![\"Nope,](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/c800x450-w800-q60\/uploads\/2023\/12\/WebathonPoliPic-800x450.jpg\")
<\/picture> <\/div>\nMoney is easily countable and comprehensible, sure, but some of the better byproducts of Reason<\/em>‘s annual Webathon<\/a>\u2014in which we ask regular consumers of our editorial content to make an end-o’-year, tax-deductible donation<\/a> to keep us rockin’ through 2024 and beyond\u2014are the comments submitted alongside the gifts. Like this one:<\/p>\n You guys are the best. Thank you for the work you do for liberty and for being a model of intellectual consistency in a sea of tribalist mental gymnastics<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Emphasis added, because American politics right now is moving into a land of both shadow and<\/em> substance<\/a> otherwise known as … (involuntary shuddering<\/em>) … the 2024 presidential campaign. (Long scream<\/a><\/em>.) Reason<\/em> is an essential part of your toolkit in surviving the next 12 months with your wits intact.<\/p>\n OH NO LET’S NOT<\/em> GO CRAZY! DONATE TO REASON<\/em> TODAY!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Aspiring to a model of intellectual consistency requires subjecting politicians and parties to critiques rooted in both fact and philosophy. Part of avoiding tribalist mental gymnastics is declining to join a tribe. Libertarianism is inherently skeptical of the accumulation and exercise of state power, and so Reason<\/em> submits every<\/em> politician and government official, including the libertarian-adjacent, to healthy levels of skepticism, including criticism when appropriate.<\/p>\n Previous presidential cycles have generated some valuable such exercises with major-party candidates: 2020’s “The Case Against Biden<\/a>,” “The Case Against Trump<\/a>,” and “Kamala Harris Is a Cop Who Wants To Be President<\/a>“; 2016’s “Bernie’s Bad Ideas<\/a>,” “Trump vs. the Constitution<\/a>,” and “Hail to the Censor!<\/a>“; 2012’s “Consultant in Chief<\/a>,” and “The Ron Paul Moment<\/a>,” 2008’s “Be Afraid of President McCain<\/a>,” and “The Cult of the Presidency<\/a>,” and on and on. Want more articles like that?<\/p>\n DONATE TO REASON<\/em> TODAY<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The approach of keeping our heads while others lose theirs has served us well in the 12 months since our last Webathon. Some examples:<\/p>\n This coming presidential season, with its two ancient and profoundly unpopular<\/a> major-party front-runners, plus all kinds of wild cards<\/a> in the third party<\/a>\/independent<\/a> lane, is guaranteed to go cuckoo-bananas long before the Democratic Party holds its national convention in, uh, Chicago<\/a>. You need a journalistic outlet to help keep you sane, to scrutinize through a libertarian lens, and maybe even to laugh a little at the horror show. You need Reason<\/em>! And we need you.<\/p>\n WON’T YOU PLEASE DONATE TO REASON<\/em> AT THIS VERY MOMENT?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post How <i>Reason<\/i> Helps You Stay Sane During Political Brainworms Season<\/a> appeared first on Reason.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Turns out subjecting presidential aspirants to libertarian-flavored scrutiny is good for journalism! And sanity. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[19,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96419"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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