Many of us owe Ron Paul an apology including me. He was right and I was wrong. I thought his predictions about the intel state and the inevitable abuses were wrong.
They were 100% correct. Ironically, part of my disdain for his predictions were that he was in agreement with many liberal journalists, pundits, and even the ACLU. Once those entities figured out that the intel state could further their agenda they did a 180.
Give Bernie Sanders his due too. I believe he has voted against the Patriot Act every single time.
The intel state we have built is gargantuan and as some predicted they are increasingly turning inward to look at our fellow citizens instead of “foreign threats”. The fact that they built the “Five Eyes” apparatus to do this “legally” should offend every citizen of the participating nations including us.
And yet recently, he has voted for every Ukraine-war funding act put in front of him.
I love pointing this out to my hippie/leftist relatives.