The Rocky Mountain News, where he was a bloggist, has a nice obituary of Andrew Olmsted.

He will not be a forgotten soldier.

A self-described libertarian dies an entirely unlibertarian death. He died working for the government.

You snarkily (as usual) reveal your profound ignorance of libertarians. No surprise, considering the source.

He was a libertarian, and a patriot, not an anarchist.

But Raaaaaand! In a libertarian utopia (as envisioned by Jim Harris, at least), Andrew wouldn't have been allowed to work for the government no matter how much he wanted to!

The US invasion of Iraq isn't any more libertarian than the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. From the beginning and for the duration, they couldn't stand to let Iraqis mind their own business. Every time they pledge it, they're hit with separation anxiety. Andrew Olmsted may as well have told the Iraqi people, "I'm from the American government and I'm here to help." He may as well have, even though of course he knew not to use that phrase. His job and really the entire war are the perfect LINO project --- Libertarian In Name Only.

But you're right about one thing. He was a patriot, of a kind. Patriotism is the creed that you're supposed to be devoted to your country. In this case, by fighting for your government's influence on the opposite side of the planet. Now, sometimes that style of patriotism is correct, but either way it is opposite to libertarianism. Libertarianism posits that you're not supposed to be devoted to your country; rather you're just supposed to mind your own business.

There is another kind of patriotism which is consistent with libertarianism. It may be libertarian to admire your country, if it is a libertarian land. But admiring your country is not at all the same thing as sacrificing yourself for it.

Andrew wouldn't have been allowed to work for the government no matter how much he wanted to!

No, you or Olmsted or anyone else would be allowed to do any damn fool thing you please, at your own expense. And you can even call yourself libertarian while you're at it. But just calling yourself libertarian doesn't make you one.

The war, however, is not just at Olmsted's expense. They will have spent a trillion dollars at public expense before this thing is over. They are spending 2-4 times as much on Iraqis as Iraqis make. That is what truly makes this government project un-libertarian. They have fooled some rather naive self-described libertarians by the simplest possible gimmick: Instead of paying for the war with taxes, they have taken its cost out of the value of the national currency.

I see that, in your usual classy fashion, you're going to completely ignore a dead man's request not to politicize his death.

Do you ever wonder why so many here think you vile, and hold you in such contempt?

you're going to completely ignore a dead man's request not to politicize his death.

My condolences to his family, but the fact is that he politicized his own life and death. You're politicizing it too, with phrases like "he will not be a forgotten soldier". You might as well wave flags in both hands when you say that.

You're politicizing it too, with phrases like "he will not be a forgotten soldier".

Horseshit. I'm pretty sure that if Amanda were reading this blog post, she'd know who is politicizing his death.

As I said, vile. But you have no shame.

Jim, if you think saying "he will not be a forgotten soldier" is politicizing, I guess you're also one of those people who doesn't share the "political message" of the U.S. flag.