Now Playing at Reason.tv: Interview with a Libertarian Democrat, Colorado State. Sen. Bob Hagedorn
From Denver, reason's Matt Welch talks with a living, breathing libertarian Democrat, State. Sen. Bob Hagedorn. This six-minute video was shot and edited by Alex Manning.
Update: Video issues resolved but political issues about Hagedorn raised by Denver Post columnist and reason contributor David Harsanyi, who writes:
Sen. Bob Hagedorn is noooo libertarian.
From a column of mine in 2007:
Speaking of treating parents like children, every year, Democratic Sen. Bob Hagedorn is good for at least one solid intrusion. This year he's babysitting by sponsoring a bill that prohibits "the use of an artificial tanning device by a minor unless specifically prescribed by a physician."
And from 2006:
Senate Bill 34, Ban Alcohol Without Liquid Devices, which was introduced by Sen. Bob Hagedorn, attempts to prohibit the sale and use of alcohol vapor, or what he calls a "one-way ticket to death by alcohol." If Hagedorn has a two-way ticket to death—by anything—I'd love to get my hands on it. As for vapor alcohol, it can be snorted or inhaled using a device known as an Alcohol Without Liquid Vaporizer. More important, it contains no carbs, and leaves no hangover.
No carbs? No hangover? Why are we still talking about politics…
Matt Welch responds:
I'll always defer to David Harsanyi on Colorado political characterizations, but color me one Californian who's squarely in Sen. Bob's camp when it comes to naming "Rocky Mountain High" as Colorado's official song. If states can't fly their soft-rock flags with pride, then it really is Mission Accomplished for the terrorists. What would you rather have, a 1951 number co-written by a guy named Frankenstein called "I Love You, California," or "Ventura Highway"?
