lib*er*tar*ian

n. 1. a person who believes in the doctrine of the freedom of the will; 2. a person who believes in full individual freedom of thought, expression and action; 3. a freewheeling rebel who hates wiretaps, loves Ron Paul and is redirecting politics

Nick Gillespie & Matt Welch | November 25, 2007

Here's a Sunday triple play:

In The Washington Post, reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch spell out the deep meaning of the Ron Paul Revolution and astonishing bull market in being a libertarian. Snippet:

More than at any other time over the past two decades, Americans are hungering for the politics and freewheeling fun of libertarianism. And with the dreary prospect of a Giuliani vs. Clinton death match in 2008, that hunger is likely to grow even faster than the size of the federal government or the casualty toll in Iraq.

Read all about it here.

In The Los Angeles Times, Matt Welch details how John McCain fudged the facts of his own fact-finding mission about the causes of the Vietnam War. Snippet:

If there is any truly contemporary echo in [McCain's nearly impossible-to-find] War College paper, it's that U.S. troops cannot fight to the best of their abilities if they do not personally support the policies they're enforcing and if they do not have the support of the American people.

Read all about it here.

And in The Washington Times, read all about how libertarians are the new "'It' Faction" in American politics and culture. Snippet:

Gillespie chuckles at the dark images that talk of libertarianism inevitably conjures up. "We're the Sith Lords of American politics," he says, referring to the "Star Wars" baddies. "We can show up in any group. We're both terrifying and devilishly attractive."

It's not likely libertarianism will become a true third-party alternative; it's a temperament to which both major parties will need increasingly to appeal....

Gillespie compares the ideas that underlie libertarianism to a "marinade."

"Our culture has been soaking in it for years," he says.

Discuss these stories online here.