Regular readers of this forum and John Hood?s columns know that the political labels ?liberal? and ?conservative? are a bit misleading these days, since many of those considered conservative today are actually free market-oriented classical liberals, while present-day liberals are often illiberal collectivists who believe the government should oversee as much of our day-to-day lives as the American public will accept.
It?s nice to see that Newsweek columnist Jacob Weisberg at least notices the contradiction between liberty-loving liberalism and nanny-state paternalist collectivism, even if his latest piece seems to endorse as ?defensible? the efforts ?to exhort, nag, nudge, tax, and regulate people for the sake of diminishing purely self-destructive behavior.?
I?m sure John Hood would be happy to see Mr. Weisberg and his ilk yield the label ?liberal.? That would enable those who love liberty to reclaim the word.