The Empty Landscape of Libertarians

The Persistence of Memory
1931. Oil on canvas,
9 1/2 x 13" (24.1 x 33 cm)

Salvador Dali, Spanish, 1904-1989
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The world of libertarians reminds me of those empty landscapes of the surrealists, where normal natural laws are not followed (aren't libertarians big on "Natural Law"?). I especially got this imagery after reading (well 3/4 of it) Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

I try to find some redemption in the ex-Canadian and now a somewhat obscure American libertarian "pundit" Ilana Mercer. I have her site book marked but don't click on it until some big news hits the screen. Yes, the Republican debate, with Ron Paul in the mix, merited that click.

As usual, I read a couple of lines of Mercer's barely-a-blog, then skim to the next paragraph, but by then I've found something that annoys me. Then I switch off. Then I try to be fair and return to finish the sentence or the paragraph I started. No can do. I'm out.

Here's what irritated me at my most recent skimming:

- Under the post Wrong About Ron:

First sentence of first paragraph:

The DC Establishment, left and right—the engorged organism I call the media-military-congressional complex

Mercer has some fascination for alliterations. But even poets don't use them as frequently as she does. That to me is a lack of imagination. Also, it is a psychological indication of inner, unreleased anger (shooting out those words! We are talking about the surrealists, here), and writing a weekly punditry might be psychotherapy for her.

This one especially takes the cake with its crude imagery (try not to visualize that image) and its ugly stabbing at the military (Mercer was a regular writer at the mad Justin Raymond's Antiwar.com).

- And in Perry's Political Pedigree:

Ron Paul was one of only 4 congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan’s campaign for president.

This is about when I stopped in this one. A libertarian candidate as a spokesman for Ronald Reagan. What happens when Ron Paul has to start using the military, for example. Will he channel Reagan then?

So yes, this is about when I clicked out. Mercer is not as smart as she thinks she is, which is perhaps a defect amongst libertarians. I would try to psychoanalyze, but I think Dali, and his fellow-painters, would do a better job.

Now, I should really go back and finish Atlas Shrugged.