Last Word on Ron Paul
By Bob Parks (12/20/07)
While I agree with some of Mr. Paul's positions, such as elimination of the Department of Education or the anchor baby magnet, there are some positions such as his belief that we should never intervene in the foreign crisis of others I find troubling. And let us not forget, that prior to Mr. Paul's position on immigration, those who support him today called Republicans "racists" and "xenophobes" when we brought up those same points.
Many of those who support Mr. Paul are the first to align themselves with George Clooney et al on the humanitarian crisis that is Darfur. Should the United States decide to get involved and help the people there, it would involve a military mission, as those committing the atrocities wouldn't just let us walk in and help out.
The very people who support Mr. Paul are always claiming to be the compassionate, specifically in their defense and support of Black people. I'll never forget the late Peter Jennings' numerous reports on the Rwanda refugee crisis and the urging for the US to help those poor people. The very people who support Mr. Paul, to this day, never criticize Bill Clinton for sending in our soldiers to aid in that crisis; a crisis in which we had no national security interests at all.
Those same people demanded we "do something" about the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, even though we had no national security interests there. But these people, under their newfound constitutionalism of Mr. Paul, would kick the people of Darfur to the curb. Or would they…?
Public pressure goes along with being the President of all people, not just Republicans, as Mr. Paul reminds us. Also, he'll need the support of the members of the Congress and Senate to get his ideas implemented. That's an ugly process. Will he take on the unions who support Democrats with the same zeal he attacks the war?
I also find it troubling that he takes the word of some like-minded, in some cases, short term former CIA agents who say that we are creating terrorists by our "occupation" in some Middle Eastern holy lands, while ignoring people like Frank Salvato and Dr. Daniel Pipes who document the intention of Islamo-fascists to kill everyone just because they're not Muslim. There's nothing in their rhetoric that says they'll leave us alone if we removed every single base from foreign territories.
France and Spain pulled out of Iraq. What did they get as thanks? Bombings. Great Britain has reduced their presence in Iraq. What did they get as thanks? Bombings.
I'd personally have more respect (which is earned, not demanded) for Mr. Paul if he ran as a libertarian. Some of his views are not compatible with those of today, and if not for him, many that support Mr. Paul would be aiming all their slings and arrows at Republicans because, for the most part, they're liberals.
What I'm looking forward to seeing is the vote count. Mr. Paul's supporters dismiss the polls because he registers around 4%, but I'll bet they'd be shouting from the mountaintops if he were in the mid-thirties. Depending on the state you live in, many of his supporters are going to have to do something they thought they'd burn in hell before doing: register as a Republican so they can vote for him. Whether or not that happens will be interesting to watch.
His supporters are passionate, but in some cases, are immature.
Getting in people's face is not the way to endear people to your perspective. Most of the time, we hear calls for honest debate. But the intolerance for alternative views, taught and tolerated, in colleges today will not work in the street, or America's dinner tables. Many people are put off from Mr. Paul more for the actions of his supporters who appear to be yesterday's liberals. Excuse me for having suspicions when today they insist we vote Republican.
Politics is not a fad.
Mr. Paul has some good smaller government ideas, some of which will meet stiff resistance on Capitol Hill. What will the Paulies do, flood the congressional and senate offices with angry, pushy, insulting phone calls? I thought these were the same people who believed in diplomacy?
As a student of politics, there are too many weird marriages taking place within the Paul phenomenon. When liberals are willing to call themselves Republicans, for at least the short term, especially after all they've said about our party for the last decade, pardon me for throwing up a red flag.
Bob Parks
http://www.intelradionetwork.com/OutsideTheWire/
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