Matthew Lee Welch (born July 31, 1968) is an American

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ger,

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, and

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

political

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Early life

Welch was born on July 31, 1968, in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

. He was raised in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. He attended

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

as part of the class of 1990, but did not complete a degree. Through his mother, author Mary Bobbitt Townsend, he is the great-great-grandson of Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus.

Career

In the late 1990s, Welch wrote for Tabloid.Net, along with Tim Blair and

Ken Layne Ken Layne is an American writer, publisher and broadcaster best known for his political blogging in the early 2000s and his association with Gawker Media and ''Wonkette'' from 2006 to 2012. He is the proprietor of ''Desert Oracle'', a self-publi ...

. In the early 1990s, he was one of the founders of the

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

-based newspaper ''Prognosis''. He researched the effects of

UN sanctions against Iraq On 6 August 1990, four days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) placed a comprehensive embargo on Iraq. The sanctions stayed largely in force until 22 May 2003 (after Saddam Hussein being forced from ...

, often criticizing the reporting of others. Commentator Mike Rosen praised his research as "yeoman's work." In 2007, he wrote a portrayal of 2008 Republican presidential nominee

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

from a libertarian perspective. In ''McCain: The Myth of a Maverick'', Welch argued that a McCain presidency would advance a

statist In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation an ...

agenda. Through a FOIA request, Welch obtained a copy of McCain's

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

thesis which, based on his experience as a POW, argued for the teaching of US foreign policy to military recruits. From 2008 to 2016, he was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

at the monthly libertarian journal, ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

''. He now serves as editor-at-large. From 2006 to 2007, he was an editorial page editor for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Welch earned the award for "Best Entertainment Review/Criticism/Column" in the 53rd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, hosted by the Los Angeles Press Club, for his work, "Bailing Out Big Brother: Media criticism goes from rebelling against media oligarchs to handing them a lifeline." In 2011, Matt Welch co-wrote '' The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America'' with Reason.tv editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie. He has become a frequent commentator on cable news shows, and was co-host of the

Fox Business Network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American conservative business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios ...

current events and political discussion show, '' The Independents''. Matt Welch is co-host of ''The Fifth Column'' podcast along with Kmele Foster and Michael Moynihan.

Personal life

Welch lives in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, with his wife and two daughters.

Publications

Books

* ''McCain: The Myth of a Maverick,''

St. Martin's Griffin St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

, 2007 * ''The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America,'' Public Affairs,

References

External links

Matt Welch at the ''Reason'' magazine website

Interview at democracynow.org

Video with his reaction to McCain candidacy
*
Welch video discussions and interviews
on Bloggingheads.tv
Appearance on ''The Filter'' podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Matt 1968 births Living people 21st-century American non-fiction writers American bloggers American libertarians American magazine editors American male bloggers American male journalists American political writers Los Angeles Times people People from Bellflower, California People from Long Beach, California Writers from Long Beach, California Journalists from Greater Los Angeles University of California, Santa Barbara alumni