2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Ron Paul A Sensible Choice For President
George Maynard
Issue date: 6/11/07 Section: Commentary
Well, I'm hoping most of you got the chance to read a few of my columns over the course of the last year. If you have, you'll know I'm vehemently against the war and very much in favor of civil liberties. With that in mind, it will probably come as a shock to hear I think a Republican congressman from Texas has the best platform I've heard so far from any 2008 presidential hopeful from either party.
As the campaigns start to become more heated, debates and talk show appearances for all the candidates are becoming more frequent. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) are all over the front pages of newspapers, websites and they all have countless groups on Facebook. Unfortunately, American popular opinion seems to be incapable of recognizing rational, thoughtful candidates, who are marginalized because of their lack of money and name recognition. Among these candidates are Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
Ron Paul is an interesting candidate because he is the only true conservative running for election. The other nine Republican candidates have ostracized Paul because of his outspoken opposition to two creations of the "conservative" Bush administration.
First of all, Paul is vehemently against the Department of Homeland Security. That probably sounds pretty un-American at first, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, the government had plenty of information from existing intelligence agencies that an attack was imminent. Because of incompetence at all levels, however, the attacks occurred anyways. After the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security. With the creation of this department, the Bush administration added an enormous amount of bureaucracy to the existing intelligence structure at a cost of billions of dollars to taxpayers. Paul takes issue with this because he believes that if something is already slow and inefficient, adding more bureaucracy and more money isn't going to help matters. Instead, he believes non-essential bureaucracy should be cut away to save money and increase efficiency.
As the campaigns start to become more heated, debates and talk show appearances for all the candidates are becoming more frequent. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) are all over the front pages of newspapers, websites and they all have countless groups on Facebook. Unfortunately, American popular opinion seems to be incapable of recognizing rational, thoughtful candidates, who are marginalized because of their lack of money and name recognition. Among these candidates are Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
Ron Paul is an interesting candidate because he is the only true conservative running for election. The other nine Republican candidates have ostracized Paul because of his outspoken opposition to two creations of the "conservative" Bush administration.
First of all, Paul is vehemently against the Department of Homeland Security. That probably sounds pretty un-American at first, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, the government had plenty of information from existing intelligence agencies that an attack was imminent. Because of incompetence at all levels, however, the attacks occurred anyways. After the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security. With the creation of this department, the Bush administration added an enormous amount of bureaucracy to the existing intelligence structure at a cost of billions of dollars to taxpayers. Paul takes issue with this because he believes that if something is already slow and inefficient, adding more bureaucracy and more money isn't going to help matters. Instead, he believes non-essential bureaucracy should be cut away to save money and increase efficiency.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 15
cnelson700
C Nelson
posted 6/12/07 @ 9:29 PM EST
All good points. But how do we get Ron Paul nominated? Well, there is some exciting news... The rumor mill has it that Ron Paul has had a surge in contributions - millions of dollars. (Continued…)
Jennifer
posted 6/12/07 @ 10:54 PM EST
I am a big Ron Paul fan and learned a new technique today to reach a lot of people. Talk. I know this will sound nuts, but while at the bank today I asked the teller if she had heard of Ron Paul. (Continued…)
Leslie
posted 6/12/07 @ 11:24 PM EST
Jennifer you are so right, I do that too and find that people have never heard of him. Let's pass your idea on to all Ron Paul supporters in any way we can. (Continued…)
MK
posted 6/13/07 @ 12:08 AM EST
I love Ron Paul. I wish he could be the next president.
Scott
posted 6/13/07 @ 12:19 AM EST
I agree with you guys. RP's campaign is pretty much word of mouth and internet phenomena. The majority of people who spend their days surfing the internet have discovered him, and really like the fresh perspective and his seemingly uncorrupted political history. (Continued…)
NH
posted 6/13/07 @ 12:39 AM EST
I'm so glad you've found Ron! We love him in NH. He had the most people at his rally for the debate and after party was WILD. There were about 300-400 people there. (Continued…)
jwharton
Jason Wharton
posted 6/13/07 @ 12:41 AM EST
Here's an idea, ask people if they know what the inflation tax they pay is. If they answer no then take the time to explain how the monetary policy has been setup and how it is being used as a tool to enslave us. (Continued…)
goldenequity
posted 6/13/07 @ 1:39 AM EST
Who IS Ron Paul? They still need to know!!
NOBODY explains Ron Paul
BETTER than Ron Paul himself!
Here is an interactive audio archive of
Ron Paul speeches and interviews as a resource in chronological
order. (Continued…)
goldenequity
posted 6/13/07 @ 8:47 AM EST
Who IS Ron Paul? They still need to know!!
NOBODY explains Ron Paul
BETTER than Ron Paul himself!
Here is an interactive audio archive of
Ron Paul speeches and interviews as a resource in chronological
order. (Continued…)
ronpaul2008
posted 6/13/07 @ 9:12 AM EST
UNDERSTANDING WHAT RON PAUL STANDS FOR IS GREAT. BUT, ALSO BE SURE TO UNDERSTAND WHO HE STANDS AGAINST. NAMELY: NEOCONS.
DO SOME RESEARCH BY READING ABOUT NEOCONS AT WIKIPEDIA AND ELSEWHERE. (Continued…)
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