Professor Feminism has done me the great honor of inviting me to be his newest sidekick here at the League. Since I will now be an official regular around these parts, and no longer known only as the mysterious “Ryan B”, I figure it’s time to put all my cards on the table.
I provide contractor support of a financial/economic nature to a medium-sized federal agency. My corporeal being resides in Washington, DC, but my heart will always bleed Maize and Blue. I have a fiancée (nuptials will be in Spring 2012, so stay tuned), and she has two cats that have become my surly, ungrateful stepchildren. My major areas of interest are politics, literature (especially of the genre variety), college sports, and video games. I’ve recently taken up a minor interest in the vagaries of food and (adult) beverages as well.
On the political front, I have almost as much trouble with labels as our Dear Leader. I’ve called myself a liberal, a left-libertarian, and a libertarian socialist. My politics tend to be a hardcore civil libertarianism married to an equally hardcore opposition to war married (see, I got the civil libertarian part in there up front so I could turn the conversation immediately to polygamy) to a fairly pragmatic notion that markets are most useful after we’ve defined our goals socially and constructed a framework in which markets can get us to those goals. More broadly speaking, assume I come from the left but have no particular interest in the Democratic Party.
If you’ve seen my guest posts up until now, you can assume that my future work will probably be very similar in both tone and substance. I will continue to be mystified by the way mainstream liberal bloggers approach foreign policy, and I will somewhat frequently talk about geeky pop culture things from a liberal perspective.
Now, a little Match.com type trivia:
Favorite Movie(s): The Empire Strikes Back, Patton
Favorite TV Show(s), All-Time: The West Wing, Batman: The Animated Series
Favorite TV Show(s), Current: Parks & Recreation, Project Runway
Favorite Book(s): Lolita, almost anything by Joseph Conrad, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman
Favorite Cocktail(s): Manhattan, Sazerac
Favorite Dance Move(s): The ones I do that make me look like someone’s dad
Okay, I think that’s good to get us started. I am very excited to be joining the team, and I look forward to learning from the great bloggers and even better commenters who make this place such a good time.
Awesome. Welcome!Report
Anybody that knows what a Sazerac is let alone likes them can’t be all bad. Welcome!Report
Welcome. Looking forward to some good grist for the mill.Report
It is great to have you here! (This is Ryan B, I presume?)Report
That’s correct.Report
Eep, yes! I added a minor edit to clarify that in the post.Report
Welcome. I’ll start by requesting a surplus of posts about ‘Runway.Report
You’re funny.Report
I’m looking forward to your work, Ryan. Maybe over time I can gently guide you away from Rye and towards Scotch.Report
I find the two can co-exist quite happily in a life, and make a nice menage a trois with bourbon 🙂
We just named our new kitten Sazerac, mostly in honor of the great scene from Treme.Report
Great to see you making it to the regular roster, I’ve enjoyed all of your guest posts and comments thoroughly.
On a side note, as a fellow “Ryan B.”, I’m very thankful you’re going to your full last name so I can stop being confused as to how I changed logins and made those comments that are eerily like what I think, but not exactly, all the time. 😉Report
This was a nice mantroduction. Seriously, though, welcome aboard!Report
I look forward to his mantributions.Report
I’ll only say that I hope they spark some lively mancussions, and then I’m done!Report
Yes, it’s probably wise to dismantinue this manplay on manwords.Report
Mangnificant!Report
Welcome to the League Ryan.Report
Groovy.Report
Allow me to extend to you a boisterous welcome. I always made a point to read your stuff when you guest posted here, and I’ll be very happy to continue doing so on a more regular-like basis.Report
I don’t know how I’ll be able to fit it in when I get my invitation, so I’ll decline upfront. Thanks anyway. Between blogging on statism, my neverending quest for enlightenment and judo classes, I can’t take on any more.Report
Let me know if someone teaches you the secret handshake. Nobody’s taught me the secret handshake yet. I think the Inner Cabal is still hiding secrets from me.Report
Seriously though, Patrick- I’ve talked to human resources and you should start getting those fat paychecks from “Ordinary Gentlemen Inc.” pretty soon now.Report
Checks are so big government. Can’t I get gold bars?Report
Maybe. You realize this site’s a front operation for the Koch brothers, right?Report
This whole liberal thing Erik is playing with is just camouflage, eh?
Me, I signed on to further my own goals of global domination. The plan is complicated, I grant.Report
Welcome!Report
my heart will always bleed Maize and Blue
and man, you’ve been doing a lot bleeding the last few years. Go Bucks!Report
I want to say Go Big Red, but now that Nebraska has joined the conference I’m not sure what to say now.Report
Great taste in beverages, Ryan. Welcome aboard.Report
Ryan, welcome. I’ve enjoyed your guest posts, and look forward to your regular contributions from here on out.
Serious question: “markets are most useful after we’ve defined our goals.” was also the position of Mussolini on markets. Mussolini’s goals were probably not the same as yours (I don’t think you’re interested in recreating the Roman Empire), but how do you square this view that markets should be the slaves to defined goals with democracy?Report
The short answer, which I’m sure we’ll get into in the future, is that democracy is how we set those goals.Report
I’m looking forward to being a principle antagonist on those threads.Report
They’ve taken Palermo!Report