I’m old enough to recall a time when conservatives seemed to have some affection for the free market and freedom generally. But the memory is fading fast. If the Clinton-dominated, post-Cold War years of the 1990s conjured up the prospect of a conservative/populist uprising against the welfare-warfare state, our own times of Bush-dominated nationalism seem to have underscored a vast and growing chasm between the interests of freedom and the rule by the GOP and its ideological underpinnings of American conservatism.

The Onion asks, “Last week, the U.S. dollar dipped to a record low against the euro. What are the reasons for the currency’s decline?”. Two of my favorites from their answers:

Inflation inevitable after U.S. Mint began allowing people to print $20 bills on their inkjet printers

Currency markets hate freedom

Having watched Hannity-Colmes on December 6, it is apparent that their guest Tom Woods (whose book is holding at number 10 on Amazon) exposed the vulnerability of the left-liberal-neocon establishment to well designed historical criticism from the right. It is not just that Tom did well, although he certainly did, defending his politically incorrect comments about Lincoln and FDR with both verve and erudition.

The Argentinian government plans to raid safe deposit boxes as a way of collecting tax debts, says the BBC. The suspicion might be that they contain property that can’t be inflated away. This is central banking by another means. See Nulle on Argentina’s troubles.

This new group blog, Left2Right, features such heavy hitters as Lewis Kornhauser, Richard Rorty, and Kwame Anthony Appiah. “In the aftermath of the 2004 Presidential election, many of us have come to believe that the Left must learn how to speak more effectively to ears attuned to the Right.

Today the Supreme Court will hear Granholm v. Heald, to determine whether a state that allows in-state wineries to ship directly to consumers can ban similar shipments from out-of-state. (Here is a news story.) The Constitutional issue will hang on questions that would put most Americans to sleep. However, wine drinkers have a serious stake in the case, because it could strike down substantial protectionist barriers against wine industry competition.