Nick Gillespie, Judge Napolitano Bust Myths of US Presidents

Note: A year ago on the late, lamented Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano, I sat down with the judge, Fox News' Monica Crowley, and historian Tom Woods to discuss the best and worst of U.S. presidents. Click above to watch the lively discussion and read the original writeup below.

Reason.tv editor in chief Nick Gillespie appeared on a special President's Day episode of Jude Napolitano's Freedom Watch alongside author Monica Crowleyand historian Tom Woods to discuss the perceived legacies of several U.S. presidents. Is Jefferson really a suitable libertarian icon? Was Woodrow Wilson the country's first technocratic president? Why is FDR revered by Progressives? Who really killed JFK? And did Reagan's governance match his small-government rhetoric? Gillespie and his fellow panelists discuss these topics, and more.  Air Date: February 21, 2011.

Approximately 27 minutes. 

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Comments

[The Invisible HAND]

Will bring us Salvation if we only accept Market's perfect plan for our lives.

[Bart]

I've never met a libertarian who thought the free market was perfect.

If you want to discuss why its better/worse and does less/more harm than what we have now, than you might get a bite or two.

But setting up a straw man of free market's being perfect - well no one is going to defend that statement, so there isn't reason to go further.

[D?nadan]

What interests me about these trolls (which I mean as a reference to fishing, not mythology) is the insistence on seeing the market as no plan rather than as an interaction of each participant's own plan with each other participant's plan.

What bores me is the religious insinuations for the sin of thinking each person knows his own best interests better than he knows 300,000,000 people's best interests.

[Primitard just can't stop...]

...preaching his primitivist sermons.

Evangelize away, oh great Pale Injun!

[D?nadan]

Primitard just can't stop...|2.20.12 @ 1:29PM|#
...preaching his primitivist sermons.
Evangelize away, oh great Pale Injun!

That's an interesting take on Basement Indian. He's evangelizing us about a paradise he won't make the smallest attempt to live in. Instead he turned to the attack when given the chance.

[sl]

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[WTF]

What about History's Greatest Monster?

[Marshall Gill]

Michael Bay?

[Cthulhu]

Me?

Don't forget: Cthulhu for President

[Colonel_Angus]

GM?

[robc]

FDR ended prohibition.
Carter deregulated home brewing.

Other than that, not sure what the fuck liberals are good for.

[Colonel_Angus]

Prohibition ended prohibition. Those idiots had no choice.

[R C Dean]

FDR supported prohibition, but after the Depression cratered tax receipts, he decided he wanted the tax revenue more.

Even when he did the right thing, he did it for the glory of the All-Powerful State.

[Drake]

How did FDR end Prohibition? Congress proposed the Twenty-first Amendment on February 20, 1933. FDR was inaugurated March 4, 1933.

[np]

Rothbard on the 'best' US president
who's the "least bad"
- Martin Van Buren.. but for the Indian Wars
- Grover Cleveland.. but was proponent of Commerce Clause
- on Jefferson, concurs with Tom Woods (better before and after presidency)
- Warren G. Harding.. but was protectionist

- overall, best was role model historical figure was non-president Lysander Spooner

[robc]

While he was far from perfect (Mexican War), I think Polk in highly underrated.

[Jodi]

Check out this new fact checking website:

http://www.votefacts.org

[Gunny]

Check out my boot up your ass.

[Dekedin]

Calvin Coolidge had flaws, but was ok. Harding was pretty corrupt, but ok overallI give Hayes points for at least attempting to rebuild the South. He did a much better job than Johnson anyway.

Don't have time to watch the video, but I agree with the summary, Reagan's rhetoric was completely different than his actions.

[JEP]

rebuild the South

reconstruction destroyed the south more than Sherman's march, so much so that a century later we were still fighting over racial issues.

Reconstruction is a perfect example of how the government can't mandate social change.

[Isaac Bartram]

I assume you're basing "Harding was pretty corrupt" on the Teapot Dome Scandal.

The problem with that is that it was a cabinet member and some cronies that cooked up the scheme. There is no evidence that Harding had any foreknowledge and he never made any effort to protect anyone nor to impede any of the investigations.

[Jodi]

Check out this new fact checking website:

http://votefacts.org

[Colonel_Angus]

Check out my bat on your windshield.

[Tea Bagger]

Check out my balls on your chin.

[rather]

Speaking of trials
Truth was a defense
-that and men are pigs

[SteveGunn]

When the Judge ended the segment with "We'll do this again next year", it brought a tear to my eye...

[SAndy WOods]

I never thought about it like that before dude.

http://www.Totally-Private.tk

[Brian from Texas]

Republican Theodore Roosevelt and Democrat Woodrow Wilson should always be remembered as the ones who started Big Government Liberalism as we know it today.

[Robert]

No wonder the show got cancelled. It is a *business* network. The host also had a terrible delivery (like a former boxer pitching knives on an infomercial).

PS: What's she always looking at off to the side? Cue cards?

[Ray]

I think she keeps checking out Nick. I hope he scored after the show.

[Nike online]

It's how I get bait.QBStimPL4