By MANIFESTO JOE
Yes, the late Molly Ivins dubbed him "Congressman Clueless." Yes, he's a radical libertarian who would have the U.S. go back to that unregulated capitalist utopia of 1906, when a third of Americans lived in unmitigated poverty and Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was published.
But he's actually making the most sense of all 10 hapless hopefuls for the Republican presidential nomination. Of course, he hasn't got a chance to win one delegate.
He's Texas' own Ron Paul, longtime congressman and one-time Libertarian Party candidate for president (1988).
Predictably, he's not being depicted well by the Mainstream Media. But, let's let the congressman's words stand on their own, with minimal spin. This is from one of the recent GOP debates, regarding 9/11 and the Mideast situation:
PAUL: Have you ever read the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there; we've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East -- I think Reagan was right.
We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. So right now we're building an embassy in Iraq that's bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting. We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us. (Applause.)
[...]
PAUL: I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it, and they are delighted that we're over there because Osama bin Laden has said, "I am glad you're over on our sand because we can target you so much easier." They have already now since that time -- [bell rings] -- have killed 3,400 of our men, and I don't think it was necessary.
[...]
PAUL: I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the shah, yes, there was blowback. A reaction to that was the taking of our hostages and that persists. And if we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think that we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred, then we have a problem.
They don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free. They come and they attack us because we're over there. I mean, what would we think if we were -- if other foreign countries were doing that to us?
Congressman Paul, despite himself, was pretty articulate, and raised points that have been unheard of in Republican Party discourse for decades -- for example, the long-range stupidity of the 1953 CIA coup in Iran.
Predictably, the MSM are dog-piling on him. Joe Klein of Time writes of a "singular moment of weirdness." But Media Matters for America points out that Paul's points were supported by the official 9/11 report.
Paul for president? Nope. But I'm happy he's in the race and telling at least some of it like it is.
Manifesto Joe is an underground writer living in Texas. Check out his blog at Manifesto Joe's Texas Blues.
News and opinion with a progressive viewpoint.
it's scary when busybody control freaks (e.g., you) imply they're sane and ron paul isn't.
ReplyDeleteIn the debate, Ron Paul was the only candidate who dealt with hard facts, not empty feel-good slogans when he talked about Iraq and the reasons for 9/11. But hard facts and uncomfortable truths are not what gets you elected in 21st Century presidential campaigns.
ReplyDeleteToo many American's have recieved their propaganda imposed history from corrupted, censored textbooks covering up treason from within the American Republic.
ReplyDeleteRon Paul has widespread popular support.
As a lifelong Republican, I've found the Republican Party Establishment at the top (not the grass roots) sell us out. Alan Keyes who ran in 1996, and 2000 was awesome. However, in 1996 the GOP traitors had him arrested when he arrived at one Debate, the debate went on without him. No charges, for he was innocent, but merely a stall tactic to keep him out of view until the debate ended. Alan Keyes was speaking the traditional platform of abolishing the Marxist graudated income tax and the Federal Reserve.
You sorry suckers who think that G. W. Bush is conservative are idiots. True Conservatives find Ron Paul the man who stands with the platform---and more importantly the US Constitution---with not one other candidate of either party remotly coming close to him.
More Americans should join Rudy Giuliani in a history Lesson from Dwight Eisenhower's Secretary of Agriculture (who today Sean Hannity and other non-conservatives would love to smear), as well as Dr. W. Cleon Skousen, best selling author, and true conservative, of "The Naked Communist and "The Naked Capitalist."
http://www.awakeandarise.org/article/Giuliani.htm
Hi, saltypig:
ReplyDeleteHad a look at your site, and can genuinely see where you're coming from. I'm a recovering libertarian. I can still admire the style of it, which is one reason I wanted to pay semi-tribute to Ron Paul here. But I've had a lot of working-class experiences that changed my view. As a youth, I used to buy into Paul's economic views, the old Ludwig Von Mises Society, Von Hayek stuff. It all sounds very noble, rugged individualism and the like, at first. Later I perceived it as essentially a way to turn humans into a commodity, to be bought, sold, and frequently discarded in the marketplace. It's a great irony -- economic "liberty" of this kind tends to work only for the few and at great expense for the many. The majority of us, try as we may to arrange things another way, end up working for somebody else. We are "free," as it were, to change masters. It's a system that, to me, when unregulated becomes an ironic tyranny of property that makes sense only if you regard the vast majority of humanity as expendable trash, to be routinely walked over and perhaps tossed a few scraps off the bountiful table.
I probably distrust big government more than you think; but if you are willing to entrust your future to the tender mercies of big business, I would think again. "Big government" is indeed dangerous, but unfortunately it's the only entity powerful enough to pit against the stunningly dangerous monoliths that multinational corporations have become.
This has probably been a waste of my time, but I like at least trying to explain to libertarians why I can no longer be one of them. Anyway, I find people like Ron Paul hopeless stuck being actors for 19th Century Fox, but I'm expressing admiration for him having the courage of his convictions.
Heavens, it just wouldn't do for the American people to understand their own history! Just wouldn't do at all!
ReplyDeleteDemocracy, freedom, and stuff like that, that's all you're s'posed to say. 9/11!
GIVE UP YOUR FREEDOM FOR SECURITY ---
ReplyDeleteAND YOU CAN BE SURE TO LOSE BOTH
The terrorists are NOT who you think they are:
Secret Service create the terror, to bring in the new world order
- NO TO GLOBAL DICTATORSHIP !!!!
PaCmAn.pt.vu