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Why Are Ron Paul's Followers So Touchy?
Townhall..com ^ | January 2, 2012 | Michael Brown

Posted on 01/02/2012 12:19:23 PM PST by Kaslin

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To: who_would_fardels_bear

Actually, it is especially here on FR.

They get much more respect, err less disrespect at World Nut Daily or Little Green Footballs etc.
Places to the right of DU, but still pandering to hedonism.

I am okay if they move their activism there.


81 posted on 01/02/2012 1:58:03 PM PST by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Psalm 144
Anytime that Ron Paul's name is brought up on FR several Freepers regularly chime in that he is a 'loon' or 'kook' or 'crazed nutjob'. They also claim that he is a 'racist' and an 'anti-semite'.

If by some miracle Ron Paul were the Republican candidate going against Obama, then these Freepers would have to make a decision:

Would they rather have Obama, who is most likely sane, or Ron Paul, whom they claim is totally insane, as president?

Would they rather have Obama, who may be incompetent and ideologically skewed but is generally considered at least moderately intelligent, or someone who is so damned stupid as to be a racist and anti-semite as president?

I am virtually certain that Ron Paul will not be the Republican nominee. If he is, however, I will be glad to vote for him rather than Obama. I am as certain that he is not a loon or a racist or an anti-semite, as I am certain that he will not be the nominee.

Fortunately for those Freepers that claim that Paul is a lunatic and a dunce they will most likely not have to consider whether such a person is preferable to Obama.

Personally I believe that libertarianism is a fatally flawed ideology. Ron Paul, as many have noted, is not a libertarian purist. He is a politician, after all. Also, he would have to work with a decidedly non-libertarian congress. This might actually be a good synergy.

The biggest compaint against Paul is that he wouldn't go to war to keep nukes out of the hands of the Iranians. He has gone on record as supporting the congress's right to declare war. I'm certain that if the congress felt we needed to go to war to keep nukes out of the hands of the Iranians, then Paul would prosecute the war in a manner that would achieve success. He wouldn't like it, but he would see it as his job as chief executive to execute the will of Congress.

82 posted on 01/02/2012 2:01:11 PM PST by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: traderrob6

Arguing, no.. reasonable debating yes. I learn well by defending, sometimes unsuccessfully, my own views. I just hope we return to sanity and rational thinking after the debate.. if we have free access to internet forums like FR. Thanks for the wise advice.


83 posted on 01/02/2012 2:01:46 PM PST by momincombatboots (Back to West by G-d Virginia.)
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To: svcw

Thank you. Watched the whole interview from start to finish, and Ron Paul did not even come close to saying Ronald Reagan was a “failure who makes Carter look like a conservative.” Yet one more wholly unsubstantiated asssertion about Ron Paul. But that’s okay. I’m getting used to it.


84 posted on 01/02/2012 2:11:40 PM PST by Fester Chugabrew (let establishment heads explode)
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To: FreeInWV; mnehring

Wow, but not surprised.
You challenged mnehring to show a source that Paul said Reagan was a failure, provided the link and you agree with Paul. sigh


85 posted on 01/02/2012 2:13:11 PM PST by svcw (For the new year: you better toughen up, if you are going to continue to be stupid.)
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To: Fester Chugabrew

I never mentioned Carter.
I showed you the link that Paul said Reagan was a failure, and that is what he said.


86 posted on 01/02/2012 2:14:51 PM PST by svcw (For the new year: you better toughen up, if you are going to continue to be stupid.)
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To: MrEdd
"but still pandering to hedonism"

I've been on lots of threads with libertarians and I don't see the libertarians on FR as being particularly hedonistic.

There have been no calls for public nudity, wife-swapping, dope smoking, etc.

I suppose one can claim that opposition to the War On Drugs is 'hedonistic', but that would be simplistic. There are many non-pot-smoking, non-coke-snorting citizens that oppose the War On Drugs for various non-hedonistic reasons.

Of course if you are able to read their minds and know that tens of thousands of pages of thoughtful commentary, statistics, and historical data opposing the War On Drugs is just cover for their nefarious plans to turn the USA into a druggy paradise then that is another thing entirely.

87 posted on 01/02/2012 2:14:56 PM PST by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: svcw

“Ron Paul is to the Constitution as Fred Phelps is to the Bible.”

- - - -
Ouch and true.


88 posted on 01/02/2012 2:17:40 PM PST by reaganaut (Romney IS Obama - just 'white and delightsome' 2 Nephi 30:6)
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To: mnehring

Okay. Thank you. I have to agree that, insofar as Ronald Reagan failed to implement a reduction in government, he was a failure. The conservative idea is “smaller government.” Get it? Not a government slowly gowing bigger. Get it? Or is that another “koncept for kooks?”


89 posted on 01/02/2012 2:20:51 PM PST by Fester Chugabrew (let establishment heads explode)
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To: Kaslin

“Why Are Ron Paul’s Followers So Touchy?”

Tinfoil chafes their scalps.


90 posted on 01/02/2012 2:21:15 PM PST by Proud2BeRight
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To: who_would_fardels_bear
Fortunately for those Freepers that claim that Paul is a lunatic and a dunce they will most likely not have to consider whether such a person is preferable to Obama.

Correct. A reflection of the fact the Republicans, through the primary process, are not as accepting of fools who associate with bigots and criminals as Democrats. I acknowledge the dem choice wasn't as clear, but none of the other GOP candidates approach Paul in that context.

91 posted on 01/02/2012 2:22:14 PM PST by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn't do !)
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To: Fester Chugabrew

Then you have to blame Paul as well as he was in Congress during that time and he failed to do anything. (remember where these bill start). At that, Paul has failed to do anything, ever. He is just the joker who sits around and talks, talks, talks, but never accomplishes.

Can you imagine hiring a CEO for a company and getting the guy who never actually accomplished anything but made a lot of proclamations. This is 1000 times worse.


92 posted on 01/02/2012 2:29:24 PM PST by mnehring
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To: svcw
I never mentioned Carter.
I showed you the link that Paul said Reagan was a failure, and that is what he said.

The association with Carter is what prompted me to request a source. It was not your association, but another persons' who has since said, "oops." And yes, Reagan failed to shrink government. Are you proud of that or something?

93 posted on 01/02/2012 2:29:29 PM PST by Fester Chugabrew (let establishment heads explode)
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To: Kaslin
Because they don't know how to ignore the hostility thrown at Ron Paul and them. They and he still have thin skins, which is natural given how many vested interests in government Ron Paul threatens.

It's a stage that every new political movement goes through: every one of them. Of course, the thin-skinedness in my movement is perfectly justified :)

Only time heals. For example, the Objectivists were notorious for being very thin-skinned in the 1950s and '60s. Some of them still are, but others have learned to let the hostility to Ayn Rand roll off their backs. Some actually laugh.

Ron Paul himself is somewhat thin-skinned because he's had to face a lot of crap throughout his life. Every old libertarian, or quasi-libertarian, has.

It makes me wonder: Paul said that this campaign will be his last. He'll be gone, but the movement will continue. I wonder what it would be like once they find a new leader. If they can find one with a thicker skin, they might calm down.

Another reason why Paul supporters tend to be thin-skinned is that they don't have the "historically inevitable" tranquillizer that the Marxists had. Many of them are partial to doomsaying, which implies that the current historical trend is against (not for) them. If they become convinced, through whatever means, that the libertarian future is "inevitable" - then, they'd calm down.

94 posted on 01/02/2012 2:33:33 PM PST by danielmryan
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To: Skip Ripley
I know I’d be a bit touchy if my candidate (if I had one) was off handedly dismissed as a nut w/o explanation.

Perhaps you don't spend as much time on FR as I do, but there are tons of threads posted, wherein Ron Paul's lunatic positions have been discussed in great detail.

So much so, in fact, that the community as a whole is passed the point of delineating them again at every mention of his name.

95 posted on 01/02/2012 2:34:00 PM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: mnehring

When it comes to increasing goverment business and busybodies, I have absolutely no problem with someone in there who has “failed” and who promises to continue to fail. Ron Paul: I hope he fails [to increase the size and scope of federal government]. It’s hard swatting off the leaches and lemmings clinging to the federal teat. What have you done to help? Voted for anyone who’s brought about smaller government lately?


96 posted on 01/02/2012 2:34:34 PM PST by Fester Chugabrew (let establishment heads explode)
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To: Leep
Libertarians and Liberals are...



97 posted on 01/02/2012 2:40:46 PM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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98 posted on 01/02/2012 2:42:30 PM PST by RedMDer (Forward With Confidence!)
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To: Fester Chugabrew

So you rip Reagan for ‘failing’ but you praise Paul for ‘failing’ to do the same thing you (and he) ripped Reagan for.

Me thinks you have stopped chugging brew and switched to kool aid a long time ago.


99 posted on 01/02/2012 2:42:49 PM PST by mnehring
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To: Skip Ripley

I think the first 10 posts answer the question pretty eloquently.


100 posted on 01/02/2012 2:44:51 PM PST by DManA
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