Posted on 05/16/2007 6:19:46 PM PDT by magellan
This is vanity, but this is also a moment of clarity for me about Ron Paul. Comments welcome.
libertarians (small "l"), believe in individual responsibility. When Ron Paul (R, TX) says U.S. foreign policy is the cause for terrorists (individuals acting as a group for a common cause) to attack us, he violates a very basic libertarian tenant: Individual Responsibility.
Ron Paul uses the same logic liberals use when they say poverty causes crime.
Ron Paul revealed himself last night. He is NO libertarian.
Where did this RINO come from? Makes about as much sense as Sen. Voinovich crying when Bolton was trying to get confirmed. Haven’t we drummed most of these bums out?
It’s pretty ridiculous to blame American policies for something islam has been doing for well over a thousand years.
In one breath he says that middle-eastern thinking is irrational (which I agree with - I wouldn't shed a tear if the entire ME was nuked to oblivion tomorrow, and I think nation building of any sort is a terrible waste and terrible policy), and in the next breath he states that we should consider the reasons they have for attacking us????? There is a heap of cognitive dissonance going on there. Retire old man - you are officially doing the adherents of liberty a disservice by associating us with your kooky hate-America foreign policy views that aren't even internally logically consistent.
There is nothing in their "mentality" to understand, they are barbarians pure and simple. No reason or justification is available for 9/11. America did not ask for it and shares no responsibility for the actions of insane religious fanatics in sand-land. Moral culpability (something I extend to insane people btw) is entirely in their hands, not ours. To say that we are in any way culpable is an affront to both morality and logic, akin to Islamic headgear-wearing short-bus rejects blaming the rape victim for dressing suggestively. It is one of the highest violations of libertarian and conservative thought to turn the guilty party into the victim.
I agree that it would be best if America had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MIDDLE EAST. I support non-interventionist foreign policy, disagreed with the invasion of Iraq, and don't care about 3rd world dictators cutting off the hands of their political opponents (in the sense that I do not think it is the American government's job to do something about it). The caveman understood fear and respected power - I don't know how much higher we can climb up the rationality tree when dealing with certain cultures.
See, I think the neocons are full of s**t too, I can't stand them, never could, they are a disease on conservatism. But the moment Ron Paul shifted to America an OUNCE of moral culpability for what was wrought on 9/11, we parted ways in our opposition to certain aspects of foreign policy. 9/11 can in no way be construed as an act of self-defense on behalf of the camel rapists, and if it could I would concede the point. Ron Paul has lost his mind, and it is a shame considering the way most others in government treat the Constitution like toilet paper..
And a very ugly face.
And Mike Badnarik was another Al-Queda loving libertarian.
Losertarian
“Where did this RINO come from? Makes about as much sense as Sen. Voinovich crying when Bolton was trying to get confirmed. Haven’t we drummed most of these bums out?”
Dr. Paul is smart enough to KNOW that were he to run for office as a “libertarian” (read UNPRINCIPLED DEMOCRAT) in the 7th District, he would have been defeated years ago.
Dr. Paul is a lot “smarter” than his supporters.
He isn’t a Libertarian.
He is a Log Cabin Republican.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1831372/posts
2004 - Log Cabin Congratulates Our Victorious Candidates (2004)
You are being foolish.
You are now projecting your own confusion onto Ron Paul.
Paul restated the official doctrine of the US DoD, FBI, and CIA. Paul was rehashing the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission Report, and a host of other analysts conclusions, many of which are footnotes in the 9/11 report. Paulwas restating US Military doctrine as taught in West Point and the Naval War College for the last half century. This isn’t some amazing new revelation.
Rudy also went out of his way to lie his ass off in front of the Republican base last night.
And you fell for his schlock song and dance just as he expected most of the uninformed base would.
You need to go back and read up on the last 110+ years of foreign intervention in the Middle East.
By underestimating your enemies intelligence you give them greater power than they would otherwise hold. To mash-up a quote from Art of War.
Ron Paul reminds me of a-holes like Bill Maher.
He really needs to run in the Democrat primary and debate Al Sharpton.
Ron Paul said it himself when paraphrasing Ronald Reagan - Middle-eastern thought is irrational by all Western standards. Simply not submitting to the will of Allah is grounds for immediate death. The best we could hope for if under their thumb is to be classified as dhimma and be endowed with sub-human status (at least if you are Jewish or Christian - the heathens are summarily executed as a rule). Our very existence as non-Muslims (and non-Abrahamic especially) is a violent affront to their "values". If you think we should pay any heed to their political thoughts (in the sense outlined), it is you who needs to reread some history.
The most that our ill-advised foreign policy has afforded them is convenient pretext to present to their non-Islamic anti-American (temporary) bedfellows. The fact that you are breathing air is all the justification they need to cut your head off.
I don’t follow your logic. If you park a cadillac on the streets of harlem with the keys in the ignition, and the next morning it is gone, are you saying that a libertarian can’t say to you “if you didn’t leave the car on the street with the key in the ignition this wouldn’t have happened?”
“Ron Paul is a one percenter. He has no chance of winning.”
How does a one percenter get so many threads? This is astounding.
Wild dogs are irrational, that doesn't mean you can't predict their behavior. For example, they are more likely to come into your back yard if you leave raw T-bones lying around. The fact that they lack reason doesn't mean that their behavior can't be influenced.
Throughout the era of Islam-—roughly 1300 + years - you will see one common thread: like predatory animals, they gain power when they sense weakness among their enemies.
That, and those who feel disempowered and disengaged from the loci of power will aid and abet them until they wake up and reailze they’ve been destroyed. Think marxists in Iran, Egyptians pre muslim invasion, and on and on
So, you think that if we had nothing to do with the middle east for the last 50 years that they still would have attacked us?
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