Ron Paul
I happen to agree with Ron Paul on a lot of things. I disagree on a few more, but over all, I like the man. He is a real classical conservative. There are few real conservatives in the race right now.
Where I really disagree with him is his view that, if America didn’t get involved in any wars people would like us. The problem with that theory is, we’re a rich nation and when you are #1 human nature causes some people to want to tear you down. Our system is antithetical to totalitarian states. They will hate us in principal. Marxist states hate us because were capitalistic. They will constantly try to tear us down through propaganda. And plenty of suckers here eat that stuff up.
Alas, our over reaching on the wars on terror and drugs puts us much closer to totalitarian states as our freedoms are being eroded. This is where Paul offers a solution to this problem.
I don’t think he has a chance of winning for several reasons. Mainly because the political machine and the media are doing their best to marginalize him. He would be a threat to the status quo. So the media is largely ignoring his candidacy and the fact that he is raising a surprising amount of money in little time.
There is also this team sports mentality that many people have. Whe push comes to shove they go with something more safe than something more extreme. Paul is an extremeist as far as the media and the political parties are concerned. And they will tar him with that brush if he gets too big. They already have to some extent.
The voters on either side of the political fence are sick of the way things are going. Just from talking to Democrats I know and Republicans, as well as reading a lot of websites, people don’t trust either party. Their support of their own candidates is not that strong. So it doesn’t surprise me Paul is resonating with people. He is kind fo like a Horoscope. People see in him what they want.
I don’t think, if he got elected, that he would be able to do the things he wanted, unless he was elected by a landslide. The Dems and Republicans would gang up to vote against any bills he wanted passed. There is a sickening amount of corruption in our government. Billions go missing and are unaccounted for. We’re running huge deficits and our entitlement programs are headed into bankruptcy through mismanagement. The same politicians who tell us we should elect them are responsible for this mess. They are part of the problem, not the solution. Only a seriously radical thinker is going to change course. There’s no one on the Democrat side like that except maybe Mike Gravel. And on the Republican side, its Paul.
Gravel isn’t resonating at all. I think its because a true conservative message (and not the swill they try to call conservativism today) is more appealing to the average person than the kind of radicalism lefties are interested in. All you have to do is look at the world to see that leftism leads to failed economies or, in the case of China and Russia, a swing back to capitalism to succeed.
I half expect the Paul movement to flame out in the primaries. Like Howard Dean did last election.
But you never know. He could surprise us.
He never said if we don’t fight wars, people will like us. He just said there are consequences for always meddling in others affairs - it makes problems worse. The CIA and the 9/11 commission both support what he said. In fact, so do the founding fathers.
Ron Paul is really, a last gasp for freedom, unfortunately the system has it’s fingers around our throats and enjoy squeezing.
If you really value liberty, support Dr. Paul.
Posted by on 11/06 at 05:34 PMI heard him say that in one of the debates.
Posted by on 11/06 at 07:22 PMRon Paul reminds me of the old saying: take a barrel of shit and add a cup of wine, and you have a barrel of shit. Take a barrel of wine and add a cup of shit and you have a barrel of shit. Paul is a barrel of wine with a cup of shit.
If you want someone who is as actual conservative to vote for, one that at least has a vaguely remote chance of being elected, Duncan Hunter is the guy. But Duncan is dead meat. We’ll be be picking from Thompson and Guiliani. That’s reality. Deal with it.Posted by on 11/07 at 03:46 AMRon Paul’s 18th-Century libertarianism...which is NOT a bad thing in and of itself...will NOT work at all in the 21st Century with Islamofascism breathing down our necks.
Posted by Macker on 11/07 at 05:42 AMMacker,
I more or less agree with that. However, I think Paul raises a lot of great points about the need for smaller government and so on.
Toren,
Romney is suddenly in the lead in a bunch of states, including the south, surprisingly. So Romney might be the one, who knows. I do think Paul is not going to get the nomination. No way. He may run as an independent after the primaries and be a spoiler. If he does that, it could seriously screw up the election. However, I have a feeling he would take more from the Dems than the Republicans.
Posted by on 11/07 at 07:46 AMJames-
I was wondering when you were going to bring up Ron Paul. For months I have been wondering why you paid him so little credence when his views (for the most part) link up with your more than any other candidate.
I think you bring up many valid points as do many of the responders here.
But I cant help feeling sad to the fact that any good candidate will be marginalized because they are not mainstream enough. (becuase the mainstream has deviated so far from what a good president should be) So we are stuck in a cycle of crappier and crappier leaders.
Either this trend will reach a breaking point, or we will end up breaking down our own country.
I hope that if his movement gains enough momentum, that some of you would consider supporting him instead of another plane-jane talking head.
Posted by on 11/07 at 10:00 AMTestify,
I understand your position. I sympathize. If he wins the nomination, I’d vote for him. If he were running as a third party candidate, I’d have to think about it.
I’m not afraid of radical change. Most people are. Which is why I think he won’t win. But I definitely think we need to change some things if we’re going to go in a positive direction. The whole nanny/security state thing is the biggest threat we have. Bigger than the terrorists by far.
Many people don’t realize this until its too late.
Posted by on 11/07 at 11:20 AMNo need to bore y’all with my views on Ron Paul, as I have stated such before, but I shall post a few commentaries for your perusal.
The American Republic Is In Remnant Status + Four
http://brocktownsend.forum5.com/viewtopic.php?t=1120&mforum=brocktownsendPosted by Brock Townsend on 11/07 at 01:33 PMComparing Ron Paul to a barrell of feces demonstrates excatly what is wrong with our education system. People have lost their capacity for critical reasoning, and respond like monkeys - flinging poo.
The US dealt with Islamic nuts in the first few decades of the Union. It is nothing new.
Hud is right - the loss of our freedoms is more perilous than the few thousand gangsters that call themselves ‘Al Queda.’
Ron Paul reflects a return to Freedom - something that I find very refreshing. We waste a HUGE amount of our life living with a system that treats us as it’s property rather than a service that operates at our pleasure.
I’m horrified that we find this acceptable.
Posted by on 11/07 at 07:06 PMI think what Toren was saying is the bad ideas Ron Paul believes in ruins the gestalt of him as a candidate.
I’m not so sure. But I do think that our biggest challenge is to not lose what makes this country great in an attempt to make it more secure. Or make people feel secure.
Bureaucrats and cops tend to over reach. Especially when they get too much power. They do this because they want to be heroes, but that kind of hubris leads to a lot of serious problems, which escalate.
Some politicians want to make the Patriot act permanent. It should never happen. I’m only interested in candidates who understand why it should not become permanent.
Posted by on 11/07 at 10:38 PM
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