Reason Magazine

Libertarian magazine run by Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie; former employer of Dave Weigel. Theirs is the Frat Boy, very Beltway-friendly variety of libertarianism. They or their affiliated Foundation have received money from the Koch family, and they're a key part of the "Kochtopus".

I've repeatedly challenged their contributors over several years to defend their very strong support for illegal/massive immigration and in some cases literal open borders, and they've repeatedly refused. Instead, almost all of the hundreds of comments I left there were simply met with vile ad hominems, and I may take legal action against at least one commenter at that site. Neither their contributors nor those who comment there are capable of making a valid, logical argument for what they support; in fact, I appended the following to many of my comments there:

P.S. In case anyone replies to this, their responses will almost assuredly be ad homs, thereby conceding my points and showing the childish, anti-intellectual nature of libertarians. Dozens of comments here have shown that the phrase "fascist libertarian" isn't an oxymoron.

In almost all cases, that was followed by exactly what I predicted and nothing more.

Other staff members include:

* Jesse Walker
* Radley Balko
* Brian Doherty
* Jacob Sullum
* Katherine Mangu Ward
* Michael Moynihan
* Damon Root
* Peter Suderman
* Ronald Bailey
* Peter Bagge

Contributors include:
* Dave Kopel
* Alex Tabarrok
* Tim Cavanaugh
* Kerry Howley
* Shikha Dalmia
* Steve Chapman
* David Harsanyi
* Cathy Young
* Michael Young
* Gene Callahan
* Jonathan Rauch
* Jeremy Lott
* Wendy Kaminer
* Mike Riggs
* Greg Beato
* Sara Rimensnyder
* Virginia Postrel

Last modified Feb 27, 2011
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

Reason TV misleads about green energy - 03/13/11

Reason Magazine offers the misleading video "Tilting at Wind Turbines: Should the Government Subsidize Renewable Energy?" attached below: 1. One of those chosen to represent the Voice of the People is an attractive blonde who says "I don't know much about green jobs, but I'm for it." This is a cheap technique designed to prejudice viewers against such jobs. 2. The video's expert is Robert...

David Koch gave far-left, Mex. gov't collaborators ACLU $10 million - 02/25/11

... right? ------------------ [1] Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine - part of the "Kochtopus" - highlights the $10 million as if it's a good thing: reason . com/blog/2011/02/25/ the-koch-brothers-right-wing-c That links to the undated lasocialdiary.com/node/125921 which says: I think [David Koch has] committed more than $440 million to various philanthropies and projects asides from high culture. He...

What Koch defenders aren't telling you (Reddit, Reason, Glenn Reynolds, Powerline, Weigel) - 02/24/11

... entries on the Cato Institute, Reason Magazine, and Dan Griswold (from CATO) pages for starters. In fact, Griswold was the "inspiration" (per Margaret Spellings) for George W Bush's anti- and un-American guest worker scheme. Bush wanted to open the U.S. labor market to the world in a massive H1B-style scheme that would have sent formerly middle-class wages closer to world levels, and Spellings...

Yet another example of Teaparty being useful idiots for the Koch brothers? (Madison union protests) - 02/19/11

... and the Reason Foundation (see Reason Magazine) have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions. The Kochs also invited (PDF) Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union outfit, to a June 2010 confab in Aspen, Colorado; Mix said in a recent interview that he...

Reason Magazine misleads about Jared Loughner (+AllahPundit, Glenn Reynolds) - 01/18/11

Reason Magazine offers the deceptive video "The Week in Stupid: Cable Pundits on the Gifford Shooting" (below). If you trust anything Reason tells you, keep reading. The video leads off with Zach Osler - a former friend of Jared Loughner - claiming that Loughner was apolitical. What Reason doesn't tell you is that Osler hadn't seen Loughner for two years. In fact, conveniently "forgetting" to...

Anti-science, anti-American: Reason TV misleads, sticks up for illegal immigration (Delta Smelt, Paul Feine) - 01/13/11

Reason Magazine's TV unit offers the misleading, anti-science, and anti-American video "Delta Smelt & Undocumented Farm Workers: How Federal Policy Is Failing CA's Central Valley" (below and at peekURL.com/vfqmkCZ ). It begins with a sub-Sean Hannity discussion of the endangered Delta Smelt, but quickly becomes a plea for looser immigration policy and amnesty. As could be expected, Reason is...

Shikha Dalmia misleads again, promotes anti-American DREAM Act - 09/23/10

Shikha Dalmia of Forbes and Reason Magazine is misleading about immigration yet again, this time about the anti-American DREAM Act ("DA"). That bill was recently blocked in the Senate, but if passed it would have allowed those current illegal aliens covered by it to take college educations away from U.S. citizens. Needless to say, Dalmia strongly supports that anti-American bill and is willing to...

Example of Tea Party helping their opponents (immigration, "Restoring Honor") - 08/29/10

... video features Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine interviewing the crowd at yesterday's Glenn Beck event. At 5:00 on the video Gillespie asks an attendee for the one political change he'd like to see. The attendee responds: "The biggest thing... is illegal immigration. I'm a construction worker... I got laid off, laid off for a year and a half." Clearly, he's at the wrong rally: the top leaders...

Bell, California: see who isn't telling you the whole truth (hint: libertarians) - 08/25/10

... Reason Foundation (affiliated with Reason Magazine) offers "Lessons from the Bell, California Fiasco/High government salaries means soaring pension costs that taxpayers cannot afford" (reason.com/archives/2010/08/24/ lessons-from-the-bell-californ). Needless to say, he says nothing about immigration matters. Please find other examples and leave them in comments.

Reason Magazine libertarian cruise to be massively state-subsidized - 07/06/10

Next year, Reason Magazine will be conducting a week-long cruise, complete with some of the "star" contributors of their publication on board and ready to dispense their "wisdom" (ad here: peekurl.com/v3dli5l). At post date, the only guests they have to announce are people who aren't even known by their dry cleaner's, but maybe as the big date approaches they'll announce very special guest...

Katherine Mangu-Ward doesn't think jobs in America are more valuable than jobs in China - 06/24/10

... those is Katherine Mangu Ward of Reason Magazine who, referring to a U.S. ironing board factory that was propped up with tariffs, says [2]: Econ 101 aside, though, there's a more compelling moral reason to condemn this kind of tariff that should help break deadlocks like Matt's: Jobs lost at home are usually jobs created elsewhere, typically in poorer countries. If anything, jobs are likely to...

Clueless: Nick Gillespie can't see problems with massive illegal immigration (Mickey Kaus, Reason Magazine) - 06/04/10

... interview Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine did with Mickey Kaus. At the beginning they discuss immigration, and Gillespie, rather unbelievably, asks "what was the negative outcome of the 1986 immigration reform [bill]". Kaus responds with the obvious answer: we have millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. Gillespie then asks, "why is it a problem?" And, no, that's not Socratic questioning:...

Why Shikha Dalmia isn't credible on immigration (Part 1?) - 04/07/10

At Forbes, Shikha Dalmia of Reason Magazine offers "Obama Can't Handle Immigration Reform/The leading proposal will curtail liberties without making life better for immigrants" [1]. The article shows yet again why she isn't a credible source on this issue, at least for patriotic Americans. Those who put libertarian ideology or corporate profits ahead of the interests of U.S. citizens are quite...

Reason Magazine to "save" Cleveland, just not from libertarians (Drew Carey) - 03/15/10

... libertarian (or "libertarian" to some) Reason Magazine has launched a six-part video series called "Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey", featuring that washed-up TV comic. On the series they'll outline some of the ways they think that city could be saved. The problem, of course, is that libertarian ideology has either played a major role in or offers no guidance on various aspects of the...

2007: Dick Armey sticks up for illegal aliens, "bless their hearts" - 09/04/09

... been available for a while at Reason Magazine (including a couple comments from me: reason.com/blog/show/125183.html). Not only that, but FreedomWorks hasn't been trying to hide his comments and has Reason's post re-printed at their site: freedomworks.org/news/dick-armey-on-illegal-immigrants-bless-their-heart

John Stossel /ABC: "Bailouts, Big Spending, and Bull" (TV, libertarian, Drew Carey, Reason, cosmos, rainbows...) - 03/13/09

... political enlightenment thanks to Reason Magazine. Yes, that's right: the "cosmotarian" publication that helped block the Ron Paul movement is having their big TV break. If you want to strike back a bit, go to reason.com/blog and other sites that discuss the segment and point out all the ways it was wrong. For instance, here's the bit about the border (link): Run for the Border: Do you sleep...

"Tea Parties": an astroturfed Koch family movement (FreedomWorks, Instapundit, Rick Santelli) - 02/28/09

... groups, from the Cato Institute and Reason Magazine to FreedomWorks. The scion of the Koch family, Fred Koch, was a co-founder of the notorious extremist-rightwing John Birch Society. ...ChicagoTeaParty.com was just one part of a larger network of Republican sleeper-cell-blogs set up over the course of the past few months, all of them tied to a shady rightwing advocacy group coincidentally...

Does Glenn Reynolds really oppose the stimulus, or is he just playing a game? Let's ask. - 02/10/09

... let's-make-Obama-fans-look-bad video from Reason Magazine (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/69330/)? I mean, really: if Insty really wanted to prevent a multi-trillion dollar looting, wouldn't he do something a bit more substantial than sending people off to call Charles Schumer (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/69357/)? I'm sure Insty is smart enough to figure out that people from outside New York...

Harmless beliefs pose imminent danger to all, non-expert warns - 02/07/09

Penn Jillette - one of the only two (2) Celebrity Libertarians to ever exist - draws (reason.com/blog/show/131559.html) our attention to a ludicrous website called "What's the Harm" (whatstheharm.net) which attempts to show the harm in beliefs and activities that most people - in their ignorance - would consider harmless. They say it "does not pursue any hidden agenda, other than promoting...

Dave Weigel /Slate /Reason Magazine lies about Obama birth certificate issue - 12/04/08

Dave Weigel of Reason Magazine takes to the webpages of Slate to offer "Change They Can Litigate/The fringe movement to keep Barack Obama from becoming president" (link). It contains at least one lie and several misleading statements (I didn't read the whole thing, so there's probably more). The lie is his claim concerning the "state of Hawaii's official statement that the certificate was...

Reason Magazine tries to pretend they opposed Barack Obama - 11/05/08

The "libertarians" at Reason Magazine offer a list of their recent coverage of Barack Obama (reason.com/news/show/129922.html), and from that list those who don't read their Hit and Run blog frequently might think they actually opposed him. In fact, they served as a bit of a cheerleader for him and almost always showed a clear bias towards him and against McCain (as pretty much every visitor to...

How *you* can help Barack Obama finally win this thing - 10/24/08

... other Amendments (shoutout to Reason Magazine). 12. Don't go to major, Obama-supporting blogs and attempt to discredit the bloggers. That's too easy due to the fact that they keep being intellectually dishonest or just make things up. Instead, just completely ignore them. You ignoring them will have a telepathic impact on others, or something. Plus, if you do leave comments at sites like that,...

Obama accuser Larry Sinclair arrested; very questionable celebration follows - 06/18/08

Larry Sinclair is a currently Duluth-based man about town with a long rap sheet (link) who claims that he had homosexual sex with Barack Obama in 1999 (link). At the same time, Sinclair claims that - after he gave him the money to go run for it - he used powdered cocaine and BHO smoked crack.

It it The Onion, or Reason Magazine? - 06/15/08

... several cherished staffers from Reason Magazine: reason.com/staff As pointed out here many times, it's often difficult to tell the difference between

A challenge for Drew Carey/Reason Magazine (and other open borders hacks) - 05/29/08

... with the pseudo-libertarians at Reason Magazine [1]. In various video segments he presents the "libertarian" view of things, and the latest is called "The Cost of Securing Our Southern Border" (reason.tv/video/show/434.html). Like everyone else, I didn't bother to watch it, but I feel safe in asserting that there are many things he forgot to mention. This snippet is provided: "One way out of...

Immigrant assimilation study: low scores for Mexicans; other results mixed (N.C. Aizenman/WaPo, Yglesias, Drezner, Atrios, Weigel) - 05/13/08

... piece. They include David Weigel of Reason Magazine ("The Washington Post reports on a new study revealing the quicker and quicker adaptation of immigrants to American norms."; reason.com/blog/show/126477.html). He's taken to task here. Someone else weighing in is Duncan Black (aka Atrios) under the title "Paging Lou Dobbs" (eschatonblog.com/2008_05_11_archive.html#7247266138416718020):...

Notes from the Nick Gillespie/Matt Welch/Reason Magazine alternative universe (everyone's a libertarian!) - 03/21/08

The brain trust of Reason Magazine, Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, offer "Where the votes are". The laugh-a-minute article tries to pretend that the libertarian vote means something: As David Boaz of the Cato Institute and David Kirby of America's Future Foundation note in a study of public opinion polls, roughly 15% of the electorate can be considered libertarian. Just as long as you define...

Will Wilkinson/Cato openly promotes North American Union - 01/09/08

A tactic used by those who seek to deny that powerful forces are pushing for a North American Union is first to deny that such a plan exists, and then to say something like, "but, if it did, would it be such a bad thing?" One of those trying to retail the idea of a NAU is Will Wilkinson of the Cato Institute, who, speaking on the radio show Marketplace, says: There are some who believe a...

Ken Belson/Jill Capuzzo/NYT: corruption, illegal activity are great! - 09/26/07

Ken Belson and Jill Capuzzo of the New York Times offer a slab of pro-corruption, pro-illegal immigration propaganda in "Towns Rethink Laws Against Illegal Immigrants". Apparently, Riverside, New Jersey has suffered economically after enacting an anti-illegal immigration ordinance (which they recently rescinded), and the NYT offers the most dire portrait they can: With the dep

Live coverage, GOP presidential debate, June 5, 2007 - 06/05/07

11: I'm going to go practice my track-standing. Back later... 10: Three minutes with Larry King commence now... 9: Hunter mentioned pardoning Ramos-Compean, and even bringing back the Reagan Democrats. 8: John McCain warns that having 12 million illegal aliens - 2 million of them being criminals - is dangerous. His solution is his bill, which would give them a wave-of-the-wand legalization, with...

Andy Levy/Red Eye (Andrew) - 04/25/07

On a recent Reason Magazine thread (reason.com/blog/show/119840.html), Andrew Levy (Andy) of FOX's Red Eye TV program and dailygut.com made an off-hand, ad hominem comment about my Libertarian Quiz. I posted a comment asking him whether he could provide an actual argument, to which he replied, "nope". While it would be easy to consider him just a lightweight, I'll give him a second chance. He can...

Lou Dobbs on media immigration bias; David Bosco/FP downplays - 04/25/07

Lou Dobbs offers "Big media hide truth about immigration". This site has hundreds of examples of that bias in the archives, so that won't come as a surprise to regular readers: ...the mainstream media are complicit in advancing this thinly veiled blanket amnesty.

Let's help Katherine Mangu-Ward find some Reason - 02/20/07

Katherine Mangu Ward of Reason Magazine discusses Bank of America's credit card for illegal aliens in "Credit Where Credit Is Due" [1]. Let's help her with her thinking: [ITIN numbers are] a reasonable, practical measure and it enables recent arrivals to the country-legal and illegal-to do business on the up-and-up. In fact, these numbers make it easier for those people to pay their way in taxes...

Ramos/Compean: who's on the Bush administration's side? - 02/08/07

... 2007, link * David Weigel at Reason Magazine (reason . com/blog/show/118400.html) * Duke1676 (link) and smokeymonkey (link) at DailyKos * Patterico (link) he says he's not necessarily coming down on Sutton's side, but it seems quite clear to me * People for the American Way's Kyle Mantyla, January 31, 2007, "The Law and Order Border Crowd Backs Criminal Agents", link * Jeralyn Merritt, TChris,...

Kirk Caraway now opining at 3rd grade level (libertarians on immigration) - 01/28/07

... cubicle reading old copies of Reason Magazine since he offers "If you can't stop illegal immigration, then legalize it": First, you have to stop the black market for labor.

Independent Institute: Somalia, the libertarian paradise - 12/27/06

... on Immigration. Our friends at Reason Magazine provide this excerpt (reason . com/blog/show/117519.html): ...In 2005, Somalia ranked in the top 50 percent in six of our 13 measures, and ranked near the bottom in only three: infant mortality, immunization rates, and access to improved water sources. This compares favorably with circumstances in 1990, when Somalia last had a government and was...

CNN BlogParty, Blog Party, BlogStock - 11/07/06

... publisher editor-in-chief of Reason Magazine) * Jim Geraghty (NRO) Not categorized: Steve Clemons Alex Pareene Patrick Hynes La Shawn Barber Betsy Newmark Patrick Gavin Stephen Warley Marc Lamont Hill Pam Spaulding Also, please don't miss my voting guide.

Peter Bagge is an idiot (Reason Magazine open borders cartoon) - 10/12/06

The Reason Magazine cartoonist offers a fine slab of pro-open borders propaganda in the cartoon ending here: reason . com/0608/bagge4.shtml. Let's take a look at a few of his points and see what he doesn't know or isn't telling his readers. (I'm fisking a cartoon?) The cartoon ends with a plea to literally erase the borders, oddly enough just like the "delete the border" loons and just like the...

Lonewacko honored, humbled by Reason Magazine link - 09/19/06

... site was recently linked to by Reason Magazine. That's a link to this page at the word "gripe" (hopefully he meant definition #3, "to be ardent").

Is Jim Burns nuttier than Badnarik? - 08/30/06

Jim Burns - for all 299,999,999 million of you who didn't know - is a 2008 Libertarian party presidential candidate. An interview with him asks an extremely hypothetical question: How would your administration deal with the threat of illegal immigration? The answer: I believe that people should be allowed to live any way they choose so long as they allow other to do the same.
 
 
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