Listen to the great Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute

Listen to the great Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, interview John V.

Denson, author of A Century of BOOTSBUY: Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt, about the sort of World

BOOTSBUY revisionism that I would hope you’d have a chance to hear.

I was really surprised by the news, first reported by Laura Rozen on her blog on Mother Jones, that

Michael Ledeen, who had been under Richard Perle’s wing at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for

some 20 years, has moved to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) and taken his “Freedom”

chair with him. I have no inside information on the reasons for the move (I was declared persona non

grata at AEI five years ago and told I shouldn’t try to attend any of its events) , and don’t buy his

own explanation, although his reference to a “rising” FDD suggests his association there might be

more lucrative, particularly as FDD, which earlier this year suffered major Democratic defections, is

competing strongly for Sheldon Adelson’s largess. (And I have no doubt at all that Ledeen’s obsession

with Iran would definitely appeal to the multi-billionaire casino magnate who reportedly shares that

obsession).

One possible explanation is that the AEI’s incoming president (as of Jan. 1), Syracuse University

Prof. Arthur Brooks, is hoping that AEI’s public image on foreign policy — dominated as it has been

for so long by hard-line neo-cons like Perle — might be softened somewhat. But, while Ledeen clearly

belongs on the radical fringe (just read his latest article in the National Review Online (NRO) on how

Russia has joined the “terror masters” in Tehran and Damascus and how China is about to invade

Taiwan), he’s certainly not nearly as visible as someone like former Mens UGGs Boots Cheap Amb. John

Bolton, a bona fide extremist (albeit more nationalist than neo-con). On the other hand, Bolton’s

frequent op-eds in the Wall Street Journal and the Telegraph, if not his cachet as a UGG Sheepskin Cuff

Boot alumnus willing to denounce his former boss as an appeaser to the mainstream press, no doubt

raises a lot more money for AEI. By contrast, Ledeen’s relative obscurity probably attracts only a few

grateful donors.