Candidate Ron Paul: Quixotic, or the real deal?

Star Tribune ^ | May 19, 2007 | By Matt Stearns, McClatchy News Service

[svcw]

Those of you who know Ron Paul (and apparently everything he stands for regardless of what he says)...
question: is he as anti-Semetic as he seems?
Or is he just not a supporter of Israel?
Are these statements you read on the web out of context?

(Its not really aimed at you GWB, its just a general question.)

[George W. Bush]

question: is he as anti-Semetic as he seems?

Gee, is that a loaded question?

I suppose we consider it inevitable that Ron Paul would be accused of being antisemitic given that he opposes the continued transfer of income from America to Israel, Egypt, the Palestinians and any other foreign aid not directly related to the national security interests of the United States.

Probably all that remains will be for some of you to debate whether Ron Paul is more or less antisemitic than Hitler himself. Roar on.

[svcw]

No, no, no. I do not care about the rest of the middle east, what I want to know about is his support of Israel.
I have read “stuff” on the internet that clearly points to anti-Semeticsim.
What are his real views?
I address these question to those who know him beyond what’s posted on the net.

[The_Eaglet]

"I've advocated over the years the elimination of most big-government things I can't find in the Constitution," Paul said in an interview.

Thanks for posting this.

[The_Eaglet]

Paul On Immigration Reform... http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2007/05/19/ron-paul-on-immigration-reform/

Thanks for the link. It's a great plan.

[nyrenegade]

Ron Paul is quite the lightening rod around here!

My view is simple... is Paul for the invasion of our borders? Will he be against this heinous illegal tidal wave? He appears to be against it, so hoo-rah for that! No way to hate someone against the illegal travesty! And he’s in congress, so he can actually fight it!

As for the debate... sadly he gave ROOTY an opportunity - with an assist by Carl Cameron - to sound tough, when ROOTY is, in truth a giant, super-sized RINO (and a scary cross dresser as well - yikes! what an ugly woman Rooty makes!)

Ron Paul is for smaller government, getting the IRS off our backs, cutting down the welfare state.

I like and agree with those positions - I think any real conservative does.

I also like Duncan Hunter - who may have a real shot. Tancredo’s great, but the spotlight seems to freak him out. Huchabee didn’t sound bad either, maybe he could do it. Fred (if he declares) is certainly better than the “anointed 3.”

The “anointed 3” make me extremely nervous. McCain is a sellout of monstrous proportions, Rooty is a crafty liar (endorsed by the liberal party in NY), and Romney might just being saying whatever is necessary. The Neo-Con machine has anointed the top 3, which is interesting in itself - it means they all must be willing to do what the machine wants. Which has GOT to be bad for real americans.

Anyway - I think immigration is the make or break deal - if that bill passes - all other arguments are moot (<— meaning “pointless)

[GOPlibertarian]

What kind of a question is that? Ron equally opposes aid to Israel, Egypt, Palestine, etc. just as poster GWB pointed out. Ron has many Jewish supporters; his favorite economists are Jewish. In the 20 years I have known Ron Paul I have never heard or read anything of the sort.

I really, really don’t know why this has to be pointed out - opposition to foreign aid does not make one anti-Semitic, just as opposing aid to Togoland does not make one anti-Togolese.

[cva66snipe]

BUMP

[dcwusmc]

The “Banana Wars” were interventions by the U.S. (using the Marine Corps) in several Central American countries and in Haiti and the Dominican Republic during the 1920s. These shameful interventions were largely done to protect the interests of the powerful fruit importing countries, hence the name. There were some real abuses going on, which were “corrected,” but at a horrendous price in ill-will generated by the U.S. against us and anything American... something we still face today in places down there. Major General Smedley Butler, USMC, retired, had some very apt comments about the situation after he retired from the Corps.

[Victor_VI]

That said, how does Ron Paul square his support of the libertarian platform (he did run for president on such) that supports open borders and his current opposition to illegal immigration?

I don't know what he supported when he ran on the Libertarian ticket. And despite the official LP platform, at least half of the candidates that I'm aware of running on the ticket don't support open borders, either. Of course, this is nothing new, few Republicans or Democrats 100% support their official party platform, either. Platforms typically represent the consensus views of a party, not necessarily the views of each individual member.

I'd also point out that, while open borders is a plank in the LP platform, and some libertarians subscribe to that view, it actually has a rather dubious libertarian lineage. No serious libertarian thinker that I'm aware of, i.e. Rothbard, Hoppe, Hayek, Friedman, von Mises, et al., was an advocate of it.

Does Paul still support privitization of highways, police forces, fire departments? I think this is a critical question in case Paul does get the nomination in the same sense that any number of people are challenging other candidates to justify their current positions on gun control, abortion, etc., with their past positions.

To the best of my knowledge Paul's position on those issues has been a federalist one; he thinks those should be decided by the states rather than the federal government. I have no recollection of his advocating privatization of those services (I could be mistaken), but his position is apparently how those are funded should be at the discretion of the states, not a matter for the federal government. I'm not exactly a hard-core libertarian, either (more of a paleo-con/libertarian hybrid), so I'm probably not the best source for that information.

[DreamsofPolycarp]

You lie.

[DreamsofPolycarp]

You're so . . . fretful.

Took a "frothy" moment to comment on how....vapid...your comments are.

Howlingly yours, DoP