Walter Block

economics professor

[email protected]

An economist was asked, How is your wife? Came the reply: compared to what? Let’s compare Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton and then to Gary Johnson.

Why did the American electorate properly support Donald over Hillary?

Exhibit A: World War III.

I bitterly oppose a war between the U.S. and Russia. Such a conflagration can ruin our entire day! Donald can get along with Vladimir Putin; Hillary called him a “Hitler.” She favored a “no fly” zone over Syria. But guess which nation is now dropping bombs from aloft in an attempt to support Bashar Assad? Russia.

Not only did Clinton sabre-rattle against a strong nuclear power, she favors war-mongering all around the globe. She giggled as she said of Libya’s strongman Muamar Khadafy “We came, we saw, he died.” The Republican averred of this episode: “Not on my watch.” Similarly, Hillary was knee-deep in the toppling of Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussain. Don’t get me wrong: these were not nice people. But, due to the policy reinforced by Hillary, ISIS was created, which is far worse. She now wants to overturn the duly elected government of Syria, a bitter enemy of ISIS. A similar pattern emerges regarding NATO. Donald wants to “rethink” this entire matter; Hillary favors their eastward-creep and war-games right on Russia’s border. How would we like it if Russia massed its military might off the shores of Miami or Seattle? Or in Canada or Mexico? Americans didn’t much appreciate the USSR placing missiles in Cuba. The U.S. has some 1,000 military bases in about 150 countries. Hillary supports this; Donald wants to remove our soldiers from places such as Germany, Japan, Korea and elsewhere.

Donald was the peace candidate. He was the skunk at the neo-con garden-party; Hillary was their pin-up girl. Consider these statements by our founding fathers. George Washington: “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.” Thomas Jefferson: “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none”. John Quincy Adams: “America . . . goes not abroad seeking monsters to destroy.”

Now contrast them with these statements by Trump and/or his advisors: “I would say that NATO as a political alliance does need to be relooked at in terms of everything – resourcing, capabilities.” “We have to look at the cost of resourcing the US military around the world.” “The United States should not have to intervene in every single problem around the world.” “Putin will be a reliable partner for certain things for the United States, yes. Absolutely. We need to have a relationship from the top to the bottom, same with China.” Regarding America’s decades-long push for exporting democracy: “Will that come to an end if Trump becomes president?” “Yes, because it’s wrong.”

Why didn’t the leftist anti-war movement support Donald? Could it be because they only oppose Republican, not Democratic, imperialism?

Exhibit B: The Supreme Court

Hillary would have appointed judges who favored welfare, affirmative action and (the abomination of partial birth) abortion “rights,” all of which disproportionately hurt black people; who would force bakers, photographers and florists to provide for gay weddings (would they compel a Jew or a black to serve at KKK or Nazi weddings?); who would trash the First Amendment in favor of PC, and also the Second, even though her own bodyguards are well-armed.

Exhibit C: Political correctness

Most universities now promote trigger warnings, safe spaces, snowflakes. For rape charges, no more innocent until proven guilty, no longer any presumption of innocence. Defendants can no longer confront accusers. Under Hillary, these exercises would no longer (mostly) be confined to universities.

As a libertarian, I preferred Gary Johnson to Donald Trump, despite his stepping on his tongue a few times and support for the evil socalled Civil Rights Act of 1964. Of course, Gary had no chance to actually win. So, my voting suggestion would have been: Yes, vote for Trump, but only in purple states. In clear red or blue ones, Johnson. In that way, libertarians can have our cake and eat it too. If the libertarians attain 5 percent, no more wasteful ballot drives. Hillary loses.

Johnson or Trump? Johnson. Trump or Clinton? Trump!