Posted on 09/27/2009 7:14:55 PM PDT by yongin
As contemptible as this is, I’ve got two good reasons to spare you a harangue about it. One: I’ve already written that harangue, and after the summer coup in Tehran and another year of cheat-and-retreat on their nuclear program, it’s truer now than it was then. And two: Thankfully, this old crank’s isolationist denialism is so fringe on the right that not even mainstreamers who are sympathetic to his broader agenda, like Glenn Beck, will go near it. It’s almost not worth bothering about. But suffice it to say, in the unlikely event that the three-percent rEVOLution ever commands the foreign-policy agenda of the GOP, I’ll run — not walk — into the Blue Dogs’ arms. As Paul spoke passionately about ending all military operations and keeping government out of people’s “lifestyles,” a lone heckler began to shout, “Tell her!” Bachmann remained serene, hands folded in her lap, facing Paul. Bringing up Obama’s announcement that Iran had secret underground nuclear facilities, Paul announced that he had had enough of “fear-mongering” for the sake of the “military-industrial complex.” Bachmann, who once advocated nuking Iran, kept her eyes trained on Paul as her heckler repeated, “Tell her! Tell Michele! Tell her!” A few more choice quotes from Think Progress: We should never go to war if they’re telling us a lie about what’s happening. … We took the position, over my strong objection, we took the position that we had to have regime change in Iraq. What they’re getting ready to do is put very, very strong sanctions on Iran. … But sanctions, and blockades, and prevention like this is an act of war. I’m not sure what “lie” it is we’re being told about Iran, but then this is a guy so eager to see American “lies” at work vis-a-vis enemy powers that he’s been known to accuse the feds preemptively of telling them. Anyway, the point to take away about his Iran shtick is that it’s not an argument about strategy, i.e. “They’re a threat but non-intervention is the best way to stop them.” It’s an argument about facts, i.e. “There is no threat,” which it has to be because once he admits that Iran is dangerous his isolationist “solution” becomes impossible to sell. In that sense he reminds me of opponents of waterboarding, forced to insist that coercive interrogation never ever works because once they admit that it does, their absolutist opposition is politically dead on arrival. Conservatives complain frequently about Paul’s penchant for blaming America — and here, too, in the blockquote above, he’s already laying the groundwork to say “we started it” if and when Iran tries something — but his foreign policy, such as it is, leaves him with no other choice. The only way isolationism works is if literally any form of intervention against an enemy is morally wrong and just cause for disproportionate reprisal. Which is another way of saying it doesn’t work. Happy viewing.
Paul needs to ease up on his foreign policy, then he’d be a formidable candidate. This isn’t 1800, where it would take a few weeks to cross the Atlantic.
bomb iran
How in the world are there people who think this fool is THE great hope for conservatism?
Ron Paul has the same talking points of the Left Wing anti war enemy.
Those on FR who are in denial, excuse it, or agree with it
will see America and our allies face far worse than a 9/11.
Iran, Russia, Marxist Venezuela, countries who are entrenched with Al Qaida & Telaban and others who have weapons that can take out American cities, states, sections of America, not to mention the backpack bombers such as the ones who were picked up last week.
This is the reality we face.
Ron Paul and the Left Wing who say, just mind out business,
look the other way will be those who destroy America.
Those who had the same views in 1930s Europe learned the hard way.
Paul is not a Conservative. He is Not a Republican.
He is a Libertarian and doesn’t have the balls to officially label himself what he really is.
HE needs to retire or be voted out.
Agree 100%.
This makes me sick to my stomach.
Back in the 1920s Adolph Hitler made his intentions clearly known to the world. The isolationists and evil-appeasing elites of the world just laughed.
The leaders of Iran have also made their murderous attentions known to our generation.
Have we learned nothing from history?
If a dog is growling and foaming at the mouth at you, chances are he’s going to bite you if you don’t take appropriate measures to protect yourself, your children, and your community.
I suppose I just broke the rule about dehumanizing our enemies. But in this case I don’t care. These are the rabid enemies of our country, our friends, and of liberty.
All of Ron Paul’s talk about liberty is meaningless, because he seems to not understand what liberty actually is, and he lacks the will to pay the necessary price to protect it.
But that's not happening; he can't help himself, he really believes this.
It is more than a facet of his political character that hurts him; it completely negates anything useful he could give to his country, for this weakness, if he ever got into power, would be the death of us all.
To that end, he'll never, ever be a formidable candidate.
From the so-called Military Industrial Speech given by President Eisenhower as he left office, just for the blind devotees of Ron Paul when they flock in to defend the little messiah,
“We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.”
*snip*
“A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.”
“Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.”
“Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.”
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
Ron Paul is 74 years old. He’s older than McCain. Paul could be retiring from Congress in the next 4 years. The question is who will be left to pick up the REVolution?
When Ike gave that speech, the world did not have weapons
that could hit America within Minutes as it does today.
Not to mention the activities of a 9/11
It clearly isn’t 1800. We were free and independent then. We clearly are not, now that the globalists and their foreign policy agenda has been implemented.
Mr. Paul is clearly on the side of the Constitution. You clearly don’t believe it’s important anymore.
Spoken like a true globalist! For that, I salute you!
We don’t need Ron Paul’s left wing foreign policy, Obama is surrounded with the same type of mentality and it is destroying America.
Paul and his type are not needed or wanted.
Paul’s an advocate of leaving our friends to the dogs. I’m certainly all for strict adherence to the Constitution, but I simply don’t agree with him on foreign policy.
They had something to justify us having "duck and cover" drills in school prior to that speech.
It might not have been missles, but they sure were concerned with Soviet nukes going off across America.
Ron Paul had better be careful or one night he might find himself glowing in the dark from radiation courtesy of Iran or North Korea.
Let the countries that Iran is actually a threat to deal with them. We don’t ALWAYS have to do the dirty work for our “allies” (ever notice we give all and get nothing in return? Kindof a one sided relationship, huh).
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