NeoCons Against the Drug War?

Once there was a time when libertarian and conservative were not mutually exclusive words. Think of conservative eminence William F. Buckley, for example, who argued valiantly against the drug war back in the '80s. In the last decade, however, only leftist libertarians have been fighting the good fight to end America's senseless war against its own people.

So imagine our surprise to pick up the New York Times this morning, and learn that John Tierney, the Times' newest conservative pundit, is on the side of the angels, vis-a-vis this subject. Probably not wanting to make too many waves, he backed into the subject, by tacking it onto the tail end of a piece entitled "The Idiots Abroad...", in which he lambasts doctrinaire Latin American socialists. After suggesting that the best way for the American government to deal with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is to "ignore him," he conceds that there's some idiocy right here at home:

"And instead of fighting a drug war in South America," he writes, "surrender. The war has been utterly ineffectual at stopping the flow of cocaine, which has actually gotten cheaper on American streets. " Noting that our drug war is only inflaming anti-Americanism south of the border, he declares that leaders like Chavez may be "economic dunces, but in this case the perfect idiots are the drug warriors in Washington helping to elect them."

Bravo, Mr. Tierney! Though we disagree with much of your politics, it is thrilling to see that some libertarian light is getting through to your side.