As Welch’s and my December 2008 essay in Reason magazine prophesied, “Despite all leading indicators to the contrary, America is poised to enter a new age of freedom.”

What a silly, stupid, idea that seemed, especially when we first trumpeted it (we’ve kept all the emails telling us to get off the drugs – or at least to share them already). Could the timing have been worse for such a bold affirmation of the “Free Minds and Free Markets” worldview Reason touts across all its platforms? You remember the end of 2008, don’t you? …

Yet from listening to NPR and reading the Wash Post and The Atlantic over the past few days, you’d think the Libertarian Moment has more upside potential than the national debt (which is, at least theoretically, subject to limitation). …

The growing libertarian wing of the Republican Party surely does have some core principles on which they will not (and should not) compromise. Chief among them is a serious commitment to reducing the size, scope, and spending of the federal government. The libertarian wing is not simply antagonistic to the surveillance state, the garrison state, and America as globo-cop; it is leading the charge against such things. The libertarian GOPers speak differently than old-school conservatives and even establishment Republicans.