RON PAUL - FOXNEWS DEBATE AFTERMATH
I sure hope everyone watched the debate between the Republican presidential candidates on FOXNEWS a couple of days ago. And I sure hope most especially that everyone saw the part of the debate where Congressman Ron Paul presented his opinion that U.S. foreign policy - especially in the Middle East - was a "contributing factor" (his words) to 9/11 and terrorism generally against U.S. persons and interests. And I hope most everyone was alarmed/disgusted at Mayor Giuliani's assaultive and fraudulent response to those comments.
From my perspective there is one central point that is so key to the exchange. In my opinion, recognizing this point is critically important and also extremely helpful to understanding what is going on in modern political dialogue ... the U.S. government is not the U.S. citizenry. The people - John Q. Public and his nuclear family - are not the same, do not act the same, and are not motivated by the same forces as the government. The "people" are generally good. The government is generally (traditionally/customarily) bad.
A few of the writers I enjoy have published reports discussing the exchange, and both speak to this point.
Links follow.
Lew Rockwell Column
Some highlights from Lew's column (these address the issue I highlighted above):
- The problem is that most of the American people simply have no idea what has been happening in the last ten years. Most Americans think that America the country is much like their own neighborhood: peaceful, happy, hard-working, law-abiding ... the problem is that the military wing of the U.S. government is very different from your neighborhood.
- ... here is the point that libertarians have been trying to hammer home for many years: the US government is the enemy of the American people and their values. It is not peaceful, it is not friendly, it is not motivated by the Christian faith but rather power and imperial lust. (emphasis mine)
Check it out. Enjoy. Share your thoughts with me. Please.
Cheers!
posted by garrett @ 5:54 PM
2 Comments:
Paul is probably right in a manner of speaking, although he should have addressed the topic a bit more delicately (I don't recall him using the term "blowback"). Although the war hawks will hate him for it, they weren't going to support him in the first place. With Ron Paul polling at 1%, almost any news is good news at this point.
Rudy is a douchebag, and thought it was a good time to turn the spotlight on to domestic terror, his only strong issue. He will not win the nomination.
We do however highly approve of the use of the term 'douchebag'.
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