Sonny Landham Brings Racism and Socialism to the Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party has become such a "big tent," its candidate for US Senate from Kentucky, Sonny Landham, has engaged in Arab-bashing and endorsed socialism. According to Independent Political Report:

"In a pair of interviews on The Weekly Filibuster Wednesday and Friday, Sonny Landham expressed support for genocide against Arabs and Muslims, whom he called repeatedly, 'camel dung shovellers,' 'camel jockeys' and 'ragheads.' He also called for an end to all immigration from Arab and Muslim nations, nationalization of businesses which employ 'illegal' immigrants, and nationalization of rental property of landlords who rent to them.

Other opinions which Mr. Landham expressed in those interviews include: high oil prices are a form of 'terrorism,' support for the trade union activities of Eugene Debs, John Lewis and Jimmy Hoffa, and a call for economic nationalism and protectionism, particularly of the steel industry. Landham said that the federal government should reorganize the economy as a partnership between unions and corporations while erecting barriers against the international flow of goods and labor and using total war - including weapons of mass destruction - to acquire resources it considers 'vital' on behalf of its corporate-trade union-military-industrial axis.

Landham also defended his role in producing a video for the Council of Conservative Citizens and said the message of the Libertarian Party is 'States Rights Now, States Rights Tomorrow, and States Rights Forever,' evoking a famous line from George Wallace's inaugural speech as Governor (replacing 'segregation' with 'States Rights'). However, Landham also said he is not qualified to explain or defend the views of the Libertarian Party, repeatedly saying 'ask them.'"

Landham's racist, anti-Arab remarks should require no condemnation; denying Arabs their individualism is obviously anti-libertarian. I've written about this problem in the LP before in the May 2008 California Freedom, page 5.

But consider Landham's claim that "high oil prices are a form of terrorism." Few LP members would (at least, openly) support Landham's racist remarks, yet I have heard self-proclaimed libertarians and conservatives say that high oil prices give the U.S. moral ground to invade nations, if it's in the "national interest," and thus a form of "self defense." Objectivists are especially prone to such lunatic remarks.

Yet when Ayn Rand appeared on The Phil Donahue Show, about the time of the late 1970s gas shortage, Donahue asked Rand what is to be done about high oil prices and "windfall profits" for the oil companies? (Remember President Carter's "windfall profits tax"?)

Regarding the oil companies, Rand replied, "You must pay their price, and say thank you!

It was classic Atlas Shurgged. I'm sure conservatives, libertarians, objectivists all cheered. But when the Arabs raise their prices, many on "the right" see it as justification for war. Apparently, Americans can morally raise their prices (Hail John Galt!), but foreign Muslims cannot.

There sure are plenty of racist, anti-property rights hypocrites among objectivists, conservatives, and libertarians.

More details on Landham's remarks may be found here.

Lance Brown is circulating an online petition to compel the Kentucky LP to remove publicly disavow the LP's endorsement of Landham.

That such a petition is necessary, that neither the Kentucky LP, nor the LNC, have acted as yet, says shameful things about the state of our party.

UPDATE

One week after Landham made his anti-Arab remarks, the Kentucky LP has officially disassociated itself from Landham. Good news.