Posted on 05/30/2010 12:48:57 PM PDT by NoLibZone
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) was one of only five House Republicans to support the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy on gay servicemembers, which passed the House on a 234-194 vote last night. But Paul's vote came as a bit of a surprise. An unabashed foe of gay marriage, Paul had a decidedly squeamish stance on gay rights—even prompting actor Sacha Baron Cohen to ambush the Texas Republican for his film "Bruno." And Paul stated throughout his 2008 presidential campaign that he thought the military's policy should stand, though he had some concerns about its enforcement.
When asked about DADT repeal in June 2007, Paul told CNN: I think the current policy is a decent policy. And the problem that we have with dealing with this subject is we see people as groups, as they belong to certain groups and that they derive their rights as belonging to groups. We don't get our rights because we're gays or women or minorities. We get our rights from our creator as individuals. So every individual should be treated the same way.
So if there is homosexual behavior in the military that is disruptive, it should be dealt with. But if there's heterosexual sexual behavior that is disruptive, it should be dealt with.
A month later, in an interview with Google, Paul responded similarly: "'Don't ask, don't tell' doesn't sound all that bad to me because as an employer, I've never asked them [employees] anything and I don't want them to tell me anything."
But while Paul said that he supported DADT in theory, he began to express some of his concerns about the policy. "I think the way it's enforced is bad. Because, literally, if somebody is a very, very good individual working for our military—and I met one just the other day in my office, who was a translator—and he was kicked out for really no good reason at all. I would want to change that, I don't support that interpretation."
It's encouraging that Paul has finally managed to fit DADT repeal into his ideological universe. (Former Republican—now independent—Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist also flipped his stance to support the repeal, just days before the House vote.) And Paul's reversal on the issue begs the questions as to whether his son—Kentucky GOP Senate candidate and Civil Rights Act skeptic Rand Paul—feels the same way.
Barf, Ronnie you just lost me.....He was my congressmen in TX for many years.
Senile old fool
He use to have redeeming characteristics, voting against taxes and spending.
This will increase spending. There will now be special legal officers on every base to protect the feelings of gays.
Ever notice how all these homosexuals in the military are “translators”? LOL! Yeah right. Almost every homosexual I’ve heard about getting the boot was an “Arabic translator”.
A true libertarian has no problem with homosexuals; libertarians only object to preferential treatment of them or anyone else for that matter as far as the law is concerned.
We are one election form anarchy. November is the last chance for peace.....
“Almost every homosexual I’ve heard about getting the boot was an “Arabic translator”.
Yep...just like every civilian gathering bombed in terrorist strongholds is a “wedding party”...
A true libertarian is usually clueless on any Defense issue, proven again here....
I don’t believe Paul’s “translator” in his office story for a minute. He’s just regurgitating liberal psychobabble.
"I think the way it's enforced is bad. Because, literally, if somebody is a very, very good individual working for our military—and I met one just the other day in my office, who was a translator—and he was kicked out for really no good reason at all.
Ron, the very good reason he was most likely kicked out was that he ASKED or TOLD *someone*!
DADT doesn't ban homosexuals from serving. It basically tells them to shut up about it.
Repealing DADT is in fact, giving homosexuals preferential treatment.
Yea - I guess being Libertarian means getting to choose whatever side you want on an issue - now that’s principal.
In this case, the question isn’t what someone does in their bedroom (already covered under DADT), but rather whether you drag queens running around base in their off hours, and whether that affects morale. I guess Paul doesn’t care.
I saw about the first 40 minutes of Bruno before leaving -- I hadn't thought anyone would film moral squalor like Cohen's posturing (the ambush of Paula Abdul was equally nasty and mean) and anatomical displays, but hey.
After something like that, I should think Ron Paul would get a lifetime pass from any fairminded person if he wanted to bash gays like playing whack-a-mole. Cohen was beyond just a jerk, he was a whole circle all by himself.
“A true libertarian is usually clueless on any Defense issue, proven again here....”
Insults toward myself from you prove how ignorant you really are cenral_va.
If we lose our country due to a flip flop by *either* Paul, I won’t listen to the crying!
Are you a libertarian? If so, I was not aware of that. My comment stands.....
Philosophically, as a true libertarian, he’d be right; but he’s 100% wrong in laying the blame on “we” who tend to see rights as belonging to groups. It is not WE who see or seek such group-rights. It’s those who separate themselves from humanity (via natural law), tradition, most religions, and the good of the species who “see” their rights as stemming from their noncomformity. If “we” are at fault, it’s because we’ve allowed our government to accede to their demands for special favors, for their (hate to use the academics’ word) “otherness.”
True.
Ron Paul is a not a conservative.
He is in the Conservative Republican party for only one reason.
He is a RINO.
Just what the military needs, a policy that will attract more homosexual perverts, deviants and misfits. This will negatively impact recruiting, imho, because normal men don’t want to subject themselves to this garbage. It will embolden the perverts to make ‘passes’ at normal men and that will create a tension that the military just doesn’t need. And it will negatively impact effectiveness over the long run. Sad, what we are fast turning into.
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