A Surly Showdown for Speaker
Plus: Would Adam Smith be a libertarian if he were alive today?

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie discuss the government's censorship-by-proxy of social media companies and Kevin McCarthy's ongoing showdown for the speakership in the House of Representatives.
3:00: The government's censorship-by-proxy of social media companies for alleged COVID "misinformation."
30:45: Weekly Listener Question:
Hello Friends, I just finished listening to the Freakonomics Radio three-part series about Adam Smith. The main thesis of the series is that Adam Smith's views were more nuanced than we generally think of him; most people tend to cherry-pick favorite ideas from The Wealth of Nations while completely forgetting about his first work, Theory of Moral Sentiments. So, I'm curious. How have Adam Smith's ideas shaped your own? Have any of you read Adam Smith's works completely? And maybe most importantly, do you think Adam Smith would be a libertarian if he was alive today?
39:39: Kevin McCarthy battles for speaker of the House.
52:11: This week's cultural recommendations
Mentioned in this podcast:
"Under Government Pressure, Twitter Suppressed Truthful Speech About COVID-19," by Jacob Sullum
"Twitter Files Reveal Politicians, Officials Evading the Constitution's Restrictions," by J.D. Tuccille
"Elon Musk Should Take a Clear Stand Against Censorship by Proxy," by Jacob Sullum
"Bari Weiss Twitter Files Reveal Systematic 'Blacklisting' of Disfavored Content," by Robby Soave
"How Government Officials Bully Social Media Companies Into Censorship," by Liz Wolfe
"Biden's Sneaky Censors," by Jacob Sullum
"These Emails Show How the Biden Administration's Crusade Against 'Misinformation' Imposes Censorship by Proxy," by Jacob Sullum
"AOC: Facebook's 'Disinformation' Has 'Sabotaged' Pandemic Response," by Matt Welch
"RIP, 'Pandemic of the Unvaccinated'," by Matt Welch
"Republicans Control the House But Can't Compromise on Someone To Lead It," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"Now Anybody Can Write a Sherlock Holmes Story," by Joe Lancaster
"Sifting Through the Twitter Files: Live with Nick Gillespie & Zach Weissmueller," by Nick Gillespie and Zach Weissmueller
"Russ Roberts: Adam Smith's Surprising Guide To Happiness," by Nick Gillespie
"The Satire Is as Rich as the Clientele in HBO's The White Lotus" by Glenn Garvin
Nick's "I'm Not Lazy" T-shirt
Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.
Today's sponsor:
- When you're at your best, you can do great things. But sometimes life gets you bogged down, and you may feel overwhelmed or like you're not showing up in the way that you want to. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of you. Because when you feel empowered, you're more prepared to take on everything life throws at you. If you're thinking of giving therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great option. It's convenient, flexible, affordable, and entirely online. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and switch therapists any time for no additional charge. If you want to live a more empowered life, therapy can get you there. Visit BetterHelp.com/roundtable today to get 10 percent off your first month.
Audio production by Ian Keyser
Assistant production by Hunt Beaty
Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
3 articles on this? Let me guess as to what conversation is flooding blue check mark Twitter. Or is it yellow now?
Amash begging for the role is hilarious to me btw.
https://mobile.twitter.com/justinamash/status/1610229626453823490
Must think the job entails naming post offices.
That's so sad. Poor man.
"You'll always be my little house speaker, Justin" - Mother Amash
I’ve earned $17,910 this month by working online from home. I work only six hours a day despite being a full-time college student. Everyone is capable of carrying out this work from their homes and learning it in spare time on a continuous basis.
To learn more, see this article———>>> http://Www.Smartcash1.com
I get paid over 190$ per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless. Heres what I’ve been doing..
HERE====)> http://WWW.RICHSALARIES.COM
Three articles on this. And after two years, no articles on the J6 detainees.
It's not like they ever do stories on criminal justice reform or highlight abusive police practices, at least not when conservatives are in the crosshairs.
Google pay 200$ per hour my last pay check was $8500 working 1o hours a week online. My younger brother friend has been averaging 12000 for months now and he works about 22 hours a week. I cant believe how easy it was once I tried it outit.. ???? AND GOOD LUCK.:)
https://WWW.WORKSCLICK.COM
Libertarians of the 1990s aren't even libertarian today.
Great article, Mike. I appreciate your work, I’m now creating over $35,100 dollars each month simply by doing a simple job online! I do know You currently making a lot of greenbacks online from $28,200 dollars, its simple online operating jobs.
.
.
Just open the link———————————————>>> http://Www.RichApp1.Com
Come on man! We all know the REAL libertarians are Sarc, Liarson, and the pedophile twins; Shrike and Jeffy.
Re: "RIP, 'Pandemic of the Unvaccinated',"
Believe on the Lord Johnson Pfizer. Repent and be vaccinated.
https://twitter.com/ramzpaul/status/1609721956055531521
That can't be real. It just can't be.
A Surly Showdown for Speaker
Surly you can't be serious.
I am, and stop calling me Shirley.
do you like gladiator movies?
I think you're great. But my dad says you don't try hard enough. You just jog up and down the court...Except during the playoffs.
https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1610372352872783872?t=n3P7EzImqoEnRJa9H4SJlA&s=19
1.THREAD: The Twitter Files
How Twitter Let the Intelligence Community In
[Thread]
https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1610394197730725889?t=YAeHYyNj0loqUYBAyqwqhw&s=19
1.THREAD: The Twitter Files
Twitter and the FBI “Belly Button”
[Thread]
Re: "Republicans Control the House But Can't Compromise on Someone To Lead It,"
Speaking of prominent GOPe, how come Lindsey Graham started talking about his national 15 week abortion ban bill just before the midterm election and hasn't said a word about it since the election?
It will be so wonderful when that RINO poof is finally gone. He can take Bitch McConnell with him.
https://twitter.com/Liz_Wheeler/status/1610309998244171776?t=8kfuUL9Xrt9JNLhZPLUrqw&s=19
1 in 5,000 young men have heart issues from COVID vax.
Yearly commotia cordis cases? ~15. (RARELY over age 20).
1,598 athlete cardiac arrests since Jan 2021. 69% fatal.
(Average athlete cardiacs before vax was 29/yr).
“Science” ignores this.
That’s why people ask questions.
[Link]
I suspect the number of young people with moderate to severe heart conditions will skyrocket over the next two decades.
Murray Rothbard was *very* critical of Adam Smith. https://mises.org/library/murray-rothbard-confronts-adam-smith
How the Hell can somebody plagiarize his own work? This was obviously when Rothbard was post off-his-rocker.
When I seen this, I immediately concluded TL;DR.
GOP looking for the next Denny Hastert for Speaker.
In the 1st week of 2023, Matt sneaks a reference to a favorite film of mine in my youth (and horribly underrated) "Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother" and not one of the others grasp the brilliance/genius of this reference . Matt wins the Internet for the year. Now why don't we all drink some very sexy wine?
Would Adam Smith be a libertarian if he were alive today?
That's easy enough to figure out. Basically, just rephrase it as, "Would Adam Smith want to take a leak standing next to a guy wearing a dress?".
I'm guessing probably not.
not a true scottsman then i guess
(... it kilt me to say that)
So where's the talk of putting politicians on trial with impeachment charges for violating the 1st Amendment via Twitter.
) It's happening but it not a big deal - stage?
The press isn't a public utility.
That's exactly saying the press is a government agency.
NOT what the USA was founded upon.
All this tells me is that Team R is completely and utterly incompetent, politically.
"It's okay because the government didn't censor every website in the world, just the popular ones" - Sarcasmic and Sqrlsy