It’s easy to poke fun at Ron Paul’s expense because, let’s face it, he’s more than a bit of a joke. So why does a nutty old crank like Paul attract support from so many seemingly intelligent people? How does Paul put his name on the kinda racist propaganda that would make David Duke blush, and yet still find himself in a position to potentially win the Iowa Republican presidential caucus?
I think the video above—a remix of a 2009 House floor speech opposing our interventionist foreign policy—gives a hint as to the source of Paul’s enduring appeal, at least within a small but passionate group of supporters. Yeah, sure, the “What if?” schtick is a bit of a rhetorical trick, but he employs it fearlessly, and as much as many Americans crave the simplicity of Paul’s message (war is bad, free market is good), they also crave a politician who is unafraid to speak his mind… however crazy it may be.
Paul my be authentically crazy, but at least he’s authentic. And that’s understandably appealing. Plus, this happens to be one of those issues where Paul just makes sense… again, a talent rarely displayed by the rest of the GOP field.
Great video, its a shame Goldy is such a partisan troll.
So we should never intervene? Not in Kosovo or Libya? Not in the first gulf war? Not to protect the South Koreans or Israelis? Sure he is right on Iraq. That’s nice and all, but there are plenty of times when we should intervene.
Isolationism does not make one fucking bit of sense. The last time it was tried in earnest we wound up with the the worst damn war in the history of the world.
Also funny is when he said Obama had not plan to leave Iraq. We just did leave Iraq.
Paul is not authentic. The newsletters and campaign mailer prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. He is an opportunist after money and power. He’s a Randite for fucksake. Why would you expect him to do anything but act in his own self interest by manipulating people?
Hitler made sense when he talked about the plight of unemployed Germans during the early 1930’s. And much like Ron Paul, he carried lots of racist baggage (and so much more). Making sense on one issue isn’t enough to be President or an elected official on any level.
@1: Pot/Kettle
He appears authentic, but is he really? Part of his talent may be that he is a better liar than the others. Unfortunately for him he can’t make his entire political history disappear, which hopefully puts a serious dent in his perceived authenticity.
Ron Paul is a nutty, old bird, but the positions that he takes on several issues at the very least provoke a dialogue and a conversation beyond the tired, worn out bullshit that has been recycled from ass to mouth for the last 40 years in the two party political circus.
I would love to see a presidential debate that included Ron Paul and Gary Johnson; at least, we could actually debate about some real points of difference and distinct ideas and perspectives. Do you really want to be forced to watch the same, old bullshit talking points of the Republican and Democratic parties?
Enough of the fucking bullshit. We have real problems and real differences in America, and we need to get real about dealing with them.
Paul, a not-so-secret racist is poised to win, place or show in the Iowa Republican primary because Iowa Republicans are not-so-secret racists themselves. There is no great mystery here. Where do you think most of his newsletter goes? Greenwich Village?
Why do you think attacks on “the poor” always go well in the poorest white counties? Because they don’t think they’re “the poor”. They’re WHITE. Poor people are brown or black. Democrats need to understand this if they want to win some of those votes in November.
2 is right. Isolationism is crazy, because like it or not, America is a part of the world and what happens elsewhere affects us. Many say that we shouldn’t be the world’s policeman, and that sounds nice until you realize that the world needs someone to be its policeman and America is the only country capable of doing the job. We derive great benefits from our hegemony; it allows us to enjoy a higher standard of living by trading our much-beloved currency and bonds for goods and services. But we also have responsibilities and we must not desert them. We had to go into Kosovo, we had to go into Libya, and we should have gone into Rwanda. We never should have gone into Iraq, but a police force that sometimes fucks up is way preferable to no police force at all.
He doesn’t seem so “authentic” when he’s making transparently bullshit excuses for being a publisher of racist horseshit for years on end.
@8 Agreed – but as long as the US is policing the world, the UN never has to step in. Time to let them chip in a little bit when they see things like Syria.
@9: No, he’s authentically full of racist bullshit.
God I fucking hate these “look we can make words fly around your screen and organize sentences in non-linear fashions!” videos. They’re fucking awful, have a complete lack of artistry and pass for meaningful when they’re nothing but a pile of glitter thrown on an empty message.
Ron Paul is a fucking idiot. War is terrible, yes and we shouldn’t enter into it lightly. Governments lie when trying to gather public support for a war, yes. But we should always apply critical thinking to *everything* we’re told, not just when it’s someone trying to convince us to support a war.
But Ron Paul is a conspiracy theory nut. He thought/thinks that the freeway going between Canada and Mexico is a precursor to a single “North America” nation. He thinks that the world governments are conspiring to make his gold worthless so they can enslave him.
The fact that he’s on the right side of a few issues (which is different from being right about them — because his reasoning is almost always based on insanity), doesn’t matter. I’m sure Fred Phelps probably likes a couple songs I also like, he’s still a repugnant pile of shit who I will not waste one breath praising, and nor should any thinking person.