Bill Bradford RIP

I just learned that RW Bradford, founder and editor of Liberty magazine, died last week. I've been reading Liberty for about 15 years, and I've been a subscriber for nearly 12 years. I've found it mostly informative, somtimes infuriating, and nearly always interesting. I often found myself arguing with articles and editorials, and in fact when I started blogging here, I intended to write about each issue as it came out, especially the bits I strongly disagreed with (and every month there were always at least something in that category).

It was in Liberty that I read Ron Paul's justification, from a right-to-life perspective, of legalising RU428. And in Liberty I learned about what was going on inside the Libertarian Party in the late '90s and early '00s. Liberty taught me that there is no such species as the Northern Spotted Owl, that Rose Wilder Lane ghost-wrote The Little House on the Pairie for her mother, and how HL Mencken really felt about Jews.

Bradford took an extreme isolationist stand on foreign policy, opposing every USAn military action, it seemed, ever, but he also published pro-war articles and opinions, if they were well reasoned, and came from a libertarian perspective. And he published articles on the Israeli situation that took the side of the "Palestinians", including one by Dean Ahmad which almost led me to cancel my subscription, but I couldn't bring myself to do that.

For all that, thank you Mr Bradford, and wherever your new journey takes you, ride free!