According to Thomas Sowell's latest article that I read, he is certainly not a libertarian. He is far from it. I never really thought that he was a libertarian, but some people classify him this way. He is certainly good on some economic issues and he is a great writer when he is thinking straight. Unfortunately, he does not always think straight as shown by this article from December 29, 2011.
Sowell talks about the Republican candidates. He is not all that satisfied with the current crop.
Sowell says, "Some voters, whether Democrats, Republicans or independents, treat elections as occasions to vent their emotions, rather than as a process to pick someone into whose hands to place the fate of the nation."
He continues, "People who think this way tend to vote for someone they just happen to like, whether for personal or ideological reasons, and regardless of whether that candidate has any realistic chance of being elected."
Then he goes after Ron Paul and his supporters. He says, "The surprising support in the polls for Congressman Ron Paul seems to be of this sort. But does anyone seriously want to put the fate of this nation in the hands of a man who can casually brush aside the danger of nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism?"
Sowell goes on to give his support for Newt Gingrich. He concludes, "With all his shortcomings, his record shows that he knows how to get the job done in Washington."
Sometimes I try to be sympathetic towards people. Most people are not libertarians when they are kids. They usually have to go through a learning process. Sowell is certainly a bright guy on some things and even has some libertarian leanings on some things. But the guy is now 81 years old and has spent much of his life in the political arena. If he hasn't figured things out by now, I'm not counting on it happening at all.
I have always had this feeling about the man, whether listening to him or reading him, that he has a high opinion of himself. He accuses the liberals of being elitists, but he completely comes across as an elitist himself. He is full of himself.
So he first attacks Ron Paul supporters by saying that they vote for him because they just happen to like him. He criticizes them for supporting him "regardless of whether that candidate has any realistic chance of being elected." Then why are you supporting Gingrich, you moron? Ron Paul has a better chance against Obama than Gingrich. He also probably has a better chance at getting the Republican nomination. If we should just support whoever is electable as Sowell suggests, why don't we all just bow down to Romney?
Then Sowell goes after Paul directly saying that he "can casually brush aside the danger of nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism". Meanwhile, Sowell can casually brush aside the danger of putting Newt Gingrich in office who might be crazy enough to start a major war with a country of 70 million people and which controls a large supply of the planet's oil.
Sowell is 81 years old and he has understood for a long time that the government cannot centrally plan an economy (although I'm having my doubts with his support of big-government Gingrich), yet he thinks the U.S. government is great and perfect when it comes to foreign policy. No Sowell, the government couldn't possibly lie about anything to do with foreign policy.
And where does he come up with this part about Iran being the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism? Is he still getting his talking points from the Bush administration? I guess Iran has taken the place of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sowell is an elitist and a moron. He is 81 and he thinks Newt Gingrich is our best choice. Sowell was an apologist for Bush for 8 years. He does not care or does not consider the lives of foreigners. It does not matter to him if innocent Iranians die. It did not matter to him that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died.
If Sowell is so pumped up for another war, maybe he should go to the battlefield. Oh wait, he is part of the elite club. The wise-one must stay in safety so that he can write his wonderful articles and play with chess pieces that are human lives.
Thomas Sowell is not a libertarian.