By a "game" I mean that one has to remove themselves a little from the process. If one takes it all too personally, it simply takes too much out of us.
Getting all hot and bothered about "support the troops" seems taking what I perceive to be a basically good piece of political writing too personally because of three words that are troublesome.
What you say does make sense, and I agree that the "support the troops" comment aside, the health care piece was otherwise a pretty good op-ed. However, I do not trust Root or fully believe his recent conversion to libertarianism, and even taking that conversion at face value I still think he's too conservative. For instance, he gives the impression of believing that the wealthy are the main victims of government, that "liberalism" is the enemy, etc. I don't think he'd have compassion for the kind of police abuse stories posted on misha's list, or for the plight of the homeless (I can imagine him telling them to "just get a job"). In the latest piece you forward, he says that with Obama, *everything* is about race. I think that's way overstating the case, and says more about Root than it does about Obama.
But what troubles me most isn't the content of the political writing that appears under Root's name, but that he is seeking to become the LP's presidential nominee -- and national chair. I don't recall anyone ever running for *both* offices in advance before. Even if, as I suspect, the national chair bid is simply designed to enhance his presidential bid (more "playing the game"?) As a businessman, he appears to have serious ethical issues, most notably a reputation for being a "scamdicapper" or sports betting consultant who rips off clients:
I wish I could have confidence that LP delegates will know better than to pick this guy to be the party's presidential nominee, but after Barr getting the nod last year, and Root getting the VP nomination (with a bit of a boost from Barr) shows we have to take the danger seriously. Once upon a time, when the party was stronger and more libertarian, it wouldn't have been a concern. Now it is, so in the meantime I'm not going to do anything to promote Root.