Posted on 12/29/2011 4:48:32 PM PST by Keith in Iowa
Most of Ron Pauls Iowa campaign stops have been in the states largest population centers and college towns. Now, with a caucus victory within reach, the Texas congressman is taking his libertarian message to Iowas smaller cities. Paul visited Perry, Iowa over the noon hour on Thursday.
The crowd of 100 was definitely more reserved than what Paul is used to. There was no standing ovation at the beginning or end of his speech. There were no whoops or cheers, but plenty of polite applause.
I like a lot of what he says, especially about the U.S. economy and balanced budget, said attendee Jerry Kielsmeier. I need to think a little more about his foreign policy.
Paul stuck to his familiar themes of smaller government, cutting $1 trillion from the budget and bringing our troops home. The military spending overseas, I am absolutely convinced does not make us a stronger nation, Paul said. Military might is sometimes military mischief I think were in way too many wars and its time to change that and bring our military home to protect this country.
Paul made is clear he is not just talking about bringing troops home from countries where they are in harms way, like Afghanistan. He wants to close every military base around the world.
Just bringing the troops home would be an economic boost, the Texas congressman said. Why do we still have troops in Japan? WWII has been over for quite a while now. Why do we have troops in South Korea? Why do we have troops in Germany?
Ron Paul has taken flak from some Republicans and his GOP competitors for his stance on Iran. He was asked about the Iranians recent threats to close down the Straits of Hormuz.
I think theyre just doing that to say, Why dont you be just a little cautious and back off. And I think we should not impose sanctions. That is an act of war, Paul responded.
He also seemed to take sympathy with the Iranians position. If I were an Iranian, Id probably want to have a nuclear weapon too because you gain respect from that.
Pauls views, and his style, seem to be gaining traction in Iowa. One complaint about fellow GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney is that he sometimes comes across as too polished and rehearsed. No one will make those complaints about Ron Paul.
His persona is more of what Im used to in a small town, said Perry native Jim Van Dorn. I didnt have that greasy feeling when he walked out.
There is no doubt Paul has large appeal in Iowas larger cities. If he can appeal to small town Iowans, he has a very realistic chance of winning on Tuesday.
Really, Ron...STFU.
notwithstanding this comment or whatever context (or lack thereof) spawned it, Iran is cruising for a bruising. And on The One’s watch, too. Talk about yer perfect storm...
A better question would be, as an American, do you want nuclear weapons
If I Were an Iranian, Id Want a Nuclear Weapon
And if I were President, I would give them a few.
It's just as revelant now.
Gee Paul, the Germans would have liked one about 70 years ago too...
So as an Iranian he’d want nukes but as an American he doesn’t..? That is definitely leftist reasoning.
..and if he were an American, he would not want Iran to have them.
Great comments here! This guy is a whack job.
If he were a conservative, or even a republican for that matter, he wouldn’t be such a mountebank. As is, his foreign policy is what anarchist, and America haters drool over.
If you were a Paultard I would want to slap you (for your idiocy).
When did FreeRepublic become overrun with neo-cons? Why should I care as an American that Iran wants to build a nuclear weapon to the point that I want to sacrifice my sons and daughters to attack a nation on the other side of the world? With whose money are we paying for this? With whose blood? The Saudi’s, Egyptians, and Israelis might actually find some common ground over a common enemy and go to war with Iran themselves. Why do we as American’s have this knee-jerk reaction to war? Are we so deeply in the grasp of fascism in this country that we can no longer see liberty and the value of independence?
What has happened to this message board? What has happened to constitutional conservatism and limited government?
There are three candidates remaining in this race who believe in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Those candidates are Michele Bachmann (my candidate), Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. The other candidates are people of the government, by the government, and for the government. I am not voting for Ron Paul but I will not attack him either. I disagree with his bottom line on foreign policy (which is interpreted by the mainstream media as a racist agenda) but I agree with him in principle (which is that America needs to be isolationist for a time until we get our economic house in order).
The attacks on Paul have degraded into that leftist mechanism to silence those who oppose them the label of racist. Lately we are hearing Paul labeled with the standard leftist smear of dumb. Paul is man who believes that the federal government has powers that it should not have but should belong exclusively to the states and private sector to retain that power. The federal government grows in power and so it grows in cost and expands its influence. Ron Paul believes in limited government and would abolish entire federal departments to diminish the size and cost of government. The Federal Reserve needs to be abolished and the collusion between big-government neo-cons, big government leftists, big-banking, and big-corporation needs to be broken. Only a Tea Party majority in the House and Senate in combination with a constitutional limited-government conservative in the White House would break that fascist collusion.
Right now, that fascist big-government-corporate-banking mechanism is why Romney and Gingrich are promoted by the mainstream media including FOX News and why Bachmann, Santorum, and Paul are marginalized. As such, I will look beyond my disagreements with Dr. Paul to the bigger picture. Although I am fully supporting Michele Bachmann, I will defend Ron Paul.
You want Iran to get nukes? You want Iran to do what they say they want to do: Remove Israel from the face of the Earth?
I don’t.
“its time to change that and bring our military home to protect this country.”
Sometimes it’s necessary to send our military to foreign lands to protect our interests at home. Thomas Jefferson understood that.
Ron Paul is not a libertarian. He’s touting some bastardized version of libertarianism that includes free pot and prostitutes. What he’s promoting is the libertine philosophy.
Ron Paul does not understand private property and the duty of a country to protect that private property. That protection may include traveling to a foreign country and killing the enemy who attacked your private property.
I’ll repeat it again: Ron Paul is not a libertarian. Ron paul’s primary interest is Ron Paul.
Ron Paul needs to stop thinking like an Iranian and start thinking more like the American he claims to be.
If Iran gets nukes and carries out their threat to wipe Israel off the map the world would be plunged into a war that could eclipse WW2.
Ron Paul is a nut. Put his myopia on Iran on top of his support of the OWS parasites, total isolationism of closing ALL non-US based military bases, calling a traitor a hero, his racist and kook extremist views in his decades of newsletters, 9/11 trutherism, participation on conspiracy nut shows, saying there was “glee” in the Bush White HOuse following 9/11, and more, he is an unelectable dangerous crackpot. He is NOT a conservative. He is NOT Tea Party. He is NOT GOP. He will NEVER get a vote from me and hopefully millions of conservative Americans.
Israel can protect herself. Let her fight. The Saudi’s won’t allow Iran as the regional superpower. Let the Saudi’s fight their own war. The Turks have nuclear weapons. The Turks share a border with Iran. Why do Americans need to sacrifice blood and treasure for yet another war when there are nations in the region that can adequately defend themselves?
Its enough. I’ve had enough of the big-government neo-cons and the big-government leftists in this government. The U.S. is now at 105% debt-to-GDP, Hussein Obama is asking to increase the debt by another $1.3 Trillion (and he will be granted that request because Boehner and Cantor are gutless, spineless frauds). And here on FreeRepublic we have so-called conservatives looking to funnel more taxpayer money into military spending and the military industry. Its just crazy. What has happened to our values and priorities?
Absolutely bizarre.
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