There are occasional authors or pieces at National Review Online who have the power to inflict the Nelson Rockefeller effect known as "MEGO", i.e. "Mine Eyes Glaze Over" when they write and I read.

I don't generally keep track of the statistics for this, but Stephen Moore's new piece, entitled What's Wrong With Insider Trading?, must've set a record. I managed to get five paragraphs into it---not far---before immediately hitting the snooze button.

The killer quote: "Libertarians have long argued that insider trading should not be a crime..."

Heh heh heh. I'm not sympathetic to libertarian principles and I don't care for their influence. Libertarians have long argued that they aren't irrelevant, but that doesn't make it so.

And no, I don't like Stephen Moore, either. I'm not particularly fond of his assassination squad which operates under the euphemistic title of "Club for Growth". Mr. Moore, the Party doesn't need a fanatical batch of libertarians running around targeting standing Republicans for annihilation just because they disagree with you.

This does not operate as a defense of Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who doesn't seem to be a good Republican. It does however operate as an indictment of an unelected and unaccountable latter-day Inquisition. I recently got a membership drive letter from the Club, autosigned by Stephen Moore. I read it for amusement, until I got to the fourth page. Then, amusement turned to outrage:

[Y]ou will be part of an organization whose goal is to defeat status quo incumbents.

One lesson we've learned from the Left is that if you really want to advance your agenda, take out an incumbent politician who opposes you. It's amazing how quickly cowardly politicians see things our way when they believe that their political careers are in danger.

Stephen Moore isn't happy just defeating Democrats. He wants to destroy any Republican that doesn't march to his tune, regardless of seniority or electability. I'm distinctly amused at his puffed-up air that sounds straight from The Godfather. Made any offers they can't refuse lately, Don Mooreleone? Or maybe Stephen's seen Enemy at the Gates. Unfortunately, where I winced at the site of NKVD/KGB political types gunning down the hapless Soviet infantrymen, Mr. Moore got some inspiration.

I also went back and read the letter again, because I thought something was missing. Mr. Moore brags and blows about wanting candidates who will, "fight relentlessly for cutting taxes, controlling federal spending, creating personal accounts for Social Security, ending the death tax, eliminating the capital gains tax, providing true school choice, and minimizing government's role in our daily lives". This is supposed to be part of "the way the world really works", coupled with "a strong economy and a strong America [as] one and the same".

Nowhere does Mr. Moore's screed mention national defense. Doubtlessly, his libertarian ivory tower does not consider defense because it is economically expensive. He doesn't say a thing about the fact that oh, a bunch of Islamists want us dead. Perhaps we are to defeat al-Qaeda with lowered taxes? Last time I checked, low taxes did nothing to stop modern day Mistel attacks against American skyscrapers.

Mr. Moore's political hit squad should be unwelcome in polite Republican company. I don't mind the idea of outside PACs exerting influence on our candidates, but I'd at least like for "conservative" PACs to phone home to Planet Earth on occasion.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 10:48 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 569 words, total size 4 kb.