Wirt wrote:

> A little difference of opinion is worth its weight in gold.

Absolutely!

> You don't
> have to agree with what someone says, but you do have to give him
> every right to say it -- and possibly even the obligation to consider
> what he has to say might even be correct.

Unless of course you are the producers of the West Wing.
http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/picknews.cfm?id=30905

REPUBLICAN ADVISERS REPORTEDLY KICKED OFF WEST WING
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Former presidential press secretary Marlin Fitzwater, who served under
Presidents Reagan and George H. Bush, has accused the producers of NBC's The
West Wing of dropping him and former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan as
advisers "because they decided they didn't want a conservative viewpoint
anymore." Fitzwater told MSNBC.com columnist Jeannette Walls that the
producers have continued to retain Democratic advisors Dee Dee Myers and
Gene Sperling.

>Hell, I don't agree with hardly anything Denys has to say --
>other than which backup device to buy -- but I still consider him one of my
>oldest friends in the HP3000 community, and he has occasionally -- very
>occasionally -- actually properly corrected me (although I would never
admit
>it).

I might have to step in here for Denys.  ;-)

> I've lived in two worlds for most of my adult life. One is this one,
> where libertarian values (trade protectionist, anti-immigration,
> slightly racist, etc. views) are considered "moderate" stances.

I don't think these are characteristics of Libertarians.  Perhaps you meant
Populists, as these views are reflected by those who claim such affinity
(e.g. Patrick Buchanan and Ross Perot).  Populists, like social liberals,
are enamored with the idea of using the force of government to implement
their agenda.  Some so-called conservatives (usually the religious wing)
fall into this category too.  You can find the actual views of Libertarians
at: http://www.libertarian.org/liborgtext.html and
http://www.lp.org/issues/.  For example, from the former web site:

"As with their friends in the economics profession, there is nearly
universal agreement among libertarians that free trade is the best policy.
Most libertarians also believe in free immigration and emigration. They
believe that borders should be completely open, because, ideally, it
benefits everyone involved."

> The other is in the academic community. In this second world, my opinions
> are often seen as just right of Attila the Hun's, a reactionary
> archconservative. But in the world of this list, Denys considers me a
> flaming pinko liberal, far to the left of Marx and Lenin.

Nah, I'd put you right in between.  ;-)  Seriously though, I can see where
your evolutionary views (competition, etc) would get you in trouble with
much of the collegiate intelligentsia.

> If nothing else, listening to what the other fellow has to say can be
> extremely entertaining, if not slightly educational.

"Oyez, Oyez!"

Mark W.

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