The 4/19 Truthers

When leather-clad posing-pouch libertarians feel comfortable telling bald-face lies in the Washington Post, it suggests that said libertarians can't face reality or argue honestly. Witness Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, who write:

"When conservatives feel comfortable mocking the victims gunned down by Clinton-era attorney general Janet Reno's FBI in Waco, Tex., in 1993, it suggests that a complacent and increasingly authoritarian establishment feels threatened."

Of course, Janet Reno wasn't Attorney General in February 1993, when the Branch Davidians and their child-rapist leader, David Koresh, murdered four law enforcement officers in cold blood.

Reno was the A.G. when the remaining Davidians torched their own compound and either immolated or shot themselves and their own children. But "Reno's FBI" didn't gun down anyone, let alone Davidian "victims." ("Third, it must be remembered that the FBI exercised remarkable restraint, as it did not fire a single shot during the entire 51 days of the standoff, including the last day.")

The posers make a number of valid points about Big Government Republicanism. But that doesn't excuse their fairy tales about Reno and Waco.