P.J. O'Rourke, 1947-2022

"Libertarianism isn't political...It's anti-political, really. It wants to take things out of the political arena."

Nick Gillespie | 2.16.2022 6:15 PM

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No one did more to mainstream libertarian ideas about peace, love, and understanding over the past half-century than P.J. O'Rourke, who has died at the age of 74.

Read the full obituary here.

Written by Nick Gillespie. Edited by Meredith Bragg. Graphics by Isaac Reese.

Music Credits: "Written In Our Clothes," by Giants and Pilgrims via Artlist.

Photos: Ricky Chung/SCMP/Newscom; Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; SH1/Sam Wilson / WENN/Newscom; SH1/Sam Wilson / WENN/Newscom; Additional O'Rourke images, Associated Press

NEXT: Remy: It’s Magic (Mask Hypocrisy Parody)

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SQRLSY One 3 years ago

RIP PJ!

To celebrate, I am just now getting out of my PJs!

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1. SQRLSY One 3 years ago
  
  First!!! Take THAT, Fist of Etiquette!
  
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kevrob 3 years ago

I started reading Peej when I was a high school kid in the mid-70s in NatLamp. He was always clever and frequently trenchant.

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1. Don't look at me! 3 years ago
  
  His best work.
  
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Gaear Grimsrud 3 years ago

Pretty disappointed when PJ caught the TDS. Thought he was too smart for that.

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1. Roberta 3 years ago
  
  No, I'd've seen it coming a mile away it anybody'd asked. He was the perfect type to glibly reject Trump and pass the canapes.
  
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  1. Roberta 3 years ago
    
    Trump now is what P.J. O'Rourke was 40 years ago, but with a lot more money.
    
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2. Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2 3 years ago
  
  P.J. O'Rourke depicted the 2016 choice nicely - Hil-Dog was bad in a normal way the country was accustomed to but the Con Man was a lying scumbag outside the political norm.
  
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  1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 3 years ago
    
    She was a dangerous warmongering lying cunt who would sell this country down the river to enhance donations to her foundation. Her complete destruction and evisceration from public life is the greatest political event of the last two centuries.
    
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    1. mtrueman 3 years ago
      
      "She was a dangerous warmongering lying cunt who would sell this country down the river to enhance donations to her foundation"
      
      Like he said, bad in a normal way.
      
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  2. Sevo 3 years ago
    
    turd lies. turd is a trafficker in kiddie porn along with a pathological liar.
    turd should be in jail, period, as a pediphile.
    
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  3. Sam Grove 3 years ago
    
    It took the entire media, deep state complex four years of relentless pounding on Trump to foist Biden on us.
    
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Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2 3 years ago

It is telling how the Trump Cult despises mainstream libertarians like O'Rourke, Penn Jillette, and Justin Amish. I'm content to be on the good side with the aforementioned.

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1. OpenBordersLiberal-tarian 3 years ago
  
  Don't forget your favorite modern libertarian philosophers, Bill Maher and Howard Stern.
  
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  1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.) 3 years ago
    
    Sometimes xe doesn't make sense because I presume xe is suffering from low oxygen due to the 12 masks xe is wearing.
    
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2. Sevo 3 years ago
  
  turd is a pedophile, a TDS addled asshole and lying piece of lefty shit:
  Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2
  April.20.2021 at 10:47 pm
  “Ashli Babbitt attacked the USA much like the 9/11 hijackers did.”
  
  Kiddie porn addict lefty shit turd here seems to fantasize that ‘trespassing’ on public land = flying an airliner full of passengers into a skyscraper.
  There are few more obvious examples of turd’s imbecility than this.
  
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3. mtrueman 3 years ago
  
  " I'm content to be on the good side with the aforementioned."
  
  My guess is you are successful and secure and not fueled by resentment. You share that with O'Rourke, Jilette, Amish etc.
  
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NOYB2 3 years ago

"Libertarianism isn't political...It's anti-political, really. It wants to take things out of the political arena."

Great slogans. If only Reason lived up to it.

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bill steigerwald 3 years ago

PJ O'Rourke was a good guy -- he did good journalism, delivered a libertarian spin most of the time and write very funny stuff. Except for his open support for military adventures in Iraq and elsewhere, he was a clever propagandist for the libertarian-conservative cause. His "Parliament of Whores" is a good introduction. Here is a collection of interviews I did with him. https://clips.substack.com/p/pj-orourke-rip?utm_source=url

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P.J. O'Rourke, 1947-2022

"Libertarianism isn't political...It's anti-political, really. It wants to take things out of the political arena."

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