Some of my best friends are libertarians and the greatest intellectual influence on me was Hayek. However, in practical political matters, libertarians tend to live in alternate universe, without regard for the real world consequences of their actions. Ron Paul – the only Libertarian in Congress – is a disgrace. He has waged a war against America’s war on terror, in lockstep with the left, and against the state of Israel, the frontline democracy in this war. ~David Horowitz

Via David Beito and Matt Barganier 

Far be it from Horowitz to contemplate the possibility that many of the measures enacted in the name of the “war on terror” are unconstitutional and that in defending them many Republicans and conservatives have become as hostile to the plain reading of the Constitution they once allegedly endorsed when the fundamental law was being distorted by overly broad interpretations.  It is, of course, inconceivable for him that on these matters people on the left may have come to the right conclusions (if not always for the best reasons or with the best arguments), and even farther outside his grasp that opposing various power-grabbing and state-expanding policies may be the very essence of patriotism and civic virtue when so many other politicians meekly submit to whatever the executive demands.  If our system of mixed and balanced government survives at all, it will have a lot more to do with the principled integrity of the Ron Pauls of the world than it will with the bloviations of David Horowitz and his ilk. 

As Barganier notes, Ron Paul is a Republican, so Horowitz can’t even manage to get the basic details right in his attack.  He has been a Republican for most of his career, except for his brief excursion as the LP’s presidential candidate in ’88.  I am proud to say that my mother voted for Ron Paul in that election, when the nation was confronted with a choice between Bush the Elder and the ridiculous Dukakis.  Indeed, given such a dreadful choice, it is fairly strange that Paul did not pull in tens of millions of votes.