In the wake of murder in Tucson, predictable voices have urged moderation and suggested that Americans agree on a middle path, a resolution to “get things done,” and so on. Few myths are more resilient than the idea that the path of moderation is benign. When Barry Goldwater, 47 years ago, said “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” the cognoscenti in the enclaves of Leftist power judged him a doomed candidate. But…why? What Goldwater said was precisely true. Our nation was founded upon the radical idea that all men are created equal and that the primary purpose of government is to preserve liberty.
