Gregory strips away the mask

The mask being worn by so-called pro-war "libertarians", that is.

Most of Anthony Gregory's latest LRC column provides a general description of these peoples' beliefs. This part of the essay concludes with this passage:

What else do we know about the average pro-war libertarian? He believes his right to self-defense includes a right to hurt innocent people. He typically leans Republican. He has lots of nice things to say about politicians like Ronald Reagan, yet forever loathes relatively powerless leftists like Michael Moore. He often overlooks abuses committed by the corporate state and sometimes confuses state capitalism for the free market. He views the federal government as his enemy, apart from himself, when a Democrat uses it to manage the economy, but refers to it as "we" when discussing military actions led by Republican administrations. He complains about big government but, in the end, considers Washington, D.C., and especially its imperial military to be the embodiment of American liberty.

Here's where the mask removal takes place:

Given the reality of the pro-war libertarian philosophy, I propose that those of us who are antiwar continue to be called libertarians, and those on the pro-war side simply adopt a new name: conservatives.

That’s what they are, really. They are run-of-the-mill, hawkish conservatives. Like most conservatives, they say they believe in liberty and limited government, but in the end they side with the state in its worst pursuits and orchestrations. We know that conservatism has a long, respected history, so these warmongers should have few reservations accepting the label.

Yup. Remove the "libertarian" mask and you'll see that they walk and talk like grand ol' elephants much of the time, so why not just call a spade a spade.

Let us not forget that war is the health of the state. The American corporate state needs militarism as much as we critters need food.