A Discussion with Craig Silverman

Ari and Craig discuss Colorado politics, the sad state of the Republican Party, Jeff Hunt on "Christian leadership," bigotry and conspiracy mongering old and new, Ayn Rand and religion, and much more.

Craig Silverman, independent podcaster after a long history in Denver radio, and a lawyer after a long career as a prosecutor, had me on his podcast for his December 10 episode, #126, recorded the previous day. He’s amazingly productive and an important voice in Colorado politics. Following are some additional notes about our discussion.

Time Markers
25:38 Intro
26:34 Personal background
33:30 Losing my religion
34:23 Created in God’s image? Conceptual beings
37:59 Cultural relevance of montheistic religions
40:32 The influence and problems of Ayn Rand
43:26 Losing my religion II
45:25 Jeff Hunt of the Centennial Institute; Trumpism
50:52 Hunt’s remark on “Christian leadership”
54:23 Silverman says Pickaxe is “entertaining as hell” and “provocative”
54:59 Silverman worries about antisemitic tropes more broadly; Jared Polis and Club Q
57:40 Hunt blocks many of his critics on Twitter
1:01:28 Antisemitism in Christianity; the Klan in 1920s Colorado
1:12:06 Bigotry against LGBTQ people
1:18:14 A conservative religious convergence; Christian theology and Israel
1:19:58 End-of-days theology
1:22:14 Bigotry against LGBTQ people II
1:23:21 Conservatives look to a strong man; John Birch Society conspiracy mongering
1:25:56 Foray into Russia and Putinism; Brittney Griner
1:29:09 My evolution from Republican to Libertarian to “Never Trumper”
1:35:20 Lessons from interning in Washington, D.C.
1:39:32 The disastrous Libertarian campaign of Rick Stanley
1:45:00 The Rise of Trump
1:57:27 The “Communist” smear as rationalization for right-wing misdeeds
2:02:26 Call for a Republican Reality Caucus
2:05:25 Republican tolerance of Joe Oltmann and election conspiracy mongering
2:14:23 More on January 6
2:17:14 Will reality-oriented Republicans step up?
2:20:58 Elon Musk and Twitter
2:23:05 Substack as a way to track people’s work; my work
2:26:18 More on Ayn Rand and religion
2:32:10 Teaching the history of religions
2:34:22 Speculations on the future of Artificial Intelligence
2:37:11 Why Colorado Pickaxe and Self in Society? Humans as social
2:41:24 Dusting off the crystal ball
2:43:56 An appreciation for Silverman’s work

Silverman says “Ari Armstrong rips Mr. Hunt to smithereens” in my recent article, “Jeff Hunt Aligns with Christian Nationalism.” I guess that’s one way to put it, but the discerning reader also will notice that I defend Hunt on a couple of points.

See also my earlier article on Hunt, “Religion and Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry.”

We briefly discuss my book What’s Wrong with Ayn Rand’s Objectivist Ethics. See also my additional notes about the book and topic.

The University of Utah has an online version of Robert Alan Goldberg’s important book, Hooded empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado.

See my podcasts with Goldberg on the Klan in Colorado and on American conspiracy theories.

The reporter Chase Woodruff, whom Hunt has excluded from events that his organization sponsors, found some remarks from Hunt that are humorous, given that Hunt recently blocked me, Silverman, and various reporters on Twitter:

We’ve got to move past the childish attitude of refusing to be in the same room along with people [with whom] we disagree. . . . Left in Colorado rarely has their ideas challenged—or the consequences of their ideas. . . . They rarely debate conservatives.

I thought I’d check in on Hunt to see what he’s been up to. (Although he blocks me on Twitter, Tweets from public accounts remain public.) Far from distancing himself from Jenna Ellis, Hunt recently retweeted her references to Tom Fitton and Elon Musk, who, ridiculously, claim that Twitter “censored” Donald Trump. Such commentary reveals a complete ignorance (or intentional deceit) about the meaning of censorship. Censorship is when governent restricts the speech of private parties; not when private parties exercise content moderation of individuals who use their services. (All that said, I don’t think Twitter’s content moderation policies have always been fair or transparent.)

I mention that an organ of the Libertarian Party (the New Hampshire branch) compared the president of Ukraine to Hitler. Matt Zwolinski aptly replied, “The Libertarian Party is a dumpster fire.” I conflated a couple details of the ensuing exchange. LPNH also called Zwolinski a “dishonest socialist” and said he “support[s] liberal human slavery” for ensorsing a “universal basic income.” Zwolinski replied:

If you can’t see the difference between a UBI and “literal human slavery,” or if you can’t see the difference between Obama and Hitler, maybe it’s time to take off the ideological blinders and try to see the world as it actually is.

A quick correction: I was born at an Air Force base, not “academy.”