An entertaining and informative exchange

Some entertainment value can be found in watching an extraordinarily underequipped pompous ass get his comeuppance at the hands of an adversary he seriously underestimated. An example that springs to mind is the well-meaning scientist in the classic science-fiction movie The Thing (From Another World), who spends most of the movie arguing that the besieged good guys should try to reason with James Arness' carrot-monster. When the scientist has a chance, he grabs the opportunity to negotiate with the monster and is promptly swatted away like the arrogant, ignorant fool that he is. Even though I agree that reason is the first line of defense, I can't help but get a chuckle out of watching a runaway ego so thoroughly deflated.

I had a similar feeling upon stumbling across the exchange between true libertarian L. Neil Smith and statist libertarian Carl Milsted, a young man so clueless he proudly takes credit for playing a role in the dismantling of the Libertarian Party earlier this summer, a bloodless coup Smith describes in his article "The Portland Purge."

Milsted has a Web site devoted to the "reform" of the Libertarian Party, an astonishing bit of work that proclaims without any irony that "The platform and message of the Libertarian Party is extreme, sacrificing practicality and political appeal in favor of philosophical consistency with a single axiom" and promotes Milsted ideas like the "citizens dividend," which would confiscate citizens' earnings for the purpose of redistributing their wealth - yep, this "libertarian" promotes sending a regular government check to each and every citizen of the state.

This deep-thinking lover of liberty took it upon himself to set Mr. Smith straight about what is necessary to make the Libertarian Party a major player in American politics. You can read it here. Reading the letter left me speechless. The paucity of logical thought left me breathless - well, no, I saw some logic to the thought, I just didn't see anything resembling libertarianism.

I was ready to roll up my sleeves and let the guy have it, but a much better man had already handled the task. Milsted had enough integrity - or he honestly believes his non-reasoning is superior so felt comfortable enough - to post a link to L. Neil Smith's absolutely brilliant response, "Teaching Pigs to Sing." Reading it was the intellectual equivalent of watching Jim Arness swat the arrogant-and-clueless scientist aside like a fly. It was Jimi Hendrix doing "The Star-Spangled Banner," a great concert pianist tackling the greatest piano concerto with ease. I'm not going to quote highlights ... the whole thing is a highlight. Watching Smith dissolve Milsted's arguments one by one, I felt like standing up in front of my computer and cheering.

Milsted and his ilk have dealt a probably-fatal blow to the Libertarian Party. But as long as the likes of L. Neil Smith are among us, the promise of liberty is alive.