Orange Line Paleopolis
A few months back the Former Beltway Wonk blog coined the term “Orange Line Mafia” to describe the Washington, D.C.-based libertarians (and others) who went after Ron Paul over the inflammatory newsletters published under his name in the early 1990s. The ironic thing is, the Virginia side of the Washington, D.C. metro system’s Orange Line is actually a paleocon artery. Just consider: between Rosslyn and Ballston, you have the offices of The American Conservative and the Ron Paul 2008 campaign, as well as the residences of Richard Spencer (of Taki’s Magazine), myself, and several key past and present Ron Paul 2008 staff. And way out at the Vienna, Virginia terminus of the Orange Line you’ll find Michael Brendan Dougherty, Jim Antle, and Jeremy Lott. But that’s rather far afield. Rosslyn to Ballston, by contrast, is a walkable 2.5 miles, with paleo landmarks every half-mile or so.
Tags: D.C. metro, Orange line mafia, paleoconservatives, Ron Paul, Taki's Magazine, The American Conservative
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March 30, 2008 at 12:55 am
That occurred to me at the time as well, having once lived out by Vienna-Fairfax station and badly cheated out of an apartment by Court House statement when my building was condoized having to settle for a dreadful place in Crystal City.
But that’s ancient history, and now Brooklyn is home end of story. The only thing I miss in Washington is Ben’s Chili Bowl.
March 30, 2008 at 1:02 am
I think that I need to get out of Green Line-Maryland and into Orange Line VA!
March 30, 2008 at 2:29 am
What are you people thinking? If you live within reach of the DC public transit system, your paleocon credentials are shot. All you people do is stare at a screen all day. You can that just fine in Pella, Ia. , Frankfort, Ky. or Paris, Tex.
March 30, 2008 at 3:33 am
It’s true, there’s an instant deduction of paleo-points for living within commuting distance of D.C. On the other hand, Sam Francis lived here, and the Mises Institute was set up in Washington before it moved to Auburn, so it’s not an automatic disqualifier. And Pat Buchanan still lives in McLean.
April 1, 2008 at 4:58 am
Other notable places, both good and bad, along the Orange Line in VA: Mercatus Center, Institute for Justice, FDIC, DIA. Make of it what you will.
April 4, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Institute for Justice is worth much respect as far as I’m concerned. I’ve heard them criticized for ‘centralism’. Well, the cat has long been out of the bag on that one, so I fault nobody for going where the gettin’ is good. ACLU complements IJ and vice versa, and the last thing people concerned with civil liberties and property should be doing is shooting down an organization like IJ.
April 6, 2008 at 4:51 am
Mercatus and George Mason (and IHS) are a mixed bag. They do some good work, even though the best known Mercatus/Mason scholars were anti-Paul. And there were Paul supporters among the younger folks. I knew a few myself.
January 30, 2011 at 9:22 am
I am a libertarian not a Libertarian -and as a consequence of such ‘bigotry’. As ‘bias’ represents me character thus my politics. Offending is something that comes naturally to the paleoconservative. It is not authoritarian to oppose and discriminate(unless you are the Government perhaps); but it is authoritarian to force such pressure upon me because a majority adheres to ‘pc’. You all want inclusion – then go get it, i doubt an indifferent free-market is the answer.