Posted on 01/05/2012 7:29:06 PM PST by Bill Russell
Ron Paul: The Perfect Storm
If you talk to his supporters, you will hear that Ron Paul is the only man who can save our Republic, he is the only candidate who understands the Constitution, and that he is the only one who will fight wasteful government spending and save us from economic catastrophe. I beg to differ.
Up until this year, Ron Paul was considered by most as the affable Dennis Kucinich of the Republican Party. He was simply the eccentric uncle whom everyone liked, but never took very seriously. He had some ideas that appealed to the base of his party and kept him affiliated with it. But he also had ideas which made most us wonder if he resides in a family member’s attic with his collection of tin foil hats. However, as Ron Paul has achieved “top three contender” status for the Republican Presidential nomination in Iowa Caucus, the harsh lights of national scrutiny are beginning to shine on him, and rightly so. Those lights are revealing a man whose ideas and actions make him not just eccentric, they make unqualified to lead and a danger to our national security. This needs to be taken very seriously.
In the area of national security, Ron Paul has displayed a complete incompetence and a clear lack of understanding and strategic forethought. Every serious student of warfare and foreign affairs understands there are political, economic, and technological dimensions which impact the outcome of all wars, even after the major force on force fights are over. The political dimension is heavily influenced by what is often referred to as information operations, propaganda, or political messaging. This is the area where Ron Paul, just like John Murtha and his Haditha Marine statements, has played into the hands of our enemies, serving to endorse their propaganda messages and help solidify their political unification against the United States efforts to stabilize a region which produced the attacks of 9/11. In a single breath in one debate, Mr Paul blamed America for causing the attacks of 9/11 and said we need to empathize with Al Qaeda and Iran. In other statements he has said that our invasion of Iraq was some nefarious “Neo-con” (a term which has changed constantly in the last 50 years) plot and that the Bush Administration was “ecstatic” that 9/11 gave them the excuse to invade Iraq. He called the killing of Al Qaeda operative and American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki “murder” and un-constitutional, even though Al-Awlaki made himself an enemy combatant and was engaged in open rebellion against the United States in accordance with Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution. In all of these statements, he has crossed the line into the realm of endorsing enemy propaganda and making it harder for America to defend her interests.
Like Barrack Obama, Ron Paul is reminiscent of Jimmy Carter in his advocation of non-interventionist policies. He is constantly accusing the boogey-men “Neo-cons” and military-industrial complex of leading us into wars for profit and touting the concept of “blowback” as the cause of our woes emanating from the Middle East. Just as Jimmy Carter was elected advocating a non-interventionist foreign policy, which let the Islamic fundamentalist cat out of the bag in Iran the 1970’s (because he failed to engage and mitigate that episode of “blow-back”), Ron Paul is seeking election while advocating policies that will hand an Iranian Caliphate a fait accompli in the coming decade.
He has repeatedly denigrated America’s efforts to protect her national and economic security interests in the Middle East and around the world. Meanwhile, the policies he is advocating will cede our strategic positions in the world to our enemies. His calls for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Middle East would place our economic (energy) security at great risk, while subjecting the people of those areas to further sectarian violence which has the potential to make the killing fields of Cambodia pale in comparison. There is a certain appeal to his calls to end the war in Afghanistan, end all foreign aid, and bring all of our troops home, as these are all expensive endeavors to both the hearts and pocketbooks of America. But he has no plan of action to mitigate the ensuing genocidal, economic, energy, and yes, further military crisis’s such unilateral moves would cause for us. He is a man of destabilizing ideas in a time of instability.
But Ron Paul has not stopped there. He has also seriously undermined his own moral authority to protect and defend the Constitution, should he be elected. He has referred to the likes of Bradely Manning, and alleged rapist, Julian Assange (Wikileaks) as whistle blower “heroes.” Private Manning is currently on trial for 22 counts of espionage and aiding the enemy (a capital offense), and US espionage charges against Mr Assange are pending. If Mr Paul considers the actions of those who transfer massive volumes of classified material vital to the conduct of our foreign policy and national security “heroic,” how will he protect us from such transgressions when he is Commander-in-Chief?
In spite of his lack of strategic vision when it comes to protecting America, there is one area of political messaging where Ron Paul’s campaign does excel: The Ron Paul Cult of Personality. He has wrapped his total political persona in the Constitution, portraying himself as the only candidate who is defending it, and is attempting to hijack the TEA Party movement. Any criticism of the “Dear Leader” is immediately characterized by his followers as an attack on the Constitution and betrayal of the TEA Party, even though his Constitutional reasoning is often flawed and he brings home almost as much pork from Washington as the late Mr Murtha did for his home district. The Paul Cult is also quite adept at inflating his levels of support, particularly on-line and in forums such as caucuses, where a small motivated group can make itself look much larger than it really is. Both the over-blown levels of support and vicious attacks are confirmed by viewing any article on Ron Paul on any major news site, and reading the barrage of postings from Paul campaign web monitors in the comments sections. Anyone who speaks out against Ron Paul is immediately attacked en mass as an enemy of the Constitution, a “Neo-con”, a sell-out, a liar, a traitor to the Tea Party, or misguided. In spite of their purported love of liberty, many of Ron Paul supporters’ on-line conduct is more reminiscent of the angry student mobs of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
Finally, there is the electability issue. Ron Paul is totally unelectable outside his congressional district. The Democrats know this and many cross-party primary voters are advocating for Ron Paul to win the Republican nomination or run as a third party candidate. If he wins the nomination, Democrats will simply portray him as the marginal, hypocritical, crazy old guy who makes Obama look competent on foreign affairs. Obama’s political team will hit him with ads that will be just as devastating as Paul’s hypocrisy ads against Newt. They will replay excerpts from his interview with Tim Russert in 2008 where Paul was repeatedly challenged on how he writes a large number earmarks or line-items into bills for his home district, and then casts meaningless votes against them. Russert grilling him on how he has hypocritically refused to live up to his own calls for term limits will also get a good deal of play. The National Organization of Women will use his pro-life position (one of his few positions I agree with) to paint him as a woman-hater. His stance on Iran and Israel will be used to portray him as Anti-Semitic to shore up Obama’s lagging support on the Jewish front. The full text of his fundraising letters will be thrown in for good measure.
Of course, the left will continue to embrace Mr Paul if he runs as a third party candidate because it will ensure the re-election of Barack Obama. To this point, the Ron Paul camp is continually threatening to take his candidacy independent if he fails to get the Republican nomination, and it is a move that Congressman Paul refuses to disavow. This only makes him appear more like the egomaniacal self-promoter he claims not to be.
Ron Paul is simply a disaster waiting to happen if he gets the Republican nomination or runs as a third party candidate. He is the perfect storm of the lunacy of Dennis Kucinich, the foreign policy wherewithal of Jimmy Carter, and the hypocrisy he has so gleefully attacked Newt for. Republican voters need to decisively reject the idea of sailing our ship of state into those waters. Ron Paul needs to accept that decision.
THE AUTHOR: William T Russell is a former Republican Congressional Candidate in the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He is an internationally published columnist and has been a featured guest on a number of national television and radio news shows. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army and has served in Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the Balkans. He and his wife, Kasia, were both in the Pentagon on 9/11. Email him at Bill_Russell@hotmail.com.
Ron Paul is batsh*t crazy and is not even a Republican nor a conservative. When you endorse Sheila Jackson Lee for re-election, you pretty much know you are NOT a conservative.
Welcome to Free Republic, Bill!
Bookmark
That's not a particularly good strategy.
Ron Paul the perfect Idiot!
Ron Paul is ONLY the “perfect Storm” if it is rainins Prozac! Sweet Jesus, other than the Federal Reserve issues, this fella is bat chit out of his freakin GOURD! AND I sincerely believe this idiot is laughing his way to the bank, knowing he has so many “followers” that are willing to send money to this idiot!
That pretty much covers it.
Welcome to FR Bill.
Hmmm...National security?
Chertoff, Bush's Homeland Security Chief was found to have people who entered this country illegally, wandering around the inside of his private residence...During war time no less.
Not scary enough?
More Muslims entered the U.S. legally during Bush's term, than in the decade before.
During Bush's term, upwards of 10 million people entered our homeland illegally...During wartime no less.
National security?
So...having principles and sticking to them makes Paul a loser and “un-electable”...?
Seriously, the saddest thing is that the Republican Party has been unable to come up with anyone who can even compare with Ron Paul. Obama is unpopular and vulnerable, and Paul is our best hope of defeating him, but then there’s all the Bill Russells out there squashing that thought...
Ron Paul is truther scum who endosed Cynthia McKinney in 2008. How the Hell can any conservative vote for this POS?!
“So...having principles and sticking to them makes Paul a loser and “un-electable”...?”
Nope; This does....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/23/ron-paul-newsletter-interview_n_1167645.html
“the Republican Party has been unable to come up with anyone who can even compare with Ron Paul.”
lmao...you can say that again...he’s one of a kind.
I agree.
I get Judge Napolitano’s updates on facebook and the question he asked yesterday was valid.
Is the Republican Party now split three ways? Establishment Conservatives, Social Conservatives and Fiscal Conservatives. Doesn’t seem like anyone of these guys can unite the others including Dr. Paul whom I’ll vote for in Fla. Be interesting to see if that changes this summer.
American military intervention in the oil producing nations of the world has not been particularly helpful in producing energy security. When the US military intervened in Iraq, Iraqi oil production went down. When the US military intervened in Libya, Libyan oil production went down. The US military has pretty much stayed out of Russia and today Russia is the world’s largest oil producer.
Oil producers of the world don’t really look forward to those who say, “I’m from the US government and I’m here to help you.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.