Political Thoughts of Timothy A. Raty

  While confirmation alludes me, I recollect from memory reading a transcript of an interview involving Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party’s Year 2000 U.S. Presidential Nominee. When asked about the Middle East, Mr. Browne made a poignant observation, which can be summarized as follows: “There will never be peace in the Middle East until all sides understand and value the concept of the separation between church and state.” This observation goes to the root cause of perpetual violence within this region of the world. It is also the root cause for the near perpetual cycle of violence which bathed Europe in blood during the Dark Ages. Religions, by their nature, reject reason in favor of faith. The degrees to which they do this vary among religions, but ultimately faith always triumphs over reason. How faith is validated also varies per religion, but fundamentally it is based on the subjective premise of feelings, which conveniently cannot be questioned or repudiated by any fa...

 After Vladimir Putin launched his invasion into Ukraine, the U.S. Libertarian National Committee issued their position on the matter. After providing several paragraphs summarizing past exchanges between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., as well as the run-up to the First Russo-Ukrainian War of 2014, the LNC stated the following: “. . . A fundamental question must be asked here – are we willing to risk World War III over this conflict in Eastern Europe? ‘It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.’ That was declared by George Washington in his farewell address at the end of a bloody revolution for independence. In his inaugural pledge, Thomas Jefferson opined clearly on foreign policy saying, ‘Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations – entangling alliances with none.’ ” (emphasis in the original) It then goes on to declare that the U.S. should cut its ties with NATO and concludes with the following statement: “...