Maybe it’s because I have a bit of a old-fashioned moralistic streak to me, but I viscerally object to the notion that good people should pay bad people not to do bad things.
That’s why, a few years ago, I didn’t react favorably when the former dictator of Libya asked for several billion dollars per year to stop illegals from crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
And this also explains why I don’t think American taxpayers should cough up $1 billion to bribe Syria’s dictator into giving up his chemical weapons.
In this interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News, I make the basic libertarian argument that we shouldn’t be involved in Syria’s civil war, but I also make a practical argument that – if you accept that American tax dollars should be spent – it would be much cheaper to bribe a few high-level people in Assad’s government.
Since I’m not a foreign policy expert, I don’t think I said anything particularly memorable in the above segment.
But one line apparently did resonate. Here’s Senator Rand Paul, speaking later that day.
I have to admit that made my day. Sort of like when Chairman Brady mentioned Mitchell’s Golden Rule in his opening statement when I testified last week to the Joint Economic Committee.
Of course, I’d like it even better if some of the ideas I support (like the flat tax or smaller government) actually wound up being implemented, but at least it’s nice to be noticed.
Being a libertarian in Washington, after all, is not the easiest job. To quote former Senator Phil Gramm, it’s like trying to do the Lord’s work in the Devil’s city.
P.S. Any time I begin to get cocky and think I’m some sort of hot shot, something happens to pull me back down to earth. In my Syria interview, you may have noticed that my mouth looked a bit red. That’s because I made the mistake of eating some red candies that were in the car that took me to the interview.
As the old saying goes, you can dress me up, but you can’t take me out. That’s why I’m glad Senator Paul picked up on my line (which I stole from somebody, so I can’t really take credit) about threatening Syria with Obamacare. Otherwise, I probably would have been reluctant to even post the interview.
P.P.S. As I intimated in the interview, the best way to learn more about foreign policy is to read the scholarly writings of my colleagues from the Cato Institute. You also can’t go wrong by perusing these columns by Mark Steyn, George Will, and Steve Chapman.
[…] P.S. I’m obviously a fan of Senator Rand Paul. Not only does he choose good people as op-ed partners, he also gave me public credit for a good Obamacare joke. […]
[…] P.S. I’m obviously a fan of Senator Rand Paul. Not only does he choose good people as op-ed partners, he also gave me public credit for a good Obamacare joke. […]
[…] though I admit I’m not a foreign policy expert, I sometimes play one on TV. And if you look at this interview from 2013, you’ll see that my views also have been […]
[…] I admit I’m not a foreign policy expert, I sometimes play one on TV. And if you look at this interview from 2013, you’ll see that my views also have been […]
[…] like the advice I once gave about threatening Assad with […]
[…] like the advice I gave about threatening Assad with […]
[…] Reminds me of my quip about Syria and Obamacare, which even got noticed by Rand Paul! […]
[…] Reminds me of my quip about Syria and Obamacare, which even got noticed by Rand Paul! […]
[…] P.S. I’m obviously a fan of Senator Rand Paul. Not only does he choose good people as op-ed partners, he also gave me public credit for a good Obamacare joke. […]
[…] P.S. I’m obviously a fan of Senator Rand Paul. Not only does he choose good people as op-ed partners, he also gave me public credit for a good Obamacare joke. […]
an interesting read…
http://nationalinterest.org/article/america-unhinged-9639
[…] Sort of like what Rand Paul said (quoting me!) about Syria. […]
A shout out, by name!
President Obama and his foreign policy team are inept… if indeed Syria is to be rid of it’s chemical weapons… perhaps we should just pay the Russians the billion…[ in gold…] and politely ask them to guard and destroy Assad’s chemical weapon stocks………….. it might well avoid Obama administration missteps which could lead to a wider more expensive… and catastrophic war… these are dangerous times… and sadly… our leaders are just not up to the tasks at hand…
Reblogged this on Gds44's Blog.