Watch Stossel's "The Rise of Libertarians" with Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie Tonight at 9PM ET

Tonight's episode of John Stossel's eponymous Fox Business show is called "The Rise of the Libertarians."

Matt Welch and I appear on the program to discuss the themes we outlined in our book The Declaration of Independents and to talk about all the recent developments that argue for what we've called "the Libertarian Moment" and even "the Libertarian Era."

Other guests include Penn Jillette, members of Students for Liberty, and former Rep. Ron Paul.

Follow the show on Twitter at the hashtag #TheRise.

Stossel airs tonight at 9pm ET. Go here for more information on the show.

Stossel's syndicated column appears every Wednesday at Reason.com. Read the latest here and check out his archive here.

Comments

[playa manhattan]

Are any reasonoids going to be watching the meteor shower this weekend?

[Live Free or Diet]

I wish. Rain and cloudy all weekend here.

[playa manhattan]

Don't feel bad, I've missed it several years in a row due to fog. Plus, bad light pollution here anyway.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

There's going to be a full moon this weekend, so that will somewhat obscure the meteor shower.

[playa manhattan]

I'm thinking of going to Palm Desert on Saturday (you can't see shit here) and waking up at 5:00 am Sunday morning to see it after the moon sets. If I go far enough east, the conditions are supposed to be "good":
http://www.accuweather.com/en/.....e/19927282

If I can't see anything, I'll just drink out by the pool. win/win

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

That should work, but the weather has been bizarre this week. 90 yesterday, 87 today, and it's supposed to be 65 and drizzly on Saturday.

[playa manhattan]

And here I am, sitting with a Moo Bucket. Life is good.

[Irish]

SOMALIA!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Stossel's mustache, the Jacket, and Welch: if this doesn't attract female libertarians nothing will!

[CE]

If there were any, it might.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Have I mentioned I like Stossel?

[JeremyR]

It's amazing how much Libertarians talking heads are congratulating themselves, despite the government being bigger and most intrusive than ever, and you know, never actually ever winning any elections. But hey, thanks to a lot of Democratic money, they were a spoiler in the Virginia race!

[Irish]

Welch and Gillespie have been assuring me that libertarians are going to win any day now for the last 7 years.

[Cytotoxic]

Well we do have Rand Amash and MJ legalization in a couple of states.

[DWC]

Don't you get it? You just gradually redefine what libertarian means over time. Yeah, actual liberty is kinda a part of it. I'm waiting to read "The Libertarian Case For Andrew Cuomo."

[DWC]

Don't you get it? You just gradually redefine what libertarian means over time. Yeah, actual liberty is kinda a part of it. I'm waiting to read "The Libertarian Case For Andrew Cuomo."

[DesigNate]

The Cooch spoiled himself. No help needed.

[Alice Bowie]

I love libertarians. I love Matt, Nick, and all of the other writers on this site.

Regardless of the fact that I am an Extremely LEFT LEANING Libertarian (if not a full liberal), This is my favorite site. The people that blog here I find are really intelligent.

Generally speaking, shiny objects that make noise when clapped together does the trick. And that's what gets votes. You would never ever hear a libertarian come out with 999.

As far as the "Rise of the Libertarian", America is not there yet.
Libertarians are far too intellectual for the vast majority of the Fickle Rabble of Americans that vote.

Plus, virtually all of the desired policies of libertarians would require us to completely re-wire America and cause a great disruption in which I doubt you people would be able to convince this crowd to go with.

As I've mentioned before, Being a libertarian/conservative is a luxury that is lost REAL QUICK once booted out of the middle class. And, at the rate we are going (regardless of who's fault it is), more and more people are being booted out of the middle class and there are not enough rich people to vote u in.

[Cytotoxic]

Being a libertarian/conservative is a luxury that is lost REAL QUICK once booted out of the middle class.

I wasn't aware the middle class was libertarian. In any event, I am actually fairly poor and definitely not middle class, and I'm still libertarian so you're wrong.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Okay, Team Stossel Live Blog, let's do this thing.

[hamilton]

fuck that, I'm mostly drunk already. I'm DVR'ing it and finishing the job.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Learn to multitask.

[hamilton]

Oh, fine. But there had better be a snarky drinking game involved!

[Irish]

Gillespie already said 'free minds free markets' and the picture makes it seem like they're going to bring up Somalia.

Coulter also just called libertarians pussies.

If you can't get drunk off of this shit then there's no saving you.

[Fist of Etiquette]

John didn't know what libertarianism was when he started reporting, then that wrestler knocked some sense into him.

[Irish]

Stossel has the same voice inflection no matter what he's saying.

His dirty talk must sound smug and mildly off-putting.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Welch, right off the set of Men in Black 4.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Stossel, pinhead or patriot?

[Fist of Etiquette]

O'Reilly is an idiot unto himself?

[Irish]

STOSSEL DOESN'T CARE!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Heh, I was there when Coulter called libertarians a bunch of pussies on Stossel.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The drug issue could better be sold as it being a "crime" without a victim than a mind-expanding endeavor.

[Irish]

Stossel is just wonderful at setting up strawmen so that Gillespie and Welch can knock them down.

Some people say libertarians just want to smoke pot all the time! What say you, Welch?

[DesigNate]

Have you ever talked with a republican on any reason Facebook posts? There are totally some who would say that.

[Irish]

Welch just mentioned that people sometimes beat him up for not being enough of an anarchist.

Epi's ears must be burning.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm enjoying the Welch/Gillespie segment. My experience with Stossel tells me their time here won't last past the first commercial break. Let's see if I'm right.

[hamilton]

You are right again, it appears.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Uh-oh, let's see how the boys take Palin's praise.

[Irish]

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BECK SIGHTING LATER IN THE SHOW!

I really hope Gillespie and Welch are still on when Glenn Beck shows up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe from the audience.

[hamilton]

HOLY SHIT THERE IS DISSENT WITHIN LIBERTARIANISM!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Enough About Palin!

[Francisco d Anconia]

Please.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Glenn Beck IS NOT a libertarian!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wait. Libertarians have a team? I DON'T WANT TO BE ON IT.

[SIV]

It is an Atheist church-league.

[hamilton]

"There are a lot of very fussy libertarians"

[cough]sugarfree[cough cough]

[Fist of Etiquette]

CALLED IT. They're out the door.

[Winston]

So who is more Delusional? Libertarians speaking of a Libertarian Moment right now, German Communists predicting in 1932 that Hitler will stumble leaving them in change, Chiang Kai-shek predicting the reconquest of Mainland China after 1950 or Bonny Prince Charlie predicting Victory in 1746? (Thanks to Eduard for the latter two)

[Francisco d Anconia]

Winston for doubting the libertarian moment.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

I thought there was a Libertarian Purity Test. So either Welch is lying or He Who Shall Not Be Named is. Hmmm...

[Irish]

Welch doesn't feel the need to create a libertarian litmus test? Isn't 90% of the fun in libertarianism telling someone else they aren't libertarian enough and then coming up with a cheesy name to describe their style of not-libertarianism?

Welch. Fucking Cosmotarian.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You're a Segmentarian.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Are we all seeing the same commercials? I'm beginning to suspect Fox Biz expects its audience to be old as fuck.

[Irish]

WHAT! Penn Jillette is going to be on later? We're going to have the smooth stylings of Matt 'Adjunct Professor' Welch, the crazed theories of Glenn 'THE BUGS! THEY'RE BENEATH MY SKIN!' Beck, AND the magical skills of Penn 'The Best Libertarian Juggler' Jillette all on one show?

The booker of this show is a genius.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Yep. It was Stossel.

[Fist of Etiquette]

YOU TELL HIM, RUDY. 9/11 YAY! I mean, uh, whatever...

[hamilton]

"Congressman Paul, is Rand inarticulate or just goddamn stupid vis a vis this footnote crap?"

[Fist of Etiquette]

They say, "Ron Paul, you're not a very good speaker. And what was with those newsletters?"

[Irish]

They say "Ron Paul, 70% of the people at that last rally were 9/11 truthers."

[Irish]

They say "Ron Paul, 70% of the people at that last rally were 9/11 truthers."

[Fist of Etiquette]

So, 140% then?

[Francisco d Anconia]

They say "Ron Paul, 70% of the people at that last rally were 9/11 truthers."

[hamilton]

Depressed... libertarians ought to trademark that feeling.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I never got frustrated, because I was high as all get out all the time."

[Irish]

If you took a shot every time Stossel said 'They say' or Ron Paul said 'You know' you'd be dead by the end of this segment.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, because first term senators don't get to be president.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Whoa, is Ron Paul watering down his son's achievements right now?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Fuck socons.

[hamilton]

"Coming up: Libertarians versus Social Conservatives... a three-round cage match between Justin Amash and Lindsey Graham...."

Oh, please, baby Jesus, make this happen.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Isn't it wrong to beat up women?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That sweater is why RoPaul isn't president right now. Carter ruined them in presidential politics.

[Francisco d Anconia]

FUCK YOU SHITBAG!

[hamilton]

SEA LANEZ!!! THEY'RE LIKE FLOATING ROADZ!!!

[Irish]

Clearly we need troops in Germany to protect all of those sea lanes in the Rhineland.

[Ted S.]

Keep the Rhein open for the Swiss merchant marine

[Fist of Etiquette]

Japan? Policing sea lanes? Button down Pearl Harbor, Stoss has a plan to rearm the Japs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You want Fred Barnes on that wall. You need Fred Barnes on that wall.

[Irish]

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH ABOUT SEA LANES!

[Irish]

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

AMERICA MUST PROTECT THE SEA LANES! 700 BILLION DOLLARS IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR SEA LANES!

[Francisco d Anconia]

Ladies and gents...

Meet the enemy.

[hamilton]

"I wouldn't say winning, but it's better than the alternative."

THIS IS WHAT THEY ACTUALLY THINK.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Because libertarian strains don't vote for fat statists from New Jerksey.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nazis. I hate those guys.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

"Dr. Paul. Again we see there is no Audit the Fed you can pass which I cannot take away."

//Harry Reid

[hamilton]

"I'm sure Ron Paul has a sense of humor. Perhaps other libertarians don't."

[cough cough Fist cough cough]

[Fist of Etiquette]

Who said I was libertarian? I reject labels. Except awesome. I embrace that label.

[hamilton]

My point is made.

[Ted S.]

Kindly turn your head when you cough.

[Irish]

Ron Paul would have gotten a good chuckle from the Weekly Standard's parody, everybody.

A good chuckle.

God, Neo-Cons are the dorkiest bunch of dorks to ever dork. Don't worry though, they've got huge missiles to make up for their tiny schlongs.

[Winston]

So who's on? Some neocon?

[Irish]

From Fred Barnes' wikipedia page:

2008 Presidential Election[edit]

In the days leading up to the 2008 United States election, Barnes was the only political pundit out of 27 catalogued by the Huffington Post (including Karl Rove, Alex Castellanos, Matthew Dowd, Ed Rollins, and George Will) to predict a John McCain victory for U.S President (286 to 252 electoral votes).[3]

Wow. He's a really solid prognosticator, this Barnes guy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know who else stood up in front of crowds of young people and fired them up?

[Irish]

Ron Paul?

[Winston]

Lennon Lenin?

[Protagoronus]

I am the Walrus

[Fist of Etiquette]

Jaime Escalante?

[SIV]

Elvis?

[CE]

Up With People?

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

See! See! All libertarians are Rand devotees!

[Irish]

Any libertarian who becomes one because of Atlas Shrugged is no friend of mine.

Bastiat or nothing.

Purity tested.

[Francisco d Anconia]

FOADIAF!

[hamilton]

Alexander looks like his underwear is ironed.

[hamilton]

NTTAWWT.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Closet libertarians.

[Fist of Etiquette]

McCobin will one day rule us all.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

He's a good guy. Met him on a handful of occasions.

[hamilton]

Jesus christ stossel get off the hitler youth kid and put the hot chick on!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Argentinian. Damn.

[Fist of Etiquette]

His parents are a skinner box.

[hamilton]

Hitler youth kid is staring at south american chick weirdly. MALE GAZE.

[CE]

Aren't we all.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Chile. I'm in.

[hamilton]

I smell a reason cruise!

[Winston]

Have they gotten a guy on to say that libertarians will cause everyone to die in the streets from the lack of healthcare, food, contraception, schooling and safety regulations? Scratch that. In libertopia no one will die on the streets because libertarians oppose ROADZ!! Even Cecil Rhodes!

[CE]

We're always bashing Zimbabwe and Bill Clinton, so that's two strikes against Rhodes.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

I will give them credit for hosting libertarian conferences in Venezuela. Wouldn't surprise me if those are soon outlawed for state security reasons.

[Winston]

How can libertarians hold conferences to say mean things about a foreign politician the USG doesn't like? So Sez LRC.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah but Justin Bieber wouldn't be around without the internet, so it all evens out.

[Irish]

NEXT UP! PENN JILLETTE!

[hamilton]

I think Penn just called us stupid in the teaser.

[hamilton]

"Well I just think you kids are sooo awesome! Here's a lollipop!"

[Winston]

How about Sean Penn?

Or Teller because he wouldn't talk.

[Fist of Etiquette]

No one in this commercial for Sandals Resort is wearing sandals.

[Irish]

This show would have been way better if he just had an hour with a bunch of people instead of breaking them up into 5 minute chunks.

[Cyto]

Stossel programs to the 5th grade mentality of the "average viewer". Seems to work pretty well for him. Makes me feel like I'm looking in on the latest offering from the Children's Workshop with my kids.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Kurt Russell
Tom Selleck

I knew I liked them.

plus Goldie Hawn

[Irish]

The libertarians are just racking up the celebrities that were famous in 1975-1990. I'm really excited for Dwight Gooden and Bret Michaels to admit they're libertarians.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Who?

[Winston]

So there is a Reason for Gillespie's hipster name dropping of various 70s and 80s stuff after all...

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Hey, Tom Selleck has his own CBS show today!

[Winston]

It's cop show so his libertarian card is revoked.

[Matt Welch]

Thread-win.

[Fist of Etiquette]

THEN WHY ARE YOU HITTING PEOPLE, PENN?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Because the public police force is pristine and pure.

[hamilton]

Damn your nimble, sexy fingers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And I got to make love to them in the shower this morning.

[hamilton]

Go on...

[hamilton]

If you think private police forces are frightening Penn, try calling the public one. Just sayin'.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Penn Jillette: "I think libertarianism is...stupid."

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Yes, it's important to emphasize that libertarianism and non-aggression are morally right.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Joe Theisaman and his prostate pills: LIBERTARIAN. The liberty to go to the bathroom at a time of your choosing.

[Winston]

But are the bathrooms divided by sex and does he pee standing up?

[hamilton]

Theisman cut in front of me in line at a sandwich shop at Laguardia once. True story. So there you go.

[Killazontherun]

David Grohl asked me for a chair like his life depended on it once.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Unfortunately, the tenor of this show doesn't lend itself to seeing Stossel's regulation paper fort, free government golf cart or giant novelty scissors in his Stossel's Take segment. So I can't call this a very special episode. Prove me wrong, John.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dammit, forgot about the Emmys.

[Irish]

Stossel's admitting he used to be a little bitch.

Own it, Stossel.

[hamilton]

Oh shit, is he going to SACRIFICE THE EMMYS???

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now Stoss buys his awards like a true libertarian.

[Irish]

I have mine forged in the heart of a dark mine by orphans that were raised blind in that impenetrable blackness.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Damn. You are easy on your orphans. Your libertarian card is in jeopardy.

[Winston]

So how come the Emmys gave all those awards to the daughter of a Communist Mayor of Poplar?

[hamilton]

John Oates called from the 80's, he wants his hair back.

[Winston]

Hey the song was called "Out of Touch"!

[Ted S.]

Say it isn't so!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is Stossel roasting himself? Are we going to find out if Jeff Ross is a free market supporter?

[hamilton]

GOD DAMN HE'S CHUCKING THE EMMYS JUST LIKE KERRY!!!!!!

[Irish]

OH MY GOD! He name dropped Reason!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Lou Dobbs is on! Avert your eyes and find the remote!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ah! Dobbs. I'm out. Later, losers.

[hamilton]

Well, I guess we all learned something tonight. I sure did.

[Killazontherun]

Matt and Nick look like they are getting along. My plans to play one off the other have failed miserably. Curses!

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Best Voicemail Ever Gives Hilarious Play-by-Play of Car Accident

[Dweebston]

At this point, if the "libertarian moment" involves nothing more than rolling back some of the more egregious elements of the WoD (mandatory minimums is a start, but a full repeal would be better), and seeing the ACA gutted-if-not-repealed, I'll take it. Fine, let the job-killing regulatory stranglehold continue apace, the corporatism and political patronage, the endless martial excursions, whatever. Just give us a few victories.

[Paul.]

Wake a brother up when Piers Morgan hosts this show.

[verlighsoncno1975]

I am keen of learning Flash, is there any piece of writing related to Flash, if okay, then please post it, thanks.

http://www.triathlon-kirchbich.....13-702.php

[CE]

This covers the basics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_(comics)

[JidaKida]

Stossel is such a tool!

http://www.Privacy-Web.tk