Posted on 09/12/2007 7:21:50 AM PDT by presidio9
Amid a lineup of what ought to be called "big government conservatives," Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul stands out like the Lonesome End on Army's 1950s football teams.
Asked his policy on U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, the Texas congressman, now serving his 10th term, replies: "I would get them home as soon as possible."
And U.S. troops in Europe?
"I would get them home," Paul said in an interview Tuesday. "Having them stationed abroad doesn't serve our national interest, and that goes for forces in Japan and Korea.
"We should only send U.S. forces abroad when our security is directly threatened. Right now, nobody threatens our national security."
Such sentiments make Paul the odd man out in GOP debates. Other candidates have been seen smirking as he speaks.
Although described as a libertarian, the physician-politician is a throwback on stands that used to define "conservative" in America -- defense of individual liberties, a minimalist federal government and freedom from foreign entanglements.
"I call it a non-interventionist, constitutional foreign policy," he said Tuesday. "We should have a strong national defense. But we should stay out of other countries' internal affairs. Our role is not nation building, and not to be world policeman."
In Paul's view, the U.S. invasion of Iraq worked to encourage al-Qaida. "The motivation by suicide terrorists is that we have invaded territory that is not ours," he argued.
Paul will spend a hectic Friday in Seattle this week.
The events on his schedule range from a public lecture on the U.S. Constitution, set for 1:30 p.m. Friday at Seattle University's Campion Tower Ballroom, to a $2,000 private briefing scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the College Club. Then a $1,000-per-person reception at the Westin reception will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. rally in the Grand Ballroom.
If you missed the movie "Twister," the Republicans' 2008 field offers lots of blustery, changing winds. Mitt Romney has reversed past stands on abortion and gay rights. Fred Thompson is trying to explain how he gave legal advice to a pro-choice feminist group. The thrice-married Rudy Giuliani is seeking to court the religious right.
Paul is not a man for campaign conversions -- even on a week that takes him to three liberal West Coast cities.
"My message is exactly the same wherever I go," he said. "If it is a liberal city where I am speaking, I try to teach them the virtue of economic liberties. If it is a conservative religious town, I try to stress why individual liberties are important."
Paul was a lonely Republican vote against passage and reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act. He feels the landmark post-9/11 law violated the Fourth Amendment, which provides Americans with guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure of their property.
If elected, said Paul, "I would do everything I can to repeal it. ... We do not need to spy on the American people to provide for our national security."
Born in Pennsylvania, Paul served in the Air Force as a flight surgeon, and moved to Texas to practice obstetrics and gynecology near Houston. He was drawn to politics when President Nixon severed the connection between the dollar and gold in 1971.
He would radically downsize the federal government. "I don't think there is any need for the Department of Education, the Department of Energy or particularly the monstrous Department of Homeland Security," he said Tuesday.
Asked what role he sees for the federal government in education, Paul replied: "None. Nothing in the Constitution provides for a federal role."
Paul would seek to divest the federal government of its vast landholdings in the West. "I would always move in the direction of moving those lands to the states, except in special circumstances such as national parks."
The Paul campaign has taken in about $3 million as of midyear, a fraction of money raised by the Romney ($43.5 million) and Giuliani ($35.4 million) juggernauts. In the West, Paul registers among donation leaders only in Montana and Wyoming.
Yet, the physician-politician has become a hit on the Internet. He is the candidate of voters, left and right, who would otherwise fill in "None of the Above" on pollsters' questionnaires.
Paul relishes being apart from the field, especially in talking about two favorite subjects -- Iraq and individual liberties. Of Democrats, he said: "They were elected to do something last fall, and they've done nothing. They've identified themselves as the party of civil liberties, and done nothing."
Nor does Paul have any sympathy for Republican "conservatives" who stress economic liberty but see nothing wrong with a government that pushes around its citizens. "You cannot have a Supreme Court that protects economic liberties and not individual liberties," he said.
On assisted suicide, talking as a physician, Paul said: "Taking someone's life is not something I want to get involved in." Yet, he describes legalization as "a state issue."
"I don't support abortion, but I don't want to pass any federal law to regulate it," he added.
In Texas, it is possible to run simultaneously for Congress and president. Paul intends to file for re-election to his House seat.
Has he seen any other Republican candidate he could support for the White House? "So far, nobody," he replied.
Murder is not a proper focus of the federal government.
The constitution does not speak to pre-emptiveness in warmaking. If an undeclared war happens, be sure to let me know.
Except on federal property, Congress is NOT authorized to make murder a federal crime. If you believe otherwise, please provide the specific article and section which grants fedgov that authority. Read the provisions of the Tenth amendment before you go looking.
That explains it.. Ron Paul is a political Rorschach test .. people don't want to vote for Ron Paul, they want to vote for themselves.. that is why they all explain away what Paul says or does with their own views/belief...
Yeah, you GOP party hacks have been preaching gloom and doom on Paul's seat ever since he returned to Congress in 1997, even supporting RINOs against him. In TX, Paul can run for President and his Congressional seat simultaneously, so I'm sure he'll be assured of a job no matter what happens in the presidential race.
Goes both ways.
To them, Ron Paul is nothing short of the Anti-Christ...
Nope. Just very misguided on foreign policy to the point of being dangerous to the nation.
Fortunately, the web doesn’t transmit spittle or their posts would be as wet as the shirt of that idiot protestor who spent several minutes making a fool of himself.
Are you through spitting now?
Reasoned discussion?
Your stream of consciousness sounds the latest al Jazeera broadcast from bin Laden.
Huh? I haven't been preaching anything and especially anything about Ron Paul since 1997! Get a hold of yourself son.
Now that Ron Paul is "out of the closet" there is no way Texans in his district are going to reelect him... He's a MOONBAT!
You say paranoid like its a bad thing?? To think that this is not an internet campaign by the DNC is a bit naive. 3/4 of these people are in the HilaryCare HQ.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Don’t rush me, lib.
Call me a risk taker, but I predict he will not win the Presidency in 2008.
I disagree with your opinion that we have no alternative but to become the world’s policemen. And so do the American people. It’s the biggest electoral loser that I can think of.
Arte Johnson played by Ron Paul. Wonder if he still has that tricycle?
Whatever else he may be, he is not an enemy of the Constitution. I don't see any way I could support him, but I definitely like his insistence on following the plain language of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
why is it that the people who bray the loudest about defending the Constitution always adopt the arguments of the radical Anti-Federalists - the original sworn enemies of the US Constitution
The Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution because it didn't have a Bill of Rights. Thanks to the Massachusetts Compromise and other state ratification agreements, the Anti-Federalists achieved that goal, and we have benefited from their foresight ever since. If you think we would have been better off sticking with the original un-amended Constitution, feel free to say so explicitly, but don't expect to find much support here or anywhere else in the political spectrum.
-ccm
It’s not about elections, or what is “popular,” it’s about doing the right thing. And the world is safer because we are the world’s policeman, like it or not.
“Paul is not a man for campaign conversions...”
One of the best lines in the article.
Personally, I think you ought to name names or STFU.
Which FR posters are in the "HilaryCare HQ?"
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