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Is Ron Paul really so crazy? (townhall)
Townhall.com ^ | 10/23/07 | Jason Wharton

Posted on 10/24/2007 12:03:08 PM PDT by traviskicks

Is Ron Paul crazy for his position on the war and for criticizing our nation's foreign policy? Many believe this to be the case. But, might we be mischaracterizing Ron Paul by over simplifying or clouding the issues? A much closer examination based on facts and sound principles is in order. In the end I will conclude that Ron Paul is indeed crazy. Sorry to spoil it for you.

There are many things in his favor. To answer pressing questions of our time, Ron Paul relies on historical facts many American's are ignorant of. He isn't afraid to reveal clandestine operations and interventions motivated out of our national self-interest or special-interests that have had detrimental results to other peoples in the world.

He is even bold enough to admit there is a tendency on the part of government to cover-up things to maintain a façade that we are always on moral high-ground in the world. Some see in him a rare privilege to have a candidate step forward with a willingness to reveal these inconvenient truths while others choose to characterize him as a “Blame America First” fringe candidate and dismiss the possibility that he could be on to something.

Ron Paul's tendency towards transparency on these matters is at the root of why he is being attacked and marginalized because there is so much denial due to various forms of conditioning of people's opinions. Some people simply can't accept the reality that we are not always angelic and beneficial to others in the world as we were taught in grade school but this is an area where a reality check is definitely in order.

For example, who is it that "radicalized" Islam to fight against the Russians? We did! We created Osama Bin Laden. We created and installed Sadaam Hussein. We have been purposely destabilizing numerous regions and have and are causing all kinds of malice and strife among nations. Could Al Qaeda actually be like Frankenstein’s Monster? Do we really want to tamper so frivolously with the Law of the Harvest as we have been for decades? We deserve to know the facts as a self-governing nation so that We the People can make the best decisions. It’s our responsibility to search them out.

Ron Paul’s popularity is because there are many who are hungry for answers that make sense of all they see going on in the world who don't buy the idea that we are hated because we are rich and free. These people want the truth and are willing to accept the truth of our nation’s imperfections, even if they are unintended consequences of well-meaning actions. Inevitably, this is the crowd who is willing to face up to the reality this implies and to seek to make the world a better place in as peaceful manner as possible. Does this sound insane to you?

Ron Paul’s impeccable record of public and private conduct gives him a very rare position to speak on all matters of his platform without hypocrisy; especially where Constitutional matters are concerned. Coupled with his obvious absence of guile when he speaks he is greatly enlarging the soul of this nation. He is the heart of a much needed revolution to put aside shaping this world through force and control and replacing it with going back to setting a good example and using persuasion and friendship instead, reserving force of arms strictly for self-defense as a last resort only. Is this crazy?

Ron Paul sees Iran as acting in a very logical manner based on what he knows of the history and current events. He recognizes all we are doing to engender strife and conflict and sees how it is coming back to haunt us as countries seek to defend themselves against our policies of aggression. He sees how the continuation and escalation of these failing policies of our past will simply make our national security more threatened. There is an excellent video hosted by TownHall.com where Ron Paul talks about this: Video Link

I am eager to hear other's perspectives and see if I can discern any blind spots or failings in Ron Paul's platform but so far nobody has prevailed against him. Bill O'Reilley’s attempt was miserable because he refused historical facts and valid parallels to be examined to establish a reasoned perspective. Please watch this video: Video Link

There was a post here on TownHall.com by Phil Harris on 10/23/07 where he says that Ron Paul is giving a prescription for disaster but Phil also failed to convince me. In fact, Phil convinced me all the more that Ron Paul's detractors are the ones prescribing the path to disaster. The path Phil promoted is nothing short of an all-out full scale escalation of war with the defined goal to utterly and totally subdue the Islamic people based on the notion that the Islamic people simply want Israel and the USA exterminated from the planet. He promotes the idea that we either annihilate them pre-emptively or they will annihilate us. He leaves no room for any other scenario in his perspective. In either case he promotes there is certain disaster so by his own admission he is the one issuing the prescription of disaster, not Ron Paul.

This kind of over simplification is a brainwashing tactic that tries to get people to think they are helpless and without alternatives while they accuse their opponent of exactly what they themselves are guilty of. Reasoning from a fear-based viewpoint tends to exhibit this kind of contracted and self-accusing thinking and those doing it are knowingly or unknowingly acting as an agent for those who stand to benefit from the war and destruction this mentality will assure. Phil acts as if we are totally powerless to effect real solutions that will avert the death and destruction an all out world conflict would cause. Thanks to having Ron Paul on the stage we get to hear valid alternatives even if they sound crazy to some.

There is a better way but it involves us humbling ourselves as a nation and repenting of our evils we have perpetrated and forgiving the evils that have been perpetrated against us. The world overall will be a much better place by abiding by these principles and trusting in our Creator who gave us these principles with the promise that “eternal life” comes to all who abide by them. This is Ron Paul's platform and it will save this nation, not sacrifice it.

With all the advances in technology we had better evolve as a people before we self-destruct and render our precious planet uninhabitable in our foolish pride and fears born of false assumptions. Could the “eternal life” spoken of in the Bible actually be referring to the set of principles we must collectively live by in order to avoid a conflict to such a point that this planet is rendered unable to accommodate our presence? This question deserves our most serious and sincere consideration. The last person we want in front of "the button" is a myopic fear-based person who is prone to shoot first and ask questions later.

Our current mentality insists that we have to force and sculpt global conditions to stamp out any potential threat pre-emptively as if there is no Creator watching over and protecting this nation. Unfortunately, this is the very mentality that will cause us to become unworthy of divine protection and we will be left to our own strength and devices and we will become considered as “salt that has lost its savor” and we will end up “trodden under the foot of men”. This is universal law in my book.

I implore everyone to set aside some time to do some sincere and humble research into this issue and even make it a matter of prayer/meditation and fasting. I challenge everyone to assure you are not taking this responsibility to chose our Commander in Chief lightly. I challenge all to step up and articulate their position that strikes against the establishment's headlong plunge of our nation into an abyss of death and destruction as Phil, not Ron Paul, is prescribing.

And, as I promised, I do sincerely conclude that yes, Ron Paul is crazy. He is taking on a very powerful group that have patiently endeavored for generations to acquire the positions of power they control and Ron Paul is courageously standing up and giving our nation an opportunity to wake up and keep this nation a free country governed by We the People. The adversary of our freedom is only authorized to sieze the power we willingly lay down. If we don't wisely govern ourselves the default governance imposes a loss of our liberties and we only have ourselves to blame. There is nothing to fear when we seek with all our hearts, might, mind and strength to be responsible and passionate about maintaining our liberties. Darkness cannot abide the light.

This is a very defining moment in our nation's history. All Americans should do a reality check on Ron Paul before dismissing him. We as a nation of self-governance must be willing to stand up and accept the responsibility to be vigilant in preserving our individual liberties and champion those who take the lead, crazy though they are for doing it.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 3percent3percent; 3percentcantbewrong; 911wasaninsidejob; abandoniraq; blameamerica; bushliedpeopledied; conspiracykooks; fleetfootedblacks; googlecodepink; googletallstupid; hillarywantspauln08; kissmyasspaulites; leaveiraqnow; letjihadreign; losethewarisaplan; muslimvotes4paul; noblood4oil; nutburger; paulcankissmyass; paulestinians; paulsnutbrigade; peaceispatriotic; peaceissubmission; ronkissmyass; ronpaul; ronpaulkissmyass; sharialaw4you; shrimpboatcaptain; stupidisasstupidsez; submit2jihad; surgeofstupidity; terroristsforpaul; thestupidparty; threepercent; truthers; ummahwantsronpaul; wedontneedoil; wevegot3percentwoo
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To: traviskicks
Ron Paul

"He's Out of Iraq...and Out of his mind"
121 posted on 10/24/2007 4:08:25 PM PDT by Sadecki
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To: NeilGus

“Ok I’ll bite.

Ron Paul considered.....

Ron Paul dismissed.”

Neil, you forgot the other part of your saying. “We nominate a socialist to continue down the happy path of socialism that the Republican Party is 50% responsible for creating. No problem.”
Go ahead, dispute it. I dare you. In fact, I double dog dare you.


122 posted on 10/24/2007 4:34:36 PM PDT by the tongue
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To: redgolum
My point is that Paul is advocating the same policies he is slamming.

Well, not precisely. But I won't argue it.

And yes, we should send all the mercs out of Iraq (and yes the Blackwater boys are mercs).

But our efforts would collapse there without them. It is strange to let Blackwater bill us on a cost-plus basis and cherry-pick our most valuable veterans and then charge us $60,000-$180,000 per year for them. Generally, I think we should forbid U.S. citizens from fighting in mercenary units or serving as foreign police. Britain got into a lot of mischief over this decades back too.

Maybe we should just pay our troops better, recruit an adequate level of soldiers to meet our needs. If we stay in Iraq or plan to invade Iran (God forbid), we should have about 100,000 more soldiers. OTOH, if we bring our troops home from around the world, we could do just fine with our current levels of troops, maybe even a slight reduction in numbers.

We've spread ourselves too thin around the world. 700 bases is just ridiculous. We shouldn't be garrisoning the entire world and behaving like the old colonial empires.
123 posted on 10/24/2007 5:02:23 PM PDT by George W. Bush (Apres moi, le deluge.)
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To: americanophile; traviskicks
Saddam came to power by coup, how did we install him?

We funded the authors of the coup and backed Hussein to replace the Soviet puppet it/he removed. Look it up.

124 posted on 10/24/2007 5:07:01 PM PDT by NCSteve (I am not arguing with you - I am telling you. -- James Whistler)
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To: George W. Bush

Didn’t the former empires collect taxes or extract some sort of tribute from their “subjects”?


125 posted on 10/24/2007 5:07:34 PM PDT by listenhillary (millions crippled by the war on poverty....but we won't pull out)
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To: Rick.Donaldson
...stating that we got hit on 9-11 because of Iraq 10 years earlier, he went over the top.

At first, he didn't. In that first debate, he said formulating a foreign policy without examining why they hate us was stupid. I actually agree with that much.

It was when he started calling for a pullout, siding with Kookcinich, and pandering to the anti-war crowd that he lost me.

We didn't start this crap in the ME. We don't deserve to be struck out at by radicals in other countries just because we are trying to do business with their neighbors. We have a MORAL IMPERATIVE TO DEFEND OURSELVES.

If Dr. Paul doesn't agree with the above paragraph, then I have no further use for him no matter how laudable the rest of his stances are.

126 posted on 10/24/2007 5:19:09 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
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To: listenhillary
Didn’t the former empires collect taxes or extract some sort of tribute from their “subjects”?

The Muslims for Ron Paul folk you quoted earlier get into that.

The only so-called clash between Jews and Muslims occurred in recent history when the West created it. Before that, we coexisted in peace. In fact, there was even a time when Muslims RULED OVER Jews and Christians. Under this rule the Jews were so well accepted in society that Jewish religious, cultural, and economic life blossomed. This time period has been coined the Golden Age for Jewish culture.

And the Jews and Christians paid the Jizyah (dhimmi tax), as they should today.

Makes you heartsick for the 9th century, doesn't it.

127 posted on 10/24/2007 5:19:48 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: traviskicks

The guy is ignorant and is running with leftist-agitprop and calling it conservatism .


128 posted on 10/24/2007 5:20:01 PM PDT by rmlew (Build a wall, attrit the illegals, end the anchor babies, Americanize Immigrants)
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To: SJackson

“And the Jews and Christians paid the Jizyah (dhimmi tax), as they should today. “

I’d appreciate your explaination of this statement. You’re saying we should submit to the muslims?


129 posted on 10/24/2007 5:24:05 PM PDT by listenhillary (millions crippled by the war on poverty....but we won't pull out)
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To: traviskicks
Ron Paul is a 'crazy' magnet!
130 posted on 10/24/2007 5:27:54 PM PDT by airborne (Proud to be a conservative! Proud to support Duncan Hunter for President!)
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To: listenhillary
Didn’t the former empires collect taxes or extract some sort of tribute from their “subjects”?

The means vary. The British forbid us to manufacture, one of the real causes of the American Revolution. They wanted us and their other colonies to be exporters of raw materials to them or others with them as the transport medium. Control of trade is very important.

The British were finding it somewhat unprofitable so they tried minor taxes like the tea tax and the Stamp Act. Resentment that we were being taxed without any members in England's Parliament is why we so hate "taxation without representation". I really really hate it. LOL. Anyway, the upshot was that we discovered that it was much much more expensive to pay to defend ourselves than the minor taxes the British tried to collect on stamps and tea. Of course, had we tolerated those first taxes, they would have escalated.

Control of trade, securing our resources (some of which happen to be unfairly located under Arab sands), control of markets (including labor markets), and emerging tech countries are the high-stakes chips in the current poker game. GATT and NATO and even the U.N. occasionally are just part of the mechanism.

A lot of people misunderstand how this works. The ordinary people in many countries resent this arrangement, often exploited by demagogues seeking to gain political power. But the elites in the various countries are generally supportive of this international order because it is in their personal interest to do so. And nature does abhor a vacuum. The British empire filled this role before we did, making the sea lanes safe, providing steady supplies of raw materials and manufactured goods and promoting the advance of science. When the old empires collapsed after WW II, we and the Soviets competed for influence. Then they fell apart and we are the last empire, never having planned to be one to begin with. Well, at least not as a national policy goal that our citizens embrace. It's the whole world policeman/nation-building thing along with being the engine of world trade.

Moving towards the positions that Ron Paul advocates would not entirely change this. But the role of world police and nation-builders would diminish considerably. Unless you're a person who believes we have to hold the world hostage at the point of a gun, it's worth considering whether we should consider changing our direction.
131 posted on 10/24/2007 5:34:39 PM PDT by George W. Bush (Apres moi, le deluge.)
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To: SJackson
And the Jews and Christians paid the Jizyah (dhimmi tax), as they should today.

Aha. So is your proposed dhimmi tax a flat tax and is it indexed to the rate of inflation?

I won't pay your dhimmi tax! LOL.
132 posted on 10/24/2007 5:39:07 PM PDT by George W. Bush (Apres moi, le deluge.)
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To: George W. Bush

“And nature does abhor a vacuum.”

Has the vacuum ceased to exist? Or should we still be concerned with what fills that vacuum?


133 posted on 10/24/2007 5:39:59 PM PDT by listenhillary (millions crippled by the war on poverty....but we won't pull out)
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To: listenhillary
Just because we bring our forces home doesn't mean we have to give up those bases. Most of them are on very long term leases.

Many of our policy goals would be easier to accomplish if we didn't have so many bases right in these people's faces.

Naturally, we should be an arsenal of democracy and should supply arms, training, technology and access to our markets to freedom-loving nations. And we should defund and expel the dictator-coddling United Nations.
134 posted on 10/24/2007 5:51:31 PM PDT by George W. Bush (Apres moi, le deluge.)
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To: George W. Bush

I’m ready for a new asociation of countries that allow a decent level of freedom as a condition of membership. Free Nation Alliance to replace the United Nations?


135 posted on 10/24/2007 5:56:26 PM PDT by listenhillary (millions crippled by the war on poverty....but we won't pull out)
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To: listenhillary
I’d appreciate your explaination of this statement. You’re saying we should submit to the muslims? No, you quoted earlier from http://muslimsvoteronpaul.com/. They seem to be implying that.

Note the beginning of their policy statement, my bold.

Just to make it clear in response to a load of e-mails I've received, Jews are our cousins and brothers in faith. Just because Israel is a terrorist state does not mean Muslims are anti-semetic for denouncing it as a corrupt US-backed Zionist entity. Zionists are not all Jewish by the way.

The only so-called clash between Jews and Muslims occurred in recent history when the West created it. Before that, we coexisted in peace. In fact, there was even a time when Muslims RULED OVER Jews and Christians. Under this rule the Jews were so well accepted in society that Jewish religious, cultural, and economic life blossomed. This time period has been coined the Golden Age for Jewish culture. Read more about it here.

Their ideal, 8th to 10th century Spain, was a time when Muslims ruled Christians and Jews, their inferiors, the jizya, of course, was universally applied.

Myself, if I were a politician, I'd reject this support.

136 posted on 10/24/2007 6:28:43 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: George W. Bush
Aha. So is your proposed dhimmi tax a flat tax and is it indexed to the rate of inflation?...I won't pay your dhimmi tax! LOL.

Check with Muslims for Ron Paul, the 8th to 10th century, Muslim rule over Christians and Jews, is their ideal, not mind. Generally it was applied as a head tax, but I'm sure they'll be flexible.

Israel is a terrorist state, a corrupt US/Zionist creation. And not all Zionists are Jews, take that you warmongering right wing Christians.

And go, Ron, go.

Why should YOU vote for Ron Paul?

Assalaamu Alaikum Brothers and Sisters,

You can help by sharing and sending this note to all the Muslims you know as well as by registering as a Republican and voting for Ron Paul in the Republican primaries in your state. Here's why: Muslims have an unique window of opportunity for the 2008 election. There is a candidate running as a Republican that would work to completely cut off the funding to Israel, remove ALL US troops from Arab lands, and repeal the Patriot Act. He's a Republican with Libertarian views


137 posted on 10/24/2007 6:32:58 PM PDT by SJackson (every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, none to make him afraid,)
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To: SJackson

I see where you are coming from. Sorry that I assumed it was your statement of belief.


138 posted on 10/24/2007 7:48:36 PM PDT by listenhillary (millions crippled by the war on poverty....but we won't pull out)
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To: SJackson
And not all Zionists are Jews, take that you warmongering right wing Christians.

Actually, I've assumed that those most eager for Israel to create a Greater Israel or to expel the Palis or bomb Iran are evangelical Christian Zionist types. Not American Jews who are, as always, a mixed lot on these questions. There are probably 3-5 times as many evangelical Zionists as there are hardcore neoconservative-type Jewish Zionists. Just my impression though.

As for the appeals to the Arab community and even to Muslims, I have no problem with it. Certainly, I wouldn't admit Muslims to this country and give them citizenship but they do have to vote for someone. Better a Republican, any Republican, than a Democrat.
139 posted on 10/24/2007 10:57:31 PM PDT by George W. Bush (Apres moi, le deluge.)
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To: billbears; Extremely Extreme Extremist; traviskicks; t_skoz
Did you guys catch this nugget:

St. Anselm College's Institute of Politics will release a new poll today, completed by SRBI Research in New York City, showing that Clinton and Romney hold solid leads in New Hampshire.

The survey of 1,514 likely primary voters has margins of error of 4.1 percent for Democrats, 4.5 percent for Republicans and 4.8 percent for undecided voters. It was conducted Oct. 15 to 21.

It shows Democrat Clinton leading Obama 42.6 to 21.5 percent, with John Edwards at 13.9 percent. Among Republicans, Romney leads Giuliani 32.4 to 21.8 percent, with John McCain at 15.2 percent and Ron Paul in fourth place at 7.4 percent.

The poll also shows that 40 percent of self-identified independents say they were still not sure if they would vote in the Democratic or Republican primary.

Union Leader - John DiStaso's Granite Status: Rudy just doesn't get it - Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007

Since NH is about 40% independents, that means that 16% of independents in the state haven't even decided which primary to vote in yet.
140 posted on 10/24/2007 11:19:16 PM PDT by George W. Bush (Apres moi, le deluge.)
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