Rod Dreher: Ron Paul, if only we listened

The Dallas Morning News ^ | 2008-11-25 | Rod Dreher

[rabscuttle385]

I didn't vote for Ron Paul in the Republican primary (I was a Mike Huckabee man), nor did I write him in on Election Day (I penciled in farmer-poet Wendell Berry). But no Texan this year did more good for conservatism and his country than the congressman from the coast.

Lord knows there was no Republican in the 2008 campaign who talked straighter.

Dr. Paul – he's a physician – never had a chance, of course. He is too peculiar in his opinions and doesn't know how to spin like a TV slick. What he had was ideas, integrity and authenticity. On the most critical challenges facing America, Dr. Paul was more right than the well-funded GOP regulars who bigfooted the campaign trail.

[rabscuttle385]

Ron Paul was more closely aligned with the Clinton’s foreign policy...

Paul was in favor of bombing Kosovo?

Ron Paul declared the Kosovo war illegal. On the other hand, McCain voted to bomb Serbia.

[rabscuttle385]

Serbia/Kosovo ping!

[OneWingedShark]

>Right. 30 years of saying No! does not a great leader make.

Though Congress needs some of that for the “Can I have a bailout?” questions...

[mysterio]

Right. 30 years of saying No! does not a great leader make.

Sure it does. The yes men flushed us down the toilet.

[mysterio]

Dr. Paul seemed to fare poorly in the primary debates.

He did quite well, actually.

[Gary Johnson in 2012]

Ron Paul declared the Kosovo war illegal. On the other hand, McCain voted to bomb Serbia.

A giant among politicians, Ron Paul is.

[Buchal]

Exactly. It is painful to think how much better off we would be if there had been no new federal initiatives in the last thirty years, and the trillions in capital flushed down the drain had been invested productively.

[rabscuttle385]

I can’t fathom a more dangerous OR STUPID foreign policy THAN TO DO NOTHING - IT BOUGHT US 9/11.

The most dangerous foreign (or economic) policy is that of doing something for the sake of doing something.

If we aren’t able as a nation to operate pre-emptively on offense - and wait only to be attacked - and then still do nothing .. there will only be more and more 9/11’s.

So basically, you're advocating starting wars in order to defend the U.S. from war?

Smooth. Very smooth.

[Crazieman]

Rudy foreign policy + Paul domestic = ideal candidate.

[LiberConservative]

Ron Paul needs to work on his delivery. I can't stand hearing him whine. And he can take back the “Huckabee is fascist” comment while he's at it.

[wolfcreek]

The *real* problem was he wasn't a member of the Socialist Elite, Council on Foreign Relations.

[LibLieSlayer]

His problem was that he was an anti-war isolationist... no thanks.

LLS

[iopscusa]

Oh nose, who, who let the Paulies out? At least Ron Paul had a few principles that were nonnegotiable.

[Frantzie]

I think the only guy comparable to Ron Paul was Fred, Duncan Hunter or Tancredo. If Fred had been a few years younger and got started sooner - he would have been a great choice and a great President.

[Gary Johnson in 2012]

His problem was that he was an anti-war isolationist... no thanks.

An isolationist, by definition, is someone who is anti-war, but also a protectionist and in favor of closed borders to immigrants. So I'm not sure how exactly Ron Paul can, in good honesty, be called an "isolationist" when he is really just a non-interventionist.

[Drango]

Dr. Paul – he's a physician

And a racist whackjob.

[rabscuttle385]

Ron Paul declared the Kosovo war illegal. On the other hand, McCain voted to bomb Serbia.

Oh, and by the way, McCain was a ready and willing supporter of the KLA, a terrorist group affiliated with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, the criminals who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

How inconvenient.

. . . . .

Compounded with his well-documented and public support for La Raza and the illegal alien invasion, there is no way that any Freeper who is sound of mind can, without resorting to extensive hypocrisy, say that McCain is strong on national defense.

[FBD]

that’s BS

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

The words were true. However, it's not really appropriate to use the honorific “Dr.” in this situation. He's a Doctor of Medicine — not a Doctor of Economics, or Doctor of Politics. Call him “Dr.” when he's dispensing medical advice — call him “Congressman” when he's dispensing political or economic opinions.

[CyberAnt]

Sorry .. I’m not a McCain supporter .. you’re wasting your breath on me.