, in a democracy, would belong to the nation.

He's writing about the use of oil wealth to build a powerful and expensive stable of racehorses. He's right that in a free society, all that oil wealth wouldn't belong to a small group of hereditary rulers. But countries that declare that their natural resources "belong to the nation" end up poor countries.

I have an op-ed in the Washington Examiner on Virginia's proposed constitutional amendment to restrict marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships, and various contractual arrangements:

This amendment goes too far. But even its first sentence — the ban on gay marriage — is unworthy of a state that was the birthplace of American freedom. It is a cruel irony that this amendment to restrict contract rights and exclude loving couples from the institution of marriage is to be added to Virginia’s Bill of Rights, a document originally written by the great Founder George Mason.

Mason’s eloquent words inspired Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence and James Madison in writing the Bill of Rights for the U.S. Constitution. We should not add language to Virginia’s Bill of Rights that would limit rights rather than expand them. Gay marriage is not legal in Virginia, and there’s no prospect of changing that in the foreseeable future, whether by legislative or judicial action. Ballot Question No. 1 is unnecessary and will create legal uncertainty.

A big tip of the hat to John Tierney for his column today. It's hidden behind a TimesSelect wall, but here's a selection:

These federal intrusions are especially scorned by independent voters in the Western states where Republicans have been losing ground, like Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Montana. Western Democrats have been siphoning off libertarian voters by moderating their liberal views on issues like gun control, but Republicans have been driving libertarians away with their wars on vice and their jeremiads against gay marriage (and their attempt to regulate that from Washington, too). Libertarian voters tend to get ignored by political strategists because they’re not easy to categorize or organize. They don’t congregate in churches or union halls; they don’t unite to push political agendas. Many don’t even call themselves libertarians, although they qualify because of their social liberalism and economic conservatism: they want the government out of their bedrooms as well as their wallets. They distrust moral busybodies of both parties, and they may well be the most important bloc of swing voters this election, as David Boaz and David Kirby conclude in a new study for the Cato Institute. Analyzing a variety of voter surveys, they estimate that libertarians make up about 15 percent of voters — a bloc roughly comparable in size to liberals and to conservative Christians, and far bigger than blocs like Nascar dads or soccer moms.

Find the study here.

Is it possible to embarrass Republicans Apparently not. As they get more desperate about their prospects in the midterm election, Republicans have become ever more hysterical in their denunciations of the Democrats. The Republican National Committee's ad depicting a scantily clad blond flirting with Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) at a ...