From time to time in American life, the federal governments overreach creates the circumstances for a populist libertarian critique that ends up taking the form of a campaign for the presidency. We have that now in the candidacy of Sen. Rand Paul.

When the Kentucky Republican is making the case against big-spending, high-taxing, overregulating government, he can be persuasive not just because hes right but because its clear he believes what he is saying.

But if you want to know why hell never be elected president, look no further than a recent libertarian conference in Washington.

Though Rand Paul will have his fans at any libertarian gathering, the senator was not the hero here. Nor was it one of the great thinkers whose writings have influenced libertarian thought, say, Milton Friedman or Friedrich Hayek.

The honor went to Edward Snowden.

The International Students for Liberty celebrated Snowden as their 2015 Alumnus of the Year because there has been no individual in the past year who has done more for the cause of liberty than Mr. Snowden.

Snowdens subsequent remarks, delivered via telescreen from Moscow, were rewarded with standing ovation after standing ovation, according to a blog account at Reason.org, a libertarian Web site.

A few days later, Snowden answered questions online for Reddit. One of his answers on how to make the National Security Agencys spying an issue in the 2016 presidential election provoked another celebratory headline at Reason.com: Edward Snowdens Libertarian Moment.

To regard a man whos wanted for espionage against the United States as a champion of liberty requires a curious mindset, especially when this same man is now living off the hospitality of Vladimir Putin. Its a mindset and a choice, moreover, we might expect from excited college kids.

In this case, however, the idea of Ed Snowden as hero is not confined to tender young minds caught up in the afterglow of their first encounter with Atlas Shrugged. It also affects grown men who should know better.

Go here to read the rest:

Snow(den) blind: Libertarians telling hero