Comments on: Nat Hentoff Joins Cato

By: Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:13:47 +0000

Awe-FUCKING-some. Now if only some syndicate would pick up his column….

By: Helmut O' Hooligan

Helmut O' Hooligan — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:40:06 +0000

Radley: “He’s no economic libertarian. But there’s been no more eloquent or and consistent defender of free speech and individual liberty over the last 35 years.”

Agreed. CATO attempted to reach out and form coalitions w/ left-of-center types years ago. Maybe now is a good time to try it again. Good for Nat and good for CATO.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:56:32 +0000

“…great news for libertarianism.”

How exactly? Not that I have a problem with Mr. Hentoff, but how does Cato adding yet another “senior fellow” really advance libertarianism?

By: John Jenkins

John Jenkins — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:54:44 +0000

@ #6 | Windypundit: Before I went to law school I worked in retail for a long time. I don’t know if the money Amazon pays varies depending on the kind of item, but I bet the margins on books are a hell of a lot better than the margins on televisions, especially in the current retail environment. It would make sense if Amazon paid different rates based on the type of item.

No joke, I would make more money selling a $300.00 vacuum cleaner (10% * $300.00 = $30.00) than I would selling a big screen television (1.5% * $1,500.00 = $22.50), and a lot fewer people returned vacuum cleaners after the super bowl :-)

By: Windypundit

Windypundit — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:40:39 +0000

@John Jenkins: If you follow any of the Amazon links on the left under “Radley recommends…” he will get credit for whatever you then buy at Amazon, even if it’s not the linked item. So you can support Radley by clicking through and then searching for Hentoff’s book and buying it. You can seriously support Radley by clicking throuh and then buying a big screen television :-)

By: John Jenkins

John Jenkins — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:02:36 +0000

@Radley: Do you have one of those Amazon links where you get a percentage if we buy a book through your link?

By: JohnMcC

JohnMcC — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:02:32 +0000

Mr Jenkins got there ahead of me. I was going to say that the music at CATO would prob’ly be much better.

By: Radley Balko

Radley Balko — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:42:57 +0000

I’d go with the Nat Hentoff Reader for a good introduction:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0306810840/theagitator-20/

He’s no economic libertarian. But there’s been no more eloquent or and consistent defender of free speech and individual liberty over the last 35 years.

By: John Jenkins

John Jenkins — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:30:45 +0000

@Radley: What one book of Hentoff’s political writings (as opposed to his jazz work) would you consider to be the “essential” Hentoff?

By: Windypundit

Windypundit — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:01:53 +0000

Cool. Hentoff has been a great voice for liberty. One of his books on free speech was an early influence on me. He showed me that free speech absolutism was a completely workable idea, and that there’s no need to compromise.