Ron Paul
The internet and my mommy loves him, and from the videos I've seen he seems like a bit of a doddering old man with some cuh-raaazy ideas, but at least he did have the cajones to stand up against the rest of his party at their debate and tell them that the U.S. was largely to blame for creating the hostilities that led to the 9/11 attacks, and to tell a reporter afterwards that he was running away from Bush as quickly as possible. He was also the only republican senator to consistently vote against the war in Iraq and supports an immediate withdrawal.
He wants to cut out most government departments, including the departments of education, homeland security, and to a lesser extent Unicef. He wants to eliminate the income tax and reduce government spending back to year 2000 levels or before, and feels that the U.S. shouldn't have an international priorities before domestic priorities. He's pro-life but thinks that it should be a state's right to decide whether abortion is an illegal practice. Idealogically - for the most part - I agree with him, but I don't understand how the country could operate without our government organizations, and I don't understand how the government gets enough funding to exist without income tax. That's about all I know, I'm hoping some of you could better explain him to me (and others). |
I like Ron Paul but I feel like a retard now that he's been on Colbert so every cocksucking internet fanboy has already consigned their vote to him.
I've been reading his Wikipedia entry and I'm not sure how accurate or spun a lot of it is. It says at one point that he 'opposes federal regulation of marriage' and I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a reference to gay marriage or marriage in general. |
I'd imagine that would mean marriage in general. I know that Ron Paul personally opposes gay marriage, but he believes that an amendment to the Constitution would be inappropriate and an abuse of federal power. on the same note, this would mean that state governments would be free to interpret gay marriage as they saw fit.
as far as taxes go, I'd imagine that, keeping in line with his stance of limited federal power, corporate and state income taxes would remain unaffected. I'm sure that the government would also cut defense spending and raise tariffs to help make up the difference. some of his other ideas seem a little out there for me ;< |
He was on the Colbert Report? Didn't know. He's a good guy.
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I think he has real integrity, and I think that as a person he'd be one of the greatest individuals in the history of the presidency.
As a political theorist, I think he's a moron. He'd have been great to run in 1956 or perhaps 2056, but laissez-faire capitalism and flagrant isolationism would destroy this country at this point in time. This is my woe of being an political/economical relativist--sometimes the best people for the job are born into the worst possible time for them to have it. |
Perfect example of a Libertarian Party Member. Great guy. Couldn't agree with Seth more though.
Little known fact: if it weren't for Ron Paul, we'd already have a National ID card. The approval was passed, but he rallies against the funding every time it comes up. Dubya was recently quoted as saying that no matter what any presidential candidate might say to win, the first day of their presidency will include so much new information that he or she will completely understand where we are and where we have to go from here. America's foreign policy steers like a house boat, not a jetski. Even though the WOT is the single issue for me, and I completely disagree with Ron, I can see where he might yet be the best man for the job. He won't win... hasn't got a chance... but we could (and probably will) do worse. |
I disagree with a lot of his ideas, but I like him. He's like the Kucinich of the Right.
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I always think of Ron Jeremy when I see his name. And then I think of Pope John Paul. Weird.
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This country is already fucked six ways from sunday. I think he's the first honest politician i have ever seen run for the prez, and he's certainly the one with the most new ideas. I'd just like to have a president we can be proud of and stand behind, for once. Even if he makes poor decisions, i don't want to roll my eyes every time he gives a speech or signs a bill or what the fuck ever. He looks like he can impact some real change, which is something i don't think any other candidate can do in any sort of positive manner. |
He's not that honest. He still panders to the crowds of his speeches. He panders to the conspiracy nuts about "investigating 9/11" and then he dismisses the notion when he speaks to more mainstream crowds.
And which of his ideas do you think are that new? |
This makes me hate politics.
I-Mockers fawning over a flat-taxing nut ball. |
Yeah. I-Mockeryism is dead.
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I did ask for reasons to dislike him, Kevin!
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Paul floats around in those strange ideas of libertarianism way too much; he is childish and idealistic and views things in black and white.
Let him stand up against my Party. We won't nominate him for President and if we do, we'd be idiots. |
Do you need a sheet to join your party?
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- If he can be president, than Preechr could probably be president, which scares me to death. - He is anti-governmentto the point it becomes fanciful. He is of course allowed this luxury, sitting in a safe little district in Texas. But Ron Paul has never had to make a serious budget, or actually govern. - He opposes birtright citizenship. - He wants us to withdraw from NATO and the UN. - He wants to get rid of social security. - He voted against sending relief money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. - He would try to abolish the IRS and the Dept. of Ed., and leave schooling up to "local governments." (Creationism in every red state here we come) - He oppposes almost every form of foreign aid, and IN MY OPINION, has a very, very naive and foolish outlook on foreign policy. He doesn't support the war on terrorism, and is essentially an isolationist. He supports trade, but not "managed" trade. So, no economic trade deals that actually provide jobs and such to weak economies with shitty governments. I'm sure there's more, like why he's getting donations from white power group leaders, but I'll stop there. |
I will create a party for you... I am a strong Republican but I hold to a certain Kulturkampf idea in my personal time. A hobbie and a way of life, really!
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I'm not, by the way, but I'm wondering why you are for it. Despite the NS and public health risks, I'm all for porous borders and free and open immigration because this policy is the quickest way to destroy the nanny-state altogether Quote:
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Care to defend your belief that these departments are worth continued funding, Kev? Quote:
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Who's funding the Democrats these days, Kevin? |
China.
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Preechr, I have to stick up for Kevin a little here. He's shown great disappointment in all the of Democratic candidates, especially Hillary. So, throwing them in his face to try and defend Ron Paul is pointless.
Ron Paul is just another politician. Deal with it. He has been caught talking out both sides of his mouth. He just happen to appeal to the Right fringe. He's a regular guest on Alex Jones' show. But, its all because he is desperate for support. don't for a second believe he wouldn't drop most of his platform for a shot at mainstream acceptance. He's isolationist and has little grasp of just how big this country is. He may not be a racist himself, but some of the groups he embraces certainly are. Is it fair to peg him as a racist too? Hey, lie with dogs and you get fleas. And that super strict Constitutionalist Jefferson also happens to be the guy that Louisiana. |
Hey who's side are you on here Blanco? I know where the holes in my arguments are lol... Kevin wants to play poli-sci cat-fight, I'll play...
Way to crap on our fun you rascist. |
Here's an editorial written by Joel Stein (not a favorite of mine), that seems to explain some of his appeal. The boldings are mine:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/theronpaulrevolution The Ron Paul Revolution By JOEL STEIN 1 hour, 41 minutes ago It sometimes seems as if someone is playing a cruel practical joke on Ron Paul. He goes to a college and delivers the same speech he's given for the past 30 years of his political career, the one espousing the Austrian school of economics. Only now the audience is packed with hundreds of kids in RON PAUL REVOLUTION T-shirts who go nuts - giving standing ovations when he drones on about getting rid of the Federal Reserve and returning to the gold standard. After a speech at Iowa State last month, when nearly half the crowd had to stand because there were only 400 seats, a hipster-looking student worked his way through the half-hour-long line to shake Paul's hand. This was surely it - the moment when the straight faces would break and Paul would be wedgied up the flagpole. "When you see Bernanke," the kid said, "will you tell him to stop cutting rates when gold hits 1,000?" Politics might be rock 'n' roll for nerds, but the nerds aren't supposed to be quite this nerdy. The leader of the disaffected in next year's presidential election - the Howard Dean, the Ross Perot, the Pat Buchanan - is a kindly great-grandfather and obstetrician whose passion is monetary policy. Paul, a 72-year-old hard-core libertarian Republican Congressman who is against foreign intervention, subsidies and the federal income tax, is not only drawing impressive crowds (more than 2,000 at a post-debate rally at the University of Michigan last month) but also raising tons of cash. In the third quarter of 2007, Paul took in $5.3 million (just slightly less than G.O.P. rival John McCain), mostly in small, individual donations. On Oct. 22, he aired his first TV ads, $1.1 million worth in New Hampshire. The numbers are even more impressive considering that as of early October, 72% of G.O.P. voters told Gallup pollsters they didn't know enough about Paul to form an opinion. He has been able to attract followers in the debates, where he's presented a clear, simple philosophy of personal freedom and responsibility. He bluntly refers to the U.S. as an empire. And the nerdiness lends Paul's simple message an aura of credibility, especially on a stage with more polished politicians and their nuanced positions. "He's about something that American nerd culture can get on board with: really knowing one subject and going all out on it," says Ben Darrington, a Ron Paul supporter at Yale. "For some people, it's Star Wars. For some people, it's Japanese cartoons. For Ron Paul, it's free-market commodity money." The libertarian's traction is most apparent on the Internet, where his presence far outstrips that of any candidate from either party. His name is the most searched, his YouTube videos the most watched, his campaign the topic of songs by at least 14 bands. "The last thing I would listen to is rap," Paul says. "But there's something going on when there's a rap song about the Fed." On Tuesday, both Paul and Tom Cruise were guests on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The actor went to Paul's dressing room to thank him for his work on a bill fighting the forced mental screening of grade-school kids. "Go. Go. Go. Go hard," Cruise said. Paul turned to an aide and asked, "What movies has he been in?" Paul's fans - and there were more than 100 of them in Leno's audience, many of whom had flown in from out of town - are entranced by a man who responds to surprising information with "Wowee" and a jaw-dropped smile not often seen apart from 5-year-old boys and Muppets. "It's the message. Ron isn't that exciting as himself," says Andre Marrou, who was Paul's running mate when he ran as a Libertarian in 1988. "I saw him referred to in print as semi-eccentric. He's maybe 10% eccentric. It's his ideas that are eccentric. But it's basic Americanism." Paul is such a strict constructionist that he autographs pocket Constitutions more often than Tommy Lee signs breasts. But Paul's popularity can't necessarily be explained by a previously undetected craving for gold-standard debates on college campuses. His message, even if packaged in obscure economic lectures, is that there is something very corrupt, very Halliburton-Blackwatery going on with our military-industrial complex, and that can attract some pretty weird followers. At the Iowa State event, a student stood outside in a tricornered hat and Revolutionary War–era suit, ringing a bell. Representative Tom Tancredo, another long-shot G.O.P. candidate, tells me that after a debate in New Hampshire, one of his staffers walked up to a guy in a shark costume and asked him if he was a Ron Paul supporter. "No. They're all nuts," replied the shark. "I'm just a guy in a shark suit." There is a subset of Paul supporters who believe 9/11 was an inside job by the U.S. government. And there are anarchists as well: They've picked Nov. 5, Guy Fawkes Day, for a fund-raising drive. "His supporters are the equivalent of crabgrass," says G.O.P. consultant Frank Luntz. "It's not the grass you want, and it spreads faster than the real stuff. They just like him because he's the most anti-Establishment of all the candidates, the most likely to look at the camera during the debates and say, 'Hey, Washington, f--- you.'" The one place Paul hasn't become a major player is where it counts: in the polls, where he hasn't broken above 5% and has yet to pass Mike Huckabee. Paul realizes he's not a favorite among the pro-war, pro-Bush Republicans. "A lot of times at my rally, I say, 'We're diverse. We even have some Republicans,'" he jokes. (His largest Meetup.com group gathers in liberal Austin, Texas; another sizable one is in San Francisco.) And he isn't sure where all this sudden support will lead. Paul doesn't expect that he will win the nomination, and he has no interest in running as an independent again. But he also doesn't see himself endorsing one of the other Republicans in the general election. "Those people who support me wouldn't believe it," he says. "If I said, 'Giuliani's a great guy, and he'll reduce subsidies and bring the troops home'? I couldn't do that." Even nerd revolutions don't surrender. |
I didn't read all of this thread but I just wanted to say that I hate Ron Paul because every idiot likes him and that's dumb and makes me full of anger. Oh ya and everyone thinks he has such, "Great ideas" but he doesn't, really, he just says stupid shit that most people haven't heard before so they're like, "Oh man that's so fresh" kind of like people who are in to david icke it's so shocking and new that they want to believe it but is it the complete useful truth?
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Well put, Kahl. Paulites are far more annoying than Paul himself, and that speaks in volumes me thinks. John Mayer supports him.
Must we continue this conversation? |
Jacksonville is apparently infatuated with Paul, or at least has some inordinately fanatic people living here. Every fucking signpost has a Paul '08 sticker on it.
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