What you may not know, is that just as Batman had Robin and Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson, Robert Stacy McCain has a faithful assistant blogger named "Smitty." I caught up with Smitty earlier this week and had a chance to interview him about politics, Robert Stacy McCain, blogging and more.
If you follow American politics, you’ve probably read something by Robert Stacy McCain, the man L.J. Miller of Red State called “The conservative Hunter S. Thompson for today.”
What you may not know, is that just as Batman had Robin and Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson, Robert Stacy McCain has a faithful assistant blogger named “Smitty.”
I caught up with Smitty earlier this week and had a chance to interview him about politics, Robert Stacy McCain, blogging and more.
Aleister: How would you describe yourself politically, Smitty?
Smitty: Federalist in outlook, with a minimalist approach to Constitutional interpretation. “Modulo its own employees, and federal criminals, the Federal Government should not interact with private citizens.”
This concept requires a libertarian Federal government. I’m disinterested in seeing Federal marriage and abortion legislation. While I hold no interest in prefixing the word marriage in any way, and less still in the slaughter of the unborn, those desiring to legislate morality need to understand: they’re playing into the hand of the Imperial Fed when they pursue marriage and abortion legislation/amendments.
Arguing against Socialism seems to be an exercise in dealing with a religious belief system. Arguing the black and white of the Constitution seems a more tangible, positive approach. We can argue the Constitution firmly, and let Socialism have its way at the State level, though not in any State wherein I’d reside.
Aleister: How did you arrive at your political beliefs?
Smitty: I grew up a deeply independent Christian of the Baptist water. I don’t even consider myself Protestant, as I’ve never recognized any temporal religious authority against which to protest. The Bible-as-written mentality plays directly into a Constitution-as-written mentality. I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life. As an undergraduate, I studied Weapons and Systems Engineering.
It’s interesting that analysis of an engineering system, from a control standpoint, involves discovering where the state is kept. The same word, ‘state’, which we use in a political context. Where are the gazinatas and gazoutas? Where does potential and kinetic energy store itself intenally? Given a transfer function that models something, what signals would be required to drive the system to a different operating point? To put the elevator on another floor of the building in a way that is quick, but does not have the passengers going ballistic. All useful feedback is negative: ” Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.–John 15:2
Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism was an eye-opener. Around that time, I wound up trying the Google Reader, picking up the Instpundit rather quickly, who also pointed out Pournelle’s Iron Law. The point about the Iron Law and the Gospel of John is the word purgeth. Fruitful branches achieve that state through purging. Bureaucracies achieve a state of Iron Law decadence through avoidance of purging.
One way to state the mission of real conservatism and the Tea Parties is to be the negative feedback loop that drives a desperately needed, Constitutional, peaceful purge.
Aleister: How did you get into blogging/end up writing at The Other McCain?
Smitty: At some point early on, Insty linked The Other McCain. I subscribed in the Google Reader, and became a regular commenter. Stacy lives North of Washington, DC; I live to the South. So meeting him in person proved feasible.
While responding recently to the frequent, erroneous regurgitation of old libels against Stacy (one of the only occasions where he gave me a topic), I cast the accusation that of being a “Wide Supra-machinist” and chronicled the tale of my descent into bloggery here.
This is as good a place as any to interject that it’s an odd thing to be considered worthy interview material. Heaven forbid I be caught taking myself too seriously in public.
Aleister: What are your favorite blogs?
Smitty: Blogs that link The Other McCain have a certain special something. Iowahawk deserves a mention here, as his Idiossey post challenged me to write OediPOTUS Wrecks.
Aleister: Who is your favorite blogger and why?
Smitty: Meh. I have 375 subscriptions in the Google Reader (?!?!?), to the point where it fills faster than I can read. They are organized by topic and priority, so that I can cheerfully nuke a swath of lefty drivel when I need to get the inbox down to a couple hundred entries for reading.
Blogs that are eye-catching are ones that bring fresh perspective, are funny, syntactically tight, are relatively short, and broaden the perspective.
I have 4.5 years of sea time in the Navy, so potty mouth for its own sake really doesn’t move me.
Andrew Breitbart is worthy of special mention for his pivotal role in taking the fight to the enemy and breaking it off where they sit.
Aleister: What blogger do you dislike and why?
Smitty: There really isn’t any need for animus. The ones with whom I disagree make great post-fodder. Even though Stacy’s Rule 4 is “Make some enemies,” mine will never be more than sparring partners. The most negative thing I have to say to anyone in the tubey-webs is nothing at all.
This is in contrast to Stacy, who, as someone making his living off of his writing skills, takes a different tack. He’s required to.
Aleister: Who is your favorite political writer?
Smitty: Victor Davis Hanson, or Paul A. Rahe, whose Soft Despotism is just excellent, and I really need to finish reading it.
Aleister: Who is your favorite TV pundit?
Smitty: Bill Whittle on PJTV.
Aleister: Favorite talk radio host?
Smitty: Not a listener.
Aleister: What’s it like working with Robert Stacy McCain?
Smitty: Easy. It’s Stacy’s blog, and I remain a delighted guest. He offers occasional direction, but our worldviews are quite congruent. At least, if he doesn’t agree with me, he’s never said so. He’s probably cringed at some of my less serious outings, I suppose. Back in September, when Van Jones resigned, we had some fun colliding with each others’ edits. I call Stacy while driving home from the office on the hands-free every couple days or so. We mainly laugh about stuff on the blog and do such chatting as passes for coordination on the blog.
Aleister: How do you and Robert Stacy McCain work as a team?
Smitty: We don’t collaborate on posts. Stacy’s writing time is money, so he’s not out to edit me. I’m not even slightly qualified to edit Stacy (though I may have fixed a typo). We both approve comments. As a sailor without so many nerve endings, my threshold for negative feedback occasionally exceeds Stacy’s desire for decorum in dissent. So, commenters: if you want to trash Stacy, start your own g’dang blog! As for me, you can call Smitty anything except late for supper–I really care not a fig. This post is not an accurate depiction of our working relationship.
Aleister: Who do you like for the GOP in 2012?
Smitty: I like anyone with the asbestos knickers required to go after the Federal Dragon. Our three branch/three level organization scheme has been worn down over the last century by Progressives. I think even Sarah Palin, on her Facebook page, ascribes too much legitimacy to the premise of Federal healthcare management.
What we require is not just another Reaganesque leader who understands the premise of the United States, but someone who can do more to instill those ideas in the populace. Another Reagan chased by another Bush simply isn’t helpful. The national debt noose tightens.
I would probably prefer Ron Paul, except that his foreign policy excites me as much as Barack Obama’s. You’re not going to get the rest of the world to permit the kind of disengagement Paul advocates, for all anyone might think the idea pleasant.
Back to Sarah Palin: on her, I’m neutral. Arguing for/against her based upon her looks/speech patterns is ridiculous. You can build a case that BHO functionally rules out rolling the dice on anyone without extensive experience ever again. Expect that line from HRC in about 28 months. The fact that Sarah Palin has the left doing back flips has some entertainment value, but does not a solid plan to alter our course out of shoal waters make. Some may see my posts chiding other bloggers for shrill attacks on Sarah as a sigh of enthusiasm. I was guilty of being insufficiently critical of George W. Bush. This is about as sinful as voting for President Obama was. Let us all repent and restore sanity to US politics.
I voted for Fred Thompson in the VA primary (for all he’d withdrawn from the 2008 race by then) and would love to see him as POTUS, for the simple reason he seems to lack maniacal drive for the job, but does have the horse sense to get it done.
Ultimately, I reject the concept of politics-as-celebrity. Maybe that’s the next step in the unraveling of our system, after politics-as-profession. Thus, the question “Who do you like”, for all it’s an honest nod to the need for a name on the ballot, excites me not. “What ideas do you prefer?” would be a better approach for everyone to take to the leadership question, in my opinion.
Aleister: How do you perceive the relationship between Libertarians and Republicans?
Smitty: Old: Libertarians are reactionary, Republicans are Federalist. New: Libertarians cleave more closely to the spirit of the Constitution, and Republicans are watered-down Democrats.
Progressivism from the Democrats and the GOP has been a path to Fascism through debt, weakening the individualism that is at the core of our greatness. Rejecting the Progressive crack pipe is essential to our very survival.
Aleister: Top 3 favorite bands/musicians?
Smitty: Rush, Chickenfoot/Satriani, Motorhead (if Lemmy can make a living in rock’n'roll, I can do anything.)
Aleister: Top 3 favorite movies?
Smitty: Monty Python (any), The Terminator (despite the fact that I dislike time travel stories), This is Spinal Tap.
Aleister: Thanks, Smitty.
Smitty: You’re welcome.
10. Dan Riehl – Dan Riehl blogs at his site 
9. ZIP – As the blogger in chief at 
8. Moe Lane – Moe is one of the top bloggers at 
7. Ace – What can I say about Ace? He is an institution and for good reason. 
6. Ed Morrissey – As one half of the 
